I bought my octavia scout 1.8 tsi a year ago, it has done 6000 miles. Is there any way to definitively establish whether it should be serviced annually or whether it is on the service indicator? I asked at my local dealer today and they seemed unsure but thought it was probably on the service indicator. i would like to confirm this before I go beyond the 12 mionths.

On a different note, I asked about having my key fobs programmed so that all doors open when I press the button, instead of the so called "intelligent" system of only opening the driver's door. They wanted £35, which I thought was a lot for such a simple, basic job. Anyone else had this done and what were you charged?

thanks

It takes the use of their diags and prolly 30mins book time so £35 is about right. You could retro fit maxidot or live with it. I would def go for fixed servicing as 6k a year is what I do. If its motorway driving then might get away with it.

I went for fixed as it doesn't seem safe going up to 2 years without anyone looking at your car!

A lad a knew who had a Clio on long life had his serviced after 20 months and they said his brake pads were dangerous! It's not just servicing I'd think about!

My local specialist dealer told me that he never liked the look of long life variable oil when it was drained after a long time and high annual mileage, nor the look of the inside of such engines, whatever "the book" says.

I have a 1.8Tsi too, and I'd never let it go beyond a year (which is only 7K anyway for me) without a nice dose of new oil. I've also been assured by main dealer that under those conditions the semi synthetic oil is fine, regardless of the engine having a turbo.

I bought my octavia scout 1.8 tsi a year ago, it has done 6000 miles. Is there any way to definitively establish whether it should be serviced annually or whether it is on the service indicator? I asked at my local dealer today and they seemed unsure but thought it was probably on the service indicator. i would like to confirm this before I go beyond the 12 mionths.

On a different note, I asked about having my key fobs programmed so that all doors open when I press the button, instead of the so called "intelligent" system of only opening the driver's door. They wanted £35, which I thought was a lot for such a simple, basic job. Anyone else had this done and what were you charged?

thanks

I do 25,000km pa (15,000miles?) in my 1.8tsi and am on fixed but generally run 504.00 oil. My fuel consumption deteriorates noticeably in the last few thousand km before the 15,000km service arrives. I'd hate to think how it would go if I left it another 10-15 thousand km. nb: I was so concerned I had the oil tested & it came up beautifully - viscosity on the mark, TBN up near 10, low wear metals, additive pack still good. All I can think of is that the suspended solids are causing some drag.

Anyway, I'd just send it in every 12 months & be done with it.

We have had the car 2 years serviced july 07 at 1 year 29 previous owner. july 09 and november 10. Was on variable switched to annual. Changed plugs and filter at last service. When we got it back it felt like a new car. Thats why we switched to annual. We will use the 507 oil as i bought a couple from Asda when they had mobil 1 for 35 quid. That way if we run over we know the oil is still okay. Variable seems to be there to make car running cheaper for high motor way mileage. Oil is what keeps the engine sound and wish i had gone annual as soon as i bought it. Now means it will be serviced just before the worst of winter each year :-).

Fixed, or variable its all done on the service indicator. For 6,000 PA I would get the car switched to fixed servicing, so take it in at 12 months and get them to switch it over.

I have run all my Skodas on Variable servicing, the last Octavia did 100K miles with just 4 service visits to the dealer in the time I owned the car. Never had any faults or problems, and was still on original disks/pads when I sold it for the Superb. The superb has had one service so far in 31K miles. Things like brake pads and disks should be checked between services regardless of service regime, and modern cars now have wear sensors as standard and will alert you to worn components.

A lad a knew who had a Clio on long life had his serviced after 20 months and they said his brake pads were dangerous! It's not just servicing I'd think about!

You should not rely on the garage to pick up the problem, even if the car was serviced at 12 months. At 12 months the brakes may still have been perfectly serviceable, and even worse it would have been another 12 months (24 in total) before the disks/pads were declared dangerous. Brakes should be checked regularly, just the same as tyres and oil.

My 1.8TSi is on variable servicing and looks like it will run to 2yrs before needing a service which doesn't seem like a good idea so I'll be doing an interim oil and filter change myself. Decided to do that rather than changed to fixed as that way it will only need one dealer service whilst under warrantly, and I'll service it myself thereafter.

As the cars come "variable" I think that's how Skoda and the Volkswagen group expect the "average" driver to run them.

I think if you follow the advice given by the manufacturer about when fixed would be more appropriate and choose appropriately you can rest easy.

As others have said on here before if you don't believe the manufacturers advice why believe that the fixed service intervals are adequate? Why not change the oil every 6000 or even 3000 miles on that basis.

Every time anyone touches your car mechanically there's a (slight) risk they'll do something wrong. Cross or strip a thread, put the wrong oil in, "forget" to put non-essential parts back. It may be a tiny risk but probably outweighs any tiny advantage in over-maintaining.

So the secret is to have enough maintenance, but only just enough in my opinion.

