Astronomical Service Price 1.6D V50 75,000miler

[hitby]

Well,
What can I say other than I'm seriously unimpressed. I'm at Volvo at the moment getting an MOT so thought I'd enquire about my next service which will be the 75k one on a 2009 V50 1.6D Drive.

£1258.31

£1258.31. That's TWELVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY EIGHT POUNDS AND THIRTY ONE PENCE

and that's if there's nothing wrong with it! Just a standard service cost.

Utterly utterly appalled. Someone please tell me they've had a (much) cheaper price from an independent (please :S).

[Mark S60D5]

Thats nothing short of extortionate !!!! Ask them what on earth that includes because that is stupidly high .

[hitby]

It includes the DPF filter which is £517.80, new fluid for the DPF filter which is probably about £300, I don't know for sure as it's not listed on the printout I've got. To be honest, I think I'll just trade it in for something else. I couldn't stomach paying that out for routine servicing.

[cookie]

read the service schedule, the 1.6 and 2.0D engines have the EOLYS oil stuff for the DPF

some have jet washed, DPF and tried various things, you can refill EOLYS yourself and reset with VIDA/DICE and reset the DPF counter, however unless you reset everything with a DICE it will spit a code and go into limp mode within a few thousand miles.

Volvo IIRC is about 800 for oil/DPF and reset, its not a long job, just expensive parts

If it was me (although I would be unlikely to buy a post 2005 diesel, unless seriously cheap) I would take a punt at replacing EOLYS oil myself and resetting all the counters on DICE so it thinks DPF has been replaced, although not heard yay or nay, by anyone who has tried that.

Its a Peugeot/Ford engine, plenty around the net on the 'problem' which has always been a ticking time bomb, IMHO it was an engine that was just covered in sticky plasters to get through emmisions, once it was 'sorted'/made to comply with EuroIV, it was shoved in a high percentage of all diesel cars, as a one engine fits all

[tomhosie]

It's expensive for the reasons stated about. Had a similar quote for my 2.0D, with a local indy diesel specialist quoting even more! If your car does have the DPF and you're handy with tools, it's not a hard job. I changed my DPF in an afternoon (bought it on ebay for £120 delivered - figured if I had to change it in a year or so it's still way less than the OEM DPF), as it's just an exhaust part. Bought EOLYS fluid intending to replace myself but decided to use local dealer (Volvo Truro - who are in fact pretty good), they used my fluid, discounted the cost. I think the invoice total was £130 from Volvo. Got an oil change from National Tyres including a flush for sub £50. Replaced filters myself. All in all saved myself a fair bit of cash. Oh, got the latest software installed too, £25 IIRC.

[tomhosie]

It includes the DPF filter which is £517.80, new fluid for the DPF filter which is probably about £300, I don't know for sure as it's not listed on the printout I've got. To be honest, I think I'll just trade it in for something else. I couldn't stomach paying that out for routine servicing.

Bear in mind this is not going to be your routine annual service cost. I was quoted around £250 for the standard service, £500 for the long term and a bit less than you for the DPF service. This only has to be done every 75k miles, with the fluid needing topping up every 37.5k I think. Don't give up yet! Once it's done you've got a couple of years or four driving with relatively cheap servicing, even at main dealer prices. Or you can do yourself even cheaper!

[hitby]

Well,
I've contacted another garage that was recommended (they service the local police volvos).

They quoted:

Oil & filter
Brake fluid
Cabin Filter
air filter
DFP fluid top up
DPF regen (rather than replacement)

£248.28 all inclusive.

It would be £67.79 on top of that for a fuel filter but it's just had that done due to a clogged one.

Even taking into account the regen rather than replace on the DPF that is a HUGE difference to Volvo. I know where it'll be going for its service anyway.

[tomhosie]

Ah, there you go, pretty good result! Hope it all works out OK:thumbs_up:

[Ninja59]

Well,
I've contacted another garage that was recommended (they service the local police volvos).

