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Hi John,

There's a lot less going on in the exhaust aftertreatment of a modern petrol engine than the equivalent diesel so I suspect the diesel needs the warm-up more. It may also be due to the extra strain on the starter and battery due to the high compression of the diesel engine. When the oil is cold, the friction may be higher, causing a higher strain again. 

Either way, it's nothing to worry about.

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Hi Gino,

That Ford 1.6 TDCi diesel engine is one of the most common engines around, as it has also been used by Mazda, Volvo, Peugeot, Citroen and MINI. It has one major vulnerable spot and that is that sooty, gummy deposits can build up in areas that are supposed to be kept cool and lubricated by oil. If the deposits build up enough, they can block the oil passage and cause component failure — most commonly of the turbocharger. The best way to prevent that happening is with regular servicing (at least once a year depending on mileage) and making sure that you always use a high-quality grade of synthetic oil for the engine.

The 1.6 petrol engine, the 100hp version, is a much simpler unit and it’s pretty reliable, mostly because it’s a much older design. It won’t be as economical nor as punchy in its performance as the diesel, but if it’s reliability you’re looking for, it might be the better option. 

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Hi Michael,

That engine uses a timing chain.

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Hi Mike,

Unfortunately, Revenue and the VRT process are inexplicably cruel in this regard. You have to pay the money before you appeal, but the good news is that more than 50 per cent of appeals are successful. It would be helpful to find some expert in Japanese vehicles (and I would suggest tracking down a garage that imports them regularly) to give you their opinion on the value, as Revenue is legendarily awful at coming up with reasonable values for unusual cars.

As for the NOx charge, I would ask for a statement in writing from the VRT/NCT office that you brought the car for inspection before January, but were told to come back afterwards. That might (emphasis on the might) get that waived when you make your appeal.

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Hi Peter,

Very roughly speaking, its performance is equivalent to an old 1.4 or even 1.6-litre petrol engine with no turbocharger.

You might find our review (with video) of the Octavia 1.0 TSI interesting.

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Hi Kevin,

It would have been useful to have more details about the car, such as age and engine, as it varies considerably. I'll deal with the 2013 on model, which is still in production.

All 1.2-litre petrol engines:
 - up to Sep 2014, 180,000km/10 years
- Oct 2014 to Apr 2017, 175,000km/10 years
- from then on, 100,000km/6 years first, then every 200,000km/12 years

1.5-litre BlueHDi diesel: every 180,000km or 10 years

All 1.6-litre diesel engines: 175,000km or 10 years

All 1.6-litre THP petrol engines: timing chain

1.6-litre VTi petrol engine: 150,000km or 10 years

All 2.0-litre diesel engines: every 180,000km or 10 years

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Hi Donal,

Well, fuel consumption depends very much on your own driving style and where (and to an extent when) you do most of your driving. That said, in general, we wouldn’t expect that 1.0 TSI engine to be much thirstier overall than the 1.6 diesel. In our tests, both engines are in and around as economical as each other and you should expect to get around 50mpg from either with a light foot. The diesel may be a little better than the petrol option at a sustained high-speed cruise. However, with such low annual mileage, we suspect that the petrol engine will cost less to maintain in the long run. It's probably the best option for you.

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Hi Philip,

Every gearbox is different and our advice would be to follow the manufacturer advice. For life means for life, with no limit on mileage, odd as that sounds.

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Hi Roy,

You haven’t said whether this is a BMW 420i (petrol) or a 420d (diesel), so we’ve checked both. For a 420d diesel, the VRT charge is going to be in the region of €3,900 depending on the specific spec of the car. For a petrol 420i, it’s going to be pretty similar — around €3,500. There will be NOx tax charges on top of that, but thankfully even the older 4 Series diesel models were very NOx-efficient, just 23mg/km officially, so that’ll only be an extra €115 onto the VRT for the diesel. Oddly, the petrol 420i was actually a little worse off for NOx (28mg/km) so that’ll cost you €140 extra.

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Hi Len,

It has a timing belt, which must be changed at least every 200,000km or 10 years - whichever comes first.