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Used Diesels – What to look out for


  • Generally Diesel engines are far noisier than petrol engines. The engine should calm down and reduce noise once it has warmed up a bit so bear this in mind.


  • The service and maintenance intervals are a lot more regular on diesel, especially Turbo’d Diesels. This is worth making a note of and checking when buying a diesel engine. Look out for any gaps in the service records or missing paperwork.


  • Diesel engines tend to a lot beefier and heavy to shift through the gears. Either way there should still be no noises or hard to select the gears so don’t let the buyer tell you otherwise.


  • Black soot is not uncommon when you give a diesel some welly but thick continuous smoke, especially black or white steer clear as the chances are this diesel is only a sale away from a serious breakdown! White smoke normally indicates a worn turbo and replacements are certainly not cheap!