Hyundai i20 DPF cleaning
Short local drops, park-and-collect runs, exactly the driving that blocks an i20's filter. Mobile chemical flush, £275, wherever the car is parked.
Which DPF service does your i20 need
Most i20 DPF faults come from a soot blockage rather than a broken filter, so a chemical clean, or repair, the same service under a different name, at £275 fixed is usually the right first call. Replacement only applies if the filter is physically cracked or melted, typically £800 to £1,000 aftermarket fitted or £1,200 to £1,500-plus for an OEM part at a dealer, see our replacement cost comparison.
How the i20 gets used
The i20 covers a wide spread of driving, from a first car doing the school run and the weekly shop, to a private-hire runabout doing back-to-back short fares around town. Both patterns share the same problem: the diesel CRDi engine rarely gets a sustained stretch above motorway speed, so the exhaust never holds the temperature a full regen cycle needs.
A private-hire i20 can rack up genuine mileage without ever doing the kind of run that clears a filter naturally, because most of that mileage is broken into short, stop-start fares with the engine idling between jobs. A family i20 doing mainly local trips fills the same gap, just more slowly. Either way, soot keeps loading a little further each time the car is driven and switched off before the filter gets hot enough to clear itself.
What changes after the clean
The warning light goes off, power comes back to normal, and the flat spot or limp mode some owners notice on hills or acceleration disappears. The filter is flowing properly again rather than clogged with soot, and the car regenerates as designed on a normal mix of driving. The i20 is back on the road the same visit, with no parts removed and no trip to a garage.
i20 engines we cover
1.1 CRDi, 2008 to 2020
The smaller of the two diesel options, fitted across most of the i20's UK production run. Lower exhaust output means it's more prone to blocking on a diet of short town journeys.
1.4 CRDi, 2008 to 2020
Shares the same U2 diesel family fitted more widely across the Hyundai and Kia range. Slightly better placed to shift soot on a longer run, but not immune to blocking on mainly urban use.
Both engines are covered by the same £275 fixed clean. See our full Hyundai range we cover.
More than one i20 to sort?
If you're running more than one i20 in a small private-hire or family fleet, we can visit a single address and work through them one after another. £275 per vehicle, and we'll confirm each one by reg before the visit so there are no surprises when we arrive.
Questions from i20 drivers and operators
Arrange a visit for your i20: call 0161 694 7331, tell us where the car is and when it's free. £275, we come to you, same-day and next-day slots are common. We also cover the Hyundai i30, which shares the same diesel family, see our Hyundai i30 DPF cleaning page.
I only do short local runs in my i20. Will the DPF just block again after a clean?
Can you come to a depot or site to do more than one i20 in a visit?
How long is my i20 off the road for?
Is a DPF clean worth it if I'm planning to sell the i20 soon?
Is a DPF delete legal on a road-going vehicle?
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