My suggestion is based on the (some say over) cautious approach.  An oil change, even at the dealers, is cheap and not inconvenient. By comparison against a hard to quantify but increased risk of a blown turbo and associated costs and inconvenience I suggest the cautious approach. The variable service interval is an advantage to high mileage and new cars.... So helps sell to lease companies and the like. Longer term show Skoda probably don't gain or lose financially - lots of older cars are serviced independently so the small loss of service revenue to Skoda doesn't matter and may be matched by revenue from repairs.  If you will keep the car the cautious approach won't cost much and might save a lot.

BTW, have you ever seen the state of the oil from a turbo diesel? after just a few 100 miles it is black. I struggle to believe the long life oils can manage anything close to 20k miles.

+1

 

Manufacturers were driven to long life servicing by fleet managers wanting to minimise the cost of servicing. After 3 years the cars get moved on, and any subsequent issues are then somebody elses problem. I'm not sure it is necessarily a plot hatched by Skoda to increase their dealers service revenue - although it is an inevitable consequence. 

 

Personally I never ran on variable servicing on my old privately owned PD (when I used to do a lot of miles) to ensure that the turbo was always running on relatively fresh oil. On the PD diesel different oil was/is required for long life v fixed servicing.  Can't speak from experience about the CR diesel.

Why can't you just have an oil and filter change when you want?

I'm thinking of planning one in before my first variable service is due.

I aim to cover approx 15 k miles PA

I could get the skoda dealer to do it, or I could do one myself and say nothing, but use the correct grade oil and filter.

Which has been suggested on other forums..

Or just do the oil with a dip stick pump, and leave the filter for the recommended period, hence the car would still be under warranty, I would have 95% brand new oil and it would have cost me around £35 for the correct spec oil.

I would be happy that I have fresh oil...correct spec... and in 8 years time I will look back on this choice.

Warranty is preserved...

In the past, with other cars, I have always had an oil change less than 6 months from new, whether it needed it or not...

Often done by the dealer.

They say it wasn't required but understood and did it anyway.

Fords and Rovers used to require an oil change and first free service at 1000 or 1500 miles otherwise the warranty was null and void.

It had been suggested that these new cars had special "running in" oil put in.

I think that the first ever change is the most important, and if I was going to economise, then I might do that on later changes...

I will certainly consider an oil change at between 8-10,000 miles from new when on variable....

Just in case..

What are other's thoughts on this?

Am I missing something here? Lots of good advice already given so I'm a little unsure where the confusion is coming from.

Ignore Skoda customer services, they are well known for getting it wrong. Different oil for fixed vs. variable? Not true - for the reason I explained earlier. Different oil filters? An all time new low!

Also take what is in the manual with a pinch of salt, they too are well known to get it wrong. It is VW 507.01 now, not VW 507.00.

At 15-18K you should be on variable. Simples.

If you prefer to be over cautious go fixed.

 

You've hit nail on the head - different advice given here vs Skoda dealer/CS - none of them admit even any knowledge of this excellent forum so that probably says a lot.

Let's face it you can't change the oil too often.

As a huge supporter of the fixed service interval I too see the benefits of fresh oil.

However if the annual mileage is high then most of the time this means the car is spending quite some time on the motorway.

Fresh oil each year sounds sensible to me. Low mileage drivers will get this on fixed. Higher mileage drivers will get this on variable.

Very few cars get to 20K on variable.

Remember the car measures the quality of the oil and decides for itself when it would like fresh oil.

My wife covers 8K a year, she is on fixed. I cover 30K a year and I'm on variable.

The wife's car gets fresh oil once a year, I'm in for service every 8 months.

Sounds sensible to me...

Let's face it you can't change the oil too often.

As a huge supporter of the fixed service interval I too see the benefits of fresh oil.

However if the annual mileage is high then most of the time this means the car is spending quite some time on the motorway.

Fresh oil each year sounds sensible to me. Low mileage drivers will get this on fixed. Higher mileage drivers will get this on variable.

Sounds sensible to me...

I fully support this thinking. Low mileage Fixed, High (especially if all Motorway work) then go variable. 

 

Simples indeedy

Car got oil changed yesterday and dealer has reset interval to variable. The display now tells me the next oil change is due in around 19k miles - fair enough.

 

Also telling me an inspection is due in 9k miles - anyone know if this is chargeable?

Inspection is the full service, so they have messed up again.

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Hmm, it's always the simplist of jobs that seem to task the dealers the most

 

I'm not 100% sure there is an issue though.

