5000km Tire rotation and oil change?

[code618]

Coming up to 5000km on my Octavia RS - just wondering if other owners would recommend a tire rotation and oil change at this point. Was wondering over these 2 points as the tires cost a packet and have heard stories of high oil usage initially with the petrol RS.
Thanks in advance!

[blutopless2]

cant comment on the oil... but the tyres i would definitely get them rotated.
if you haven't had the alignment checked i would get that done too as there is every chance from delivery the settings have been wrong.
my jetta had incorrect alignment settings from when i picked it up and the tyres (at ~$600 each) only lasted me 35,000 k's.
have now got new tyres with correct settings and am rotating every 5,000k's with alignment checks at every 10,000k's i think.

[pinzvidz]

Servicing is every 15K for the RS, isn't it? I drop the oil and filter on my wife's GTI every 7,500km. At 7,500km it had used up a fair bit of oil, but has settled down since. I rotate every 7,500km as well, although the original Dunlops fitted had worn out fairly quickly. By 22,500km I'd replaced the tyres with much better Falken FK452s. I've hit 50K now and the tyres are still wearing nicely. This is after rotating a few times for each 7,500km and also a tyre off/on rim cross-rotate as they are directional.

edit: btw, as shocking as it may sound to some, I've never had to do a wheel alignment, the tyres are still wearing perfectly, with minimal front inside wear due to factory spec negative camber. My wife is pretty good with avoiding potholes and the likes.

[woofy]

I wanted to do an oil change at 7500km....mine is now at nearly 9k as it took them that many enquiries and asking to get the price out of the dealer.

Just got it today $325 for oil and filter interim. I remember early on that everyone expected Skoda services to at least be cheaper than VW...this is a newer combined Audi/Skoda dealer so I think that it a bit much. I pay just over $200 for an interim service at Mazda for my 6, and $300 is more like a major one.

What have others been quoted...I would expect this cost for the 15,000km service really. I'm tempted to just take it to Volkspower and get him to change the oil for me.

[pinzvidz]

Just got it today $325 for oil and filter interim.

Ouch! Would you consider DIY'ing?

I'm tempted to just take it to Volkspower and get him to change the oil for me.

Would be a much cheaper option. Just make sure he uses genuine parts if you're having the filter done and a VW spec oil.

[woofy]

$325 is a heap for a basic oil change. I know the oil is good, but the filter and time would be virtually nothing. Volkspower dude has an Octavia himself now...so he should know which oil and parts will be ok.

[brad]

Coming up to 5000km on my Octavia RS - just wondering if other owners would recommend a tire rotation and oil change at this point. Was wondering over these 2 points as the tires cost a packet and have heard stories of high oil usage initially with the petrol RS.
Thanks in advance!

Almost 26,000km now and I've had no adverse tyre wear & my alignment is spot-on. I can't see the point of getting an alignment check unless there is an obvious sign of a problem.

I done 3 X-rotations since new but am deliberately keeping 1 tyre up the front so that it wears out quicker - then I'll swap the spare onto that rim. My main motivation for doing the rotations is I can give the rims a wash all over & get some sealant on them.

The engine uses no oil and I'm sticking with 15,000km oil changes as I can't see any advantage for me to do it more frequently. This is despite the fact that it would cost me <$100 to DIY (and I still maintain my warranty, even if I do DIY).

If your engine is using oil, that is even less of a reason to do an oil change as whenever you top-up the oil it "recharges" the additive pack.

[Transporter]

Almost 26,000km now and I've had no adverse tyre wear & my alignment is spot-on. I can't see the point of getting an alignment check unless there is an obvious sign of a problem.

I done 3 X-rotations since new but am deliberately keeping 1 tyre up the front so that it wears out quicker - then I'll swap the spare onto that rim. My main motivation for doing the rotations is I can give the rims a wash all over & get some sealant on them.

The engine uses no oil and I'm sticking with 15,000km oil changes as I can't see any advantage for me to do it more frequently. This is despite the fact that it would cost me <$100 to DIY (and I still maintain my warranty, even if I do DIY).

If your engine is using oil, that is even less of a reason to do an oil change as whenever you top-up the oil it "recharges" the additive pack.