They quoted:

Oil & filter
Brake fluid
Cabin Filter
air filter
DFP fluid top up
DPF regen (rather than replacement)

£248.28 all inclusive.

It would be £67.79 on top of that for a fuel filter but it's just had that done due to a clogged one.

Even taking into account the regen rather than replace on the DPF that is a HUGE difference to Volvo. I know where it'll be going for its service anyway.
Could be an interesting gamble but a dpf regeneration will only clear a percentage out of the dpf.

Make sure they use the right oil to...otherwise bye bye turbo.

[julianps]

Volvo Cars UK has a service price indicator here (http://www.volvocars.com/uk/sales-services/services/pages/service-price-indicator.aspx).

All Volvo services include all recall work, software upgrades and 12 months vehicle recovery so the average service of £250 is not (totally) extortionate. However if you're buying a MY2009/2010/2011 you might want to negotiate hard, or start an ISA, for the 6 years/75,000 and 12 years/150,000 mile services.

Note that DPF replacement and fuel additive replacement are predicated upon age of the car so there's no difference between a 6 year old car on 30,000 or 75,000 miles, they both need the same service.

Also note that on the Service Price Indicator linked to above Volvo has the replacement of the timing and auxiliary belts on the 1.6D at the wrong service-point. They list replacement at 12 years/150,000 miles but the belts should never go beyond 100,000 miles (so, between 8-10 years of normal driving).

The later D2 models have a dry DPF that doesn't require replacement and does not use the fuel additive mentioned in this thread. But services are more costly and according the SPI, belt replacement is more frequent. Up to 150,000 miles the D2 costs over £1,000 less in service costs.

Whilst I bow to the experience of members when they say DIY replacement is possible but the VIDA instructions for main dealer replacement require amongst other things an engine hoist and extensive removal/replacement of components.

Me, I'm going the ISA route!

[hitby]

Thanks, I'm definitely going to go the indy route for this service and I'll budget for the belts at the 100,000 mile service.

Also, as an aside - despite me going 500 miles over the due for the previous service I didn't get a service warning light. I thought these cars all had one?

[julianps]

For anyone looking for information, there's an archive thread on non-franchise dealers here;

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/archive/index.php/t-15009.html

[cookie]

Thanks, I'm definitely going to go the indy route for this service and I'll budget for the belts at the 100,000 mile service.

Also, as an aside - despite me going 500 miles over the due for the previous service I didn't get a service warning light. I thought these cars all had one?

The service warning is triggered by series of parameters, not sure why it didn't trigger on mileage, unless you drive like mother superior mainly motor miles

[SonyVaio]

@ OP

That so called garage is doing you a complete dis-service and you would be doing yourself and your car a disservice by using them too.

It is imperative that the DPF is changed on these cars at the correct time and not left to cause a whole host of problems later. The car already does it's own regens it doesn't need one forced at a service! It is simple, the DPF requires replacement every 75k, EOLYS fluid needs replaced and software counter reset every 37,500 miles.

A new DPF from Rufe will cost you approx £300, EOLYS approx £75. Choose who you want for the basic service items but you MUST get the DPF replaced and EOLYS topped up.

It will be a case if I told you so later on when your posting back with engine and running problems.

What else is your garage going to do? Blow out your air filter and re-use, blow out your pollen filter and re-use, empty your oil filter and re-use..... I'd be very cautious aboWOandSRmess620ut using this place if they are so quick to cut corners knowing it is only going to cause you problems later??

Good luck with whatever route you choose but I'd say you need to do your homework before you buy a car and not slate it off later because expensive service parts need replaced after you've got it.

:star-wars-smiley-01

[Ninja59]

The service warning is triggered by series of parameters, not sure why it didn't trigger on mileage, unless you drive like mother superior mainly motor miles

Mileage, time and engine running time are the factors.

