Hi everyone, new member here!
My dad passed away recently and I inherited his beloved Superb Mk2 2014 FL 1.8 TSI (160hp), which he bought new in the summer of 2015. The car is at 97000 km and has always been serviced on-time and properly, only in the official Skoda service centers in my country. Oil changes have always happened on-time if we look at it from the Skoda dealers / service centers pov, but I think some intervarls were pushing the safe limits:

Oil change intervals:

• 13300km

• 27680km

• 47970km - those ~20000 km between changes seem a bit concerning to me

• 54790km

• 72640km - this one is also pushing it, at ~18000km between changes. At this point, the dealership switched to 0W30 oil, from 5W30 before that.

• 87400km - last one

• car is at 97300km now

They've always used Castrol except for the 72K oil change, when Shell Helix Ultra Pro was used instead.

The engine does consume some oil, but since the last oil change at 87400 km, only about 0.6-1l of oil has been topped up - this was done by the service center the last time it's been there (at 96100 km, to change brake discs, pads and brake fluid). I just checked the oil level yesterday and it was right in the middle between min and max.

The alternator belt and tensioner have been changed twice, most recently in Oct 2023.

The timing chain and tensioner, and the water pump have not been changed.
Over the past few days I read lots of scary stuff about that EA888 Gen 2 engine (this one has a CDAA engine code) and it seems the consensus is that the timing chain or tensioner failing is only a matter of time, and is a ticking bomb. The other massively talked about problem is oil consumption, which (knocks on wood) doesn't seem too pronounced on my dad's car. On the plastic timing chain cover (left of the oil cap) there is a sticker with the date 17.10.13 - not sure what to make of this, can it be a good sign or not.

I'm looking for suggestions on what to check to make sure I'm on top of potential issues, at least as much as I can, and what preventive maintenance is 100% required at this point and mileage to keep it reliable. The car hasn't had any problems in the past 10 years and it runs very smoothly in my opinion.
Any input is welcome!

Be as well to switch back to 5w 30 FS III , VW504 00 / 507 00. Which is what the 0w 30 FS III is as well. But was not getting used back 11 years ago. Check the Oil at Operating Temperature after being stopped a few Minutes. That is 4 or 5 after there is an indicated 90*oC oil temp. Top up to the top of the cross hatch area. Area A.

37 minutes ago, vg_vassilev said:

On the plastic timing chain cover (left of the oil cap) there is a sticker with the date 17.10.13 - not sure what to make of this, can it be a good sign or not.

Manufacture date of engine, I expect. Neither good nor bad. 😀

28 minutes ago, Evolution13 said:

Be as well to switch back to 5w 30 FS III , VW504 00 / 507 00. Which is what the 0w 30 FS III is as well. But was not getting used back 11 years ago. Check the Oil at Operating Temperature after being stopped a few Minutes. That is 4 or 5 after there is an indicated 90*oC oil temp. Top up to the top of the cross hatch area. Area A.

Thanks for the info on how to check the oil level, I did so on a cold engine. What's the benefit of switching back to 5W30 from 0W30?

10 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Manufacture date of engine, I expect. Neither good nor bad. 😀

I mentioned this because I came across a few mentions of some mythical "revision 2" of the gen 2 EA888 engine, which is supposed to have improved some stuff, but I haven't been able to find any specific information.

I see. I know nothing about these engines, but if it runs nicely just keep the oil changes regular and don't ignore warning lights or strange noises. Sounds like you got a good one. 👍

@vg_vassilev I suspect that the Service had 0w 30 FS III oil used because that became the oil in more recent years for some engines that had not changed to VW508 00 / 509 00, so 0w 20 FS IV, but for maybe 10 years or more the recommended 5w 30 FS III will have been used. No harm with what it has but no harm in using what it used to have.