When and where DPFs fail – an analysis of 35000 real-world cases by age, make, model
PRESS RELEASE: 22 SEPT 2026
Analysis of 36,135 UK DPF problems finds commercial vehicles blocking 3 years earlier than private cars, often with no warning light. Some makes and models appear to survive with few DPF problems, while others fail early.
Commercial vehicles suffer a blocked diesel particulate filter around three years earlier than private cars, according to an analysis of 36,135 DPF cases handled by national mobile specialist DPF Fixer between November 2024 and July 2026.
The commercial vehicles in the study blocked at 8.4 years old and 98,552 miles. The private cars blocked at 11.3 years and 96,119 miles.
“Mileage is the constant and time is the variable. A van blocks at roughly the same odometer reading as a car, it just gets there a great deal quicker. For a fleet that changes the question from whether a DPF clean is a mid-life job to whether it is a scheduled one, because it lands inside the replacement cycle rather than at the end of it.”
Shaun Clarke, General Manager, DPF Fixer Ltd
That timing is the finding most likely to matter to fleet operators. Some 45.6 per cent of the commercial vehicles in the dataset were under eight years old when they blocked, and 13.7 per cent were under five.
ONE IN SEVEN ARRIVES WITH NO WARNING LIGHT
The dashboard is a less reliable prompt on commercial vehicles than on cars. Of the commercial vehicles attended, 13.9 per cent showed no warning light at all, against 8.3 per cent of private cars, and 32.9 per cent gave no DPF-specific warning of any kind. Only 4.1 per cent had escalated to a red DPF warning, compared with 14.7 per cent of private cars — the single largest gap between the two groups in the dataset.
“Operators are catching these at amber, or catching them with no light at all, because they are booking on performance, fuel figures and scheduled checks rather than waiting for the dashboard to tell them. Private motorists are three and a half times more likely to have reached a red warning before anyone picks up the phone. That gap is a fleet-management gap, not an engineering one.”
Shaun Clarke, General Manager, DPF Fixer Ltd
LOW ANNUAL MILEAGE IS NO PROTECTION
The data does not support the assumption that lightly used vehicles are safe. Some 14.4 per cent of commercial vehicles arrived with under 50,000 miles on the clock. Commercial vehicles covering less than 5,000 miles a year blocked at a median of just 27,694 miles, and were older when it happened, not younger. Across both categories, 1,304 vehicles doing under 5,000 miles a year needed a DPF clean — a pattern DPF Fixer attributes to short-journey, stop-start use that never allows a full regeneration cycle.
Nor is newer hardware exempt. Euro 6d and Euro 6d-temp vehicles made up 30.5 per cent of commercial jobs attended, against 11.7 per cent of non-commercial work — the newest emissions equipment on the road is already generating a material share of commercial demand.
MAKE/MODEL DPF FAILURE INDEX, ONCE PARC SHARE IS TAKEN OUT
Because a popular van will generate more cases simply by being numerous, the analysis indexes each make and model against its share of the UK licensed diesel LCV, HGV and bus parc. On that basis the Ford Transit range — 27.7 per cent of all commercial cases — scores 1.24, close to par against its 22.3 per cent share of the parc. The headline figure reflects how many are on the road rather than a Ford-specific problem.
The clearest outlier is the Mitsubishi L200 at 2.82, close to three times its expected rate, followed by the Vauxhall Vivaro at 1.99 and the Renault Trafic and Master at 1.78. At the other end, the VW Transporter and Caddy (0.41) and the Toyota Hilux (0.38) turn up at well under half the rate their numbers would predict. Among makes, Volkswagen is the most under-represented major commercial brand at 0.60, with Toyota at 0.54.
A DOWNTIME PROBLEM, NOT A BREAKDOWN
Almost all of these vehicles were still driveable when the engineer arrived: 99.2 per cent started and ran, while 63.9 per cent of commercial vehicles were reported as suffering power loss. The practical cost to an operator is therefore degraded performance and fuel economy, a vehicle held back from work, and the risk of escalation — rather than a roadside failure. Some 68.2 per cent of commercial operators came straight to a specialist without a prior garage diagnosis.
The blocked DPF, by the numbers
Every vehicle classified as commercial or non-commercial, set against the UK diesel parc, with the full symptom and condition profile for each.
How each vehicle was classified
Every one of the 16,557 jobs is assigned to one side or the other. No record sits outside the split.