[glynroberts]

I'd sell it, and buy a d5:thumbs_up:

[brokenbritain]

Complete load of rubbish that the dpf HAS to be changed at whatever mileage, driving style, type of journey etc may all determine if there is any blockage, there is a pressure differential system built in to monitor this, and yes you can refill the fluid.
Also in the case of a serious blockage the dpf CAN be dismantled and pressure washed or steam cleaned, have just done another one for a customer last week and went from splitting pressure sensor pipes and being in limp mode to driving perfectly with no other parts required, it's a French engine and I have worked and trained in Citroen so do know a little and Citroen/Peugeot do not specify replacing dpf at 75000, go with a good indy and save your money for something else ( by the way if you do buy an exchange dpf from your dealer they are themselves items which have been stripped and steam cleaned! )

[iainmd]

Agree with brokenbritain. Replacing the DPF is madness at the extortionate cost Volvo place on them. I've spoken at length with the garage I use who have 20+ years of being a Volvo specialist and they also support the pressure wash clean of a problematic DPF and have done so on Citroens in the past with the same engine.

In no world would I pay a service cost of what Volvo expect for a 75k service. I have our cars religiously maintained but there comes a point where the manufacturer is taking the pi$$ and this is one of those occasions. If it really , and I mean really, does need replacement at that cost then it's very poor design and a poor quality product we've been sold. Pure and simple.

The solution, take the sensible option which is clean the DPF if it gets blocked and carry on.

It's only my opinion but it's based on much discussion with a professional mechanic who I know and trust and has years of experience with Volvos in particular.

[julianps]

Complete load of rubbish that the dpf HAS to be changed at whatever mileage, driving style, type of journey etc may all determine if there is any blockage, there is a pressure differential system built in to monitor this, and yes you can refill the fluid.
Also in the case of a serious blockage the dpf CAN be dismantled and pressure washed or steam cleaned, have just done another one for a customer last week and went from splitting pressure sensor pipes and being in limp mode to driving perfectly with no other parts required, it's a French engine and I have worked and trained in Citroen so do know a little and Citroen/Peugeot do not specify replacing dpf at 75000, go with a good indy and save your money for something else ( by the way if you do buy an exchange dpf from your dealer they are themselves items which have been stripped and steam cleaned! )

Bearing in mind that I defer to SonyVaio's knowledge at all times, he is and continues to be a great resource here, I do have sympathy with your view too.

This particular engine application uses a fuel additive to increase the heat of the engine burn in order to purge/regenerate the DPF ("... 20 minutes at motorway speeds" says Volvo) and uses a pressure sensor (fitted to the inboard side of the battery tray) to work out how blocked and therefore how much regeneration is required.

The fuel additive never needs "replacing", the service requirement every 3 years/37,500 miles is only to top it up and reset the counter. The trouble is that the additive costs roughly £100 per litre and some dealers charge on the basis that they opened a litre so you pay for it, whether they use 100ml or 900ml; so, buy your own and have them use yours. I can see genuine Volvo fluid for £70 on eBay.

Despite regeneration the DFP also picks up soot from the not-completely-100% burn on the fuel additive and over time this fuel-additive-soot starts to block the filter too. On a car used on motorways and consuming only tiny amounts of additive (as little as 100ml per service interval, maybe) the residual ash will be tiny and I heard tell Volvo original specified 150,000 miles for DFP replacement but the number of cars going into limp-home because, ITRW we don't drive like that, forced a re-think and new service schedules then, eventually, a redesign (D2).

The replacement DPF fitted now at 75k/6 years is my dealer tells me actually a reconditioned unit and the prices quoted by Volvo, CarPart4Less, Mick's Garage/ECP/etc presume the return/credit of the old unit. Basically the units are washed in much the same way outlined here, but there may be some qualitative/pressure testing involved too. Come what may, main dealers use recon' units.

