[quote name='bottletree' date='21 July 2010 - 08:51 PM' timestamp='1279741263' post='89359']
HA HA. You've probably scared the life out of him with that post Catch. I remember when you first told me about the dreaded DPF. I was in denial for some time till i did my own research.
Message to dipscivic..............DO NOT BUY THE CAR. RUN LIKE HELL.DONT LOOK BACK.RUN RUN RUN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

[/quote]
[b]I've edited this post since I first posted it. It reflects my driving that on average returns what Ford say is the Urban Cycle. Because I don't think the official stats are "real life" achievable unless the vast majority of your mileage is motorway at conservative speeds.[/b]
Well it all depends on how much mileage he does a year? I've made a spread sheet that highlights the difference between running a Mk2 1.6 petrol against a Mk2 1.6 TDCi. Basically with a TDCi you have fuel cost savings and Road tax savings. Set against this you have the additional cost of servicing the DPF on a six yearly recurring cycle.
Every 1k mileage [ determined by individuals driving style and mix of driving] mine would save £45 per annum in fuel costs, plus £65 per annum saving in road tax. Set against this is maintenance of the DPF and Eloys additive top ups. This works out at say £110 per annum, so the bigger the mileage the bigger the saving.
Examples 5k per annum = £179 Net saving per annum
..............10k per annum = £403 Net saving per annum
So on the face of it running a diesel can indeed be profitable. But set against that is the price premium paid buying a diesel as against a petrol variant. So to give another example:-
If you buy a 4 year old motor with 50K average mileage the price premium will be £1050. So in my case I would have to run the car for a total of 5.83 years [70 months] before the collective annual savings cancelled out the price premium paid. So all things considered I went the petrol route.
Price Premium difference was collated using the What Car website @ dealer prices.
Now because the Mk2.5 1.6 TDCi is cheaper Road Tax wise and MPG wise, the savings per annum would be:-
£274 @ 5k
£533 @ 10k
On top of all that, if you have just bought a 70k ish second hand diesel and then learn after the event that it needs the DPF replacing, something you did not have a clue about when buying it. It is not uncommon to then feel you have been personally shafted when faced with a circa £1000 service bill.