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TngChester

New Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2020
Messages
4
Location
North Wales
Car
Mercedes 250 ML
July/August 19 I Bought a Mercedes M L 250 from Mercedes. 4 days after I had the car dpf light came on. To Mercedes for repair. Long story cut short tomorrow 08/07/20 the car goes back to Mercedes for the FIFTH time for a dpf fault.
The car is a 2013 model and when , and the reason, I bought it, it had 44018 miles on the clock. The car had an "A" service at 42619 miles in September 2018. then a "B" service at 44006 miles in March 2019. I bought in the August. Something amiss?
 
If the DPF keeps getting clogged, then this might be explained by the lower-than-average miles the car has covered. DPFs need long journeys to regenerate.

That said, the issue might be with one of the sensors etc (it will be difficult to tell with no paperwork, as you said).

Either way, PDFs can be a pain in general, and sadly MB is one if the marques that suffers more than most. So I wouldn't hold it against the car, unfortunately PDF issues are common. On the bright side, your car is an Approved Used so the dealer will sort it out.
 
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Are you sure DPF problems are formally covered by the Approved New or MB extended warranties?
It could be up to the dealers discretion I'm afraid
 
Are you sure DPF problems are formally covered by the Approved New or MB extended warranties?
It could be up to the dealers discretion I'm afraid
It should be clear enough in the warranty policy documents, dealer has no discretion to refuse valid claims but they could cover invalid claims themselves if they chose to.
 
July/August 19 I Bought a Mercedes M L 250 from Mercedes. 4 days after I had the car dpf light came on. To Mercedes for repair. Long story cut short tomorrow 08/07/20 the car goes back to Mercedes for the FIFTH time for a dpf fault.
The car is a 2013 model and when , and the reason, I bought it, it had 44018 miles on the clock. The car had an "A" service at 42619 miles in September 2018. then a "B" service at 44006 miles in March 2019. I bought in the August. Something amiss?
What sort of driving are you doing between faults ? Time, distance , speed
 
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July/August 19 I Bought a Mercedes M L 250 from Mercedes. 4 days after I had the car dpf light came on. To Mercedes for repair. Long story cut short tomorrow 08/07/20 the car goes back to Mercedes for the FIFTH time for a dpf fault.
The car is a 2013 model and when , and the reason, I bought it, it had 44018 miles on the clock. The car had an "A" service at 42619 miles in September 2018. then a "B" service at 44006 miles in March 2019. I bought in the August. Something amiss?
My first question is what sort of use are you giving the vehicle ?

If mostly short journeys , down to the shops/10 miles to work , this is to be expected : CDI Diesels need regular long runs to get the vehicle fully up to temperature ; you need to regularly be doing 50+ miles , and ideally more , regularly along fast A roads or the motorway to stop this happening .

If you are just using it for short local journeys , the vehicle is not suitable for this kind of use and you would be better off with a petrol engined vehicle .

You should have been made aware of this before buying the vehicle .
 
Some dealers (not always MB) will point out to the clear instructions in the handbook which state that the car must be driven at a certain speed, for a certain length of time, and at a certain mileage (usually about every 400, but varies). If this has not been done they may/can put it down to the fault of the owner.
The current MB extended warranty does not cover the DPF.
 
Some dealers (not always MB) will point out to the clear instructions in the handbook which state that the car must be driven at a certain speed, for a certain length of time, and at a certain mileage (usually about every 400, but varies). If this has not been done they may/can put it down to the fault of the owner.
The current MB extended warranty does not cover the DPF.
The fact that they have now had the car 4 times before for the same problem says to me they have to sort it out. More so as I had only had the car 4 days before the problem started.
 
The MB warranty issues may arise in the event that your local MB dealer isn't the supplying dealer. This is because the MB Approved Used warranty only covers faults that either developed after or were unknown at the time of sale. Anything else is down to the supplying dealer (who should not have sold the car with the fault in the first place). However if the dealer the OP is dealing with for the warranty repairs is also the supplying dealer, then the whole thing is a moot point. In any event the DPF issue will be covered by the Consumer Protection Act, regardless of any warranty etc. So I think it's just a matter of letting the dealer to sort it out.

That said, as others said, obviously the OP should only keep the car if he is planning regular long journeys, otherwise the DPF will give him grief again at some point.
 
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My first question is what sort of use are you giving the vehicle ?