So, reading between the lines it should be possible to get this service done more cheaply by topping up the tank and pressure washing the DPF but if it does all go t!ts-up after 25,000 miles don't come crying ... etc. Even going the main dealer service route one should put pressure on them to be as economical as possible with top-up and replacement parts.

[roundyuk]

My S40 has just hit 75000 miles, I was checking my pressure reading and it was at 23uPa or whatever it is - for a laugh I ran the regen script in VIDA and afterwards to was much much lower, so assume it did some good. I also think my MPG is coming up a bit!

My brother works for a Volvo dealer and the workshop dude said its not an urgent replace at 75000 but it should be close to it, it may go much further depending what life the car has had. Worst case scenario I'll buy an aftermarket DPF and replace myself.

[SonyVaio]

Truth be known I hate these DPF systems. Never had them in old cars and engines these days by design are far far better and cleaner.

At the end of the day no matter what the engine kicks out in the way of smoke/soot by hook or by crook it eventually goes out the back one way or another. The DPF's just collect the bigger particles and then the regen cycles just break them down a bit further. End result they still go out the back?? Not sure where the eco greenness comes in with these systems??

To this end I see absolutely no problem with a remap and DPF delete, get more power, more economy, still kick out the same amount of crud out the back, less problems and arguably your greener with your better MPG?

So, not all is lost a remap and DPF delete will cost about the same as a DPF replacement but will be a one off lifetime cost unlike the DPF which needs replaced in another 75k.

I wish you the best of luck with whatever way you choose to go but going with the original garages recommendation of just a forced regen is not the way to go. You will get better MPG after a regen as the exhaust gasses can flow a lot easier. You'll get even more MPG with a DPF delete. On the other side of this if you continue to keep your current DPF without exchange, replacement or pressure wash then it will block up over the next 'XX' miles and one of your signs that something is wrong should be the fact your MPG will drop.

:star-wars-smiley-01

[brokenbritain]

Trouble is if DPF is missing then that's an MOT fail now, I too hate these systems, in fact hate most modern cars as they are becoming throwaway items such as tvs and washing machines, newer is not always better, my V70 tdi p2 year 2000 is totally reliable and has none of all the so called advanced technology....

[The Thong]

This explains why V50's are so cheap with about 75k on them, the owners must be unloading them before the service is due. I think I'm going off the idea of buying one :(

TT

[Clan]

Well,
I've contacted another garage that was recommended (they service the local police volvos).

They quoted:

Oil & filter
Brake fluid
Cabin Filter
air filter
DFP fluid top up
DPF regen (rather than replacement)

£248.28 all inclusive.

It would be £67.79 on top of that for a fuel filter but it's just had that done due to a clogged one.

Even taking into account the regen rather than replace on the DPF that is a HUGE difference to Volvo. I know where it'll be going for its service anyway.

Be prepared for trouble with outfits doing that , the car is quite capable of regenerating itself whilst the DPF is in good condition , a forced regeneration will be of no benefit at all .
The dpf is no longer able to work efficiently at much over 80000 miles due to the precious elements being worn away , it will result in more regenerations trying to take place , poor fuel consumption , rising oil level and clogging up more possibly damaging the particle filter pressure sensor, and some time between 90000 and 100000 breaking down having to be towed to a garage who know what they are doing ..

The EOLYS fluid is around £50 so don't pay over the odds on e-bay ! volvo dont sell it in bulk it comes in a 1.5 litre bottle ( so around £30 a litre ) and filling pipe kit . A DPF can be £280 below a certain chassis number , make sure you have a correct quote ..

Citroen use a completly different 2 part CAT/DPF , and they are £500 each to replace . Larger cirtoens use EOLYS too their tank is 5 litres so even more expensive to refill.
"washing" out a DPF is a very short term measure not worth the money , if anyone realises how a DPF Is constructed they might realise why .
There are many 100's of 1000's of tiny 90 degree bends which trap the soot particles in the corners which cant be cleaned out , they are not like a Catalytic converter which have narrow bore holes going straight through .

