Apologies if this is topic has been addressed previously - I couldn't find it in a search on the forums.

Is there anyone else who thinks that VW/Skoda air filter change schedule is highly optimistic?

VW appear to say change at 30,000 miles.

My MY16 Octavia is now approaching 17,000 miles and I am going to change both the air and cabin filters soon. I did a little number crunching and have calculated that a 1.4 litre engine will consume something over 15.5 billion litres of air in 16,000 miles, even at moderate RPM! - that's more than 1,500,000 M3 if I haven't got my calc. wrong.  

The maths sounds excellant, send me the spreadsheet! Go for it cheap enough to do (the knack for the glove box will make you curse), let it breathe again and ignore the VW R&D departments recommendations. Perhaps Which should be asked to do a real world test on car air filters. 

The Guidelines / Schedule Recommendation in the UK has been at 4 years / 40,000 miles for years now.

That was at a 2nd Major Service in the old scheme of things.

 

Nobody knows where the car is used / parked etc.

City, town, country, seaside.  

So easy enough to check them more often and replace if needed.

 

That should be done as a matter of course annually, bi-annually or whatever.

 

Edited 13 July, 20205 yr by Roottoot

As @Roottoot says, the suggestion from Skoda is actually 4yr/40k. Skoda now publish a PDF they call "Suggested Services Year by Year", covering generic suggested service schedules for cars older than 3 years

 

https://az749841.vo.msecnd.net/sitesengb/alv1/a06b23b4-1cad-431f-8a9e-9a845954d0e2/NationalPriceServicing.1ca5db45f2690fccdbcc4ad8cae7a857.pdf

 

https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/servicing-maintenance-fixed-price

 

Edited 13 July, 20205 yr by Kenai

19 minutes ago, Kenai said:

As @Roottoot says, the suggestion from Skoda is actually 4yr/40k. Skoda now publish a PDF they call "Suggested Services Year by Year", covering generic suggested service schedules for cars older than 3 years

 

https://az749841.vo.msecnd.net/sitesengb/alv1/a06b23b4-1cad-431f-8a9e-9a845954d0e2/NationalPriceServicing.1ca5db45f2690fccdbcc4ad8cae7a857.pdf

 

https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/servicing-maintenance-fixed-price

 

That said, just noticed this shows it at 6yrs / 60k, not even as often as I thought! 😳

 

It's only the cabin filter they're showing at 4/40

Edited 13 July, 20205 yr by Kenai

1 hour ago, Warrior193 said:

1: Is there anyone else who thinks that VW/Skoda air filter change schedule is highly optimistic? VW appear to say change at 30,000 miles

 

My MY16 Octavia is now approaching 17,000 miles and I am going to change both the air and cabin filters soon.

 

41 minutes ago, Roottoot said:

The Guidelines / Schedule Recommendation in the UK has been at 4 years / 40,000 miles for years now.

That was at a 2nd Major Service in the old scheme of things.

 

 

I'm not quite sure why there a problem.  To answer your question directly, I think it's fine. Air filter gets changed every 2yr or 20k.

 

Where did

the 30,000 miles comes from, perhaps you can elaborate?

 

And I'm even more puzzled by ROOT's reply re: 40,000 miles because the answer is in the screenshot he posted.

 

Major service - Replace air filter.

 

If you are on fixed intervals then basically it's minor, major, minor, major etc.   Servicing is every 10k or 12mth whichever comes first which means the air filter will be replaced every 20k or 2yr.

 

If you're on longlife servicing then basically it's a major service every 2yr or 20k, whichever comes first. i.e. the same time interval.

 

Skoda make some maintenance questions really difficult to understand, but this one is easy peasy.  Of course the owner can replace the filter more often if he or she likes.

 

26 minutes ago, Kenai said:

That said, just noticed this shows it at 6yrs / 60k, not even as often as I thought! 😳

 

It's only the cabin filter they're showing at 4/40

 

Where are people getting these figures from  ???   Where does it say 6yr/60k and a cabin filter at 4yr/40k    Perhaps it's just me but those figures are so obviously wrong - I can't understand why people can be so sure with their answers. You seriously risk damaging your engine if you didn't change it for 6yr or 60k. And I certainly wouldn;t like to be the poor bugger driving around with a 4yr old pollen filter.  Yuck !!!!  You'd have thought your nose would have told you by then it needed changing.

