WHAAAAAAAT?

The new DPF has failed. Failed. Failed. I now hate this crappy car. I hate VW for putting a vehicle on the road that is not fit for purpose.

My wife has completely lost confidence in this car.

I am rapidly losing confidence in VW and the agent.

If this is not speedily resolved I shall become a RIGHT PAIN IN THE NETHER REGIONS FOR VW. I shall also look at buying something like a HONDA and after seven VW's NEVER buy one again.

It shall be up to VW tomorrow, when I take the blasted car to Sinclair in Cardiff a month after the latest DPF was fitted.

WHAAAAAAAT?

The new DPF has failed. Failed. Failed. I now hate this crappy car. I hate VW for putting a vehicle on the road that is not fit for purpose.

My wife has completely lost confidence in this car.

I am rapidly losing confidence in VW and the agent.

If this is not speedily resolved I shall become a RIGHT PAIN IN THE NETHER REGIONS FOR VW. I shall also look at buying something like a HONDA and after seven VW's NEVER buy one again.

It shall be up to VW tomorrow, when I take the blasted car to Sinclair in Cardiff a month after the latest DPF was fitted.


"Act in haste, repent at leisure"

You have owned 7 VW vehicles so you must have been happy with their products. Now one problem that is a "work in progress" has triggered an emotional rather than a rational response from you. ALL and I mean all manufacturers have problems with their vehicles that aggravate owners from time to time. What is important is to give them time to fix the problem - the real cause of the problem may require time and experimentation to be discovered. The most aggravating and trivial problems are often the hardest to resolve and it is a fact of life that a reasonable and understanding customer will receive more assistance than a "prima donna" aggressive and demanding customer. Which category do you fit right now?

As far as the DPF goes, I doubt this is a VW manufactured part and it is highly likely it was made by a specialist manufacturer who supplies this item to more than one vehicle manufacturer. Blaming VW for the defective component is inappropriate in this instance especially as there is a large number of the same item in service with no defects.

You may not have considered the fact that premature DPF failures can be due to the use of bio-diesel fuel which generates more particulate matter than mineral diesel thus clogging the DPF. It is not unknown for fuel outlets especially independents to purchase a delivery of cheap bio-diesel for mixing with their mineral diesel fuel to increase their profits and not disclose this to their customers who think they are purchasing the specified mineral diesel fuel for their DPF-equipped vehicle. It is also not unknown for owners to purchase bio-diesel because of its lower cost and then swear on all that is nearest and dearest to them that they have always used the correct fuel when problems become evident.

Another cause of DPF clogging can be oil leaks/carry over from the turbocharger and crankcase ventilation system into the engine causing increased carbon particulates in the exhaust gas - this cause is well-known to any VW servicing dealer and would have been one of the first items to be checked when the problem first became apparent.

Silvershadow are you a part time psychologist as well as a real EOS expert? I do like your last post although it must be very frustrating for Coolrider dealing with his problem. All cars these days are so much more complicated than it the days of yore; the various engine options, colours, wheels, entertainment packages must give the dealers a nightmare. I'm so pleased with my EOS but recognise that due to it's complexity there could be some technical issues ahead.

Thank you for the psychoanalysis. Now, I have a dead car for which I paid a lot of money. I have had the DPF replaced twice now. I have had the inconvenience of no car. My wife does not want to drive the car as she does not trust it any more. My Golf 1.6 of three years ago failed with my wife driving it when it shut down on the motorway (false engine management).

I expect to pay for a car. I always have it main dealer serviced. I do not expect it to repeatedly fail, it is not acceptable.

Silvershadow are you a part time psychologist as well as a real EOS expert? I do like your last post although it must be very frustrating for Coolrider dealing with his problem. .........................


My being a psychologist is something those who know me would find extremely unlikely and the cause of considerable amusement. My comments are solely based on my real world experience from the "school of hard knocks" and learning by making mistakes and having to rectify the consequences.