Two populations, each used where it is valid
The datasheet draws on two clearly separated bases.
| Base | Vehicles | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| DPF cases — every vehicle brought to DPF Fixer with a suspected blockage, whether or not the work went ahead | 36,135 | Make and model incidence, index against parc, vehicle age |
| Vehicles attended — a technician went out and inspected the vehicle | 16,557 | Warning lights, power loss, garage diagnosis, starts and runs, mileage, price, outcome |
The split is deliberate. Mileage and inspected condition are only recorded when a technician attends, so those figures rest on the 16,557. Which vehicles develop blockages is a separate question, and measuring it on attended jobs alone would confuse blockage rates with how readily different owners agree to the work — so the incidence and index figures use all 36,135 cases. Enquiries found to be a different fault, and those with no vehicle recorded, are excluded from both.
Classification runs in priority order. The recorded vehicle class settles the large majority outright; the remainder are resolved on model name, manufacturer and customer context, so a Transit or a Sprinter entered without a class is still counted as commercial.
| Signal | Resolves to | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded vehicle class LCV, HCV or PSV | Commercial | 8,536 |
| Van, pickup, truck, bus or plant model name | Commercial | 331 |
| Recorded vehicle class Car | Non-commercial | 26,412 |
| Passenger model name, no commercial signal | Non-commercial | 856 |
| Total classified | — | 36,135 |
Account and contract records were used to corroborate borderline cases but not to define the split: a sole trader paying by card at the roadside is driving a commercial vehicle and is counted as such. Passenger-bodied variants that share a van name — Tourneo, Caddy Life, California — are held on the non-commercial side.
Vehicle age
Age at the point of enquiry, from the registration plate year identifier. Based on all 36,135 DPF cases.
| Measure | All vehicles | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 10.7 yrs | 8.4 yrs | 11.3 yrs |
| Lower quartile | 8.2 | 6.2 | 9.2 |
| Upper quartile | 13.4 | 11.0 | 14.1 |
Distribution by age band
45.6% of commercial vehicles are under eight years old, and 13.7% are under five. Working vehicles reach a blocked DPF while still current fleet stock — often inside a lease or replacement cycle rather than at the end of one.
Private cars cluster three years later, at 10–15 years old (46.7% of the total). Only 1.7% are under five years old. This is the post-warranty, second- or third-owner car.
Emissions standard
| Euro standard | All | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Euro 6d | 7.4% | 14.6% | 4.3% |
| Euro 6d-temp | 10.0% | 15.9% | 7.4% |
| Euro 6c | 9.4% | 11.9% | 8.3% |
| Euro 6b | 34.5% | 29.4% | 36.6% |
| Euro 5b | 23.0% | 23.1% | 22.9% |
| Euro 5a | 9.2% | 1.9% | 12.4% |
| Euro 4 | 5.9% | 1.5% | 7.8% |
Euro 6d and 6d-temp together are 30.5% of commercial work against 11.7% of non-commercial. The newest emissions hardware on the road is already generating commercial demand.
Mileage
Odometer reading at the point of cleaning, and the implied annual rate. Based on the 16,557 vehicles attended.
| Measure | All vehicles | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median mileage | 96,875 | 98,552 | 96,119 |
| Lower quartile | 68,742 | 66,689 | 69,439 |
| Upper quartile | 126,754 | 132,617 | 124,306 |
| Median miles per year | 9,352 | 11,935 | 8,624 |
The two sides block at almost identical mileage — 98,552 against 96,119, a difference of under 3% — but the commercial vehicle gets there three years sooner, covering 11,935 miles a year against 8,624.
Mileage is the constant; time is the variable. A van reaches the same odometer reading faster, and blocks when it does.
Distribution by mileage band
| Mileage | All | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 50,000 | 12.4% | 14.4% | 11.5% |
| 50,000–75,000 | 18.0% | 16.3% | 18.7% |
| 75,000–100,000 | 22.6% | 20.4% | 23.5% |
| 100,000–125,000 | 20.9% | 18.7% | 21.8% |
| 125,000–150,000 | 13.3% | 13.7% | 13.2% |
| 150,000–200,000 | 9.5% | 11.0% | 8.9% |
| Over 200,000 | 3.3% | 5.3% | 2.4% |
One in eight vehicles on each side arrives with under 50,000 miles on it. Low mileage is no protection in either category.
