Nosing around the VW site trying to find what the 30k service on my car
includes (apparently it's a lube service) and stumbled on this -

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/L..._servicing.pdf

Any thoughts vs the usual 12 months/10k servicing?

regards
Paul
--
paul at spamcop.net

The message . 4
from Paul Hutchings contains these words:

Any thoughts vs the usual 12 months/10k servicing?

Dunno - but it reckons "Please note that if the engine is topped up
with more than ½ litre of non-longlife oil between services, the
service indicator will come on earlier and the time or distance between
services will be reduced."

Must have some sort of sensor.

--
Skipweasel.
Being superstitious brings bad luck

They have been on this "variable servicing" in Germany for quite a few years
and most people seem to be getting on average 18000 miles between services.
My polo has covered 10 000 miles and still records another 22000 miles or
around 400 days before the next service (TDI engine). My brother who is in
the trade says the 22000 miles with drop quicker as the oil condition
worsens so I hope i can get 18000 miles out of it before a service. Heck
30,000 miles (max between services for pd engined cars) or 2 years seems a
wee bit scary. That oil used in the pd engines is like water so i would like
to think the engine will have no extra wear than a vehicle serviced and oil
changed every year! I think someone in a previous posting said they had
covered a large milleage on variable servicing and engine seemed sweet as a
nut.....

Steve
"Paul Hutchings" wrote in message
. 1.4...
Nosing around the VW site trying to find what the 30k service on my car
includes (apparently it's a lube service) and stumbled on this -

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/L..._servicing.pdf

Any thoughts vs the usual 12 months/10k servicing?

regards
Paul
--
paul at spamcop.net

They have been on this "variable servicing" in Germany for quite a few
years
and most people seem to be getting on average 18000 miles between
services.
My polo has covered 10 000 miles and still records another 22000 miles or
around 400 days before the next service (TDI engine). My brother who is
in
the trade says the 22000 miles with drop quicker as the oil condition
worsens so I hope i can get 18000 miles out of it before a service.

Yep, I'd guess that would be right. Same principle as with "miles
remaining" on my fuel computer. If I'm driving into London on the M4 doing
60mph, when it's been sitting at 60 for a few minutes (assuming the tank is
fairly full) the remaining miles will leap to over 800. Then when I start
putting my foot down everywhere it goes down!

Heck
30,000 miles (max between services for pd engined cars) or 2 years seems a
wee bit scary. That oil used in the pd engines is like water so i would
like
to think the engine will have no extra wear than a vehicle serviced and
oil
changed every year! I think someone in a previous posting said they had
covered a large milleage on variable servicing and engine seemed sweet as
a
nut.....

I think that was Huw, whose mate's Allroad 2.5TDI had done nearly 200k and
still running like new.

Certainly makes me worry less about my 5-cylinder A6 that hasn't had an oil
change in 8000 miles (forget exactly what brand of oil I used, but it had
the appropriate VW spec numbers on it).

Peter

"AstraVanMan" wrote in message
...
snip

Certainly makes me worry less about my 5-cylinder A6 that hasn't had an
oil
change in 8000 miles (forget exactly what brand of oil I used, but it had
the appropriate VW spec numbers on it).

My opinion as a NON-vw driver but former owner of several. 8000 miles
doesn't sound like anything to be concerned with by the way, whats the usual
interval?
Variable servicing sounds like a sales ploy to me, veinly disguised as a
benefit to the customer. Long term though, getting lax about servicing could
hit you right in the pocket.
While in actuality quality of driving might make some effect as to how long
the oil lasts, do you really want to risk long term damage of your engine on
the whim of a sensor that *could* be miscalibrated like any other electrical
sensor has a potential for faults (although i guess you'd pick this up).
Extending oils service life (which this seems to be aimed to do more than
lessening it) can't always be a GOOD thing ? Any trade professionals care to
comment. How many people really extend the life of their oil, as opposed to
degredate it with their driving patterns I wonder? My skoda fab only tends
to generally be run on good motorway runs, not driven hard if I can help it
but I do the odd *only a mile or two* to work when its raining - which I try
and avoid.

I like the idea of solidly knowing when you have to take your car in to be
serviced right on cue, makes me feel like I prioritise the servicing of my
vehicle well. This scheme maybe useful for haggling down second hand prices
later on though on vehcile with large gaps in servicing intervals (though
frankly, I don't think I'd want a vehicle that has had its sevicing skimped
in early driving history, thanks).

"AstraVanMan" wrote in message
...

but I'd rather spend a tiny bit
more and have it done regularly just for my peace of mind, and have an
engine that still sounds really sweet at 300k, 400k, 500k etc., than one
that still runs but really shows its age.

But you'd only tell if you actually kept the car for more than 2 months :-)

(is the Audi the car you've owned the longest yet?)

cheers,
clive

Certainly makes me worry less about my 5-cylinder A6 that hasn't had an
oil
change in 8000 miles (forget exactly what brand of oil I used, but it
had
the appropriate VW spec numbers on it).

My opinion as a NON-vw driver but former owner of several. 8000 miles
doesn't sound like anything to be concerned with by the way, whats the
usual
interval?

