My '09 TDI CR vRS has just requested it's 1st service via Maxi-dot. My local independent techie reckons 18000 miles is too long to leave it. He has VAGCOM & could change my car to fixed service intervals. The questions I have are:

1. Should I?

2. Is there a "how-to" on here somewhere that I can send him the link to?

All advice appreciated....cheers.

My '09 TDI CR vRS has just requested it's 1st service via Maxi-dot. My local independent techie reckons 18000 miles is too long to leave it. He has VAGCOM & could change my car to fixed service intervals. The questions I have are:

1. Should I?

2. Is there a "how-to" on here somewhere that I can send him the link to?

All advice appreciated....cheers.

I have asked my dealer about this, my car now has 17k on it and has flashed up "service in 2000 miles". They assure me that as long as you use the longlife oil and make sure it is kept topped up, there is no issue using this variable service method. I am still sceptical, but if the car blows up, its under warranty and they said it was ok !

I've never heard of any problems with variable/long life servicing.

My last car was on this and it was fine.

There have been loads of threads on this with plenty of opinion.

It is my opinion that long life servicing was introduced to reduce fleet costs. If it were my car, and I intended to keep it beyond 3-4 years, I'd go for fixed servicing. If the intention is to trade the car after 3-4 years then I don't think there's any risk at all, at least to you. With higher mileage I guess it just comes down to whether you want to pay for a service every 10,000 miles.

I do low annual mileage (<10K) and intend to run my car into the ground so choosing fixed servicing is easy.

Why changed to fixed? The only reason is to give mechanics more money. They are the only ones who seem to want to change you to fixed. Long life oil is designed to be just that, long life. Its designed for it and 18-20k it will probably do twice that. Castrol do a range for lorries which last 150k KM between services. This is why it is about £15 a litre.

My mate has a 54 Polo GT on Longlife since new and is just coming up to 100k with no problems whatsoever. He is getting around 22k between service intervals too. My Bora has done 75k and has been on longlife with around 17k between services.

If you feel you want to, its easy to do an oil chage yourself as well - do it all for less than 50 notes

I'm considering leaving mine on the long life interval but changing the oil myself mid-cycle, thus having the dual benefit of reduced servicing costs plus more frequent oil changes. However in another thread some time back it wasn't clear whether changing the oil yourself would alter the variable service interval. i.e would the car itself "notice"? I'm not sure it's that clever...

Anyone tried this approach?

Bob.

I'm considering leaving mine on the long life interval but changing the oil myself mid-cycle, thus having the dual benefit of reduced servicing costs plus more frequent oil changes. However in another thread some time back it wasn't clear whether changing the oil yourself would alter the variable service interval. i.e would the car itself "notice"? I'm not sure it's that clever...

Anyone tried this approach?

Bob.

On another non VAG car, I changed mine during the middle of the night and the car didn't notice it.

But these Germans are very clever and shouldn't be under estimated.

If you intend the car to be a keeper, say 100,000 plus I would consider fixed, our last Octy Mk1 Diesel started playing up when starting at 140,000 & the diagnosis was a tiring oil pump due to the heavier oil. It carried on Ok to 165000 when we sold it & is still going Ok now, it just puffs a cloud of smoke when starting due the tappets not pressurising quickly enough. I will probably switch the current one onto fixed at the first service as it will be another car we will have for well over 100,000

I would certainly consider changing if the car has a DPF & you are doing a lot of miles as the system throws a dash of extra fuel in to heat the burning process in the Dreaded Particulate Filter & with Diesel now being part Bio anything washing down the bores will not break down as easily in the engine oil & can contaminate it. Thats the reason a car with a DPF cant run on 100% Bio

If you are selling at a lower mileage then why not take advantage of the cheaper overall servicing.

I'm considering leaving mine on the long life interval but changing the oil myself mid-cycle, thus having the dual benefit of reduced servicing costs plus more frequent oil changes. However in another thread some time back it wasn't clear whether changing the oil yourself would alter the variable service interval. i.e would the car itself "notice"? I'm not sure it's that clever...

Anyone tried this approach?

Bob.

Why what is the point? You are wasting £50+ of oil everytime you do a 'mid service' oil change. As I said earlier the oil is designed to last. Its another 'you must change the cambelt every 4years/50k' legends.....