@Scot5 You 'quoted' / used a screenshot of the VW Service Menu that was for cars 3-10 years in the past and that some still use.

Dealers said this did not apply to under 3 year old cars.

 

 If you are going to be an armchair expert then get with it, and do your armchair research.

You have the cars, had ones before, surely you know what Skoda Services got you and when.

 

Where did the Air Filter gets changed every 2 years came from. That was after the first Main Service. 

4 years or 40,000 miles, some even said at 60,000 miles same as the Spark Plugs.  The Spark plugs were actually at 4 years / 40,000 miles as well.

Same as the DSG oil change. also Fuel filter with a diesel.

 

First at the 2nd main service or 40,000 miles whichever came first on the Guidelines / Schedule / recommendations. 

Now it is when you pay to get it changed.

 

Skoda Main Dealers certainly never changed the Airfilters in a 2 year old car when a Major Service was done and paid for.

Never even looked at them.

You could look yourself, change yourself, or pay to get it done, or even say you are charging for a main service so change it.

The answer would be that it is not scheduled for a change at 2 years / 18,000-20,000 miles.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/462800-service-plans

 

The Pollen Filter was changed at the first 2 years then each after, unless you paid extra a annual / minor / interim services.

Edited 13 July, 20205 yr by Roottoot

2 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

Where does it say 6yr/60k and a cabin filter at 4yr/40k    Perhaps it's just me but those figures are so obviously wrong - I can't understand why people can be so sure with their answers. You seriously risk damaging your engine if you didn't change it for 6yr or 60k. And I certainly wouldn;t like to be the poor bugger driving around with a 4yr old pollen filter.  Yuck !!!!  You'd have thought your nose would have told you by then it needed changing.

It says it in the PDF of "Suggested Services Year by Year"

 

Open the link and look at it yourself, it's there in a horrible green and white. 

 

The column '6 years or 60,000 miles' is the one where you'll see 'Air Filter' for £45.

These schedules are aimed at the fleet cars. People who want the best out of their private motor vehicle will be changing them sooner. I also ignore the recommendations and change a lot sooner. Looking at the state of some of the old ones for the cost it’s worth changing regularly. 

I changed both the air and cabin (pollen) filters myself - the date stamps on both filter cartridges indicated that both were original from the factory (2015) and both were well loaded with debris at less than 17000 miles.

Although my car was main dealer serviced for the first 3 years, it is obvious that they did not change the cabin filter at 2 years - disappointing - but not too much of a surprise, I guess!  It does raise the question - does 'Main Dealer Servicing' really rate the premium charges once out of warranty? I say, in many cases, no.

On 13/07/2020 at 21:14, Scot5 said:

Where are people getting these figures from  ???   Where does it say 6yr/60k and a cabin filter at 4yr/40k    Perhaps it's just me but those figures are so obviously wrong -

 

Over 25 years ago around 1995 I learned that the then current emissions standards required that a vehicle should be able to do 100000kms or 60000 miles without any maintenance not even oils & filters and still remain within emissions limits, the results were long life platinum pointed spark plugs, long life engine oils and massively increased air filter elements, I'm sure you will recall the first car you had with these and other changes.

 

Until then I had been changing filters regularly but then I started inspecting and for the last 15 years having an MPG readout and being obsessive I know exactly when an air filter needs changing and what it looks like when it does, of course it depends on the conditions but I did 100K miles before changing the air filter (I had brushed it off & shaken/tapped it to dislodge larger particles at each inspection) on my Octavia and the new one did not increase the MPG which had never dropped.

 

Cabin filters blocked much more frequently and you would know from the poor fan output.

 

Interestingly the manufacturers never needed to increase the capacity of the oil filters, detergent fuels having been introduced a long time before.

My general thoughts on the subject of servicing my Skoda superb 2011 till 2019 as a taxi driver i bought this car brand new, serviced it as follows: every 10,000 miles air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, pollen filter and oil.. evry 85,000 miles cam shaft belt replaced, water pump every second camshaft belt, the results speak for themselves, car at 0 miles total mileage on car when i replaced it, it was at 433,000 miles with the same engine ,gearbox, Turbo, exhaust, glow plugs since the day i drove it out the dealers, due to the regional council the taxi cant be more than ten years old, hence the reason for replacement, new car is Skoda Super 3 , happy motoring.

