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Drivers are being warned of the potential risk from diesel cars in the guise of the dreaded DPF – diesel particulate filter and repairs in excess of £1000.

Glasgow-based finance broker First Vehicle Leasing has issued some rather unconventional advice to help drivers escape costly repairs by telling them to “Speed Up!”.

Diesel cars owners with DPFs fitted run the risk of costly repairs due to the devices clogging up with soot and other diesel exhaust particulates. The stop start nature of many commuters means that the conditions required to “burn” off and regenerate the filters are not met, meaning a manual regeneration is required or even worse a complete replacement.

Their advice to speed up and head for the open roads ensures that the optimum engine conditions are met for regeneration to take place.

Business development manager Andy Watson said, “If you do not do this, you may need to have the filter replaced, and this cost is unlikely to be covered under the vehicle’s warranty”.

This is sound advice however counter-intuitive it may seem. Having been bitten by DPF issues in my Nissan Qashqai [more here Nissan qashqai dpf issues] we know how costly and upsetting it can be.

It’s just a shame that the advice comes a little too late for those already in the DPF blockage cycle. If people were correctly advised when purchasing their cars they might just opt for a more suitable fuel type could well see them saving much more than a few pounds at the pumps.

For more information on diesel particulate filters check our our diesel particulate filters faq and as usual – we’d love to hear your experiences with DPFs – good or bad.