I am an old-fashioned hands-on DIY dismantler [and occasional successsful reassembler] of mechanical devices especially cars :D:D. What I do have is years of experience in dealing with all types of people including those who either have a great deal of common sense or who are seriously deficient in this respect. I also managed sales and service centres for both Australian and International manufacturers of mining, construction and industrial equipment where I was an active rather than a passive leader - my philosophy was that I could not manage a business unless I knew how it functioned from the shop floor to the office. Accordingly, I made time to work alongside each staff member to gain product and application knowledge, see what obstacles existed to restrict their productivity and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each employee. These insights have served me well throughout my life and I try to pass these insights on to those who may not have the opportunities to gain this experience to help solve their particular problems.

I am not and will not be an Eos expert for the simple reason I do not have the experience of being a regular driver as I have not found a successful way to get my partner to relinquish her driver's seat during the last 2+ years :(:(. I will not touch the mechanicals until the warranty expires so my advice is always based on basic mechanics and experience in similar situations with other vehicles.

I have every sympathy for the OP and whilst it may not be 'approved', I can see why there are those who seek DPF removal and chip re-programming.

However, VW use the same diesel engine with DPF in other models and the only thing unique to the EOS is probably roof faults.

The OP hasn't posted much about the actual failure. Diagnostics can easily determine the extent of DPF 'clogging' and there are back pressure measurement that are available.

If I had one DPF failure I would want to know from all the diagnostics measurements what the reason were was since VW seem to think they last for many miles. We are assuming the OP's problem is physical in the DPF, but it could just as easily be in the electronic managment modules. The shops are just going to look at fault codes then replace an expensive DPF.

As Silver Shadow suggests, fuel could be a problem, but if wifey is driving short runs/stop start in city traffic then impending doom is more likely to happen - but not so soon after the first failure.

Tongue in cheek I started a post 'Why has my EOS got 6 gears?' Now my wife drives keeping the tacho at around 2K, she tell me she only uses 3 gears!

Do we really know how our wives and partners drive their EOS's or what they put in the tank? ;);)

Interesting posts! My wife is second only to Sterling Moss in her approach to driving (whizz whizz and I'm there) and has enthusiasm for her driving and her cars. I am pleased to say that VW Cardiff (Sinclairs) have been helpful, efficient and courteous - a big thanks to them. Car is back with us - now to see if it runs with some reliability.

Mechanical nouse? Been driving for years (42), have serviced my own cars 'back in the day' with big ends, clutches, steering etc. a usual task, and I've just rebuilt my Harley. I know what should work and what does not. Let's see what happens next. Watch this space ......

coolrider can i ask you, have you had the car mapped at all?

Mechanical nouse? Been driving for years (42), have serviced my own cars 'back in the day' with big ends, clutches, steering etc. a usual task, and I've just rebuilt my Harley. I know what should work and what does not. Let's see what happens next. Watch this space ......

Without computer diagnostics and the knowledge to use it, you are pretty much dead in the water on these modern engine managed cars.

The big end, con rod, clutch and head gaskets are the least likely 'simple' things to go wrong. When the numerous CAN modules start spitting out the wrong hexadecimal numbers, you don't start looking for the fault with a wrench - unless something has dropped off.

Without computer diagnostics and the knowledge to use it, you are pretty much dead in the water on these modern engine managed cars.

The big end, con rod, clutch and head gaskets are the least likely 'simple' things to go wrong. When the numerous CAN modules start spitting out the wrong hexadecimal numbers, you don't start looking for the fault with a wrench - unless something has dropped off.


This is a perfect summary of the present day situation.

Unfortunately, it has resulted in a workshop practice of "replace rather than repair" - I found the cause of many problems whilst repairing items that were costly to replace. Replacing is quick and easy for the workshop and more expensive for the owner. Finding out whether the replacement has really fixed the problem more often than not becomes the responsibility of the owner when the workshop doesn't do sufficient road testing before returning the car to the owner. This experience then causes aggravation such as that experienced by Coolrider when the car has to be returned for further attention .

This is a perfect summary of the present day situation.

Unfortunately, it has resulted in a workshop practice of "replace rather than repair" - I found the cause of many problems whilst repairing items that were costly to replace. Replacing is quick and easy for the workshop and more expensive for the owner. Finding out whether the replacement has really fixed the problem more often than not becomes the responsibility of the owner when the workshop doesn't do sufficient road testing before returning the car to the owner. This experience then causes aggravation such as that experienced by Coolrider when the car has to be returned for further attention .

