Hi again being a new skoda octavia owner and a first time owner of a turbo engine I want to make sure I prolong the use of the turbo engines and that it has minimal issues (I can see these engines have more maintanance involved) . Per the manufacturer 7 year servicing package they recommend that it's OK to change the oil every 15,000km or every year. I have heard and read elsewhere that it's best though to do them more frequently. So I'm thinking that I will probably change the oil at a skoda approved or VAG independent mechanic in between the skoda recommended servicing. Is this a good idea, if I do go down this path do they still put it in the servicing logbook so that it reduces the servicing package, not sure if I'm making sense.  I don't want to use the 7 year servicing package quicker but on the other hand I want to maintain the engine better.  I would like to read what others have done and how it's been for you.

1 hour ago, LuxoviaRS said:

Hi again being a new skoda octavia owner and a first time owner of a turbo engine I want to make sure I prolong the use of the turbo engines and that it has minimal issues (I can see these engines have more maintanance involved) . Per the manufacturer 7 year servicing package they recommend that it's OK to change the oil every 15,000km or every year. I have heard and read elsewhere that it's best though to do them more frequently. So I'm thinking that I will probably change the oil at a skoda approved or VAG independent mechanic in between the skoda recommended servicing. Is this a good idea, if I do go down this path do they still put it in the servicing logbook so that it reduces the servicing package, not sure if I'm making sense.  I don't want to use the 7 year servicing package quicker but on the other hand I want to maintain the engine better.  I would like to read what others have done and how it's been for you.

If you are using Synthetic oil there is no need to do more oil changes, the only thing is what mileage are you doing per year?

if you are doing about 10k miles per year i would change it once every two years (about 20k miles) and in fact if you have it set to 

non fixed it will tell you when it needs doing.

and another thing don't put too much oil in only about half way between low and hi marks as having too much will do more than having too little

1 hour ago, RADIOTWO said:

If you are using Synthetic oil there is no need to do more oil changes, the only thing is what mileage are you doing per year?

if you are doing about 10k miles per year i would change it once every two years (about 20k miles) and in fact if you have it set to 

non fixed it will tell you when it needs doing.

and another thing don't put too much oil in only about half way between low and hi marks as having too much will do more than having too little

Yes I have read that it's highly recommended to use good quality synthetic oil.  So no need for more frequent oil changes. I believe that Under the 7 year warranty offered I believe you need to bring in the car one time a year or 15,000km 7,000 ml whichever comes first, otherwise you void the warranty but I'm only going by memory and I'll need to look into it. Thanks for your advise 

 

Your engine, your driving routine, your choice. For about £30 and ten minutes with a Pela oil pump I bother to change at the half way point. Was the change to long life servicing brought about by improvements in oil/materials technology or by a desire to reduce costs to the big leasing fleets? Those who repair these engines on a daily basis will have a view (Crasher?).

The Oil is to VW508 00 / 509 00.   Whatever it is will be good quality.

0w 20 FS IV.

 

The car came with the Long Life Oil and can be on Variable / Flexible Servicing, 18,000-20,000 miles / 30,000 km  24 months, 

but Fixed 9,400 / 15,000 km 372 days is fine.

 

Road use even in Australia there should be no need to do Oil & Fliter changes more often than annually / 15,000 km.

Unless you're doing excessive mileage, or constantly operating in extreme conditions, my suggestion is stick to the 15k km / 12 months as prescribed for the warranty. They are warranting your car for 7 yrs, so it's reasonable to assume the car won't be 'under-serviced' at those intervals. It's not likely that intermediate oil changes would get logged in the Skoda electronic service record.

In the UK we don't have such a generous warranty. And here, as Rooted pointed out, long life servicing can mean up to about 19,000 miles / 24 months (whichever comes first). 30K km! That gives the idle owner plenty of time to run the levels lower than optimal.....

3 hours ago, SouthernComfort said:

Unless you're doing excessive mileage, or constantly operating in extreme conditions, my suggestion is stick to the 15k km / 12 months as prescribed for the warranty. They are warranting your car for 7 yrs, so it's reasonable to assume the car won't be 'under-serviced' at those intervals. It's not likely that intermediate oil changes would get logged in the Skoda electronic service record.

I'm not sure about them not logging in intermediate oil changes,  the dealer seemed to think they would,  but what would they know right.  Anyway thanks for your point re sticking to the prescribed yearly 15,000km servicing. I have been told though that at about 3,000 km or February they will ask me to come in to check fluid levels.  