Volvo DPF replacments are indeed reconditioned with new cores !

£1250 is still a lot for this service though , shop around ...

[tomhosie]

Clan and SonyVaio are talking sense, although i too was advised by a respected indy diesel specialist in Cornwall that he could delete but that MOT is changing and that i may have to pop a DPF in anyway. So i decided to do it myself other than the fluid part. Apparently if you delete the remap the ECU so it doesn't keep checking for DPF condition etc, but if u then take it to Volvo and get a software update it could overwrite and cause problems. Why oh why would you want to blast water into a DPF, have you seen the inside of one? The long term problems could be pretty catastrophic.

This is a fun debate though! What a great forum, and everyone is so polite too��

[Ninja59]

Truth be known I hate these DPF systems. Never had them in old cars and engines these days by design are far far better and cleaner.

At the end of the day no matter what the engine kicks out in the way of smoke/soot by hook or by crook it eventually goes out the back one way or another. The DPF's just collect the bigger particles and then the regen cycles just break them down a bit further. End result they still go out the back?? Not sure where the eco greenness comes in with these systems??



Highlighted a few times on here the particulates that do get caught a large percentage are turning carbon (soot) to CO2. The extra heat is to promote this "burning process" as the optimum temperature for oxygen to form with the carbon is 600 degrees...something which is quite difficult to achieve when there is little revs involved. I will ignore the nitrogen element of the potential equation some deal with.

The DPF is not really an "eco" device but a "health saving" device as there is a reasonable "speculative"* amount of research that points to particulates causing various breathing and cancer related diseases in humans. The EU standards reflect the WHO stance that particulates are now rated in the highest category for carcinogens (noticed I have avoided bringing diesel as a fuel into this, well read on *2).

So take away the eco part as really in honesty these devices burn more fuel and actually pump out more CO2 than just the car normally as the carbon gets changed into CO2 (yes a lovely greenhouse gas that we are all trying to avoid polluting our atmosphere with). One cannot help but see the irony of that (in that the EU has kept fighting to lower CO2 outputs) but with this change it can only be said that the EU has decided alongside the WHO human health comes higher up the priority than the CO2 emissions they cause.

*2: Also don't forget that gasoline direct injection also causes particulate pollution, hence why Euro VI will be the first standard to include a particulate limit for petrols as well as diesels.

Ultimately, I disagree with the removal of DPF's if they were fitted by OEM as I can see the potential benefit they bring. However my caveats are two fold I think that some of the science behind the WHO decision is a little overplayed as very few of the reports are fully conclusive and the WHO decided to be "proactive" and two that DPF's need some further refinement, which I believe in the D2 has been resolved somewhat (one cannot help but bring up that the catalytic converter went through the same/similar number of issues initially).

[hitby]

Thanks for all the information, it is indeed a good debate!

There's no way I can afford to splash 1.2k on a service though so I'm thinking I might just have the regular service with the DPF fluid top up and then replace the filter if/when it starts causing problems. I do do reasonable mileage, around 50 miles a day down from 90 previously so I'm hopeful that the car is being driven as needed.

[SonyVaio]

Just wanted to add the point that although a 'missing' DPF is a MOT failure a DPF delete does not actually take away the DPF these days.

A DPF delete these days means remove DPF, drill out the centre for free flow of gasses, refit DPF and apply a remap so everything works correctly

After the delete the DPF is then still there in place as part of the exhaust system for a MOT and as such with the current visual inspection it will pass.

:star-wars-smiley-01

[Ninja59]

Thanks for all the information, it is indeed a good debate!