By how far the vehicle is driven each year
Commercial
| Annual miles | Jobs | Mileage at clean | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5,000 | 314 | 27,694 | 9 |
| 5,000–7,500 | 423 | 57,992 | 10 |
| 7,500–10,000 | 758 | 78,688 | 9 |
| 10,000–15,000 | 1,564 | 104,684 | 8 |
| Over 15,000 | 1,324 | 133,270 | 6 |
Non-commercial
| Annual miles | Jobs | Mileage at clean | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5,000 | 990 | 44,824 | 12 |
| 5,000–7,500 | 2,367 | 74,595 | 12 |
| 7,500–10,000 | 3,043 | 100,161 | 11 |
| 10,000–15,000 | 2,497 | 123,567 | 10 |
| Over 15,000 | 679 | 168,347 | 9 |
A commercial vehicle doing under 5,000 miles a year blocks at 27,694 miles. A car doing the same blocks at 44,824. Both are a fraction of the reading their high-mileage equivalents reach, and both groups are older when it happens, not younger.
Across both sides, 1,304 vehicles doing under 5,000 miles a year needed a DPF clean. Short-journey use is its own failure route.
Warning lights
Based on the 16,557 vehicles attended.
| Symptom | All | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| DPF light on | 69.6% | 67.1% | 70.7% |
| Engine management light on | 42.3% | 39.8% | 43.4% |
What the driver sees
| Combination | All | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| DPF light only | 48.2% | 46.7% | 48.9% |
| Both lights | 21.3% | 20.4% | 21.7% |
| Engine light only | 20.5% | 19.0% | 21.1% |
| No warning light at all | 9.9% | 13.9% | 8.3% |
30.4% of blocked DPFs give the driver no DPF-specific warning — 32.9% on commercial vehicles, 29.4% on private cars.
13.9% of commercial vehicles arrive with no warning light showing at all, against 8.3% of private cars. Operators are booking on performance, fuel figures and scheduled checks rather than waiting for the dashboard.
Light colour
| Light and colour | All | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| DPF light — amber | 88.4% | 95.9% | 85.3% |
| DPF light — red | 11.6% | 4.1% | 14.7% |
| Engine light — amber | 97.7% | 98.5% | 97.4% |
| Engine light — red | 2.3% | 1.5% | 2.6% |
Red DPF warnings are three and a half times more common on private cars than on commercial vehicles — 14.7% against 4.1%. Commercial vehicles are caught at the amber stage; private cars are far more likely to have escalated to red before anyone calls.
Permanent or intermittent
| Light | All | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| DPF light — permanent | 97.8% | 98.0% | 97.7% |
| DPF light — intermittent | 2.2% | 2.0% | 2.3% |
| Engine light — permanent | 98.3% | 98.2% | 98.3% |
| Engine light — intermittent | 1.7% | 1.8% | 1.7% |
Effectively identical on both sides. By the time anyone calls, the light is on and staying on.
How long the light had been on before calling
| Duration | All | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within a week | 97.4% | 97.8% | 97.2% |
| Within a month | 2.4% | 2.0% | 2.5% |
| Longer | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.3% |
97% of customers call within a week of the warning light appearing, on both sides of the split.
Vehicle condition
Based on the 16,557 vehicles attended.
| Measure | All | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starts and runs | 99.2% | 99.0% | 99.2% |
| Power loss reported | 66.0% | 63.9% | 66.9% |
| Confirmed by a garage first | 30.8% | 31.8% | 30.4% |
Roughly seven in ten customers arrive without a prior garage diagnosis, and the rate barely moves between the two sides — 68.2% of commercial operators and 69.6% of private motorists come straight to a specialist.
Two-thirds report power loss. Commercial vehicles report it slightly less often, consistent with being caught earlier.
Makes
Each make is set against its share of the UK diesel parc, so the figures show which vehicles turn up more often than their numbers on the road would predict. Based on all 36,135 DPF cases.
Share of cases divided by share of the parc. 1.00 is exactly par — the make turns up as often as you would expect from the number on the road. 2.00 means twice as often. Below 1.00 means the make is under-represented.
