I have a 3.0 TDI V6 on a 2009 with no DPF (it was manufactured in 2007 - pre-DPF). Sadly it only gets 30mpg which is making it very expensive to run, especially since I only ever really use it to go to the shops (although I do live in the sticks a bit so it's a bit of a journey to actually get there). It was great when I used to travel for work (and fuel was half the price) but I'm very much looking to replace it with a small engined petrol. Tax too is getting out of hand... £480 a year now. I guess the government win. They always win.

What’s gonna happen is non-commercial diesel will be phased out. Gov most likely will buy back or offer discounts to people replacing their diesel with electric/hybrid.

Watch this space.

And then they lower the speed limit

I was reading this morning that some dealerships are refusing diesel cars for trade-in, "Dealer groups including Cazoo and Cinch cut diesel inventory by 40-50% between 2021 and 2023. Some specialist EV retailers now operate a blanket no-diesel policy on trade-ins. If you turn up in a five-year-old diesel expecting a decent offer, you're leaving in the same car."

Sold two diesels recently, they wasn’t bothered about fuel price as “it won’t last”

When I was doing 30k + every year, diesel made sense and I loved the relaxed torquey power delivery. Now I'm doing half that mileage, I've bought a 1.5TSi Skoda and I'm still averaging 45mpg, but with no worries about the DPF and on much cheaper fuel. I still prefer diesels, but they're probably not the right answer for most drivers these days.

Do you remember the Jaguar XJ TDVI that you reviewed a few years ago?  I still own and love it.  It's now on 215,000 miles and still going strong.  In the last few years the engine has needed new inlet manifolds and a new injector and that's all.  I can drive from London to the south of Spain on two tanks of fuel or I can drive to mother's house in the Wirral without filling up at all. There is no better way to do really long journeys.

People need to understand that some manufacturers diesel engines were/are absolute garbage. You need to research which diesel engines are bulletproof and which are not. The Mercedes 350 3.0 V6 diesel is one such bulletproof engine. Along with the Volvo D5 engine. These engines had DPFs and EGRs and will still do mega miles. Research research research. IMHO you cannot beat a big diesel engine with Autobox and AWD. That combination makes driving as relaxed as can be.

On the plus side you're looking much more normal with a beard growing back.. and long live the timing chain,. yey go away diesel cambelt 👍

In the 1980's on my MK1 Fiesta I use to block half the radiator off so it'd get warmer more quickly, Im not sure it's accessible on modern cars.

No music in today's video!  Must be the influence of Captain Horseradish!
For years I drove  a big old diesel which was very slow to warm up.  However, thermostats in it seemed to frequently become defective to the extent that they were almost an annual service item, or at least bi-annual.  Perhaps it might be worth a check on the Astra.

Both my diesels have been trusty little cars , but yea there isn't much in it now between petrol and diesel .

Most modern diesel cars now have a way to tell apart from the obvious signs when regening especially Vauxhall, the door mirrors always heat up along with the rear demister, we used to wire in a small led diode to the wiring of the mirrors electrics so we would know when doing one. Most other manufacturers also do this it's coded in. Diesel is a joke now, mis sold to us many years back and still, how many have been told take it for a run every few weeks what absolute nonsense. You can't force a regen, the car via ECU determines due to load on dpf when this happens, all this go for a run is tosh. Good vid and very very valid points that we should all take heed of 👍

Maybe it is not saving so much money when it comes to fuel cost, but you can buy a good quality 20 year old diesel car (e.g. D5 Volvo, 2.1 MB) with 300kms and it can happily drive another 100-200kms... (note: old diesels, ideally before DPF)...

Diesels made sense but now you need to clog the miles

I bought a couple of petrol Minis as they're way cheaper to run than a diesel. Plus they are ULEZ compliant.

Diesels haven't been worth it since they started having DPFs imo and these modern diesels in times like now where diesel is expensive won't tolerate running on chip fat from your local chippy which older diesels would. I have a 2016 petrol it doesn't have a particulate filter, it doesn't need AdBlue and it doesn't even have an EGR valve it gets 50mpg easily and road tax is £35 a year so why on earth would I consider getting a Euro 6 or even Euro 5 Diesel. My Grandma has a Mercedes C250 2013 legendary 2.1 CDI engine bulletproof but still had to fork out £1000 because the sensor for the DPF failed and the DPF clogged up sending the car into limp mode. My petrol car costs £120 every 100,000 miles for new spark plugs and otherwise standard servicing.

Diesel cars are in their death throws, they have been demonised as massive polluters, the fuel cost is the most expensive its ever been and they are very shortly going to be taxed into oblivion quickly followed by petrol cars. Individuals and dealers are starting to avoid buying them enmasse, used values are going to crash.

I have a 1.5 tdci focus on a 15 plate, I will admit I bought the wrong car , EGR and dpf + short journeys just kill these engines , mine has no dpf regen light and in 2 years of ownership the only way I know it's doing a regen is when the start stop is inactive, like you I always turn it off but turn it back on as I turn into my street, the car is constantly telling me to change up gears , 30 mph going through a village on a bit of a hill the dash light is constantly flashing "4th gear" , the car is constantly telling me to chug around at 1500 rpm but no light for a regen something you didn't mention was pcv valves, mixing oil vapor with hot exhaust gas makes tar , or it did in mine which goes hard when cooled and a trip to the garage to get the intake manifold cleaned out , I honestly think manufacturers want these cars to fail, they want 10 year old cars off the road to sell new ones, motorway trips sound good but in reality maybe not , a few months back I drove from Liverpool to east Yorkshire should have taken 2.15 , it took me 4.30 crawling along the m62 between 30 and 40 mph with the change gear light flashing away, thanks for the video you made a lot of sense

The diesel we own is a bigger car hauling heavier loads. The petrol is a small car for town trips. Horses for courses. If I could only have one it would be the diesel and I'd use a cargo bike.