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If you change your oil every 3 - 5k miles you're not on long life servicing. The idea is that the car's computer works out from an algorithm using factors such as time, distance, number of cold starts etc. (but not oil "quality") and the display tells you when it needs an oil change. This is typically 20k miles or 2 years for a car operated under favourable conditions. 506.01 or 507.00 oil must be used.

I believe VAG have quietly dropped the variable servicing schedule as standard after the first change as some problems have been caused by leaving the oil in for so long (especially on the PD150 unit). There is also more dealer profit with 10k changes as the labour is the same whatever oil goes in and materials are chargeable to the customer.

I would use oil to 507.00 (Fuchs make a good one which can be bought fairly cheaply if you shop around) and change it and the filter every 10k miles.

rotodiesel.

Yes. Longlife is the servicing schedule of the Devil, Adolf Hitler, and Josef Stalin.

Sorry to jump on the thread but Duttons have just done a longlife service on mine and they put Shell Helix F 5 30 oil in ( I bought some as a top up) Is this correct.

Read the specifications on the can.

rotodiesel.

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Read the specifications on the can.

rotodiesel.

I have and it doest have any of the 50..... numbers. I questioned this at duttons and they assured me it was ok. BUT as they havnt done anything on the car so far without making some sort of mistake I thought I had better check here.

If you choose to change the oil at the intervals you have said then you may as well get it changed to normal service intervals and pay less for the oil as you are negating the 'advantage' of the long service intervals. I believe you will have to get a dealer to change the electronics though so the car knows what oil it is using.

Jacko

If the VAG required oil specification is not printed on the can, it's wrong.

To revert to "normal servicing" just reset the service indicator as detailed in the owner's manual using the dashboard controls. That's all the dealers do.

rotodiesel.

Not sure what the fuss is. Long life servicing seems to do the trick for me.

Coming up to 39000 miles and it's only been serviced once.

05 plate 2.5 Tdi Elegance.

Must have saved a few bob.

If the VAG required oil specification is not printed on the can, it's wrong.

To revert to "normal servicing" just reset the service indicator as detailed in the owner's manual using the dashboard controls. That's all the dealers do.

rotodiesel.

That will revert the dashpod back to fixed, BUT the ecu will still be on variable and get out of step with the main ECU. It will work for a time, but you may get strange service notices later on. When reset with VAG-COM or the dealer tool then both the ECU and dash are set to fixed.

Not sure what the fuss is. Long life servicing seems to do the trick for me.

Coming up to 39000 miles and it's only been serviced once.

05 plate 2.5 Tdi Elegance.

Must have saved a few bob.

I pity the next owner of your car :(

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I pity the next owner of your car :(

I think he means he's had one service and another is due.

I just made the switch from variable to fixed.

I think he means he's had one service and another is due.

yeah, but still... 2 services in 40k?

my car would have had eight by that point :thumbdwn:

But modern oil doesn't need changing overy 10k (let alone 5k!) that is just a waste of money and oil.

Would you moan if your mechanic suddenly charged you double for an oil change? you bet you would, well that is what is happening now (even when DIY)

Think about it, if a 44 tonne truck is designed to do over 70k miles between oil changes then a car is more than capable of doing 20k (with the correct oil)

Variable service spec oil will also give you more mpg as it causes less drag.

The only problem with variable servicing is the rest of the car is ignored for the next 20k brakes, tyres etc which is not good.

So by all means do the service every 5k, but leave the oil alone ffs.

My car has had 2 services in the 43K miles I have owned it. Its not due another until just before 60K.

Does it worry me, no. this is the second VAG car I have owned on variable and have never had an issue with either. Sensors in the engine monitor the oils condition so there really is no need to change the oil that often.

I can't agree with you on two counts:

There is no "oil condition monitor" (the Hella unit in the sump measures level and oil temperature) - the oil change intervals for variable servicing are derived from an algorithm which uses miles, time, number of cold starts, time oil is over temperature limit and a few other things to flag up an oil change requirement.

There is no need or requirement for a VAGCOM reset to revert to fixed servicing. If you do the dashboard reset as detailed in the manual this will work - I've done it.

rotodiesel.

yeah, but still... 2 services in 40k?

my car would have had eight by that point :thumbdwn:

My old car running on cheap **** mineral oil had changes every 5k and lasted 250k before the low sulphur derv killed the fuel pump.

I somehow think that every 10k with modern oils and cleaner combusion isn't going to be a problem in any way.

ok, every 10k... but 20k?

it seems very excessive to me

ok, every 10k... but 20k?

it seems very excessive to me

I agree, 20k is too long despite what they say, 20k services were introduced to be attractive to the business user.

Which is what I am.

Changing the oil every £5K is lunatic or the the behaviour of someone with too much dosh. (How much do you think it will add to the resale value - let me tell you - nothing?) What is needed is a service book full of dealer stamps so you can advertise it as 'FSSH'

I'll service it when the car tells me it needs a service - surely that's the point. Once in 39000 miles is how often the light has come on! I'm guessing there will be one in the next few hundred miles.

I remember a few years ago reading about 'sealed for life' engines that never needed an oil change - whatever happened to them?

At £50 odd quid for 5L of the synthetic oil (OK, Skoda dealer price) - changing it every few thousand miles is mad!

A badge of honour? - "I change my oil every 5000 miles and it's always clear as a bell"

Bonkers

Lol if the oil is clear, you didn't need to change it

Long life servicing was first introduced on the facelifted Octavia I, in my opinion to make it look more financially attractive to business users. It's your preference whether to revert to a fixed service interval, when we do this on the Octavia we change the dash panel coding, the second from last digit denotes the servicing regime which is 1 for long life and 2 for fixed (might be the other way round).

If there is no oil quality sensor, why are there different codes for oil quality in the dash panel channels?

Personally my preference is for fixed servicing, especially on older cars as the more visits to the workshop there is more chance of identifying potential problems before an expensive failure occurs