Each segment is measured against its own denominator: private cars against the 10,082,560 licensed diesel cars in the UK, commercial vehicles against the 5,255,126 licensed diesel vans, trucks and buses. Source: DVLA / DfT table VEH0120, Q1 2026.
| Make | Jobs | Share of cases | Share of diesel LCV parc | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi | 371 | 4.18% | 1.55% | 2.70 |
| Vauxhall | 1,172 | 13.22% | 8.57% | 1.54 |
| Renault | 726 | 8.19% | 5.34% | 1.53 |
| Citroën | 777 | 8.76% | 5.97% | 1.47 |
| Peugeot | 782 | 8.82% | 6.99% | 1.26 |
| Nissan | 272 | 3.07% | 2.57% | 1.19 |
| Ford | 2,750 | 31.01% | 26.48% | 1.17 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 559 | 6.30% | 7.99% | 0.79 |
| Iveco | 110 | 1.24% | 1.68% | 0.74 |
| Fiat | 234 | 2.64% | 3.67% | 0.72 |
| Volkswagen | 638 | 7.20% | 11.92% | 0.60 |
| Toyota | 132 | 1.49% | 2.73% | 0.54 |
Ford’s 31.0% share is close to par. Ford accounts for 26.5% of the UK diesel LCV parc, so an index of 1.17 means Transits and Rangers turn up only slightly more often than their sheer numbers predict. The headline share reflects how many are on the road, not a Ford problem.
Mitsubishi is the genuine outlier at 2.70 — nearly three times its expected rate, on the L200 almost entirely. Vauxhall, Renault and Citroën also run well above par. At the other end, Volkswagen is the most under-represented major make at 0.60, and Toyota at 0.54.
| Make | Jobs | Share of cases | Share of diesel car parc | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mazda | 984 | 3.61% | 0.87% | 4.17 |
| Jaguar | 1,250 | 4.58% | 2.08% | 2.20 |
| Land Rover | 4,418 | 16.20% | 7.85% | 2.06 |
| Honda | 828 | 3.04% | 1.59% | 1.91 |
| Vauxhall | 1,960 | 7.19% | 5.13% | 1.40 |
| Nissan | 1,507 | 5.53% | 4.34% | 1.27 |
| Peugeot | 1,188 | 4.36% | 4.07% | 1.07 |
| Ford | 2,386 | 8.75% | 10.11% | 0.87 |
| Audi | 2,020 | 7.41% | 8.68% | 0.85 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 1,932 | 7.09% | 9.13% | 0.78 |
| BMW | 1,773 | 6.50% | 10.13% | 0.64 |
| Volkswagen | 1,490 | 5.46% | 10.54% | 0.52 |
Land Rover’s 16.2% share survives the parc test. Land Rover is 7.85% of the UK diesel car parc, so an index of 2.06 means the brand arrives at twice the rate its numbers predict. Jaguar sits just above it at 2.20.
Mazda is the highest make index in the datasheet at 4.17. On 0.87% of the diesel car parc it produces 3.61% of private cases — four times expected, driven by the CX-5.
The German makes go the other way. Volkswagen at 0.52 and BMW at 0.64 arrive at around half their expected rate, with Mercedes at 0.78 and Audi at 0.85. Ford is close to par at 0.87.
Models
Each segment is shown twice — once on jobs attended, once on all cases — so the two can be read against each other.
Jobs attended (16,557) covers vehicles a technician inspected. Every blockage is confirmed, and mileage is recorded. Use it for anything about the vehicles worked on.
All cases (36,135) adds every vehicle brought to DPF Fixer with a suspected blockage, whether or not the work went ahead. It removes the effect of some owners being readier to pay than others, so it is the better measure of which vehicles develop the problem. No mileage, since that is only taken on inspection.
