Our diesel Yeti is set up for service intervals every 2 years.  Mileage is approx. 8000m per annum, a mix of local and longer runs. Now 3 years old with 24000m on the clock.

2 years without an oil & filter change seems alien to me even with VW505 synthetic oil.  Our service manager says this is fine, so obviously not pushing for extra work. Are forum members comfortable with this arrangement?

Isnt it 507 spec for long life? Im absolutely NOT comfortable with that but the majority on here disagree with me. I had my first oil change at around 9,000 miles/9 months old and since then its been done annually at the dealer (for the book stamps) and an interim one by either Shark Performance or myself every 5,000 miles. If you consider thats over the top then also consider that I use the decent long life stuff each time too!

These service intervals are intended to attract fleet business. Yes they are safe and the warranty is retained but the life cycle of the fleet market assumes that after 3/4 years the car is dumped into the auction market and it has served it's economic life. If that is what suits you -fine but if you want the option of running the car beyond warranty and into the long term it isnt the way I'd go.

My Yeti was hi mileage - 54k in just under 3 years, and I had it serviced every 10k or so, as advised by Sinclair Skoda, who I rate as a "decent" garage.

 

When i acquired my 170bhp, 4*4 Superb - which was intended to do far fewer miles (6k in 8 months) - I was advised to go for the lesser servicing arrangement.  Again - I am content to take their advice, and as they will see me far less often, they are obviously not pushing to do work that isnt needed.

 

Overall - it does seem to be logical.

Our diesel Yeti is set up for service intervals every 2 years.  Mileage is approx. 8000m per annum, a mix of local and longer runs. Now 3 years old with 24000m on the clock.

2 years without an oil & filter change seems alien to me even with VW505 synthetic oil.  Our service manager says this is fine, so obviously not pushing for extra work. Are forum members comfortable with this arrangement?

That is all wrong!

Variable servicing is best used when the car is driven long distances very regularly, such as my 18k a year. Your "minimal" useage should be on fixed term servicing.

505 oil is NOT the "variable distance" oil, that should be 507.

That is all wrong!

Variable servicing is best used when the car is driven long distances very regularly, such as my 18k a year. Your "minimal" useage should be on fixed term servicing.

505 oil is NOT the "variable distance" oil, that should be 507.

Yes, sorry - VW 507!  The garage says it is on fixed term - i.e. every 2 years. Maybe I'm old fashioned and modern synthetic oils are very good, but 2 years without an oil change...?

Edited 17 October, 201312 yr by survey

Yes, sorry - VW 507! The garage says it is on fixed term - i.e. every 2 years. Maybe I'm old fashioned and modern synthetic oils are very good, but 2 years without an oil change...?

It is actually variable servicing based on mileage, or up to two years. For a low mileage like you do variable servicing is not good. You want to get the car changed onto the annual/10k miles fixed service schedule, not the variable regime.

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As said above, there is no such thing as "fixed term" 2 year servicing.  There is "fixed service interval" and "variable service interval".

 

Fixed is 12,000 miles or 1 year between services, whichever comes sooner.

Variable is "up to" 18,000 miles or "up to" 2 years, with the ECU monitoring your driving and calculating the best time to actually get the service done.

 

The choice of which regime to use should lie with the user, influenced by the dealer.  Low annual mileage (or any other arduous use, like mountainous region, towing, dusty climate etc) should indicate the fixed regime, with the variable regime better for larger mileages (which tends to be easier on the oil).

 

For a diesel there is no choice for oil - you have to use 504 00/507 00 oil regardless of the service regime.

Ours is variable at the moment, MFD reckons the next service will be in 2015 sometime!!!

I suspect that'll come down as we use it as our mileage isnt going to be stella and I'll probably switch to fixed from then on.

If you do less than 10k/year or have a free servicing offer, then you must be on a fixed regime.

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

As for variable being bad, we have many member with company cars who have done 100,000's without issues.

Most people with cars suffering issues are down to incorrectly using variable when they should be on fixed due to the reasons in the above link

Variable servicing was designed for company cars though.

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Variable servicing was designed for company cars though.

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But that doesn't mean it's not suitable for private motorists so long as the "rules" are adhered to

Our 6 year old Octavia only had variable services, and was fine at 70k

Variable servicing was designed for company cars though. 

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No it wasn't! It was designed for vehicles that do high mileages, not in short journeys, where they get properly warm. Just like I do!!

Such as cars which say 60k in under 3 years, like er company cars...

It halves the number of services required in 3 years which has a significant impact on running costs which interests people like fleet managers.

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Such as cars which say 60k in under 3 years, like er company cars...

It halves the number of services required in 3 years which has a significant impact on running costs which interests people like fleet managers.

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True, but the same items are covered and checked.

The fixed regime cycle is simply oil change, followed by everything else at the next (major) service.

Thanks to oil technology your simply skipping the oil change (minor) service. If VAG, Mercedes and BMW can do it why can't ford, vauxhall, Honda etc?

Perhaps only the German marques are reliable enough?

Remember as well lorries cover 50-100k between services without interim oil changes and dead trucks lining every road

We have a 12 plate caddy at work which has done 47k so far, it's on the road at least 9 days out of 10 so only have two services rather than 5 makes a difference.  We only have so many vans, in fact we have bought two new ones in the last two months as we couldn't manage with what we had.

 

An oil change service seems to cost more than just an oil change would suggest.

