Hi all,

 

Sorry if this has been covered before, i have been looking into various posts, and more i look i get confused more....

 

Can someone please clarify for me in respect of service schedule for my Fabia 1.2 tsi 100ps, the car just turned 1 yr, bought as pre-reg. Car has just turned 6k on the clock, and i was expecting to get a chime/reminder for a service as year has expired, and then i checked the screen and it states the following:

 

Oil change in 285 days or 12,500miles

Inspection service in 285 days or 13,500miles.

 

having had a look in the sticker it set on Longlife service Q16 schedule. i always used to have this on all my lease cars before (i was fine with this arrangement at the time), however work circumstances have changed just after i bought Fabia, i only do now 400miles per month apx (even less sometimes) commute on straight A roads. Reading from different forums it appears that i would be better off having fixed service on my car due to low mileage per year.

 

I am well confused with the inspection service thing (whats that all about), i always had in mind that servicing alternates as minor service (oil change) and then major service and so on, and other things as per recommendation (brake oil change 3-2 years etc).

 

i do service wife's Golf tdi as its well outside warranty (oil change/filter and fuel filter every year with OEM stuff from TPS), brake oli/cam belt vw specialist in Cannock. the Golf only sates service due in xxx days/miles, no mention of this Inspection service. I simply change the oil and filters reset the mfd and thats it for 12 months, check brake pads etc do visual, and leave the rest to MOT guy in my local garage.

 

However as the Fabia is still within 3 yr (2 yr remaining) of warranty, so i need to stick with the dealer. 

 

Can someone please clarify what is "Inspection service" comparing to simple oil change which Skoda are quoting £179 (1st service)? as their website mentions Interim service and Major service?? i am well confused with this issue.

 

Do i wait for  285 days/12,500miles to expire and have it serviced then with Skoda dealer and then have it changed to fixed service regime? which will mean that the car will have its first service/oil change on its 2nd birthday and then i can do my own servicing after that as this car is the keeper?

 

Would really appreciate clarification.  

As you said you would be better of with a fixed service regime.

Ask the Skoda dealer to change it and have a service done every 372 days or 9400 miles which ever comes first.

 

I had mine changed to fixed and before the first service I paid for this:-

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/finance-and-offers/service-and-maintenance?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzcKX04_l2gIVqZPtCh3NjgNTEAAYASAAEgISVfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CNvKxdWP5doCFecD0wodNJcGBg

This is the first and second services for £279.00.

I think the car need to be under 1 year old.

 

Thanks AG Falco

I agree, with the way you use your car and if you are keeping it for a reasonably long period, then fixed servicing will suit that car better.

 

Oil Service and Inspection Service, making it simple, it could be that VW Group are aligning the names of Minor/Major to this to better reflect what work gets done on the car.  Oil Service is simple to understand as it will end up being that, Inspection Service has more content and scope which will change depending on the actual miles/age of the car - like spark plugs air filter etc.

 

For a while VW Group, or at least some of these marques dealers were back to offering Major/Minor services which were always identical, so spark plugs and air filters tended to get changed every second year - but that servicing was aimed at people that did not buy their cars new or from VW Group dealers in general.

The simple solution is to ask for a one year service to be done, for you own peace of mind, and ask for fixed services going forward 

 

As it has long life oil you could wait, but if you intend to keep the car many years, any problems caught early reduces likelihood of expensive failures in few years time.

 

My own view is ignore the computer, treat that as absolute backstop date. simply check oil on dipstick, if it looks good then don’t worry for a while, but if you have oil like speckly looking treacle then get first service done with oil change.

 

Personally I think 18k miles is too long between oil changes if you want car to last 100k+ miles.   I would suggest max 15-16k (and for those with the newer more stressed 1 litre, bit less, around 14k max).   You need to understand that English case law means manufacturer only has to worry about car getting to 7th year, it’s then in their interest for it to fail so you buy a new car.  So they set the max to fit this, not to keep car going 15 years.

 

 

 

Edited 2 May, 20188 yr by SurreyJohn

My BMW's and Merc's all did in excess of 245,000 miles on variable servicing, using long life oils and leaving that oil in for between 27,000 and 30,000 miles a year. Engines ran great. My sisters Fabia Estates all ran long life oils on vaiable servicing, and covered around 19k each year without any problems with her last one reaching 220,000 miles without issue. BUT...to use longlife oils you must be doing high miles all the time with a hot engine. So the OP is quite right to question his service regime. At the miles he is doing he MUST switch to a fixed service interval to avoid damage to his motor. Longlife oil will not protect his engine with such low miles. Inspections services are in fact a minor service with oil and filter changed and careful inspection of the car and other engine components. Basically, just making sure the car is safe and running well. Issue will be flagged up, if any.

