Hello from a possible new T6 owner!

ABall

Member
Hi folks, BMW driver here, thinking of coming over to the dark side.. Going to look at a 2021 T32 2.0 biTD tomorrow, bit of a last minute decision so probably a bit late for advice. I've briefly read all the bad things that can go wrong. I will be getting a warranty so partially covered but I've never owned a diesel car in my 60 years on the planet. Just wondering how many times I can get away with short runs or what to do and how often. I've read I need to let the turbo cool down after a good run but what about lots of 10 min runs? Do I just need to burn up the motorway once a month or do I just tell my wife she has to start walking to work? Lol. Anyway I'm very keen on the van so I may be back tomorrow to read a lot. Never had a VW either.
 
Damn, thanks Sasquatch, I may have to re think, I must admit it won't be regular, I take my wife to work on a Saturday morning and pick her up in the afternoon, it's only a couple of miles, I guess I could drop her home and drive up the road for 10-15 mins. What a palava.
 
When driving and the fan runs at an alarming pace, and you feel the heat rushing from the engine Bay Area… don’t panic, leave the engine ticking over until the fan cuts out.
This is the cat regen mode, it uses diesel to burn the particulates off the cat filter, if you leave the engine switched off, it spills unburnt diesel into the oil sump, this adds to increased level in oil and a dilutes your oil.
It’s a VW thing and possibly most modern diesels. The only pointer is the rev counter may run a little faster at idle, takes about 10 to 15 minutes to run through the cycle.
 
When driving and the fan runs at an alarming pace, and you feel the heat rushing from the engine Bay Area… don’t panic, leave the engine ticking over until the fan cuts out.
This is the cat regen mode, it uses diesel to burn the particulates off the cat filter, if you leave the engine switched off, it spills unburnt diesel into the oil sump, this adds to increased level in oil and a dilutes your oil.
It’s a VW thing and possibly most modern diesels. The only pointer is the rev counter may run a little faster at idle, takes about 10 to 15 minutes to run through the cycle.
That's really helpful thanks, this is partially why I've stayed away from Diesels, it's a whole new learning curve!
 
The one thing you will notice.. is the revs run lower than petrol, the torque is far more impressive, and to top it all, you’re part of the community… and no doubt your ride will turn heads, all for the right reasons 👍👍👍👍👍
 
When driving and the fan runs at an alarming pace, and you feel the heat rushing from the engine Bay Area… don’t panic, leave the engine ticking over until the fan cuts out.
This is the cat regen mode, it uses diesel to burn the particulates off the cat filter, if you leave the engine switched off, it spills unburnt diesel into the oil sump, this adds to increased level in oil and a dilutes your oil.
It’s a VW thing and possibly most modern diesels. The only pointer is the rev counter may run a little faster at idle, takes about 10 to 15 minutes to run through the cycle.
If you leave it idling too long during a regen itll abort the process (unless its very close to the end) and will have another try next time the correct operating conditions are met.
 
Dpf Regen takes 45 mins on my two vans
How often do they do the re gen thing? Apart from the odd trip to visit family I never drive anywhere for 45 mins. I do drive a work Diesel, have done for 20 years but I don't maintain it, I've has a blown a Turbo, had one written off due to seized injectors, one gearbox failure but never any EGR issues and I do a lot of start stop short journeys between customers houses. Is the VW particularly bad?
 
Every coupla-three hundred miles, depending on the type of use.
 
I really wouldn’t worry to much I’ve had these vans for the last 10 years in different variants and do mixed driving some short some long and never had any big issues.Good maintenance is good practice regular servicing and a nice run every now and then.I’m afraid it’s the same with most cars you pick a good one or a bad one. Is this going to be the main vehicle in the house?
 
I really wouldn’t worry to much I’ve had these vans for the last 10 years in different variants and do mixed driving some short some long and never had any big issues.Good maintenance is good practice regular servicing and a nice run every now and then.I’m afraid it’s the same with most cars you pick a good one or a bad one. Is this going to be the main vehicle in the house?
Oh thats good, I was already at dark sides website looking at a DPF delete. Lol. It is the only vehicle for domestic use, I get to take home my work van but it's not insured if I'm not working. So I do about 5k a year, trips to see family a couple of times are a 4hr journey, holiday now and then in the UK but the rest is just errands. Probably not enough 45 min trips. I can't believe the service intervals on these new vehicles, I've looked at a SQ5 and the T6, 18-20k flexi options. The T6 did go 22k between an oil change but it's at 67k, I've asked them to do a cam belt inclusive of purchase price and they are happy to do that, probably do the water pump too. I won't be leaving it 20k if I buy it.
 
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I just make it a rule that our T6.1 campervan conversion is never driven on trips less than 10 miles (always with stop-start switched off) and aim to get the engine oil temperature to 90°C before switching off. I’ve experienced the expensive consequences of doing repeated short journeys in our Diesel Honda CR-V and know many folks who’ve had similar problems with repeatedly driving short distances in their Diesel cars. The cost of forced regens, dealing with oil dilution, replacing DPFs, EGR valves and turbos can be eye-watering.
 
I just make it a rule that our T6.1 campervan conversion is never driven on trips less than 10 miles (always with stop-start switched off) and aim to get the engine oil temperature to 90°C before switching off. I’ve experienced the expensive consequences of doing repeated short journeys in our Diesel Honda CR-V and know many folks who’ve had similar problems with repeatedly driving short distances in their Diesel cars. The cost of forced regens, dealing with oil dilution, replacing DPFs, EGR valves and turbos can be eye-watering.
I just make it a rule that our T6.1 campervan conversion is never driven on trips less than 10 miles (always with stop-start switched off) and aim to get the engine oil temperature to 90°C before switching off. I’ve experienced the expensive consequences of doing repeated short journeys in our Diesel Honda CR-V and know many folks who’ve had similar problems with repeatedly driving short distances in their Diesel cars. The cost of forced regens, dealing with oil dilution, replacing DPFs, EGR valves and turbos can be eye-watering.
I don't think any of my work vans have had DPF, we run them into the ground, hense why a couple of seized injectors forced my employer to buy another van. It all sounds a bit scary if I'm honest.
 
Damn, thanks Sasquatch, I may have to re think, I must admit it won't be regular, I take my wife to work on a Saturday morning and pick her up in the afternoon, it's only a couple of miles, I guess I could drop her home and drive up the road for 10-15 mins. What a palava.
You are lucky you don't live on the Channel Islands.......

From a Jaguar forum:

I thought I read soemwhere that you couldn't buy a VAG Diesel there for obvious reasons.
 
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