My dealer tells me that my 1.8TSI will arrive setup for variable servicing and that on my mileage (max 6000 miles per year), it is likely that it will be 2 years before it requires a service. Is two years between services realistic (or desirable)?

Fixed. Always fixed!

Especially for your mileage (assuming lots of short trips?)

Def Fixed, its well worth the investment in oil to ensure the engine keps clean and healthy

Fixed for sure. I do more like 9_000 a year, and wouldn't contemplate variable.

No need to do anything, other than take the car back for a basic service in about a year from delivery, and make very sure the dealer realises you want to switch from variable to fixed at that time.

Although my annual mileage is low, I don't do a huge number of very short journeys. I live close to work and a supermarket so tend to cycle or walk, the car is only used for commuting when the weather is vile.

Typical usage might be one or two short journeys per week plus another one or two longer ones (say 20 to 40 miles) with the remainder of the annual mileage comprising longer journeys such as weekends away.

I know fixed servicing is probably better for long engine life, but I do wonder if it really matters to me as even if I keep the car 10 years (unlikely) it will have done less than 70K. I'm used to annual servicing on my current banger, but that usually gets fed on cheap supermarket oil, surely the expensive VW spec synthetic stuff is capable of longer life?

Maybe a compromise might be to use variable servicing until the warranty expires, then change to fixed which I would do myself.

Fixed servicing!

Hitler's staff car was on variable servicing, that's how evil it is!

Fixed servicing!

Hitler's staff car was on variable servicing, that's how evil it is!

I presume it was a VW ? Diesel or petrol ?

The car uses the SAME OIL with both services with my Scout 507.00 which is long life oil (so same price for service), the car is designed to use this oil with sensors to advise when its due for a change, so just enjoy the cost savings !

How is the variable service interval determined?

Does the ECU calculate it dependant on factors such as time, distance and driving style, or is there some sort of clever sensor that can measure contamination/deteriation of the oil?

Only engine that uses the same oil whether fixed or vari is the 2L Petrol, 504 and 2L derv, 507, is a derv only oil. The 1.8 TSI uses 504 vari or 502 fixed.

The service interval on variable is calculated using your driving style and sensors which monitor the oil quality. Mine goes about 18K between services, but its all long distance. Shorter journies will trigger the service quicker as the oil will degrade faster.

My dealer tells me that my 1.8TSI will arrive setup for variable servicing and that on my mileage (max 6000 miles per year), it is likely that it will be 2 years before it requires a service. Is two years between services realistic (or desirable)?

Fixed - http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/regimes

Fixed. Always fixed!

I use variable just fine, as has Manny.

Fixed for sure. I do more like 9_000 a year, and wouldn't contemplate variable.No need to do anything, other than take the car back for a basic service in about a year from delivery, and make very sure the dealer realises you want to switch from variable to fixed at that time.

Again why do fixed when you do enough to satisfy variable?

Because variable is evil. Especially on a derv!

Because variable is evil. Especially on a derv!

Getting on for 100K miles now, on variable. Car has had just 4 services and a cambelt change in that time, and nothing has gone wrong at all. My 2.0TDi PD is still on its original turbo, and now uses virtually no oil between services, which seems to be in the minority at this mileage especially on here where most run fixed intervals.

these are the requirements for Variable(longlife), and fixed(time and distance) servicing.

copied from golfgti.co.uk

SERVICING REGIMES - & their requrements

LongLife Servicing Regime - variable servicing intervals

The actual LongLife serving regime really should not be used on any high performance, high revving petrol engine. Although the LongLife regime was introduced across virtually all VAG cars in 2000/2001, with virtually no restrictions on useage, as time has progressed, and presumably VAG have gained "real-world" data, then the LongLife "requirements" have changed quite noticeably. From 2006, the detailed requirements for LongLife were notably "downgraded".

This is the actual list of specific operating requirements for LongLife regime:

•Mileage: more than 30 miles per day.

•Type of Journey: Motorway and main road driving. Mainly longer distance journeys. Constant speeds.

•Conditions: Normal engine loading - eg, with little or no towing, with little or no hill climbs. Normal vehicle loading.

•Driving style: Moderate acceleration, moderate braking, engine revs mainly below 3000rpm.

You must ONLY use the correctly specified VW approved LongLife oil. A "generic" longlife, or a GM or BMW approved longlife oil is NOT acceptable. If you do top up inbetween services with a non-VW LongLife oil, the oil quality sensor will notice this, and the car will develop a noticeable reduction in the service due computer.

