A new UK aftermarket survey has shown that there is a big growth in demand for DPF related products, but also that most motorists are still oblivious to DPF problems.

The survey by car parts distributor GSF covered 100 independent garages with over half of these saying that they worked on at least one DPF issue per week, with this figure very much on the increase.

Short journeys cycles and stop-start driving often mean DPFs do not get to regenerate properly and this leads to problems due to an accumulation of soot in the filter. Most garages indicated that their customers were totally unaware of the need to undertake longer journeys with more sustained speeds to aid the DPF regeneration process.

The survey found that 90% of the garages favoured pour in treatments as a first attempt to solve DPF issues, while machine based systems were favoured by 5%. Most garages tried to avoid outright replacement, sometimes using specialist cleaning services, as DPF replacement cost come as a big shock to motorist. The survey also found that illegal DPF removal was still an issue with many of the legitimate garages surveyed having to pick up the pieces after an unscrupulous mechanic had carried this out.