Hi guys,

I've been keeping an eye on my oil level as expected for a new car with a performance engine but I am concerned because despite over 3700 miles of varied driving I still haven't seen the need to top up the engine with oil.

I find the oil dip stick a little confusing to read compared with other cars. It's made of plastic and despite the lego style block construction the read out is confusing. On the sides with a checked pattern the oil reads just up to the maximum but on the flat sides the level appears to be about half way between the upper and lower limits. I assume that this means that I could put half a litre or oil in but because the level isn't clear depending on the side you look at, I'm not sure whether I should fill it or not. I do recall the level being very full when I first got the car but surely it should have come down quite significantly by now and I don't want it to dry out.

Do you have any suggestions on how best to read the dip stick or how often I can expect to fill oil. In case you wondered, yes I have been cleaning the stick properly before putting it back in to check the level.

Been a lot of thread talk about the dipstick being difficult to read. As the oil gets darker with use it seems to get easier to see on the plastic. But if you dry the stick well, then dip it, then hold it up horizontally against the sunlight, say, you can see where it is wet. Look on the flat surface with the cross-hatched markings.

Make sure car engine is warm from use but has had a few minutes for oil level to settle. Also make sure car itself is on level ground. Note what manual says about not overfilling.

I used about half a litre of 0-30W in my 2.0FSI in the first 8000 miles - going in for annual oil change on Tuesday so that isn't too bad!

My old fabia never used a drop of oil when I had it which was 9000 miles.

After 4500km I had mind in the dealership last week, I asked them to check it as I thought it was around 1/4 - 1/2 full, they stuck in a litre of oil into it for me .