It may be tempting to disregard the pollution issue and buy a small diesel car to obtain the tax credit, not least if you need the car for business purposes, since you can only recover the VAT on diesel, but you need to be aware that sooting up and clogging up can be a problem in modern diesel engines if they are mostly used in cities or for short trips or an economic driving style. The particle filter can be clogged up by unburned particles over time if it doesn't become hot enough from time to time. In such cases, the tax credit risks being eaten up by increased repair and maintenance bills on the longer term. Neither manufacturers nor car dealers have any lasting solution to this problem, since the cause of the problem is that such diesel cars are being used for something they were not designed - short city trips. The consumer magazine Que Choisir published a detailed article about this problem in issue 489 - February 2011. Nevertheless, car dealers indiscriminately propose diesel cars to buyers, knowing that the French are obsessed by diesel cars even for purposes where they are unsuitable.