Edited 7 January, 201115 yr by juan27

Why is everyone so nervous about variable interval servicing? Just because we are all used to the annual visit to the garage, it doesn't mean things haven't changed. My wife's Mini is on variable servicing as are a lot of BMW/Mini products and the car is in its sixth year and is perfect. I have posted on here before that I strongly believe the 12 month regime is promoted so that the Dealers get the service work, and that engines/oil have moved on so cars can now go longer between services. No commercial organisation operating vehicles would contemplate annual servicing if it had a variable alternative.

If someone has a real tale of woe because they elected variable rather than fixed servicing - then let's hear it!

.On a different note, I asked about having my key fobs programmed so that all doors open when I press the button, instead of the so called "intelligent" system of only opening the driver's door. They wanted £35, which I thought was a lot for such a simple, basic job. Anyone else had this done and what were you charged?

thanks

Alternatively you could find someone local to you with VCDS who would do it for you and probably only want beer tokens in exchange, that's if you don't have maxidot, if you do then it is a 30 second job in your own driveway.

Ian

If someone has a real tale of woe because they elected variable rather than fixed servicing - then let's hear it!

How can anyone prove any problem they've had is due to variable servicing rather than fixed anyway?

Variable servicing caused massive problems with the older 1.8T engine. It was common for low mileage cars that had only been serviced once every 2 years to have problems with the oil going sludgy. This would leave a sludge in the bottom of the sump which would build up over time. Then, usually just after a service (when the new oil had disturbed all the sludge in the bottom), the pickup pipe would get blocked up. Usually the blockage wasn't enough to bring the oil pressure light on, but it was low enough to damage some of the sensitive hydraulic components. The first sign is usually the cam chain tensioner rattling as its oil fed. If that was ignored then your turbo was usually next.

This was and still is a very common problem with the 1.8T engine, so much so that Audi of America agreed to extend all 1.8T engine warranties to (I think) 7 years for problems relating to oil sludge and variable servicing.

Engine oil is your car's blood. For the sake of £100/year you could save a fortune.

In the "old" days people used to complain that they thought cars were serviced too often just as a way of providing dealers with regular easy money, variable intervals in theory provide a method of servicing a modern intelligent car when it needs it. Neither system will guarantee that any service garage will pick up every near worn item at a particular moment, if you are leasing your car and sending it back after 3 years it wont really matter and leases with built in variable service deals are increasingly common for those who wish to treat the car like any other domestic appliance and prefer not to even think about long term effects of how it is serviced.

For those of us who take an interest in the long term health of a car there is nothing to stop you asking for service and maintenance to be carried out before the car asks for it, so if you are concerned about the degradation of the oil have it changed. I seem to recall that in some versions many people are changing cambelts at 4 years now regardless of mileage, so fixed or variable still seems to require that the more fussy among us will have to intervene if we really want to do the best for the long term health of our cars.

It does seem a little worrying though that after many years of variable vs. fixed options on new cars they supply that they don't know which your car is set up for, doesn't make you feel confident does it !

ps... intelligent key fob is extremely annoying, sick of passengers tapping on the window to remind me that their door is still locked... should get mine changed too.... will ask next time it goes for a service but I am on variable so I don't know when that it

Fixed, or variable its all done on the service indicator. For 6,000 PA I would get the car switched to fixed servicing, so take it in at 12 months and get them to switch it over.

Indeed, mine is on fixed servicing and the service indicator light came on approaching 12 months even though I'd only done 7,000 miles.

At that type of mileage I'd definitely do fixed annual servicing. IMHO variable servicing is aimed mainly at fleet cars that do huge mileage to reduce servicing costs over the 3 years they will typically run the vehicle.

Variable servicing caused massive problems with the older 1.8T engine. It was common for low mileage cars that had only been serviced once every 2 years to have problems with the oil going sludgy.

This is the first time I've seen a first hand professional opinion on this on here and I respect this and take heed, but are we talking about low annual mileage cars, probably doing mostly short journeys ie precisely those that VAG recommend are serviced on a fixed schedule?

IMHO variable servicing is aimed mainly at fleet cars that do huge mileage to reduce servicing costs over the 3 years they will typically run the vehicle.

Why oh why then don't Skoda/VAG deliver retail customers cars on fixed?

Surely its because for the average 10000-12000 miles pa motorist variable offers a better deal, which encourages the customer to buy a Skoda variable servicing car rather than a competitors fixed servicing offering.

Whilst I always maintain my cars to the recommended schedule I really hate taking my car to the garage, its inconvenient, always seems to cost me £100s and the quality of work from main dealers for top brands can be truly appalling in my experience.

Anything that reduces the frequency of visits (without significant downside) is a good thing in my opinion.

Edited 8 January, 201115 yr by juan27

FWIW my uncles 1.8TSi is on varible and the computer says service will fall with the car being about a year old and 6k miles.

So I suggested for him to go for the skoda service plan that is currently being promoted and switch to fix services, 2 services for £299* plus £100 towards skoda goodies.

*(price may have changed please consult your local dealer).