3 minutes ago, inspectorman said:

In the UK we don't have such a generous warranty. And here, as Rooted pointed out, long life servicing can mean up to about 19,000 miles / 24 months (whichever comes first). 30K km! That gives the idle owner plenty of time to run the levels lower than optimal.....

Yeah i can see why. Those intervals are like a long time between oil and services. Why are they so long.

1 hour ago, LuxoviaRS said:

 I have been told though that at about 3,000 km or February they will ask me to come in to check fluid levels.  

 

That should be the responsibility of any responsible owner/driver.

 

Its far more likely to be an excuse to make a sale through scare tactics or charge through the nose for topping up oil or fluids that may have been at the correct level, is it really worth your time to be a willing victim?

Edited 25 November, 20232 yr by J.R.

54 minutes ago, J.R. said:

 

That should be the responsibility of any responsible owner/driver.

 

Its far more likely to be an excuse to make a sale through scare tactics or charge through the nose for topping up oil or fluids that may have been at the correct level, is it really worth your time to be a willing victim?

True of course. You make a valid point. I'm sure they will try something. Of course it's not very hard to check fluid levels yourself if you know how and the manual is clear how to. I checked the oil a few days ago it was perfect. Some of the other fluids looked OK too. 

9 hours ago, LuxoviaRS said:

Yeah i can see why. Those intervals are like a long time between oil and services. Why are they so long.

It goes back 25-30 years when some big company car users and leasing firms put pressure on certain manufacturers to extend the service intervals.  At the time most big company car operators had strict limits of car had to be disposed of when it reached 50,000 or 60,000 miles.

 

So any long term damage and excess wear was never to their account, as got rid of it before it happened, so manufacturers to be competitive and get these bulk orders, all pushed up the service interval when competitors did it.

 

Then second users started to get problems with oil starved turbos etc at higher mileages, so most offered an alternative schedule for those not cruising long distances (basically allowing for lot of cold starts, and engines not warming through.  But this has led to complete muddle where people with mixed driving don't know if they should be following the long variable, or the fixed interval servicing.

 

The synthetic oil does last longer, but problem is if drive lot of short journeys in winter, engine barely warms up, and a fair proportion of oil stays as thick heavy cold stuff in the sump.  You don't need much imagination to work out if only part of the oil is regularly circulating, that bit will deteriorate quicker.  That's why after a decent journey in colder weather the car often feels more lively because got the oil warmer and better circulated.

 

A friend of mine with a company car took some oil (just prior to an extended oil change) from his dipstick and dripped it on a microscope slide, then did same on another slide after the oil change.   Let's just say since then he wouldn't extend the intervals on his own car having seen the difference.  He described it as comparing a jar of clear honey to a jar of treacle with bits in bit

 

 

Edited 25 November, 20232 yr by SurreyJohn

10 hours ago, LuxoviaRS said:

I'm not sure about them not logging in intermediate oil changes,  the dealer seemed to think they would,  but what would they know right.  Anyway thanks for your point re sticking to the prescribed yearly 15,000km servicing. I have been told though that at about 3,000 km or February they will ask me to come in to check fluid levels.  

Maybe your dealer was offering some sort of 'courtesy' service to check your fluid levels, but it's not the norm. 15k or 12 months are entirely appropriate service intervals, otherwise just check the fluid levels yourself regularly. Some vehicles may use a little oil in the running-in stage, most won't. Mine hasn't used a drop since new, now at 3,200km. Don't over worry about this stuff, and as I mentioned previously the manufacturer is warranting these cars for 7 years during which time they won't risk component failures at their expense by miscalculated service intervals.

11 hours ago, inspectorman said:

In the UK we don't have such a generous warranty. And here, as Rooted pointed out, long life servicing can mean up to about 19,000 miles / 24 months (whichever comes first). 30K km! That gives the idle owner plenty of time to run the levels lower than optimal.....

It's always fascinating to learn about the variations between markets, including warranties. Sibling rivalry is alive and well down under, VW has been deeply entrenched here since the 1940's, whereas Skoda only made its debut in 2007. Skoda is continually competing for market share against VW (who offer a 5yr warranty) and although VW and Skoda new car pricing is virtually level pegging these days (on equivalent models), the longer warranty is Skoda's trump card. They're also up against giants Kia & Hyundai who also offer 7yrs. I guess the customer wins, 7yrs / unlimited km warranty is an industry best at the moment. It's one of the reasons I chose Octavia to replace my Golf.

5 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

It goes back 25-30 years when some big company car users and leasing firms put pressure on certain manufacturers to extend the service intervals.  At the time most big company car operators had strict limits of car had to be disposed of when it reached 50,000 or 60,000 miles.