 

See this post with a complaint from a 2014 MkIII Superb owner. An Octavia MkIII owner also made comment suggesting his looked the same.

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/331108-strange-message-in-the-service-display-any-ideas/

 

Is this confusing or what...

 

 

Older Skoda's (such as my 2011 Superb) are far simpler!

 

 

For what it's worth...

 

Oil service = minor (otherwise known as fixed)

Inspection service = major (otherwise known as variable)

 

Full details about the differences between the two are here*...

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/national-pricing/servicing

 

*Not sure if this applies in Ireland?

Edited 9 January, 201511 yr by silver1011

If it is saying that a full service is due 9000 miles after an oil change then it is on fixed still. Simples.

I should know, my first O3 was traded in at 30k so I have seen the run up to 9, 18 & 27k services. And guess what, the dealer kept setting it to variable after each service so I had to have them change it to fixed after each one.

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I concur with Andy as also have used x3 free 10k fixed services, then switched to variable at 30k service. The service indicator now shows oil and inspection services counting down at the same rate and from the same starting point which was 18,700 miles or 730 days.

I'm still a little confused, if both choices of service count down from the same point how in this example are they so close together?

 

1,100 miles or 61 days between an oil and inspection service?

 

Edited 10 January, 201511 yr by silver1011

What spec is your O3 cos that screen shot looks nothing like mine?

This is from a MY14 Superb. With it now also showing the two choices I'm guessing it's set up the same as the MkIII Octavia.

Glad to see I'm not the only one a bit confused by it all.

 

In my case, the car has just had an oil change at 10k. The dealer said he's changed it to variable. The car tells me it's due an inspection at ~20k now....but is this not correct? If it indicated 30k then that would mean it would not have had a full inspection from new until 30k - I thought the intervals were meant to be 20k?

 

Also a side issue - since the oil change the car is now starting from cold almost instantly - in the last couple of months the was a 2-3 second delay between turning the key and the motor starting - could the oil change have fixed this?

In which case your oil change should be at the same mileage as your inspection service.

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But an inspection service would include an oil change anyway?

 

At 10,000 miles the car was serviced and set to variable.

 

This means that the next service will be due in approx 20,000 miles (or 2 years).

 

So the next service (inspection) should be due closer to 30,000 miles not 20,000 miles.

 

For the car to be saying it is due a service in exactly 10,000 miles suggests it is still on fixed, surely?

The problem is changing from fixed to variable at 10k. I would have left it until 20k then they can't get it wrong.

According to how it is currently set it is still on fixed as it wants the major service in 10k followed by an oil change 10k later, which is fixed intervals.

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Interesting Andy

 

My O3  was set as fixed when i bought it (not quite new,  3k miles), and part of the deal was to change to variable and service before delivery to me (yes i know a bit over the top at 3000 miles but that was their idea). however the service and change to variable was missed. so they agreed to do the 10k service FOC and make the change to variable then. which they did this morning, i do around 60k miles a yea. the service indicator now says inspection @ 18900 miles and oil change@ 18900 miles.

Interesting Andy

My O3 was set as fixed when i bought it (not quite new, 3k miles), and part of the deal was to change to variable and service before delivery to me (yes i know a bit over the top at 3000 miles but that was their idea). however the service and change to variable was missed. so they agreed to do the 10k service FOC and make the change to variable then. which they did this morning, i do around 60k miles a yea. the service indicator now says inspection @ 18900 miles and oil change@ 18900 miles.

Which looks correct, as on variable your oil change and inspection service are at the same mileage, as long as that is in 18,900 miles rather than at 18,900 miles.

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subtle Andy - ill check now BRB

in 18900 miles - but Maxidot (hold down trip reset) says 18850 miles!

The only issue I can see is Skoda might get confused when you go in for a 30k or 50k service when filters get replaced at 40k and 60k I think

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The only extra filters are air, fuel and pollen and these are all much closer to 60,000 miles.

 

This is why the £259 variable service before 60K is a waste of money, all you are getting is a £139 oil service.

Agreed, you may as well have 2 oil change services

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On my previous Octavia I recall an independent (good) service manager telling me he disliked the variable servicing, where they often

changed oil (fully synthetic) at something like 30K and what came out of the sump looked .....**********.....(expletives deleted.)

 

Much better to change oil and filter at 10K or less, even if using only semi synthetic (but appropriate) oils.

I go along with that and always have fixed servicing, as I do low annual mileage anyway.

After all, the oil is the life blood of the engine, it isn't worth skimping.