You need to be able to comply with all of the above requirements. If you can not comply with all of them, or there is a element of doubt that makes certain issues "boarderline", then you should not even consider LongLife, and use the Time and Distance regime instead. Unfortunately, many VW stealers do not fully understand the exacting requirements for the LongLife regime, and will therefore incorrectly advise the customer of the wrong service regime.

Time and Distance Servicing Regime - conventional fixed servicing intervals

These are the more "relaxed" operating requirements for Time & Distance regime:

•Mileage: less than 10,000* miles per year.

•Type of Journey: Mainly city/town centre driving. Short journeys.

•Conditions: Frequent cold starts. High engine loading - eg, frequent hill climbs, vehicle fully loaded, towing.

•Driving style: Uneconomical - eg, heavy acceleration, heavy braking, constant changes in speed, constant use of high revs, 'sporty' driving.

* Mileages are approximate, as the service indicator system uses kilometers as its distance measurement.

Even if you only meet one of these requirements, but atually meet more (but not all of the above LongLife requrements), you should still use this Time & Distance regime.

When I originally wrote this thread back in 2007, the "official" advice is that you may use either the "normal" VW approved Time and Distance oils, or, you can also use the higher quality VW approved LongLife oils for enhanced protection (or indeed a mixture of both - usually for topping up purposes). However, from mid-2008, all official franchised dealerships were forwarned of updates for this specific issue - and from December 2008, the ONLY oil allowed to be used in franchised workshops, irrespective of service regime, is the LongLife 3 standard of oil (there are a few very limited exceptions, but these do not affect any Volkswagen).

ENGINE OILS - specification standards and useage

LongLife oils

LongLife oils are a very specific, and very high grade fully (usually) synthetic engine oils. They undergo all the "standard" oil tests, but also have to undergo more rigourous and arduous tests. The two crucial areas are the "duration" tests, and HTHS tests. The duration tests demand that the oil can last over twice as long as the ACEA requirements for conventional drain high performance engine oils. The HTHS is more interesting, and is very relevent to turbos. HTHS stands for "High Temperature, High Shear", and basically places an additional, extremely rigorous test at 150deg C, whereas conventional ACEA and API tests only go up to 100deg C.

The appropriate VW LongLife standards:

•503.00, 506.00, 506.01 - this is the VW LongLife "2" specification. SAE 0W30. For petrol engines, the 503.00 is the relevant spec, for non-PD diesels it is 506.00, and for diesels with PD 506.01

•504.00, 507.00 - this is the latest VW LongLife "3" specification. SAE 5W30. 504.00 is the spec for petrol engines, and is the ONLY standard which includes FSI-specific tests, and 507.00 is for diesel engines (note: 507.00 oils MUST only be used in diesels with DPF)

Time and Distance oils

Well, these can vary from ancient quality straight mineral oils, through to relatively high performance full synthetic multigrades. However, being as this is a Golf Mk5 section, I'll stick with relevent lubes for the Mk5.

One of the VW standards for conventional (non-LongLife) Time and Distance servicing for petrol engines is 502.00. This is usually a fairly high spec 'fully synthetic' oil, normally 5W40 (though some oils from American manufacturers are not acutally 'fully' synthetic ). For non-PD diesels a 505.00 specification is required, and this can actually be a high-grade mineral, semi-synthetic or fully synthetic oil. For PD diesels a 505.01 is required, which is usually a fairly high quality fully synthetic oil.

So I hope you all agree that it can be deduced that LongLife oils are of considerably higher quality than even the best conventional fully synthetic T&D oils.

For part numbers of official VAG and Quantum (made by Castrol for VW) engine oils, look here: www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=95565, and for some further discussion, look here: www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=98261

ACTUAL "INTERVALS" OF THE TWO DIFFERENT REGIMES

These are the actual physical intervals - how many miles, and/or over what timescale will the car actually go between services.

Time and Distance Servicing Regime - conventional fixed servicing intervals

For the fixed interval "Time and Distance" servicing, then the actual intervals are 12 months or 10k miles - whichever occurs soonest.

That means that your car can go up to one year since the last service, and/or up to 10,000 miles. The upper level for one of those will always be reached - so that means if you are an occasional driver doing, say less than 50 miles per week, then you will go 12 months between services (but will have only covered about 2,600miles). However, if you are a high mileage driver, doing say 2,000 miles per month, then you will go the full 10,000 miles, but will only manage 5 months between.

LongLife Servicing Regime - variable servicing intervals

For the "LongLife" servicing regime, for a petrol engine, it can go up to 24 months, or, up to 20k miles (diesels up to 30kmiles), again, whichever occurs soonest. However, unlike the T&D above (which WILL reach one or the other of the upper levels), with LongLife, there is absolutely no guarantee that you could reach either of the upper levels - they are "variable".