As I found out when my local dealership took 3 goes to fix, [fortunately under warranty] my faulty fuel gauge. Goodness knows what would occur if the DSG fails!

"Replace rather than repair."
At what point woulds they (VW) replace the whole car?
Touch wood and whistle I've had no problems with my car at all. Am I lucky? Is it the way I drive? Was the car built on a Wednesday? Nothing in life is perfect (yet) accept me and thee and even you are a little bit funny at times.

Interesting posts. Yes, I fully agree that we are now 'locked out' of servicing, and even more so repairs. My comments were to illustrate that I am not a simple ignorant owner but one with a modicum of knowledge and even more motoring experience. I would love to buy a nice simple convertible, but then that would be my old Morris 1000, Triumph Vitesse or Bond Equipe ragtops. Many years have gone by and I would not fancy their reliability now, or their protection in an accident. MGB anyone?

My wife is back driving the car, and is adamant that if it lets her down again it goes IMMEDIATELY. There will probably never be another VW bought by us if it does. The problem appears to have been cured by replacement of an exhaust sensor on the manifold, with the three week old DPF still serviceable. I trust the garage to do their best, but with cars like this I have no way of checking what the garage do, or making much in the way of sensible observations to them, excluded as we are by the electronic systems that manage things.

Back to the shake, rattle and roll of the Harley then, today in the sun, but even that ancient design has rather a lot of 'clever' electronics. It's got a soul, though!

That was my guess on your faulty dpf.

We have to remember that once upon a time service shops had highly trained mechanics who could take every bolt and part from an engine and put it all back with nothing left over.

Then manufacturers started introducing 'factory exchange' units and that dumbed down the technicians job to following a set of high level diagnostics procedures. Good fault finding requires a lot of knowledge, mental agility and rarely fits a set algorithm. However, you the customer pay for their failure when they make a wrong judgement and the wrong part is replaced, or they cover up their lack of mental agility and blind you with science.

Now they have introduced this high level of engine management and computer diagnostics. The engine management functions come first and the diagnostics are only going to tell you data that the engine management already has or needs. No flow chart or algorithm is ever going to be perfect and often the permutations of faults can be something they didn't build in. If the EOS was a Nuke power station, there would be a system of sensors just dedicated to fault finding, more sensors checking the sensors and active backup for faulty parts!

When a high cost dpf fails, it is up to the workshop to make absolutely certain that the dpf management electronics and engine running are without fault, else the replacement could fail. If you think about it, the dpf is a pretty simple piece of kit. If one fails after a few thousand miles it is more likely to be a fault in the electronics wrapped around it.

Unfortunately, we and the technicians have been hoodwinked into thinking all this computer diagnostics is perfect, so their training (and lower pay!) is now fast track linked to following factory directed procedures and mental agility in fault finding has been lost. Added to this is the relatively low volume of EOS models in the market. This shouldn't be a problem for the engine series used in other VW models. But if you have faults in the roof electronics or it needs roof service, think carefully about whether your local dealership techs have the practical competence. They may have been on VW courses and have certificates to prove it, but unless they have recently worked on a few, they will be using your EOS to refresh their knowledge and experience.

I wouldn't write off the EOS just yet for faults that could happen on any of the VW models or modern alternatives. I suspect diesels and dpf's will be an issue with many vehicles as they get older, starting with german brands who were the first to put them in. It might be worth doing some research into your local dealerships, the size of the shops, the experiences of others, how many EOS's they service, and most importantly talk to the service managers.

I am in a similar situation to you with wifey mostly driving who doesn't always notice noises and fault lights. Seriously, consider investing in Ross Tech VCDS. You can check faults logged before taking the car in and sometimes get early warnings of impending doom, which whilst registering codes have not yet tripped the engine fault light. Get the car returned with a printout showing a clear diagnostics check. You can also check yourself to see if all codes are cleared. If they aren't or re-appear after some miles, take it back and tell the shop to do their job properly!

Now I will go ride my German K1200RS which rattles like a 'box of rocks', has an ECU and Efi management, but seems to frequently ride past Hardleys broken down at the roadside. :)

I trust your BMW was as much fun as my Harley in the sunshine today! Safe riding.