17 minutes ago, pretorian said:

My general thoughts on the subject of servicing my Skoda superb 2011 till 2019 as a taxi driver i bought this car brand new, serviced it as follows: every 10,000 miles air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, pollen filter and oil.. evry 85,000 miles cam shaft belt replaced, water pump every second camshaft belt, the results speak for themselves, car at 0 miles total mileage on car when i replaced it, it was at 433,000 miles with the same engine ,gearbox, Turbo, exhaust, glow plugs since the day i drove it out the dealers, due to the regional council the taxi cant be more than ten years old, hence the reason for replacement, new car is Skoda Super 3 , happy motoring.

That’s a very good run for the car. What engine size was that and what gearbox manual or DSG

did you ever change the gear oil on a manual?

Did you experience any common issues with it ?

On my 1.8tsi on 45tkm I've just replaced air filters and spark plugs, and actually it wasn't so bad but I do a lot of city driving so I didn't want to wait until 60tkm.

or alternatively....as it is just 6 screws to remove it, have a look at it. If you have been doing lots of town driving, I would recommend getting the filter done early. I've had air filters that after 30k look revolting. It's your car and you can decide and replace the filter yourself whenever you want.

I find as a rule of thumb "if it does no harm, then replace it".

 

If you wish to replace the filters early it will not damage the car. I currently live in a rural area, and change my filters at the required time, however when i lived in Germany, near a very dusty and dirty industrial site, with a lot of airborne particulate matter, i changed my filters more regularly.

 

I still remove my pollen filter and give Henry some lunch once a year

 

Replacing air filters are not an onerous task

I change mine every 10,000 miles irrespective of whether it is needed. 

I change the Air and Cabin filter every year, regardless of mileage (which will never be more than around 8k anyway).

Although I do feel that having to undo 6 torx head screws just to change the air filter is a bit overkill from Skoda. My previous BMW 5 series (and every other car I've owned) had clips, nice and easy.

And getting the glovebox off to change the cabin filter (and then on again) is a mission in itself. What a joke! There must be an easier way?

 

 

8 hours ago, Noms said:

What a joke! There must be an easier way?

Arh....stop your complaining 🤭. It's easy,you just need practice. The key way to make it easier is thin fingers and extending the soft opening mechanism to its maximum length. Clip - click, left push, right push...all done! 

58 minutes ago, varaderoguy said:

Arh....stop your complaining 🤭. It's easy,you just need practice. The key way to make it easier is thin fingers and extending the soft opening mechanism to its maximum length. Clip - click, left push, right push...all done! 

How about putting it back, and trying to line up the ‘connector’ piece on the left that keeps slipping?

The 'connector' or soft-opener is easy as long as you extend the arm to its furthest extent. Clipping it into place it a matter of some patience, thin fingers or a plastic removal tool to clip it back into place.

So - a thought. Would you like a video on how to do it (cos the videos I've seen on YouTube don't show the correct way of doing it).

9 minutes ago, varaderoguy said:

So - a thought. Would you like a video on how to do it (cos the videos I've seen on YouTube don't show the correct way of doing it).

Yes please. 
I too found the videos on YT equally useless. Thanks!

Somebody tried cabin filter with baking soda? I installed now cabin filter with activated carbon. 

15 hours ago, Noms said:

I change the Air and Cabin filter every year, regardless of mileage (which will never be more than around 8k anyway).

 

And getting the glovebox off to change the cabin filter (and then on again) is a mission in itself. What a joke! There must be an easier way?

 

There is, only change the filter when it needs changing, easy to judge by the reduced blower output.

 

Air filters will last for 100000kms in the worst of conditions and still not affect the vehicles emissions or fuel consumption, it has been a homologation requirement for close to 30 years, annual inspection and dusting off combined with an obsessive scrutiny of fuel consumption meant mine remained on my vehicles far longer than that.

 

The cabin filters are a different story but deffo havn't needed changing every 12 months/8K miles.