There's no way I can afford to splash 1.2k on a service though so I'm thinking I might just have the regular service with the DPF fluid top up and then replace the filter if/when it starts causing problems. I do do reasonable mileage, around 50 miles a day down from 90 previously so I'm hopeful that the car is being driven as needed.

it is not so much the total mileage but the type of miles you do motorway work means nice on going slightly higher revs is the critical part not so much the speed so sometimes choosing a lower gear to slightly increase revs means the DPF will be kept cleaner additionally carefully considering your fuel choice can have a direct effect on the amount of carbon exiting tesco I found awful for the amount of soot production, fuelsave from shell was good as was V power my mileage allowed me to cover the additional cost (around MoT time as well my emissions were better on Vpower).

[hitby]

Well, my car wasn't used as much as expected but I finally got around to getting this service done.

When I dropped it in the car park was full of police cars (awaiting work, not raiding the place :)) so I presume the garage know what they're up to.

Service cost was £213.89, cheaper than quoted as it didn't need as much EOLYS as expected.

Oil 22.02
Oil Filter 7.70
Cabin Filter 11.12
Brake Fluid 5.95
EOLYS additive 9.95
Labour 121.50
VAT 35.65
Carry out service, regen and top up DPF, brake fluid change. They even gave it a good clean, dropped me off at work and dropped the car off afterwards.

I'll wait and see how she goes over the next few thousand miles but right now I'm made up.

Cheers

[julianps]

it is not so much the total mileage but the type of miles you do motorway work means nice on going slightly higher revs is the critical part not so much the speed so sometimes choosing a lower gear to slightly increase revs means the DPF will be kept cleaner additionally carefully considering your fuel choice can have a direct effect on the amount of carbon exiting tesco I found awful for the amount of soot production, fuelsave from shell was good as was V power my mileage allowed me to cover the additional cost (around MoT time as well my emissions were better on Vpower).

Talking to my dealer he says that whilst most service items are mileage or time based (so, for servicing, "Every 12,500 miles or 12 months whichever comes first") certain items on my 2010MY 1.6D are not.

1) Timing belt. Scheduled at 150,000 miles but, critically, there's a service footnote; "... not more than 10 years"

2) Fuel additive. 37,500 miles irrespective of time; so, on low mileage cars this could be later than the third year/6th year service. Seems counter intuitive to me but I did read elsewhere that originally Volvo set this at 75,000 and dropped it only when a small number of low mileage cars went into limp-home near to the 6 years point.

3) DPF. This is 75,000 miles irrespective of time; so if it takes 10 years to get there then wait ten years (but you might want to have a recovery policy in place after 6 ... ;-))

Given that a decent recovery policy (one that'll take my car from Sheffield to my dealer at Aberaeron when a fuel line breaks) costs about £100 but (like the £50 MOT) comes free with a dealer service, I'm sticking to dealer servicing for now, and using the above to make sure I'm not bounced into costs before I need to be.

[hitby]

I enjoyed having the Volvo Breakdown service but never had to use it, I understand they'll only recover it to a Volvo garage so if you're out of warranty then it will end up costing more for the repairs needed than at a decent indy.

For what it's worth, I can totally recommend Autoaid Breakdown http://www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/ - It's £41 a year for cover equivalent to the top level AA/RAC. The only difference being that you pay out of your pocket and submit a claim and then they send you a cheque within two weeks. I've had to use them a couple of times on previous cars and had no issues at all so I've gone with them and saved a fortune compared to a main dealer.

Cheers

[julianps]

I enjoyed having the Volvo Breakdown service but never had to use it, I understand they'll only recover it to a Volvo garage so if you're out of warranty then it will end up costing more for the repairs needed than at a decent indy. <snip>

When I was towed in with a broken #1/#2 fuel line I checked with FRF for the cost of the part (£55 including shipping) so I had a fair idea of what it'd cost me to do the work. My Volvo dealer (Lloyds, Aberaeron) supplied and fitted the part and cleaned the residual muck from under the engine cover for £103 all-in. Included in that, he cleared all OBD codes and reset the fuelling map (apparently they learn as they go along, even if they're learning abut a leak) and valeted the car.