Commercial
| Model family | Jobs | Share | Parc share | Index | Median age | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi L200 | 220 | 4.40% | 1.46% | 3.02 | 7.9 | 87,962 |
| Vauxhall Vivaro | 468 | 9.35% | 4.75% | 1.97 | 7.9 | 97,921 |
| Renault Trafic / Master | 424 | 8.47% | 4.36% | 1.95 | 6.8 | 89,044 |
| Nissan Navara | 113 | 2.26% | 1.25% | 1.81 | 7.4 | 83,787 |
| Citroën Berlingo / Relay / Dispatch | 418 | 8.35% | 5.73% | 1.46 | 9.2 | 110,636 |
| Peugeot Partner / Boxer / Expert | 423 | 8.45% | 6.38% | 1.33 | 7.9 | 105,220 |
| Vauxhall Movano | 81 | 1.62% | 1.25% | 1.30 | 4.8 | 67,848 |
| Ford Transit / Custom / Connect | 1,338 | 26.74% | 22.32% | 1.20 | 8.4 | 99,657 |
| Ford Ranger | 184 | 3.68% | 3.25% | 1.13 | 6.2 | 81,429 |
| Mercedes Vito | 81 | 1.62% | 1.47% | 1.10 | 8.3 | 107,985 |
| Mercedes Sprinter | 196 | 3.92% | 4.81% | 0.81 | 6.8 | 145,510 |
| Fiat Ducato | 51 | 1.02% | 1.40% | 0.73 | 5.4 | 83,894 |
| Toyota Hilux | 42 | 0.84% | 1.77% | 0.48 | 5.5 | 78,438 |
| VW Transporter / Caddy | 156 | 3.12% | 8.76% | 0.36 | 9.4 | 98,227 |
| Model family | Cases | Share | Parc share | Index | Median age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi L200 | 364 | 4.11% | 1.46% | 2.82 | 8.2 |
| Vauxhall Vivaro | 839 | 9.46% | 4.75% | 1.99 | 8.3 |
| Renault Trafic / Master | 686 | 7.74% | 4.36% | 1.78 | 7.4 |
| Nissan Navara | 179 | 2.02% | 1.25% | 1.62 | 7.4 |
| Citroën Berlingo / Relay / Dispatch | 754 | 8.50% | 5.73% | 1.48 | 9.4 |
| Mercedes Vito | 177 | 2.00% | 1.47% | 1.36 | 8.4 |
| Peugeot Partner / Boxer / Expert | 751 | 8.47% | 6.38% | 1.33 | 8.3 |
| Ford Transit / Custom / Connect | 2,457 | 27.71% | 22.32% | 1.24 | 8.8 |
| Vauxhall Movano | 125 | 1.41% | 1.25% | 1.13 | 5.3 |
| Ford Ranger | 272 | 3.07% | 3.25% | 0.94 | 6.4 |
| Mercedes Sprinter | 339 | 3.82% | 4.81% | 0.80 | 7.3 |
| Fiat Ducato | 85 | 0.96% | 1.40% | 0.68 | 6.4 |
| VW Transporter / Caddy | 319 | 3.60% | 8.76% | 0.41 | 9.8 |
| Toyota Hilux | 60 | 0.68% | 1.77% | 0.38 | 5.8 |
The two commercial tables agree closely: the Transit range moves from 1.20 to 1.24, the L200 from 3.02 to 2.82, the VW Transporter and Caddy from 0.36 to 0.41. Van operators convert at a similar rate whatever they drive, so widening the base changes very little.
Non-commercial
| Model family | Jobs | Share | Parc share | Index | Median age | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land Rover Discovery Sport | 705 | 6.10% | 1.08% | 5.67 | 9.1 | 75,215 |
| Mazda CX-5 | 198 | 1.71% | 0.37% | 4.66 | 11.0 | 100,131 |
| Range Rover Evoque | 710 | 6.15% | 1.86% | 3.31 | 9.3 | 69,809 |
| Honda CR-V | 273 | 2.36% | 0.86% | 2.75 | 13.1 | 116,773 |
| Jaguar XF | 237 | 2.05% | 0.77% | 2.66 | 14.0 | 99,309 |
| Range Rover Sport | 263 | 2.28% | 1.05% | 2.16 | 10.3 | 87,313 |
| Jaguar F-Pace | 119 | 1.03% | 0.53% | 1.96 | 8.5 | 72,740 |
| Ford Kuga | 372 | 3.22% | 2.20% | 1.46 | 11.8 | 90,677 |
| Vauxhall Insignia | 209 | 1.81% | 1.35% | 1.34 | 11.1 | 104,599 |
| Nissan Qashqai | 324 | 2.80% | 2.49% | 1.13 | 12.4 | 101,766 |
| Vauxhall Astra | 188 | 1.63% | 1.51% | 1.08 | 11.9 | 102,344 |
| Land Rover Discovery | 144 | 1.25% | 1.25% | 1.00 | 9.6 | 84,758 |
| Audi A4 | 135 | 1.17% | 1.58% | 0.74 | 11.2 | 99,551 |
| Ford Focus | 178 | 1.54% | 2.60% | 0.59 | 8.9 | 88,362 |
| Land Rover Freelander | 59 | 0.51% | 0.96% | 0.53 | 13.9 | 111,974 |
| BMW 3 Series | 145 | 1.26% | 2.54% | 0.49 | 14.2 | 137,981 |
| VW Golf | 209 | 1.81% | 4.05% | 0.45 | 13.3 | 114,297 |
| Model family | Cases | Share | Parc share | Index | Median age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land Rover Discovery Sport | 1,369 | 5.02% | 1.08% | 4.66 | 9.1 |
