You can get a refurb for £200 (not sure how long it wold last) I have replaced mine for a refurb.
You can get your current one washed out £200 (not sure how good this is), loads of youtube vids about this
A new OEM one for £800+
You can DIY wash it out yourself by soaking it in soap water or something like oven cleaner (£20) not sure how good this is
It will probably need new Temp and oxygen sensors if old (can be £120+ each)

The replacement of a DPF is rather easy, like doing an exhaust and shouldn't take too long for a skilled machanic. It took me about 4 hours of taking my time.

That said when a DPF is changed the ECU needs to know it's a new DPF and certain figures need to be reset. This can be done via VSCD.

My mates just had his Krafter van DPF replaced with a new OEM one, cost him £1k but that wasn't VW.

Personally £2k makes me sad, £1k is probably acceptable, even less the better.

 

Thanks very much for the detailed reply......

Sounds like our quote is pretty much about right then for a main dealer. By the time you take the exchange rate into account the prices tie up. We are planning to head back to the UK early next week and had toyed with the idea of driving it back and then getting it done in the UK.

The garage warned us that we are running the risk of the DPF causing a fire on a long run, they even showed us a burnt out Audi that was as a result of a DPF going up.

It does seem a bit off that VW sell you a vehicle that they know will need at least one new DPF in it's lifetime and then charge an exorbitant price for a replacement! Perhaps we have to consider replacing the DPF in the same way we would a clutch?

Thanks again for replying.

T:

 

Sounds to me they are trying to frighten you by showing you that burnt out Audi.
Funny that they should happen to have one in their compound at the same time you have been diagnosed, supposedly to having a problem with yours, they hope you will be concerned by their warnings of immanent danger and you will cough up to have them replace the DPF and they then make a killing.
If it was me personally I would get it on a motorway and give it a blast in 3rd or 4th gear maintaining 2-2500revs for 15-20min ,to burn off the ash then bring it back to the UK and if you're still unhappy have it replaced over here.
There are plenty of indy VW garages who will beat the absurd price.



T:​

 

Thanks for the reply

They seem pretty good guys, we overheard the service guy trying to get us a discount from his boss before he told us the bad news. They have the best reviews around here and have also offered to not only get the job done before we're due to go but also to spread the cost over four months (it's a French thing).

The main problem we have is that we have a 10 hour drive to get back to Calais and then a real short space of time to get it fixed before we have to get back down to France. This problem may have started months ago with the van going in and out of limp mode, seemingly at random. We had a local garage read the fault codes (low turbo pressure if I recall) and then clear them. Everything was ok for a few months after that.

A week or so ago we left for a weekend away and the glow plug light started flashing, after a while this was joined by the cat light. We pootled about for a couple of days and then headed home. After about 50 miles the van went into limp mode where it's sat since.

We got it into VW for a diagnostic check and they reckoned it was two sensors. When they changed these yesterday there was no difference and they couldn't do a forced regeneration. So they put the old sensors back on, ran the diagnostic again and found the same fault coming up. This was also when the DPF filter light came on.

I'm far from an expert and so having to trust the dealer, who does seem pretty genuine. However he doesn't love the tuning box and from reading things on here, I'm trusting that they have checked 100% that it is the DPF.....

If we were in the UK, I'd be taking it to a garage I know and trust. But we're 700 miles away from him and have to get back to France by the 12th. So our only option seems to be to get the work done here.

 

A good mate of mine has just signed up his workshop as part of the DPF Doctor franchise. He knows more about vehicle systems than anyone I know and most main dealers from miles around end up sending their problem cases to him to be sorted. Reckons 99% of DPF issues can be fixed and do not require unit replacement. This is just the quick and easy fix for a dealer (with added good margins) but often result in problems down the line as the cause hasn't been addressed. Worth watching some of the blogs below and then seeing if someone similar can be found out with you.

https://www.the-dpf-doctor.com/blog/

 

Thanks and apologies for missing your reply, I think we posted at near enough the same time.

It's possible that the tuning box is the underlying cause. The problem with fitting one to a vehicle with a DPF is that you don't get the visible signs (i.e. black smoke out of the exhaust) that you would otherwise see if it's over-fuelling - and the result is that the DPF needs to regenerate much more often than it's designed to.

The burned-out Audi is probably just a scare tactic. Under some circumstances the DPF can get very hot indeed (for example when it is very heavily loaded with carbon, as in the situation you describe) but provided the vehicle is moving at reasonable speed the air circulation around it should be enough to prevent ignition of anything behind/beyond the heat shielding. The more likely outcome is that it gets hot enough to damage the internals of the DPF - but as you're being told that it's got to be replaced anyway that's not an issue.

From other recent threads here, it's now possible to buy aftermarket DPFs that are a ~lot~ cheaper than OEM, and feedback on them doesn't seem to bad, but to go down that route you would I guess need to find a local independent willing to fit one - you can be sure that a main dealer won't!

Personally, if it were my van, I wouldn't take the risk and would just stump up and get it done - but I appreciate that may not suit you...

Thanks for the reply and also your opinion, which does pretty much follow our thinking.

As said previously, if we were in the UK I'd have a rethink, but we're not and so our options and time are limited. It just hurts when it's just before Xmas, the end of the tax year in France etc... etc.....

We will have to sell the van next year, as it costs too much to register here and with a genuine DPF recently fitted that has to be a good selling point..... Hey, it's a positive out of a negative!

 

It's possible that the tuning box is the underlying cause. The problem with fitting one to a vehicle with a DPF is that you don't get the visible signs (i.e. black smoke out of the exhaust) that you would otherwise see if it's over-fuelling - and the result is that the DPF needs to regenerate much more often than it's designed to.

The burned-out Audi is probably just a scare tactic. Under some circumstances the DPF can get very hot indeed (for example when it is very heavily loaded with carbon, as in the situation you describe) but provided the vehicle is moving at reasonable speed the air circulation around it should be enough to prevent ignition of anything behind/beyond the heat shielding. The more likely outcome is that it gets hot enough to damage the internals of the DPF - but as you're being told that it's got to be replaced anyway that's not an issue.

From other recent threads here, it's now possible to buy aftermarket DPFs that are a ~lot~ cheaper than OEM, and feedback on them doesn't seem to bad, but to go down that route you would I guess need to find a local independent willing to fit one - you can be sure that a main dealer won't!

Personally, if it were my van, I wouldn't take the risk and would just stump up and get it done - but I appreciate that may not suit you...

 

All done and finished, tuning box removed and the work even came in under their quote.

For anyone's info the final bill was just over 2000 euros.

The friendliness didn't stop after we paid, so I'm happy they actually did try to get the price down for us. They didn't charge us for a courtesy car (common here) or for realigning our headlamps to a flat beam. There was even an offer to swap the headlights over to a LHD pattern foc when we get back from our trip.

I suspect our problems have been caused by far too many short trips since we moved down here.

Thanks all for your help and suggestions, much appreciated.