There's no way my local garage could do it for that price [his labour's never less than a £100+VAT].

Hopefully they'll always give me the option to be towed to my own dealer; I'd hate to think what a central London dealer would have done for that price!

[hitby]

I stand corrected :) Good to know that there are some good main dealers around, even if my local one thinks that I've won the lottery every time I go in :D

[julianps]

The first time I used Lloyds' was after I'd bought a 2000MY V40 from local doctor who'd had it from new and bought it there. I took it in for something and the dealer rolled his eyes and immediately offered me the free safety inspection (one free per car, then £54 per inspection thereafter). He came up with 5 points that he felt needed immediate attention and recommended a local man who'd do the work cheaper than they could (they're obliged to use Volvo-branded parts only). Since then he's always tried to be more than fair, on one memorable occasion waiving any charge but asking me to buy ice creams for the guys in the workshop on a boiling-hot day. It's service, done the right way, and I can't speak highly enough of them.

[dunnyd5]

Old article and in the mail! but must say when my non dpf diesel eventually gives up the ghost seriously thinking of going back to t5!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2175879/The-great-diesel-exposed-Its-time-ditched-inferior-vehicles.html

[julianps]

Old article and in the mail! but must say when my non dpf diesel eventually gives up the ghost seriously thinking of going back to t5! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2175879/The-great-diesel-exposed-Its-time-ditched-inferior-vehicles.html

Which? has calculated that for an average British motorist the extra outlay to buy a diesel – typically £1000-3000 more than the petrol equivalent – will take more than a decade, if ever, to be paid off by fuel savings (especially as diesel is now significantly more expensive than petrol). Only people who do very high mileages (more than 18,000 annually) and who wish to drive a big luxury car (where the efficiencies of diesel start to count) may find diesel saves them money.

The biggest difference between petrol and diesel are running costs and tractability; clearly it takes a while for the slim difference between petrol and diesel (about 7%) to recover the higher capital and service outlay. Many people however prefer the different driving dynamic of diesel; essentially they prefer, because of whatever, to drive on torque rather than revs. Faced with the Welsh hills the experience of driving a Lexus i200 (all-t!ts-and-no-torque) versus an S40 1.6D is chalk and cheese despite the Lexus being more "powerful"; we'll ignore the 24mpg-vs-53mpg fuel comparison too.

Looking at Volvo's site (car configurator, finance examples and service price indicator) and Parker's guide (fuel consumption) we can see;

1) the V40 1.6D2 ES on a personal finance will cost £14,200 over 3y/30k miles versus £12,800 for a 1.6T2 ES.

2) The D2 has it's third service at 37,000 miles and T2 has it's second at 36,000. Taking the 37/36k average over 30,000 miles means the D2 averages £675 to service whereas the T2 averages £400.

3) Parker's list the fuel consumption of the D2 at 83mpg so assuming a £6.50 gallon that's £2,350 in fuel; the T2 gets 53mpg at a £6 gallon costs £3,400

4) The D2 totals £17,225 or 57.4pence-per-mile to run; whereas,

5) The T2 totals £16,600 or 55.3pence-per-mile to run.

So, ignoring the fact that the T2 needs an annual tax disk, the diesel's less than 5% more expensive for a car with potentially greater life expectancy. Note too that the DPF on this D2 doesn't need changing and the timing-belt service on the D2 is £580 whereas on the T2 it's £750.

I have heard the argument made that the fuel additive in wet DPFs is a secret killer but that's all but been removed from modern cars and they tell me modern petrol engines will particle filters too, if we're to able to drive cars in cities after 2050 (or whenever Boris' arbitrary deadline is).

Maybe the real difference is, if you live in Wales or Cumbria get a D2, if you live in Cornwall get a T2 and if you want to reduce your costs stick to manual rather than automatic as that costs more and kills the fuel consumption (on smaller engines).