I have never attempted an oil change as I suspect the undertray has to be removed to access the sump plug and there is precious space for me to wriggle underneath and undo and remove the many screws. But does the tray have to be removed as looking through the engine it may not extend to cover the sump plug? If this is the case then I might change the oil myself.

Why not a suction pump through the dipstick hole?  It's what the garages use.

 

About £40 and you have cheap oil changes for life, Simple to do, clean, and you are guaranteed the corect grade of oil if you buy it yourself.

Edited 15 January, 20206 yr by bryanb

Yes in recent years I have used a pump.I don,t know what main dealers use ,but I cant imagine they mess about taking off under trays.

I think commercial vehicles garages use pumps to pump old oil out and new oil in from central tanks.

I fully agree with bryanb about cheaper costs ,for me its about £25 a time ,and you know the right oil is used ,and a new filter is fitted.

 

Good luck

From my experience of using a VW dealership workshop while under warranty, on at least the 16V version of the 1.2TSI engine, there was a note on the printed out job sheet for a service that indicated that removing the drain plug was required on that engine. What exactly that turns out to mean might just be that suction removal for the bulk of the old oil is still carried out, but that needs to be followed up by drain plug removal, maybe the suction removal of the bulk of the oil is for H&S consideration only.

 

You just need to make up a couple of low ramps from bits of wood to gain a small bit of lift at the front and as that aids the oil removal via the drain plug, I'd think just stick with that method.

 

There is a lot more than just changing oil and filter etc to servicing a car, being able to take a look underneath the car once a year is not a bad thing, plus servicing the brakes without lifting the car up is not going to work - and not including servicing the brakes every other year as a car gets older just does not make sense to me.

I used to put my Roomster up on one kerb, that gave me enough room to crawl under to undo the torx screws holding on the engine tray. With the tray out I'd then drive the car onto my drive to service it. It's too tight to crawl under without ramps or the use of a kerb. The tray unbolts and bolts on easily enough, but you have to get under the car to reach the rear few screws.

I used a pump last year, but I don't think you get all the old oil out, If I do it again this year I'll take the tray off and while it's off I'll cut a hole in it so I can get at the Drain Plug for next time.

Thanks for the info. So much easier with a ramp or pit. Being 3 score years and ten I might hand it to a local independent VAG specialist as I am not so supple as in my middling years. He quoted £139 for interim service so what the heck!

14 hours ago, Locomotive said:

I used a pump last year, but I don't think you get all the old oil out, If I do it again this year I'll take the tray off and while it's off I'll cut a hole in it so I can get at the Drain Plug for next time.

Personally I would think again about cutting holes in the tray. That tray is very effective in keeping the engine clean. My son's fiesta does not have any undertray and his engine is dirtier than mine being 3 years younger with similar mileage

I'm talking about a 2" hole (50 mm) not a huge hole, It only needs to be big enough to take the drain plug out with your fingers.

46 minutes ago, Locomotive said:

I'm talking about a 2" hole (50 mm) not a huge hole, It only needs to be big enough to take the drain plug out with your fingers.

 

Make sure you take pictures of the mess you make as the the oil shoots over the hole and pools on top of the undertray 

Yes, it would be very convenient if warm engine oil would just drop down vertically - unfortunately that is not the way things work!

 

Edit:- added "oil"!

Edited 21 January, 20206 yr by rum4mo