| Mazda CX-5 | 390 | 1.43% | 0.37% | 3.89 | 10.9 |
| Range Rover Evoque | 1,507 | 5.53% | 1.86% | 2.97 | 9.3 |
| Jaguar XF | 534 | 1.96% | 0.77% | 2.54 | 14.3 |
| Honda CR-V | 518 | 1.90% | 0.86% | 2.21 | 13.0 |
| Vauxhall Insignia | 609 | 2.23% | 1.35% | 1.66 | 11.8 |
| Range Rover Sport | 470 | 1.72% | 1.05% | 1.64 | 10.5 |
| Jaguar F-Pace | 218 | 0.80% | 0.53% | 1.52 | 8.5 |
| Vauxhall Astra | 555 | 2.04% | 1.51% | 1.35 | 12.3 |
| Ford Kuga | 776 | 2.85% | 2.20% | 1.29 | 12.2 |
| Nissan Qashqai | 845 | 3.10% | 2.49% | 1.24 | 12.6 |
| Audi A4 | 367 | 1.35% | 1.58% | 0.85 | 11.3 |
| Land Rover Discovery | 254 | 0.93% | 1.25% | 0.75 | 9.8 |
| BMW 3 Series | 456 | 1.67% | 2.54% | 0.66 | 14.2 |
| Ford Focus | 442 | 1.62% | 2.60% | 0.62 | 10.5 |
| Land Rover Freelander | 133 | 0.49% | 0.96% | 0.51 | 14.0 |
| VW Golf | 550 | 2.02% | 4.05% | 0.50 | 13.6 |
The private tables separate in a consistent direction. Indices at the top come down — Discovery Sport 5.67 to 4.66, Evoque 3.31 to 2.97, Range Rover Sport 2.16 to 1.64 — while those at the bottom rise, BMW 3 Series 0.49 to 0.66 and Audi A4 0.74 to 0.85.
The order barely changes. What changes is the spread, because owners of some models agree to the work more readily than others. Table 2B is the more conservative and the more defensible of the two, and is the one to quote publicly.
On either base the same conclusion holds. The Land Rover Discovery Sport carries the highest index of any model, with the Evoque close behind, while the full-size Discovery and the Freelander sit at or below par. The pattern belongs to the TD4-era compact platform, not to Land Rover as a brand.
Headline figures
Ready to quote. Drawn from 36,135 DPF cases handled between November 2024 and July 2026, of which 16,557 were attended by a technician.
Both categories
- The typical blocked DPF is on a 10.7-year-old vehicle with 96,875 miles.
- 30.4% of blocked DPFs show no DPF-specific warning light. One in ten shows no warning light at all.
- 99.2% of vehicles with a blocked DPF still start and run.
- 97% of customers call within a week of the warning light appearing.
- 69.2% arrive without a prior garage diagnosis.
- One in eight vehicles has under 50,000 miles on the clock.
- Where the DPF light shows, it is permanent in 97.8% of cases and amber in 88.4%.
Commercial vehicles
- Commercial vehicles are 24.5% of all DPF cases and 30.2% of jobs attended.
- They block at 8.4 years old — three years sooner than a private car — at effectively the same mileage.
- 45.6% are under eight years old; 13.7% are under five.
- 13.9% arrive with no warning light at all, against 8.3% of private cars.
- Only 4.1% have reached a red DPF warning.
- The Ford Transit range is 27.7% of all commercial cases — close to par against its 22.3% share of the diesel LCV parc.
- The Mitsubishi L200 arrives at 2.8 times its expected rate for its numbers on the road.
- Euro 6d and 6d-temp vehicles are 30.5% of commercial jobs attended.
Non-commercial vehicles
- Private cars are 75.5% of all DPF cases, blocking at a median 11.3 years and 96,119 miles.
- Land Rover is one in six private cases — twice its share of the UK diesel car parc.
- The Land Rover Discovery Sport arrives at 4.7 times its expected rate, the highest index of any model.
- 14.7% have reached a red DPF warning — three and a half times the commercial rate.
- The Range Rover Evoque blocks at 69,809 miles, the lowest of any high-volume model.
- Private cars average 8,624 miles a year, well below the commercial rate.
- Cars doing under 5,000 miles a year block at 44,824 miles.
- Volkswagen and BMW arrive at around half their expected rate (0.52 and 0.64).