14 minutes ago, Estate Man said:

My BMW's and Merc's all did in excess of 245,000 miles on variable servicing, using long life oils and leaving that oil in for between 27,000 and 30,000 miles a year. Engines ran great. My sisters Fabia Estates all ran long life oils on vaiable servicing, and covered around 19k each year without any problems with her last one reaching 220,000 miles without issue. BUT...to use longlife oils you must be doing high miles all the time with a hot engine. So the OP is quite right to question his service regime. At the miles he is doing he MUST switch to a fixed service interval to avoid damage to his motor. Longlife oil will not protect his engine with such low miles. Inspections services are in fact a minor service with oil and filter changed and careful inspection of the car and other engine components. Basically, just making sure the car is safe and running well. Issue will be flagged up, if any.

 

Estate man. Thanks for this its really appreciated it clarifies the inspection service question. I have been toldby the dealership at the handover that the car uses 5w30 Longlife oil 504/507 spec and they gave me a 1L of Quantum for top up when needed.

 

Should I stick with this or change the grade? I was thinking of doing oil change this year my self just for the piece of mind and then go to dealers next year as per car indicator?

 

Does anyone know what oil grade dealership would use on 12 monthly intervals/changes?

Normally dealers use a 5-30 or 5-40 oil of VW502/504 spec for fixed servicing (although check your book but I don't think it's changed). You don't need longlife if on fixed servicing. You can still use longlife if you want to but it's a bit of a waste.

Edited 2 May, 20188 yr by Estate Man

If you do your own oil change make sure that you use an oem filter and do not tell the dealer as if they know it will likely invalidate the warranty on the engine.

12 minutes ago, peter3197 said:

If you do your own oil change make sure that you use an oem filter and do not tell the dealer as if they know it will likely invalidate the warranty on the engine.

 

of course, will get a filter from TPS. 

3 hours ago, EdHru said:

of course, will get a filter from TPS. 

If you can.

A lot of TPS depots won't sell to Joe Public any more.

This has been a recent change and might not affect every branch.

 

Thanks AG Falco

On 2 May 2018 at 06:29, SurreyJohn said:

The simple solution is to ask for a one year service to be done, for you own peace of mind, and ask for fixed services going forward 

 

As it has long life oil you could wait, but if you intend to keep the car many years, any problems caught early reduces likelihood of expensive failures in few years time.

 

My own view is ignore the computer, treat that as absolute backstop date. simply check oil on dipstick, if it looks good then don’t worry for a while, but if you have oil like speckly looking treacle then get first service done with oil change.

 

Personally I think 18k miles is too long between oil changes if you want car to last 100k+ miles.   I would suggest max 15-16k (and for those with the newer more stressed 1 litre, bit less, around 14k max).   You need to understand that English case law means manufacturer only has to worry about car getting to 7th year, it’s then in their interest for it to fail so you buy a new car.  So they set the max to fit this, not to keep car going 15 years.

 

 

 

There is a lot of misinformation about oil change intervals. 18k miles drain periods are perfectly realistic with the right quaiity oils and decent fuels. Engine testing fully supports long-drain periods with modern synthetics of the correct viscosity and specs.....and good filters. Not all filters are the same and some are disgraceful.  Engine oil is one of those things that should not, ever, be skimped on. You have no idea what potential wear is taking place, over a long period, until it is too late.  Likewise filters...buy from the dealer, it really is cheap preventive maintenance.

 

Some motoring correspondents really need to bring themselves up to date re oil changes. The one in the DT is a firm believer in 10k mile changes and frequently mentions the damage done to engines by long-drain....but doesn't cite any stats or evidence, presumably because he's just stating old prejudice. 

 

There is some evidence in the USA that increased oil changes are actually worse in terms of wear, but over there, there is some culture of used oil analysis which show wear-metals.

 

my old Volvo with the wonderful D5/185bhp turbo-diesel happily ran to 120k+ miles before I sold it. It didn't use a drop of oil between the 18k miles service intervals and emissions at MOT were always ridiculously low.

 

Do it properly and long life is easy to achieve. Using top quality oil and filters is probably the cheapest, and best, engine maintenance you can buy.  The additional cost per mile vs 2nd rate is hardly calculable.