 

So any long term damage and excess wear was never to their account, as got rid of it before it happened, so manufacturers to be competitive and get these bulk orders, all pushed up the service interval when competitors did it.

 

Then second users started to get problems with oil starved turbos etc at higher mileages, so most offered an alternative schedule for those not cruising long distances (basically allowing for lot of cold starts, and engines not warming through.  But this has led to complete muddle where people with mixed driving don't know if they should be following the long variable, or the fixed interval servicing.

 

The synthetic oil does last longer, but problem is if drive lot of short journeys in winter, engine barely warms up, and a fair proportion of oil stays as thick heavy cold stuff in the sump.  You don't need much imagination to work out if only part of the oil is regularly circulating, that bit will deteriorate quicker.  That's why after a decent journey in colder weather the car often feels more lively because got the oil warmer and better circulated.

 

A friend of mine with a company car took some oil (just prior to an extended oil change) from his dipstick and dripped it on a microscope slide, then did same on another slide after the oil change.   Let's just say since then he wouldn't extend the intervals on his own car having seen the difference.  He described it as comparing a jar of clear honey to a jar of treacle with bits in bit

 

 

Ah now I get it. Thanks for the explanation about the long services. Typical manufacturers though. Yes re the short trips are what I'm concerned about as those are the majority we do, of course we will get those occasional long trips in too. Part of me asking re the more frequent oil changes for a TURBO engine than the regular was because of these reasons you mentioned above with the oil and also reading elsewhere too.  I guess in the end it's up to me,  how I go about it, but it's  good to get others input and advise. 

4 hours ago, SouthernComfort said:

Maybe your dealer was offering some sort of 'courtesy' service to check your fluid levels, but it's not the norm. 15k or 12 months are entirely appropriate service intervals, otherwise just check the fluid levels yourself regularly. Some vehicles may use a little oil in the running-in stage, most won't. Mine hasn't used a drop since new, now at 3,200km. Don't over worry about this stuff, and as I mentioned previously the manufacturer is warranting these cars for 7 years during which time they won't risk component failures at their expense by miscalculated service intervals.

I don't know maybe,  all I know is that's what the sales guy mentioned to me. No I would think not. Maybe it's part of the 7 year servicing schedule. I guess I'll have to see.  Yes that's what I was mindful of, it being one those using a bit more oil in the running in phase, I had read that somewhere else and my first brand new car I just wanted to make sure I was on top of things. Ok so not all of them do. Yeah I'll try not too. Yes the 7 year warranty gives some peace of mind.  Thanks for your advise.

On 25/11/2023 at 19:30, SurreyJohn said:

It goes back 25-30 years when some big company car users and leasing firms put pressure on certain manufacturers to extend the service intervals.  At the time most big company car operators had strict limits of car had to be disposed of when it reached 50,000 or 60,000 miles.

 

So any long term damage and excess wear was never to their account, as got rid of it before it happened, so manufacturers to be competitive and get these bulk orders, all pushed up the service interval when competitors did it.

 

Then second users started to get problems with oil starved turbos etc at higher mileages, so most offered an alternative schedule for those not cruising long distances (basically allowing for lot of cold starts, and engines not warming through.  But this has led to complete muddle where people with mixed driving don't know if they should be following the long variable, or the fixed interval servicing.

 

The synthetic oil does last longer, but problem is if drive lot of short journeys in winter, engine barely warms up, and a fair proportion of oil stays as thick heavy cold stuff in the sump.  You don't need much imagination to work out if only part of the oil is regularly circulating, that bit will deteriorate quicker.  That's why after a decent journey in colder weather the car often feels more lively because got the oil warmer and better circulated.

 

A friend of mine with a company car took some oil (just prior to an extended oil change) from his dipstick and dripped it on a microscope slide, then did same on another slide after the oil change.   Let's just say since then he wouldn't extend the intervals on his own car having seen the difference.  He described it as comparing a jar of clear honey to a jar of treacle with bits in bit

 

 

Most car manufacturers specify synthetic oils these days it just goes without saying. Synthetics are designed to have good cold properties. Unless you're doing *really* short journeys constantly I can't see there being a problem.

@mccririckYour PHEV requires being on Fixed Servicing for Oil & Filter changes due to how seldom the 1.4 TSI might be fired up.

I take it they will be using VW508 00 / 509 00 0w 20 FS IV & not VW504 00 / 507 00, 5w 30 FS III even though the engine is the same as it was when a Euro 5 emissions.