If you intend the car to be a keeper, say 100,000 plus I would consider fixed, our last Octy Mk1 Diesel started playing up when starting at 140,000 & the diagnosis was a tiring oil pump due to the heavier oil. It carried on Ok to 165000 when we sold it & is still going Ok now, it just puffs a cloud of smoke when starting due the tappets not pressurising quickly enough. I will probably switch the current one onto fixed at the first service as it will be another car we will have for well over 100,000

I would certainly consider changing if the car has a DPF & you are doing a lot of miles as the system throws a dash of extra fuel in to heat the burning process in the Dreaded Particulate Filter & with Diesel now being part Bio anything washing down the bores will not break down as easily in the engine oil & can contaminate it. Thats the reason a car with a DPF cant run on 100% Bio

If you are selling at a lower mileage then why not take advantage of the cheaper overall servicing.

The new CR's use the same oil regardless of service regime. By heavier oil i presume that you mean older oil? Chances are the oil pump would have given up the ghost around that mileage anyway so if you changed to fixed, over 150k you would have had 15 services whereas on variable you would have had 7-10 services. At an average cost of £120 for a service you would have paid £600-£1000 more if you were on fixed....How much is an oil pump?? :p

My opinion, if it's good enough for the manufacturer with their very cautious approach it's good enough for me.

Modern oil is a technological marvel disguised as a liquid, and bears almost no relation to the stuff sold 15 or so years ago.

On the other hand if having the car serviced every time the planet has done a lap of the sun (or you've covered an arbitrary distance that you feel sufficient) helps you sleep at night then who am I to argue

My opinion, if it's good enough for the manufacturer with their very cautious approach it's good enough for me.

The converse view to that is that the manufacturer introduced these service regimes to reduce costs for fleet owners who don't care about the long term well being of their cars as they will ship them on at 3 years/100K so any issues would be felt by someone else.

Long life services are more expensive than fixed services, but you will obviously have less of them. If you're doing 18K in 18 months between services then you're probably not really saving that much. For example, 3 year old car might have required 3 fixed services at £100, £200 and £100 (12, 24 and 36 months, respectively) whereas on variable it might have only required 2 services at £180 and £220 (18 and 36 months, respectively. Both total £400 so you've not saved anything by being on variable servicing.

I'm considering leaving mine on the long life interval but changing the oil myself mid-cycle, thus having the dual benefit of reduced servicing costs plus more frequent oil changes. However in another thread some time back it wasn't clear whether changing the oil yourself would alter the variable service interval. i.e would the car itself "notice"? I'm not sure it's that clever...

The car won't notice! It doesn't monitor oil condition it simply monitors engine usage/temperature and clocks down the miles-to-next-service count accordingly.

We are all getting to be like our grandads! Don't trust this new technology - oh no! :no: :no: "Tut tut tut, Oil can't possibly last 20,000 miles." :no: :no:

My 1st diesel was a 1995 Xantia - oil change every 6000 miles or 6 months, now we happily accept 10,000miles or 1 year but are suspicious of 18,000miles or 2yrs. In 5 years time 18k/2yrs will be the norm but we won't trust 30k/3yrs or whatever.

The new CR's use the same oil regardless of service regime. By heavier oil i presume that you mean older oil? Chances are the oil pump would have given up the ghost around that mileage anyway so if you changed to fixed, over 150k you would have had 15 services whereas on variable you would have had 7-10 services. At an average cost of £120 for a service you would have paid £600-£1000 more if you were on fixed....How much is an oil pump?? :p

The CR I guess has a DPF hence the higher grade oil for both fixed & variable.

Oil pump for our old one I think was something like 200 & then theres the garage bill to fit although I think its just sump off so not huge so your figures may stack up. Its I guess a personal thing

Why what is the point? You are wasting £50+ of oil everytime you do a 'mid service' oil change. As I said earlier the oil is designed to last. Its another 'you must change the cambelt every 4years/50k' legends.....

I do 25000+ miles per year and plan to keep my Octavia for at least 5 years, so by then it will probably have around 150k on the clock, so anything I can do to help reduce wear and prolong engine/component life has got to be worth it in the long run, and more frequent oil changes is the obvious one. I agree that if I was going to chop it in at 60k/3 years I wouldn't bother and just save the money.

Thanks everyone. Some very valid pros & cons it would seem. I am not doing big miles compared to the last vRS I had, (a PD), & the techie may not know this yet. He used to look after my old ('08) vRS which I averaged 1,000 miles a week in & it was on fixed servicing. He had it every 9/10 weeks (it now has 110,000 on & going strong!) & may not realise that a change of job has drastically reduced my mileage. If I were doing lots of trackdays etc, I might be tempted to service it/change the oil more often. :wonder:

About 4 years back there was a very long thread about variable servicing & switching the fabia vRS to this & the outcome was that variable service cars have an additional sensor that monitors the viscosity of the oil. ( this sensor could NOT be retro fitted to the furby due to the "hole" where the sensor fits was manufactured completely blocked) This sensor then activates the service light once a certain viscosity is reached.