Hi brad,
What do you use on alloy rims to keep them clean for longer and to prevent stains from brake dust? I tried wax on alloys, it helps a bit but not that great deal, would probably have to wax it every time I wash them .

[brad]

Hi brad,
What do you use on alloy rims to keep them clean for longer and to prevent stains from brake dust? I tried wax on alloys, it helps a bit but not that great deal, would probably have to wax it every time I wash them .

I've used Meguiars paste Cleaner Wax a few times and it was reasonable but the heat from the brakes makes it break down quite fast.

Megs NXT is good because it takes the heat better & despite what the label says, it is more of a sealant than a wax.

The last wheel clean I did, i used some wheel sealant a mate gave me. I think it was Poorboys Wheel Sealant. It looked like Womens Foundation Makeup. That 200ml tub would probably do a set of wheels 10-15 times.

Wax or sealant won't work a miracle but it does make slightly less dust stick to the wheel & makes it easier/quicker to wash. I try & wash my car every 2 weeks (or more) and so far, the wax on the wheels looks like it lasts about 2-3 months.

[Jake02]

Hi all, my RS had its 15,00km service around 3 1/2 months ago (its at 19,000 now) at my dealer (mid-west Sydney) and not only did the request for some problems to get fixed (just my front passenger door speakers don't work - never have and we didn't know because we'd never heard it otherwise. They said they'd email Skoda Aus and discuss the problem and apparently they want to replace the whole radio system but they said this when we picked the car up and they'd call us within 6 weeks and yet STILL haven't!), BUT

then last week, I couldn't stop one tire from deflated slowly (the TPM, after re-setting would have a bitch after a day) so I thought I'd get it fixed at my local tire place. Turns out, the rear left tire (which was on the front and was changed during the service) was completely bald on the inside and the right side not so different. Man was I pissed-off! So $600 later (for two Falken tires - I couldn't see the point in getting new Dunlops - and an alighnment) I went home with a much-lowered mood. :S

How friggin ridiculous! The tires were SO worn, that the dealer could not've noticed 3 1/2 months ago when it was serviced! This obviously isn't Skoda's fault, but I would like to warn you lot about it - so check your tires!

[brad]

How friggin ridiculous! The tires were SO worn, that the dealer could not've noticed 3 1/2 months ago when it was serviced! This obviously isn't Skoda's fault, but I would like to warn you lot about it - so check your tires!

Actually, it might be Skodas fault.
You need to talk to your dealer about this. There's a service bulletin about excessive inner tyre wear on the rears due to too much negativeve camber. Some of them come out with -ve2.0 but it should be about -1.15 degrees.

There was a bulletin issued way back in Nov 2005

[Jake02]

Oh ok then, thanks for the help. I'm going to ring the dealer today about the lack of service so I shall discuss it with them. So you're saying that because of the Camber, there is too much wear being put onto the rear tyres? And that its a problem that can be fixed? It is bloody annoying! :@

[brad]

Oh ok then, thanks for the help. I'm going to ring the dealer today about the lack of service so I shall discuss it with them. So you're saying that because of the Camber, there is too much wear being put onto the rear tyres? And that its a problem that can be fixed? It is bloody annoying! :@

Yes. Excessive negative camber on the rear in the region of negative 1.75 to 2.25 degrees. They were coming from the factory like this and the factory service bulletin says to set the rear camber to between -1.0 to -1.25 degrees.

Don't expect any compensation from the dealer. This has been a huge & well known problem in the UK (check Briskoda and search "rear tyre wear" in the OctII section) and apart from changing the specs, Skoda UK will accept no liability.

Even on the new spec, you will still experience some wear. About all you can do is X-rotate your tyres (if they are non-directional) every 7500km.

Conversely, my tyre wear pattern is perfect - maybe because it's mostly just me in the car.

[Jake02]

Turns out that someone hit the car without our knowledge and parts of the rear suspension were slightly knocked out - causing the wear on the tires. It also turns out that at the service in April, the car wasn't serviced at all (hence my Coolant level being low and the tyre wear problem being evident since November when the car was apparently hit) but now the problems have been fixed (speakers, air-con) and now I really like it. Strangely called Vladimir my car is...my dad named it Vlad as he thought thats a Czech name...:S