Has anyone had a good ownership experience of CDTi 150?

[rob warrington]

i bought my 2008 vec 1.9cdti 150 about 2 1/2 years ago and love it. when i bought it a couple of mechanic mates of mine warned me how bad these cars are, egr valves manifolds etc etc i thought oh great ive just spent a £6k and part x my focus st170 and bought a naf car. but i soon learnt that most cars arnt without their problems and as said before there are so many cdti150's about. the best thing i ever did with the car was to join this forum, i had a good read of all the posts regarding faults etc and asked a lot of questions. Theres so many members on here with lots of experiance and everyones helpful and willing to offer advice etc. and in joining the forum and reading up and learining a bit about the cdti 150 engine youll be able to do little bits yourself, for example, i had a little problem on my vec and instead of it going straight the garage and costing me a fortune i fixed it myself, after a little read on here (how 2) took the egr and boost sensor off cleaned replaced and car was good as new. i had way more trouble with my focus than ive ever had with this vectra. dont get me wrong im always a little worried about the dmf or inlet manifold going but i would be with any other diesel i bought. just enjoy it mate as theyre great cars.

[happypostie]

ive had mine over 3 years and , have had no real problems with it , just changed the dmf/clutch at 91k , im happy with the car. , when i was looking at buying a 150 cdti , was also told by a vx mechanic ( 20 years plus and who i have trusted with my car in all them years ) to get the 150 model . and like most others you only hear about things going wrong with them , but id happy buy another tomorrow ,

[Lockstock2012]

Cheers - some reassuring stuff in those replies - mines an auto so no DMF to worry about (now waiting got the auto box horror stories )! I'll keep reading and hopefully the forum can keep me out of too much trouble!

[se4]

And the dreaded DPF!

[Shogun]

And the dreaded DPF!

Oh yes ...

[tony-1977]

I'm on my second CDTi now. First a 150. Now a 120. Both high-milers and relatively trouble free. Just wear and tear, and servicing

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[tony-1977]

(now waiting for the auto box horror stories)

You got a warranty?





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[merikiito]

If people brought the correct car for their needs then we would have less issues regarding the 1.9 CDTi engine. They are only good for high mileage drivers and not local runabouts. You need to be doing at the very least 25k a year minimum to make the most of them. Too many people buy them thinking only of the MPG savings and then find out that they run the same MPG as petrol cars when used for short journeys. They get clogged up at low mileages and break down because of it, EGR valves and DPF being the most common faults.
If you are going to use it for low mileages then the first thing you need to do is get the EGR and DPF (if your car has one) mapped out which will help keep everything a bit cleaner in the engine.

The other major issue is DMF (Dual Mass Flywheel) failure which in my opinion is caused more by the driver rather than a design issue.

[CH-VECTRA-ELITE]

I've had mine for 2 and half years and all i've have to do is get the EGR mapped out, replace the thermostat twice and It's just died on me with the alternator, which the garage will be ringing me today with the bill. My only problem is the car has had it problems when i'm on holiday. Thermostat went when on the motorway going to devon when I had the car for 6 months, then the EGR failed while in st ives last year, now I'm going to the Isle of white on saturday and she's dead in a garage.

[wickedwillie]

I have owned my 150 SRI since it was a year old (2004 reg). Almost 7 years ownership now. It has been the best car I have owned in over 30 years of driving (power versus economy). It was remapped in 2007, and still is. The advantage of people on forums like this is that there are always a few who push out the boundaries a wee bit and try to find workarounds for common faults. Sometimes these workarounds can save a fortune. As I have stated before, from reading this forum, I drew up a list of most common faults and workarounds, devised a plan of attack and sat back and waited until some materialised, then I applied the theory. Examples, swirl bar off, swirl valves glued open, EGR disconnected etc. The car still runs ace, is fast and returns consistently about 50mpg.
And many thanks to all who have contributed these ideas over the years and saved many so much money. It need not always cost a fortune.