Just bought the 1.6 TDCi estate for the misses. Her first car in her name. She's chuffed! Mainly did it to transfer one of my NCB to her in case I pass on.

I'm active in a number of car forums being a retired freelance car/truck/bus designer. I did most of my owrk for Ford but also GM in Detroit, Volvo Belgium and Brazil and many Q1 suppliers to Ford.

Hobbies - sailing (just stopped after 40 years (sad). getting too old. vauxhall carltons which I used to have a lot of so found a good 24v Diamond estate a while back which is a real wolf in sheeps clothing having the 200hp GSi engine.

Sadly I'm not well at the mo which is why i bought the misses the Focus.

Reason really to join is a question I'm about to post about a rear loadspace rubber mat you can get on ebay, but i dont think they fit my brand new estate.

Interesting reading about the turbo problems on some of the 1.6 TDCi engines which i'm pretty sure is the use of the wrong oil. Only castrol and Ford have one suitable which stops build up of coke which i think is the main reason for failure. no doubt when i search on hear there will be lots of stuff on it.

Hi and welcome to the forums , sorry to hear about your ill health , i'm not sure on your rubber matting question though.

Hi Keith and welcome to the Forum. I look forward to seeing some of your input. Personally although I have owned a large number of cars over the years I have always avoided diesels. Out of preference mainly but more recently the issues that appear to be experienced by all manufacturers. However I'm sure your correct in pointing the issue to the build up of coke as a cause for the turbo issues.

I cant remember the last time I saw a 24v Carlton. That is a very rare find. I quite fancied the Lotus Carlton in its day, but again there were so few about.

Welcome to the family Keith, and sorry to hear of your ill health. I wish you well as far as is possible!

With regards the diesel and turbo failure, Oil is the most likely contribution to the problem. But the EGR and DPF really dont help the situation, as they build up backpressure which then contributes to the final explosion!

Hi welcome :)