Hello everyone, would appreciate your views, especially Rotodiesel. Phoned local dealership today to ask about servicing. Car is March 07 with 12K. Was told "the car will show on display near odometer when a service is due. It should be 22K". Asked about an oil change ( remembered Rotodiesel many months ago had a firm view on this ) was told "long life oil designed to last until 22K interval".

many thanks

John

Down to you John but it does seem that extended service intervals aren't doing TDi's any favours.

Perhaps an interim oil and filter change would be an idea.

John, if your car is under warranty your options are limited. In my view, the oil change intervals determined by the "long life" regimen are too long, especially for the V6.

I can only give strictly unofficial advice, which would be to change the oil (only) at 10k miles. Use the correct oil, purchased from a dealer other than the supplying dealer.

The logic of this is that if you were to have a serious warranty claim, your actions would be undetectable. Filter elements are date coded, so even if you were to fit a replacement OE filter, you would get "caught" if the engine failed.

rotodiesel.

But as long as you replace the parts with genuine OEM parts for which you would have the invoice for you wouldn't invalidate the wty.

You're dealing with VAG here, not fair-minded people. If they got wind of the fact that you had laid a spanner on the engine, they would reject a warranty claim. In court, they would argue that you had done the work incorrectly and caused an engine failure. I've seen all this happen before - and they would win.

Doing things my way gives a good measure of protection to the engine and is undetectable. On my own car, I did in fact change the oil and the filters but kept the old ones to put back in the event of a serious warranty claim. I did the same thing with the rear brake pads which were worn out well before the warranty was up. Luckily, I've had no engine problems at all and the car is now out of warranty.

I'm afraid you have to play these bu***rs at their own game. The real fleecing occurs after you have bought the car.

rotodiesel.

I think you are being over cautious with this one mate. Under the rules of the EU block exemption you don't need to have any of your sericing carried out at the main dealers let alone just an oil change.

Stil has to be done by a garage of some description.

In all honesty on a 2.5 I would just do fixed 10k servicing. Makes sense with the filters being changed at 20k etc.

Under Block Exemption you might just stand a chance if you could prove you were a "suitably qualified auto technician" and were VAT registered.

In practice, VAG have much better lawyers than most of us could afford. I have seen cases like this shot down in court - Question: What was the last VAG specialised maintenance course you attended and where is the certificate of attendance?

I'm afraid theory and practice don't always stack up. You might be right in theory but if there is a £2000 engine at stake, VAG will get out of it if there is the slightest "irregularity".

Much better to play them (undetectably) at their own game.

rotodiesel.

Edited 8 July, 200817 yr by rotodiesel

I meant and should have added that Block Exempation caters for servicing ouside of the main dealer network by suitably qualified persons using OEM parts and following the OEM service schedule.

If you had an oil change at a non franchised dealer it simply is not going to invalidate your warranty.

If you had an oil change at a non franchised dealer it simply is not going to invalidate your warranty.

My 2p's worth is that you're both correct - Stu's right with a VAT registered garage and Roto's right with the "deception" technique.

I do agree though, a 22k service interval is insane. There's a thread here somewhere speaking about oil - I'd be surprised if 22k old oil didn't cause problems.

That said, the dealer I spoke to were more than happy to change oil/filters as an interim (on mum's Fabia VRS) so perhaps, Raptor, the best thing to do is phone another dealer?

Stu's right with a VAT registered garage

Not sure what VAT registration has to do with it. All that proves is that they have a taxable turnover in excess of £67k. I can think of some large, VAT-registered garages that are utter cowboys and I can also think of some small, unregistered garages that are absolute gems.

2.5 Tdi Tip 45K miles

Two services, one at 19K one at 42K. Both indicated in Maxidot.

No problems whatsoever (and I mean none).

The oil manufacturers have R&D departments that spend millions producing highly sophisticated oils with very long lives. We dump them after 10000 miles? Change the oil when the car says so.

Of course this is just my opinion.

