Very common with KIA, in fact my MHEV Sportage has this warning light on at the moment. I’m trying to clear it.
Bear in mind I’ve only done 1100 miles and approx. half those miles being on the motorway. Admittedly, it’s been a couple of weeks since motorway driving and there has been some short trips in cold weather. But still, surely the car should cope with 2 weeks of driving on non-high speed roads.
I have the “top-of-the range” GTLS model and love all the features of it. But soon after picking it up I began regretting picking it as the mpg is terrible at 29mpg since owning. This would be acceptable for a large vehicle in stop start journeys, but this average is including about 500 motorway miles.
My previous Motability car was going to be a Golf GTD, but knowing the issue with DPFs and short journeys, I chose the petrol GT. I sold that car to help fund the AP of this Sportage and cover for Christmas and energy costs over winter.
I am now driving in a car that only does 25mpg now it’s colder and I have to aimlessly drive around burning fuel in an already inefficient car to clear the filter.
I have read of many others with this problem and doing what the manual and dealerships tell you (drive at 50mph+, none stop, in a low enough gear to keep engine revs up to 2-3000rpm), does not clear it. The filter is considered a consumable and not covered under warranty. People are having to take their vehicles in fr a forced regen. Which uses more fuel yet again. Many are paying for this “fix”, although a lot seem to be getting done as a “gesture of goodwill”. The problem is that the fault re-occurs.
It is suggested that the vehicle is driven for at least 30 mins on motorway EACH week. That’s just not reasonable imo.
Trying to resolve this problem I’ve read similar issues on some Fords, but that seems to be a few years ago. All recent issues relate to KIA and it’s sister company, Hyundai.
Everything I have read about GPFs state that they regenerate not during constant high temperature whilst being driven (like DPFs), but they regenerate after engine reaches normal working temp and the accelerator isn’t being used. This is because the lack of fuel, but hot gases burn the soot away. Therefore, the directions given by KIA (to drive non stop) seem incorrect, which could explain why customers are having to take their car to dealerships.
For those of you who have the HEV (or privately bought a PHEV), I haven’t come across owners with this issue. HEVs do have the GPF, but during the periods where an engine would produce the most particles corresponds to when your HEV is likely to go in to EV mode.
I really regret choosing this car, but what are my options? Can I refuse the car if this problem reoccurs? The car is suitable for my disability needs, but I can’t afford the poor mpg and now knowing I have to aimlessly drive around just isn’t financially possible.