 

I would suspect that the people trying to flog Octavias, Passats, A4s etc were not thinking about how it could save money for Joe Bloggs when they came up with the variable service idea, they were thinking purely of Mr Lex etc who was buying them by the boat load.

I do between 12 and 15k a year but still have the car serviced at time and distance; between 9.5-10k miles, as that usually falls well within a year. Variable is designed for long trips at a fairly constant speed, such as a rep wagon sat on a motorway all day for example.

 

Yes mileage wise I cover above average per year but I don't drive regularly at a fairly constant speed, plus I'm up and down hills quite a lot, so in my case variable is not suitable either.

 

 

TP

Variable can be suitable for differing needs, since the ECU monitors what the engine is doing and adjusts the interval accordingly. A variable serviced interval could be much shorter than 18k/2 years.

If VAG, Mercedes and BMW can do it why can't ford, vauxhall, Honda etc?

Perhaps only the German marques are reliable enough?

Remember as well lorries cover 50-100k between services without interim oil changes and dead trucks lining every road

According to surveys and returns run annually by people like Which? magazine, Auto Express, etc. then the German marques you mention all have their issues too!  Its not so long ago that the series 1 Audi TT was the LEAST reliable vehicle on UK roads with 1 in 4 requiring recovery from the hard shoulder over a 3-year period.  Which? ran a lead article just last year about how tarnished with poor reliability the German badges where then :| . (Yes I know Skoda are part of VAG too and the engines are the same  ).  

 

Also remember that lorries and trucks tend to run very high daily mileages and trip distances.  So the oil gets up to temperature quickly and stays there for the rest of the day / till the driver's hours are up. As mentioned many times over in this thread by Llanigraham and others, its the short journey, low overall mileage pattern that is murder for the oil chemistry. Particularly in a diesel engine, with DPF regens and the like, some of which even cause fuel to contaminate the oil (on some makes). Plus most of the larger truck fleets regularly sample the oil and do chemical analysis to check for engine wear, contamination, etc., to determine when a change is due.  Hence why they can run oil for longer distances safely. Trucks and tractors also use different technology than cars to reduce emissions (e.g. Ad Blue), more compatible with longer oil change intervals.    

According to surveys and returns run annually by people like Which? magazine, Auto Express, etc. then the German marques you mention all have their issues too!  Its not so long ago that the series 1 Audi TT was the LEAST reliable vehicle on UK roads with 1 in 4 requiring recovery from the hard shoulder over a 3-year period.  Which? ran a lead article just last year about how tarnished with poor reliability the German badges where then :| . (Yes I know Skoda are part of VAG too and the engines are the same  ).  

 

Also remember that lorries and trucks tend to run very high daily mileages and trip distances.  So the oil gets up to temperature quickly and stays there for the rest of the day / till the driver's hours are up. As mentioned many times over in this thread by Llanigraham and others, its the short journey, low overall mileage pattern that is murder for the oil chemistry. Particularly in a diesel engine, with DPF regens and the like, some of which even cause fuel to contaminate the oil (on some makes). Plus most of the larger truck fleets regularly sample the oil and do chemical analysis to check for engine wear, contamination, etc., to determine when a change is due.  Hence why they can run oil for longer distances safely. Trucks and tractors also use different technology than cars to reduce emissions (e.g. Ad Blue), more compatible with longer oil change intervals.    

Does fully synthetic oil not cope with the extended oil change period, cold starting etc. If not, then perhaps a non or semi-synthetic oil would do the trick for annual servicing?

Variable can be suitable for differing needs, since the ECU monitors what the engine is doing and adjusts the interval accordingly. A variable serviced interval could be much shorter than 18k/2 years.

Is this not the point?

Does fully synthetic oil not cope with the extended oil change period, cold starting etc. If not, then perhaps a non or semi-synthetic oil would do the trick for annual servicing?

Try finding a mineral oil that can meet even the lower VW specification requirements!

Forget about base oil type and focus on specifications. You don't really get the choice any more of which base oil type or even viscosity to choose, you have to select the right specification and this often determines what you get. For example, if you want a VW 504 00/507 00 oil, you're getting a synthetic 5W-30 because that's the only type that can meet the spec.

Also, if you're servicing a diesel VW engine annually, you still have to use the 504 00/507 00 oil because it is a low ash oil that is needed to protect the DPF.

Edited 18 October, 201312 yr by weasley

Is this not the point?

It is - I was responding to the suggestion that not running at constant speed would preclude you automatically from variable servicing.

Does fully synthetic oil not cope with the extended oil change period, cold starting etc. If not, then perhaps a non or semi-synthetic oil would do the trick for annual servicing?

Fully synth oils are primarily developed to cope with high annual mileages and long period / high temp running. They still can't perform miracles in removing contaminant build up that develop from every cold start, low distance trip, etc. Even though the lower viscosity examples do help fuel economy at low engine temps. Besides, the cost of top spec oil is tiny compared to the cost of a new turbo or replacing a poisoned DPF.  As said in another reply, those both require a particular specification, low ash, low phosphorous, etc.  Downgrading to not much cheaper mineral or semi-synthetics would be false economy on a grand scale over 2+ years.  Semi-synths are fine for older, non-turbo, petrols they were designed for (and the occasional older turbo petrol in the case of the top semi-synths like Magnatec).  I used to use them very happily in a petrol BMW straight six that ran to 260k miles, but wouldn't use them in my Yeti though.  Even though I change oil at 8500 miles. Just my opinion, but I do tend to run my cars to what used to be regarded as very high mileages.