If mostly short journeys , down to the shops/10 miles to work , this is to be expected : CDI Diesels need regular long runs to get the vehicle fully up to temperature ; you need to regularly be doing 50+ miles , and ideally more , regularly along fast A roads or the motorway to stop this happening .

If you are just using it for short local journeys , the vehicle is not suitable for this kind of use and you would be better off with a petrol engined vehicle .

You should have been made aware of this before buying the vehicle .
The car is used for trips which are 90% over ten miles. I have now and always driven to the speed limit. Now and then I tow a caravan which again is always at the upper end of the speed limit. I've had 4 Mercedes before 3 of which had dpfs fitted and never had a problem. On the last occasion the car was fixed at the end of March and the car has done less than 50 miles since.
 
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I had nearly this exact discussion with my better half the other day as she is looking to replace her car and started talking about a diesel but by necessity she drive her car like a "shopping trolley" (i'm not saying the OP does) with short journeys to schools and shops ect and she would kill a diesel.

The salesmen are trying to push diesels with lower deposits and the odd extra to capture interest and it nearly worked on her until i stepped in and put the kybosh on that idea.
 
The car is used for trips which are 90% over ten miles. I have now and always driven to the speed limit. Now and then I tow a caravan which again is always at the upper end of the speed limit. I've had 4 Mercedes before 3 of which had dpfs fitted and never had a problem. On the last occasion the car was fixed at the end of March and the car has done less than 50 miles since.
You don't need to be breaking any speed limits , but you do need to regularly drive the car far enough to completely warm up and then allow time for the DPF to regenerate ; I would suggest you need a regular journey of 1 hour plus at , say , 50-70mph to allow this to happen . Towing the caravan will help as it is additional load on the engine which will build up heat , and caravanning journeys tend to be longer .

Modern Diesels are not suited to short/low speed journeys . This is a very common issue .
 
If the DPF light came on so soon of you owning it, it was already clogged up - I would have thought it would have be replaced with a new one; once the DPF gets *that* blocked then they can’t be regenerated.
 
English bloke brought his 16 plate Range Rover to Skiathos last summer and within 2 months he had DPF problems.

He took to an Athens Land Rover who couldn’t get it sorted and the garages in Skiathos (which are good) won’t go near it.

He flew back to the UK at the end of last season leaving the car on the island where it still sits.
It’s now illegal.
 
It doesn't help the op much but we bought Mrs Me a petrol, to hedge our bets some.
It's a 2012 Civic, auto with many toys. It's burning oil at close to a litre each 1,000 miles. According to Honda that's acceptable, citing 1 litre each 625 miles is ok.
I read this is common for the 12 / 13 Civic. I don't see how you win this war of which car.

An ML diesel is driven by the op, and here there is suggestion it could be his own fault for being daft enough to buy a diesel. C'mon now it's a bloody car for driving. Just because we have become aware of DPF issues doesn't mean he's at fault for not taking it on a 30 minute spirited run every week or so. and where is the saving our planet principle applied then.

Living in N Wales he might find difficulty finding anywhere in reasonable distance to drive that spirited run. Come an active tourist season the A55 becomes a slow moving conveyor. If He's close to the M56 it's the same more often.

Am I sounding like I have a hatred for what the eu have done to us with DPF's, I hope so.

By now MB must have replaced the sensors, I assume. Are they just trying to avoid the expense of a new DPF?
 
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If DPF keeps getting full, there must be some fault in other systems which actually is producing lots of particles (=smoke)... turbo and boost lines should be triple checked...
 
Isn’t the DPF classed as a consumable item. I read somewhere that at 70k Volvo will change the filter at great expense. Land Rover new model are plagued with the DPF issues and the dilution of the oil is an day to day occurrence.
 
The DPF might be blocked or it could be the sensor which is a common failure point on these. DPF's dont give that much trouble despite what some say. Regular driving and the odd long run will see it stay fit and healthy. Even if the dpf is blocked, they can be cleaned easily, no need to replaced them. Any indy can do this, they remove it, pour in dpf cleaner, jet wash it through for 30 mins dry it put back on car,. Loads of how to's on youtube. (check mercman tips)

However if this is still under warranty they really need to sort it for you. As they have sold you a product not fit for purpose.

The fact is has done very little mileage between 2018 and 2019 suggests the dpf hasnt had chance to perform a regeneration. so suggest it could be blocked. A star diagnosis should show this.

Fingers crossed they sort it for you.
 

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