Well according to the book I think it's 10,000 miles. It was serviced every
10k from new to 50k, then by the next owner (bloke I got it from) every 6k
up to 94k. I then bought it with the intention of changing the oil every 5k
until eternity, but got a bit lazy. Oil changes have so far been at 105k
and 114k, and it's now on 122k, and within about 50 miles of being exactly
8k since it was last done. What I'd ideally like to do is get it up to a
round number, and then do it every 5k, so 130, 135, 140, etc. I'd like the
oil to be just on the verge of getting dirty when I change it. On some
vans/cars I've owned when I've left oil changes a bit late, I've put fresh
oil in and it's gone to being pretty much black straight away, due to
general soot buildups etc in the engine (at a guess). I'm guessing if it's
got to that stage, then a few oil changes in succession and much shorter
intervals should clean things out a bit. So I might change it again at 128k
(assuming I change it at the weekend), then 135, 140 etc., or I could do it
at 126 and 130 to get it back on the 0's and 5's system. Doubtless there'll
be people telling me I'm wasting my money, but I'd rather spend a tiny bit
more and have it done regularly just for my peace of mind, and have an
engine that still sounds really sweet at 300k, 400k, 500k etc., than one
that still runs but really shows its age.

While in actuality quality of driving might make some effect as to how
long
the oil lasts, do you really want to risk long term damage of your engine
on
the whim of a sensor that *could* be miscalibrated like any other
electrical
sensor has a potential for faults (although i guess you'd pick this up).
Extending oils service life (which this seems to be aimed to do more than
lessening it) can't always be a GOOD thing ? Any trade professionals care
to
comment. How many people really extend the life of their oil, as opposed
to
degredate it with their driving patterns I wonder? My skoda fab only tends
to generally be run on good motorway runs, not driven hard if I can help
it
but I do the odd *only a mile or two* to work when its raining - which I
try
and avoid.

Same here with my Audi. What engine's your Fabia got? Is it one of the PD
TDI ones? I use mine mainly for long-ish driving / spirited back road
driving, but occasionally do short trips in it. It's not the best for it,
but I can't imagine an average of one short trip (2 miles) per week is
going to have a massive impact in the car's longevity in the long term.
Maybe if it was 3-4 times a day, day in day out, week in week out, but only
once or twice a week absolute max (probably not even once most weeks) can't
have a massive impact. That's what I tell myself anyhoo.

I like the idea of solidly knowing when you have to take your car in to be
serviced right on cue, makes me feel like I prioritise the servicing of my
vehicle well. This scheme maybe useful for haggling down second hand
prices
later on though on vehcile with large gaps in servicing intervals (though
frankly, I don't think I'd want a vehicle that has had its sevicing
skimped
in early driving history, thanks).

Me too. I walked away from an A6 I looked at a while back after seeing a
gap of about 25k between services in the history. It ran and drove well,
and was in pretty good nick, but just didn't strike me as being the one for
me. It was in pretty good nick, but had loads of swirly marks all over the
paintwork, didn't have climate control, cruise control, sports seats etc.,
like the one I bought did, and although it was by no means a wreck, I just
didn't have a great feeling about it, so looked out for a better one, and
found it.

Peter

Well at 4 months old, my Touran (130 TDi) has just asked for its first
service, at 18000 miles.

With the high miles that I cover variable servicing will reduce by over 1/3
the visits to the dealer.

My only concern is if the oil will last out 18000 between changes, but with
all the long / high speed mileage most of the oil contaminates like water
are driven out.

The old fixed interval servicing is normal based on lunar cycles, i.e. one
year or average miles covered on one year. Is that really a good guide to
when a car requires service. or just the maximum frequency acceptable to
most drivers.


Chilly

"Clive George" wrote in message
...
"AstraVanMan" wrote in message
...

but I'd rather spend a tiny bit
more and have it done regularly just for my peace of mind, and have an
engine that still sounds really sweet at 300k, 400k, 500k etc., than one
that still runs but really shows its age.

But you'd only tell if you actually kept the car for more than 2 months
:-)

(is the Audi the car you've owned the longest yet?)

cheers,
clive

Guy King ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying :

Dunno - but it reckons "Please note that if the engine is topped up
with more than ½ litre of non-longlife oil between services, the
service indicator will come on earlier and the time or distance between
services will be reduced."

Must have some sort of sensor.

A little webcam mounted on the oil filler cap, tied to OCR software. When
you remove the cap, you have to "show it" the can, then it scans and reads
the label...

What's the odds that in the event of any sort of a problem, they'll claim
you must have topped up with the wrong kind of oil..?

but I'd rather spend a tiny bit
more and have it done regularly just for my peace of mind, and have an
engine that still sounds really sweet at 300k, 400k, 500k etc., than one
that still runs but really shows its age.

But you'd only tell if you actually kept the car for more than 2 months
:-)

Heh!

(is the Audi the car you've owned the longest yet?)

Erm...not quite I don't think. I had the Carlton CDX for about 15 months I
think. Mind you, the first Carlton I had for thinks, ah, not as long,
think about 7-8 months all in all, though it wasn't in regular use for a
month and a bit, then I got a really mint Carlton, wrote that off, then went
back to using the old one until someone drove into it. I got the Audi
towards the end of last October, so that's 9 1/2 months so far. Definitely
the most expensive car I've ever bought, and still the most likely to be
kept for a long time.

Peter