DEF Shortage

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

Has anyone noticed it is virtually impossible to buy DEF? Every store seems to have an empty space where the DEF would be.

 

[oilhammer]

Yep. Blame Putin. Ammonia is made from natural gas. There is a shortage of ammonia. This is already spilling over into fertilizer for agriculture, too.

Ammonia is what is part of urea, the rest is water.

It may get worse before it gets better. Like my dad told me when I was young, failing to plan is planning to fail. Always have an "out".

To be fair, the DEF shortage was starting before King Putin's war, this has just made it worse. DEF is pretty much linked to oil/gas.

 

[Ragdude]

Hmmm, doesn't seem to be an issue here yet even Costco had a couple pallets yesterday.

 

[kjclow]

I've never seen it at costco. I'll have to look next time. Had to buy platinum at walmart last week. Truck has about to go into the countdown mode.

 

[JELLOWSUBMARINE]

Hmmm, doesn't seem to be an issue here yet even Costco had a couple pallets yesterday.

Great!
No more toilet paper & DEF casseroles for awhile.

 

[nathanso]

I just ordered a 2.5gal cube from walmart.com. No indication of out of stock or back ordered (yet).

Update: My order arrived today so perhaps it's not yet time to start hoarding DEF.

 

[pedroYUL]

A new item to hoard now, not happy

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

I guess we’re going to have to keep an eye out for it to come back in stock. I wonder if VW dealers would at least have some. It would not be a good look if your TDI gets to the point where it refuses to start due to lack of DEF and the dealer can’t help. There will be some angry people.

If we can’t find DEF by the time the dreaded countdown starts, I guess the only choice would be to contact a local tuner, if you know what I mean…

 

[JM Popaleetus]

Readily available at the pump at every truckstop:

 

[tdidieselbobny]

yep, was like that last fall. Walmart's Supertech used to be cheapest at $6.98 for the 2.5 gallon jug. Went up to $7.98, then it really jumped to $10.24. Tractor Supply also has cheaper brand, always see some at Advance or Autozone.

 

[smittyatl]

Readily available at the pump at every truckstop:

The truck stops near me always have the massively wide pumps for diesel and DEF that don't fit in my little holes.

 

[JM Popaleetus]

The truck stops near me always have the massively wide pumps for diesel and DEF that don't fit in my little holes.

VW sells adapters for that:

Diesel Fueling Adapter

This OEM VW fuel filler neck adapter allows your new TDI to use the large-nozzle Diesel pumps typically used at truck stops and at filling stations that have not updated their pumps to the narrower...

www.idparts.com

As for the DEF, use the pump to just refill your own DEF jug as 2.5-3.5g is all you need to fill it. Or use this.

 

[capt_slow]

Plenty of DEF to go around here in SoCal. Bought two 2.5gal jugs and filled up both the F31 and GSW to the brim.

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

No truck stops around here, but we did find some DEF at Canadian Tire (a department store) for $25 for 2.5L.

Diesel fuel around here is going for $2.29/litre. Gas is only $1.92. So much for diesel cars saving money.

 

[bigb]

I bought 2.5 gal yesterday at Costco for $12.99. I have heard about DEF shortages for months but Costco always seems to have a pallet or two on hand and it's always fresh, the box I bought yesterday was made on 2/2/2022. At least most people won't be hoarding it due to shelf life, which would make things a lot worse like it did with TP.

 

[J_dude]

I bought 2.5 gal yesterday at Costco for $12.99. I have heard about DEF shortages for months but Costco always seems to have a pallet or two on hand and it's always fresh, the box I bought yesterday was made on 2/2/2022. At least most people won't be hoarding it due to shelf life, which would make things a lot worse like it did with TP.

Isn’t shelf life around 2-3 years though? I know everyone always says it’s got a short shelf life but google tells me otherwise. Some of the equipment I run at work uses DEF and my company won’t stock up because of the “short shelf life” so maybe it is true. I’ll have to check one of the jugs myself when I get back lol (My newest vehicle is 19 years old so I don’t have to buy the stuff myself)

 

[bigb]

Isn’t shelf life around 2-3 years though? I know everyone always says it’s got a short shelf life but google tells me otherwise. Some of the equipment I run at work uses DEF and my company won’t stock up because of the “short shelf life” so maybe it is true. I’ll have to check one of the jugs myself when I get back lol (My newest vehicle is 19 years old so I don’t have to buy the stuff myself)

The shelf life can vary from a couple of months to several years depending on conditions. It doesn't do well in the heat so living in the desert I only buy as needed and I always check the dates. Costco always has fresh stuff. The first time I ever bought any I went to VW and got some that was already a year old, won't do that again.

 

[740GLE]

There was DEF shortage in the Australia Asian Pacific region that may have trickled over to the North American Market, but that was back around December/January.

Seeing I only need 2 2.5 cubes a year, i only need to hit up the truck stop once and fill up the jugs. I wont have to worry about that until fall as I just filled up the tank from the last cube i had in the garage.

 

[pedroYUL]

I forgot I had 2 cubes already hoarded. Filled both my cars to the brim and still had a bit left over.

I'm not going out and getting more, that would be the same as the people that went out and got years worth of TP at the beginning of the pandemic

 

[pedroYUL]

Plenty of stock, multiple brands at Blain's Farm and Fleet here is SW Michigan.

Got a cube for $10 discounted from $12

Btw, urea decomposes by light or enzymatic action, perhaps that's why the short shelf life (light), but not a problem if you store it right.

 

[740GLE]

Agreed, so far I haven't had any issues with my truck stop filled cubes sitting in our garage (out of the small) for 6-10 months. I just try and fill both cubes once the low level warning is on, then toss in one cube and the second cube within 5-6 months and haven't had any over flows.