It was mentioned that the long life oil was fully synthetic, & the fixed service oil on the furby was semi - synthetic.( i always paid the extra to have fully synth to look after the engine).

As above - Engine & oil technology has moved on & i really cant see any manufacturer running the risk of having variable servicing just to save the customers money, as the risk of it coming back to bite them would be VERY costly.

The mK1 Fabia vRS was not suitable for variable servicing but the Octy vrs was, although I personally wouldnt be tempted to do a mid cycle oil change, specially if the viscosity sensor sees new oil,you rin the risk of the reminder from this sensor being over ridden & then only the mileage reminder 'hoepfully' kicks in @ 18k miles.

Its totally up to you what you do, I tend to go with manufacturers recommendations, as if there are any warranty claims then im fully covered.

I am running my 3rd Skoda now on Variable servicing, never had an issue with any of them in the total of more than 200K miles I have driven them. My previous Octy diesel had just shy of 100K on the clock and had just 4 services in that time, the only thing that failed was a cheap sensor which I changed myself.

Your independent maybe trying to get the extra business from you, after all on fixed servicing you'll be visiting them twice as often giving out nearly twice as much cash.

The car won't notice! It doesn't monitor oil condition it simply monitors engine usage/temperature and clocks down the miles-to-next-service count accordingly.

It does monitor the oil. There is a sensor in the sump, hence variable.

It does monitor the oil. There is a sensor in the sump, hence variable.

Agree , have had my 1.9 tdi now 5 years and although on variable , the service indicator comes up depending how its been driven , as the last few years have been less miles , more stop start , the variable is coming up earlier than on previous ones .

It does monitor the oil. There is a sensor in the sump, hence variable.

Does it actually monitor the oil?

I thought that it monitored the types of journeys that the car had been used for, and whether the car had been fully warmed up and the like. It then uses this to decide how long the oil will 'last' and adjusts the service interval to suit. So it looks at oil temperature, not oil quality.

If you change the oil without resetting the variable service timer, then you will get no extension to the time or the mileage.

A number of people on the forum leave their car on variable and take it to the dealer as indicated, but carry out an intermediate oil change.

It's not just about the oil; it's about servicing as a whole.

For my money, I'm just not comfortable leaving my car for almost two years or 20,000 miles without a service.

If modern oil lasts longer than it used to then so be it, but two years worth of winter conditions / cold starts?

As I average around 10K a year £150 pales into insignificance.

It's not just about the oil; it's about servicing as a whole.

For my money, I'm just not comfortable leaving my car for almost two years or 20,000 miles without a service.

If modern oil lasts longer than it used to then so be it, but two years worth of winter conditions / cold starts?

As I average around 10K a year £150 pales into insignificance.

What does a service do that helps winter conditions and cold starts? All a dealer does is change the oil (sucking it through dipstick hole), the filter and the walk around the car and tick off a sheet to say that the tyres and wipers are fine, the coolant level, brake fluid level and tellkyou that your discs which are perfectly usable for the next 10k need to be replaced.

It monitors the oil quality. These settings are configurable in vcds for the type of oil so it must do something. The car will not know how many short journies etc you've done, it just goes off the oil.

Does it actually monitor the oil?

I thought that it monitored the types of journeys that the car had been used for, and whether the car had been fully warmed up and the like. It then uses this to decide how long the oil will 'last' and adjusts the service interval to suit. So it looks at oil temperature, not oil quality.

If you change the oil without resetting the variable service timer, then you will get no extension to the time or the mileage.

A number of people on the forum leave their car on variable and take it to the dealer as indicated, but carry out an intermediate oil change.

Mine is on variable, indicates around 17-18k between variable services. I change the oil+filter inbetween services (@8-9k ish). Changing the oil makes NO difference at all to the miles/time remaining to next service indicator. Its only £40 or so for oil+filter so it eases my paranoia!

I certainly wont be paying Skoda for a service every 10k.

Maybe there is a sensor in the sump? I guess it could monitor soot level maybe? what else can it measure? How do you measure oil "quailty"?

I'm more a believer in it using oil temp and length of journey for the ECU to "calculate" how long the oil will remain good for.