Motability car change ?

buntytmw

Hi I have a motability car since November and had a warning sign telling me the exhaust needs regenerating called the dealer they told me it’s because I’ve been doing short journeys and it needs to go on motorway high revs done this didn’t work so waiting for service to call however I wasn’t made aware of the car being unfit for short journeys and wondered if this is a valid reason to ask to change the car ? It’s just going to keep blocking up every two months 

poppy123456

There's no car that's really unfit for short journey's. Is it a diesel engine?  Diesel engines prefer you to do some long journey's because of the DPF but you've only had the car since November so there shouldn't be an issue with it yet, it's still a new car.

My last motability car was a diesel too and i did mostly short journeys and had the car for just over 2 years without any issues. My knowledge here tells me it's not the short journey's that's the issue, it's something else.

Changing your car after such a short space of time may not be an option especially if the issue can be sorted. There may also be a very long wait for your next vehicle too.

You need to wait for the dealers to see what's going on before doing anything else.

buntytmw

It came up a warning that I need to keep driving to regenerate the exhaust filter when called dealer he said it’s because I’ve been doing small journeys apparently it’s something to do with the turbo but after trying to blow it out on motorway the warning light is still on I just don’t really fancy having to keep waste msg petrol everyone the light comes on I wasn’t made aware of this issue when chose the car 

buntytmw

It’s petrol 

buntytmw

poppy123456

That's decent mileage since November and more than i would do. What car do you have?

Cartini

buntytmw said:

It came up a warning that I need to keep driving to regenerate the exhaust filter when called dealer he said it’s because I’ve been doing small journeys apparently it’s something to do with the turbo but after trying to blow it out on motorway the warning light is still on I just don’t really fancy having to keep waste msg petrol everyone the light comes on I wasn’t made aware of this issue when chose the car 

I`m not a mechanic and I don`t experience these warnings, but I did find this an interesting subject so had a quick google.

This is not an issue, this is an operational warning built into the system; many cars, both diesel and petrol, now have it.  Because the forums I visited were not professional, I won`t relay any of their comments on how to resolve it but will say chase your supplier / dealer.

If all you have done (apart from the motorway "burst") is 1400 odd miles of short journeys, I`m not surprised the rubbish in the filter isn`t being burnt off.

poppy123456

So it’s a GPF and not DPF. I also read some forums after doing an internet search on this and agree with cartini you should speak to your dealer. 

I don’t think changing your car will help here especially if you’re only doing all short journeys. However, with a petrol engine there should be less chance of this happening.
When you took it for that long drive did you really put your foot down to try to burn it off? Is it a manual or automatic?

buntytmw

Hi poppy it’s manual and I was doing 60mph for 20 mins in 3rd gear and done that twice but light still on, I don’t understand myself how I’ve managed 1400 miles either lol the longest distance I do is to Birmingham 4 days a week for uni which is 10 miles there 10 miles back other than that only short journeys xx

buntytmw

Hi cartini 
thank you for your comment I have contacted my dealer and they were the ones who told me to go motorway to burn it out but didn’t work so they said they will get service to call me I just don’t want to have to deal with this on a regular 

poppy123456

All petrol cars since 2019 have to have the GPF fitted so this is going to be a regular problem and you're not the only person to have this issue. Have a google search and you'll see what i mean. Some have had the issue having done 4K+ miles.

Cartini

buntytmw said:

Hi cartini 
thank you for your comment I have contacted my dealer and they were the ones who told me to go motorway to burn it out but didn’t work so they said they will get service to call me I just don’t want to have to deal with this on a regular 

No problem One forum I`ve just read said they returned the car to the dealer for a "free" fix; apparently they had to run the car at very high speed which used 20 miles of petrol to clear the warning sign.  I think I would have to go for a walk while they did that.

OverlyAnxious

GPFs work differently to DPFs.  They benefit more from 'overrun', which is basically accelerating and then letting off the throttle so the revs slowly come back down.  You'll be naturally doing this in traffic without even realising.  With a DPF on a diesel, you need to maintain high revs, but that is not the idea with a GPF. 

(For any physics fans, a diesel always has excess oxygen available for burning, but a petrol matches the oxygen levels with fuel levels, so the excess is only really available when fuel isn't being injected).

While it is possible for a GPF to become blocked from short journeys, many are still in the 'early days' of programming, and just need an ECU update from the dealer.

If you do decide to change the car, remember that every petrol & diesel will have a GPF or DPF now.  The only way around it is to go for a full electric vehicle.