I'd go along with rotodiesel on this, as technically they will be able to argue that the car has not been serviced to the manufacturers schedule. I should think though that the customer has the option to put the car on whatever service regime that they want to pay for.

These extended service intervals must have been a Godsend to the marketing department, when they can demonstrate that the car will only need to visit a workshop twice in 44,000 miles. This would partcularly appeal to the fleet buyers who will off load the cars when the warranty expires.

Hi Guys, not sure how to post a thank you; but thank you for all you advice. I am a child of the 60's in those days regular service and oil change were the order of the day.

many thanks to all

John;)

My 2ps worth would be , lots of cars will run to 40,000 with 2 oil changes its what happens later on in its life due to this is what matters to me.

Roger.

Edited 9 July, 200817 yr by r.carder

Not sure what VAT registration has to do with it. All that proves is that they have a taxable turnover in excess of £67k. I can think of some large, VAT-registered garages that are utter cowboys and I can also think of some small, unregistered garages that are absolute gems.

T's & C's of the warranty.

They say "VAT registered" because that's proof it's a reputable garage as opposed to a back street shop.

I know as well as you do just because they're a large "reputable" garage, that doesn't mean they always do a good job; also vice versa. Many of us on here for example are more than capable of maintaining a vehicle correctly, but if we do it Skoda (or any manufacturer for that matter) will assume it's not been done correctly.

The VAT registration status just removes the backstreet "cowboys", in theory.

Its also removes the DIY.

The problem with longlife servicing from what I see isnt the quality of the oil. Its the time inbetween the services and for the most part peoples inability or unwillingness to do something as basic as check you f'ing engine oil once a week, hell even once a fortnight would be something. Two turbos I have changed in the last week have been to a very low oil level, the level sensor is only a last resort and tbh byt he time it gets that low your running a risk of doing some damage given the way some of the cars get driven.

I agree that the oil isn't an issue - if a HGV can drive round at 44 tonnes for 100K between oil changes then doing 20K in a car is not an issue.

But what is a big problem, is the rest of the serviceable parts (brakes, tyres fluid levels etc) going that far between checks.

Yup, keep everything topped up with the right grade of fluids and everything should be OK.

I have mine on fixed service annually (approx 12000 miles) and I have an oil and filter changed at the 6 month stage. I also run it on BP Ultimate totally.

I work in the commercial diesel engine field. You can't compare commercial oil change intervals with those for passenger cars. For a start, no VAG car diesel engine has to my knowledge a bypass filter.

I think Lummox has hit the nail on the head. These cars are designed so that the average punter just drives until he sees a red light. This usually means you damaged your engine 100 miles ago.

He also makes a good point about the level sensor. Last time I did an oil change on my AWX I thought I'd test it. When refilling with fresh oil I set the (stabilised) oil level carefully to the bottom bend on the dipstick and drove the car round the block. No red light. I have to say I then bottled out and filled it up to (just) the top bend. I wonder how low it has to get...

I'd like to get my hands on the VAG moron who decided black would be a nice colour for the dipstick on a diesel engine - it beggars belief.

rotodiesel.

having read this thread.....i had the long life oil service genuine quantum 5w-30 and filter change along with engine flush and my skoda approved garage did it for 80 quid and no labour charge, which was better than 120 from main dealer......smoother engine running too....although it was smooth before.....or maybe its my imagination....but for the sake of a few quid twice a yr and do ones own servicing ie brakes and tyres and fluid changes, i cant see why the car cant go on for ever like these lorrys do

i cant see why the car cant go on for ever like these lorrys do

...have you ever seen a lorry older than four years old? :P

...have you ever seen a lorry older than four years old? :P

Plenty

Plus there aren't many that don't do 100k per year.

I've had a 2.5tdi auto from new in March07, and it's currently at 16k miles. Every now and then the Maxidot calls for more oil (no red light) and I then put in 0.25 litres of the specified fancy stuff, which always takes the level back to max on the dipstick. So far I have put in 1.5 litres since new. I'm assuming that this is normal consumption, and that at some stage over the next 6k miles or so the Maxidot will tell me it's first service time.