I'm reading my octavia manual about servicing and my car has a QG1 sticker in it for variable servicing.

When i'm reading the manual it says Inspection service every 20/40/60k miles.

Are these hard figures or approximate as I havn't seen a service light yet and have just passed the 40k mark.

The dealer stamped the thing and wrote variable above the stamp, although they ticked the 24month / 20k miles thing on the form.

Does the car know which service interval it is on, and if it does should the service light have come on by now.

Thanks, a very confused me.

Have a read of what it states on page 8 of your car's Service Schedule (ie service record booklet). This says in part:

A. Variable Service Intervals (QG1)

Inspection Service based on variable Service Interval Display (but not later than every 24 months).

Change brake fluid every 24 months

The variable Service Indicator Display provides you with an automatic reminder of the correct moment for the next service. You must take your vehicle to a regular inspection no later than after 2 years or after not more than 30,000 km in the case of petrol engines and not more than 50,000 km in the case of diesel engines.

To answer your questions, the car will know what service interval it is on if programmed correctly by the dealer. The need for a service isn't indicated by a service light on your car but rather by the words Service in 1000 miles which are displayed in the trip counter display on startup for about 20 seconds. It is easy to miss that message! The mileage is reduces in steps prior to the service inspection. If your car has reached 2 years or 20,000 miles since the last variable service then a service is due now.

My car does around 4500 miles a year and is on variable servicing. The Service in 1000 miles message appeared at around 16000 miles and 2 months before the second 2 years will be up.

So for a diesel would i be looking at 50k km (eg approx 31'000 Miles)

Sorry for the confusion, but it was implied to me that the car knew when it was ready for a service. Does it know it's been 2 years, or does the warning only work for miles.

The warning works on time as well as miles. The dealer should have reset the service intervals to 50,000 km and 720 days (or possibly 730 days, but I can't check mine at the moment) when your car was last serviced. As I mentioned above, mine is currently anticipating the 2 year limit - although displaying miles to next service since that is all it can do. Yours could go to 50,000 km but keep an eye on the time limit lest the display fails to warn you in time.

My 1.8T has done just over 12,000 miles, and I think it was originally registered around Feb 2004. I'm not sure it has had any servicing done yet (I bought it in Sep 2005).

I have seen a "Variable servicing" sticker on top of the engine cover.

Assuming the correct settings were made by the dealer, should the display give me a "service in 1000 miles" warning when the 2 years are up (assuming this will happen before other factors* trigger a service) ?

* 'other factors' being those factors that control variable servicing on a "physical" basis - time spent over 300 revs, distance, etc, etc.

Thanks,

B

I have seen a "Variable servicing" sticker on top of the engine cover.

Assuming the correct settings were made by the dealer' date=' should the display give me a "service in 1000 miles" warning when the 2 years are up (assuming this will happen before other factors* trigger a service) ?[/quote']You should receive advance warning of the need for a service. Check the Service Schedule (service record) for details of what services have been carried out and when. The last entry should include details of when the next service is due - in my case it says Variable whereas the previous entry said 2,000* miles/26-03-2004 whichever comes first. *Variable.

I checked my service book and saw something interesting.

Firstly, it's specified as QG1, so that's variable.. Good.

The first page in the book says the car was registered in February 2004.

However, the date written for the delivery inspection is JULY 2004.

Does this mean the car was registered as a late 53 plate, but not sold and properly used until 5 months later??

The fact that this dellivery inspection was July suggests that my 2yrs/20k miles interval started in July 2004, so I guess that's the 2 year deadline I need to watch out for, and not February, as I originally thought.

Does that sound about right?

Thanks,

B

Any thoughts (DGW?) ?

Thanks,

B