How many BS6 diesel car owners actually face DPF-related issues

If you have seen that your car does an auto DPF regen sometimes when you are driving, it DOES NOT count as an issue.

BHPian lordrayden recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

When going through the threads on Team-BHP and talking to people about diesel cars, BS6 DPF sometimes comes up as a deal-breaker, if not a major downside or con. We also know that most (not all) of the time, people tend to post only when something goes wrong. So while there are many valuable threads and posts about this (listed later), going through them might give a skewed picture of the situation. I was wondering why not quantify BHPians' collected experiences, both good and bad.

What do I have?

• SCR stands for Selective Catalytic Reduction and is typically used in larger engines (2.0L and up) due to the increased technology cost. Engines equipped with SCR will use AdBlue injection into the exhaust and hence will have a separate AdBlue tank and a blue filler cap for that next to the regular diesel filler cap.
• LNT stands for Lean NOx Trap which is generally used in smaller engines (around 1.5L or less), the exception being Mahindra's 1.5L diesels which use SCR. LNT does NOT use any AdBlue.

What is considered an "issue"?

• If you have seen that your car does an auto DPF regen sometimes when you are driving, it DOES NOT count as an issue, the car here is behaving exactly as designed and is taking care of the DPF to prevent future issues. Routine maintenance of the DPF is also not an issue.
• If however, you've had to manually intervene to do some kind of DPF flushing, servicing, etc, then it definitely counts as an issue.

What if I have multiple BS6 diesels?

If you have multiple BS6 diesels in your garage, then pick the one that has given you DPF-related problems. Better to capture the worst-case scenario.

Why 6 months?

Well, BS6 itself has been around for a little over 2 years and I thought 6 months is a good balance. On one hand, we need to have enough data points to make a meaningful deduction and on the other hand, we need to exclude very new cars that might skew the survey as they have very little chance of hitting DPF problems in that short time.

Non-exhaustive list of Team-BHP threads/posts about DPF:

• Link 1
• Link 2
• Link 3
• Link 4
• Link 5

Here's what BHPian ashis89 had to say about the matter:

Mine is a DPF+LNT system. Car has done 44k kms so far with a 25% usage in the city.

Off late, my usage in the city has increased where I don't venture out onto a highway drive for 4-6 weeks at a time and drive 300-600 kms in pure horrible Bangalore traffic.

Being my only ride, the car is driven for short distances too. But I tend to drive with a heavy foot as and when possible.

Here's what BHPian PrasannaDhana had to say about the matter:

• Model - 2021 Tata Altroz 1.5 Diesel
• Duration - 9 months
• Mileage - 25,000 km
• DPF issues - None
• Reason - No short trips. Regular frequent highway drives with 2500+ RPM cruising.

There are many diesel Altroz owners reporting injector issues. Main reason is by driving with very low fuel levels regularly and fuel quality.

Here's what BHPian FiatDiesel had to say about the matter:

My car is a Hector diesel - covered 21K kms in 13 months of ownership. It has a Fiat 2.0 BS6 engine.

Also, no dips in mileage have been observed. Overall fuel efficiency 15+ Km/litre. No DPF warning till date.

Here's what BHPian 400notout had to say about the matter:

• Model: Tata Nexon 1.5 D
• Mileage: 18k km
• Age: 9 months
• Usage: 50kms daily city commute, negligible highway usage. One interstate run
• Commute route: Thane, Ghodbunder road to SV road Goregaon (Mumbai)
• DPF issues: Nothing yet

Have never driven in top gear (6). Top gear is mostly 4th. I'm lucky if I get to touch 80 kph in this route. Fuel efficiency is around 14 to 15 kmpl.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.