Big Car Club - MPV and SUV Forums

My Mk1 Galaxy is running as well as ever but the body work is not fairing well, the patches welded on the cills and underside each December at MOT times are beginning to join up and overlap. This is forcing me to consider buying a Mk2 (any of the 3 badge versions). This may allow me to do some longer term restoration of the body work on the mk1 as opposed to the stick it on and run approach of the local man with a MIG.

Before any of this I have questions:

1   Do the mk2s come under any more stringent smoke / emission tests?
2   If they do, is it problem?

I don't mind changing filters or cleaning things but I don't want buy something that won't pass without major expense.

Best Regard
Ian

Hey Ian,

Assuming you are looking to get a Diesel then no, the emissions test is still a smoke opacity test with NoX and SoX measurements like your Mk1.

With the Mk2 you can get them to to fast-pass their MoT by simply unplugging the MAF since they don't show the MIL light like most (and run in a super lean mode with it unplugged) it brings the emissions right down - it's cheating I know but hey, its a VW engine after all :)

Thanks Mirez,
Yes I certainly did mean diesel. Reassuring answers.
Regards
Ian

I have an 09 Alhambra with a DPF below the floor under the front seats, and emissions have not been an issue so far. I came across a VW forum run by US owners a while back and downloaded their mileage and ash load table. There is very definitely a correlation between mileage and load, as you might expect, but there are also some very high mileages suggesting that capacity is more than adequate. If you end up buying a DPF vehicle from a dealer, it would be worth insisting upon an ash load statement as part of the deal, and if you are conversant with the relevant software, you could also ask for an ash load enquiry as part of a private deal.

I cannot make the ash load spreadsheet attach at the moment, but If I can persuade it to upload, I will do so.

Just buy a Mk2 Alhamb with the 1.9 diesel engine, you can't go wrong with that and it would save some £££ on the purchase price too!