Even on LongLife regime, the 'Service Interval Display' (SID) can still ping for a service in as little as 12months, or as shockingly as little as 9,600miles - which is is blatant T&D territory. At this extreme example, the LongLife can actually cost more to service - because you will be needing a "full" 20k service every 10k miles. If you were on the T&D regime, then you would only be paying for effectively an oil and filter change at 10k, and then going another 10k before paying for the larger 20k service. It is extremely rare, and virtually unknown for any engine to reach the claimed upper limits of mileages. The accumulated data for Petrol engines on LongLife have shown they may reach around 13k to 15k miles, whereas Diesel engines do fare a little better, with around 27k miles being achieved. So, based on this data, it confirms my "suspicions" and recommendations that no petrol engined car should be on the LongLife regime, especially if they have a turbo!

My recommendation for "modified" cars and/or "enthusiastic" driving

Now, to the point of modifications, particularly engine based mods. My advice is simple. Do NOT use the LongLife servicing regime, and only use the conventional fixed interval "Time and Distance" servicing regimes. However, please DO continue to use the higher quality LongLife oil, and not the lesser quality Time and Distance oils. If your engine or car is highly modified, or if you are a particularly 'enthusiastic' driver - then I would very strongly recommend you not only use the T&D regime with LongLife oils, but also consider a further interim oil & filter change every 6 months or 5k miles.

Still awake at the back . . . .

Edited 9 December, 200916 yr by vRSy

Because variable is evil. Especially on a derv!

And you base this factually on?

Thanks for the info, I think you've convinced me to go fixed interval.

And you base this factually on?

Seeing the state of the oil in a 5,000 mile car.

Oil in ours looked fine until around 15k. Serviced at 18, but wasnt as bad as the Mondy is just before it's 12k service!

Ho Hum , been here before..I do about 8k/year, few short journeys, and my dealer insists I do not need fixed service..check my oil regularly, and so far has hardly used a drop, and still looks good..not many dealers you can trust, as they all want money, but been with mine for several years and 3 skodas, and they've been great, with no probs whatsoever.....

Only time id reccomend variable servicing is if your up and down the motorway all day every day.

Id have been better off on fixed, dealer did me a service before collection of the car, less thank 1k later im down to 7800 miles till the next service

Opinion in American based VW and TDI fora seems to divide equally between those favoring 5.000 mile services and those who are content to trust VW and leave it the full 10.000 miles.

At either extreme lie those hankering after somewhat mythical European extended servicing or the old time hard core lubrication heroes who can't go beyond 3.000 miles between oil changes.

The Oil Service that Variable Servicing is dispensing with is literally just an Oil and Filter change with a quick look at the brake pads. This is combined with a reset of the service interval indicator.

Is there really any need for any competent DIY owner to be afraid of dropping the oil between variable services himself? Should he wish to?

Cheaper and no need to resort to fixed servicing, nor pay a Franchised garage to do very basic maintenance.

Seems like a plan to me or am I missing something?

Either way, I can't see this debate ending anytime soon. No doubt German (and Czech) kids, as yet unborn, will debate the merits of the next generation of “sealed for life†VW engines. :|

How is the variable service interval determined?

Does the ECU calculate it dependant on factors such as time, distance and driving style, or is there some sort of clever sensor that can measure contamination/deteriation of the oil?

It has been said there is an oil monitoring sensor but im lead to believe it doesn't actually exist. I've yet to find it on the engine. Theres no mention of it in the workshop manual.

I don't know how a sensor can monitor oil to the required level. Even if it was just measuring particulate level, thats normally a lab test if its to any degree of acuracy. Really it would need to measure metallic content, moisture content, suspended soilds, particulates and possibly gasses in the oil. To measure all of those even to a rough inacurate level takes more than a sensor or two

Is there really any need for any competent DIY owner to be afraid of dropping the oil between variable services himself? Should he wish to?

They could get shirty should an engine warranty claim happen, and want details of a VAT reg garage. DIY'ing *could* be a reason to invalidate a warranty.

It has been said there is an oil monitoring sensor but im lead to believe it doesn't actually exist. I've yet to find it on the engine. Theres no mention of it in the workshop manual.

VCDS values do fluctuate (seen it on mine), so that surely suggests it has one?

Could it be a combined level and quality sensor?

They could get shirty should an engine warranty claim happen, and want details of a VAT reg garage. DIY'ing *could* be a reason to invalidate a warranty.

they surely wouldnt know. i believe you have to renew the drain plug each change