Blowing White Smoke

[Louis II]

Hoping for some advice.....
Two months after taking my van (2015, T5.1, 140 manual) in for the roof corrosion repair I got the call from the dealer to say it was ready to collect but as its MOT was due in a couple of weeks I asked if they could do it before I picked it up.
I then got an email to say they had driven the van and it was blowing excessive white smoke from the exhaust and they would need to diagnose the issue (£100) before doing the MOT. Whatever happens I'll now be taking it my usual garage for MOT and service but wanted some advice on any checks I could do before picking it up to rule out the issue being caused by the dealer and any ideas as to what could be causing the issue. Could it just be that it hasn't been driven for 2 months?
I plan to check the mileage, interior & exterior compared to photos taken when I dropped off + look under the van for any signs of damage that could have been caused when loading / unloading onto the transport but any other advice would be gratefully received. The van has been regularly serviced and never had any issues with it prior to this.
Due to pick up on Friday morning.

 

[OnlyJen]

Good grief!!

I read the title and thought we were electing the pope

 

[andyinluton]

White smoke is just steam - water in the exhausts just burning off. Get it properly warm & it will be fine.

 

[westfalia]

Depends what you call excessive, it could be that
you have a knackered DPF.

Surely there is no mechanic that would look at an exhaust puffing
out a bit of white stuff on a cold day and think it was a problem.
Is there?

 

[kurienp]

Ask them to send you a video of the white smoke that they mention, after the engine has run for 15-20 minutes. You can then analyse it yourself, or post the video on here and we may be able to advise. Ask them not to do any diagnosis until you have seen the video.

They should have done that in the first instance.

 

[Louis II]

Depends what you call excessive, it could be that
you have a knackered DPF.

Surely there is no mechanic that would look at an exhaust puffing
out a bit of white stuff on a cold day and think it was a problem.
Is there?

Maybe but seems like it's £100 for the mechanic to have a look!

 

[Kernowboy]

Assuming the roof is being done under warranty then I would be explaining that 2 months is excessive for the work, which shouldn’t be necessary anyway, and that the van was fine when it went in 2 months ago. Any thoughts of trying to charge £100 for investigative work is ludicrous, you want it back in the condition that in was left in and, by the way, what do they think is reasonable compensation for loss of use of the van for a prolonged period to fix a known issue. But maybe that’s just me .

 

[sidepod]

Depends what you call excessive, it could be that
you have a knackered DPF.

Surely there is no mechanic that would look at an exhaust puffing
out a bit of white stuff on a cold day and think it was a problem.
Is there?

Do you need an answer to that?

 

[Louis II]

Thanks for everyone’s advice, decided on the approach suggested by @Kernowboy. They diagnosed the fault as moisture in the DPF, completed a regen, it’s passed its MOT and all seems well. The only charge has been for the MOT. Roof repair looks like a really neat job.

 

[tuono001]

I have a skoda fabia that smokes profusely when left for extended periods, many after damp conditions, a good drive has always sorted it so far.
It does look quite the site when it's really smoking.