Hi everyone, I haven't posted on Briskoda for a few years, but this time, I had to.

Just taken my Fabia 3 (2022 model year estate for a service. It's now three years' old, I bought it new in April 2022. It's a TSI 1.0 95bhp with the DSG box. I'm pretty sure it's one of the last made of this type. I think month of production is December 2021.

I took my car in for a service today. It's exactly three years' old, and I want the oil and filter changed every year.

I asked the guy, about 20 minutes ago about the following:

"By the way, after four years, the oil in the DSG box needs replacing, right?"

"No."

"When, then? After five years, six, after a certain mileage?"

"No, never."

"What?"

"You don't need to change the oil in a DSG gearbox for this car."

I didn't want to argue with him, even though I can speak Polish fluently. This is the Skoda dealer in Wroclaw (one of them, anyway).

I would love some feedback on this. Is he right? Surely you have to change the DSG gearbox oil at some point?

I'm inclined to ignore him completely and get someone in the UK to do it whenever I visit, i.e. once a year.

Thoughts, please.

Steve.

@Ootohere has the details on DSG oil changes.

It won't be once a year. You do need someone that knows what they're doing as DSG oil change isn't difficult but it's also not as straightforward as on an old manual box (and even the manual boxes VW don't make it as straightforward as other manufacturers).

Some, particularly engineers, say that (manual) gearboxes and rear axles don't need oil changes in the life of the car but I have always found benefit, particularly as I don't use the factory (costs) stuff in the changes.

Great to see you looking after your car but you don't want to be over doing it and perhaps spending your money and using resources too frequently.

The DQ200 DSG,s so 7 speed dry clutch DSG,s with 2 oils, in the MCU and box have no Service Schedules, guidelines or recommendations from Skoda / VW.

The oils can be changed if someone wants them, but that would need to be by someone that knows what they are doing and using the correct oils.

Maybe @ 8 years / 100,000 miles or so might be when changing the oils would be worth doing.

But there are people that are running ones that have never had oil changed,

other than those from 2009-2012 that were part of the Service Campaign to change the Oil from Synthetic To Mineral. Started in the UK in 2014.

Edited 7 April, 20251 yr by Ootohere

Thanks for the replies. Noted. By the way, what I meant was that I take my car in PL to the UK once a year and perhaps in the future I will get the DSG oil changed. But not now. I didn't mean that I'd get the DSG oil changed once a year - now that is overkill!!

Given VW balls'd up before on DSG box and them blamed the oil rather than their specification of oil and/or German engineering build and design then I might think about 5 or 6 years or the 8/100k-miles, VW's "lifetime" for the gearbox (so oil to me too) won't have a warranty of more than 8 years, not in the UK anyway. A manual box I'd think of 10 year oil change but given VW old clonky saloon 5-speed box in my wife's 2015 Fabia I changed to a better oil at 6 years and it seemed to help a little.

On 07/04/2025 at 07:45, exiled2000 said:

"By the way, after four years, the oil in the DSG box needs replacing, right?"

I've no idea what VAG say, but ZF Transmission (tell me they don't know about gearboxes) say "every 4 years".

11 hours ago, Paws4Thot said:

I've no idea what VAG say, but ZF Transmission (tell me they don't know about gearboxes) say "every 4 years".

In that case I could go with every 4 years.

I'm not sure why it's time related and not also mileage, more miles, annually perhaps, may mean less gear changes on the other hand the bits moving can be better than them not. Be interesting to see what ZF Transmission say about the every 4 years oil changes.