Oil Temperature and Synthetic Oils

[preeman]

@brad

If you take the time to read your manual I think you'll find they recommend every fuel refill as a starting point for checking the fluid levels.

You are such a proponent of checking fluids and even highlight that I should be doing it at every fuel stop and you don't do it? Your old post states you do it every three or so months. Bit different to what you are preaching here.

dig your own hole by assuming other people have carried out basic maintenance tasks for you

I am paying for a qualified, certified and trained professional to do a job. I am confident that Volkswagen keep a high standard.

the amount of people that get low oil lights because "modern cars shouldn't use oil".

That is not my problem, if you read the Scirocco sub-forum you will know the history of my car and the issues that I am facing with it. This is just something on top and thus frustrating.

Using Oil? My others cars have been Japanese made. Including a RX8, I know about Oil use. Have to say though compared to my Scirocco the Japanese cars have been more reliable and more trouble free.

Our Audi is now just over a year old and has only had a single window issue and Audi fixed that promptly. A world of difference in the experiences between the Volkswagen and the rest.

I've worked with "trained professionals" in many fields & often they prove to be pretty stupid & they overlook the basics. Aussie mechanics are trained at about 50% of the skill level of their Euro counterparts. Maybe 1 in 10 are at a sufficient level to honestly wear the badge of "technician". Our training system is pretty lousy & they are learning from incompetent practical supervisors as well.

That sounds horrible. I am shocked that Volkswagen would let that happen. I have had a tour of their head offices and seen all the training bays, yards and rooms for their technical updates.
Five Dock are even proud to say that they have an R division as they are trained better than the rest of standard Volkswagen mechanics.

I doubt Volkswagen are happy to waste thousands of man-hours on training and 10s of thousands of dollars on training to get a 1 out 10 qualified technician in VW.

The worst part about all you have said above is that it seems to be acceptable?

What you are saying is:

* The only way to keep my car going smoothly is NOT TO GO TO trained, certified, professional people to do the job.
* An unqualified, untrained, uncertified, unprofessional consumer is the answer.
If this is what Volkswagen Service is like, I have wasted a lot of money paying these Service agents.

[preeman]

@Transporter

I asked about the Temperature as I did not know what I should expect.


As with the Oil, I expected the trained, certified, professional people at Volkswagen Service to do their work correctly. I am sure every service interval includes a fluid check as a bare minimum. I haven't checked my Oil every time I fill up, however I do check my tyre pressure pretty much every time I fill up. This usually ends up being once a week if not, once a fortnight or sometime in-between.


My last checkup of the car was three months ago, I am sure the R specialists would have checked the fluids when looking for faults in the engine.
The problem now is either:

* They didn't do the basics
Or
* My car has chewed a lot of oil in three months

Wait to find out, after I see them tomorrow.

Also looking at the Owner's manual or the Supplement. Volkswagen doesn't even list what type of oil to use.
It is marked with a "_b)" "b) Figures were not available at time of publication."

The manuals are not even complete.


I may have bought the first Scirocco R that was sold in Australia, back in December 2011. I wonder if the cars sold in 2012 or 2013 have completed manuals or Supplements.

[Guest001]

Well don't know about every 3 months I check my cars oil and water EVERY WEEK whether I use it or not.

Never know when a hose can split or a bolt can come loose.

As for a dealer "Should " check.

They do what is stated in the book for the repair they are doing and that's all UNLESS YOU TELL THEM TO DO IT.

Time is money, extra work costs them if they aren't getting paid for it.

IF you trust a dealership to do all this I think you need a reality check Its your car Do the checks yourself and you will know they are done.

I dip the oil before I drive it away after a service. Have been caught before.

Some have come on here and said they don't check oil between services They need their head read.

I drove heavy vehicles for a few years We checked oil, water, fuel and tyres EVERY MORNING whether the vehicle was used the day before or not.
If we didn't and something went wrong due to our slackness it was LOOK FOR A NEW JOB.

One I was driving blew a turbo when I was backing off to stop . Luckily wasn't driver error as it cost mega $ to fix in a Scania.

[preeman]

@Hillbilly

Oil Service is part of every service, so they are getting paid for it.

The experience and expectation that you now have is rare. The mass market will never know your experience or understand it.

Also imagine how many car owners don't even join a forum to ask questions or clarify anything. Why should they?

I just happen to ask questions because I want to know.

I find it strange that many places I ask suggest oil service every 5,000 to 10,000 instead of the service interval. I ask Volkswagen they say not needed. VW should know way more about the car than other mechanics. VW designed and engineered the whole thing?

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[Guest001]

@Hillbilly

Oil Service is part of every service, so they are getting paid for it.

The experience and expectation that you now have is rare. The mass market will never know your experience or understand it.

Also imagine how many car owners don't even join a forum to ask questions or clarify anything. Why should they?

I just happen to ask questions because I want to know.

I find it strange that many places I ask suggest oil service every 5,000 to 10,000 instead of the service interval. I ask Volkswagen they say not needed. VW should know way more about the car than other mechanics. VW designed and engineered the whole thing?

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You said " It is safe to assume that VW Service would check all the required car fluid levels every time I go in".

You didn't say what for so I was right to assume that they should check it when you go in no matter what for.

If you went for scheduled service of course. You could have gone in for an unrelated problem and they wouldn't.

Where are the strange places you asked Do they have any perception of VW service intervals.

The ones who don't join forums probably read and understand the manual and have enough nous to check things themselves.

Also I see reading through your posts you have different sized wheels and talking about 1/4 mile times

Both will do nothing to enhance your reliability issues

[rjg]

Dude it's a Scirocco, not an i30.

If you wanted something you could jump into and never need to take proper care of (by that I mean regular inspections) you bought the wrong type of car.

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[Guest001]

Dude it's a Scirocco, not an i30.

If you wanted something you could jump into and never need to take proper care of (by that I mean regular inspections) you bought the wrong type of car.

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He "Should have bought a JEEP" ROFL then the troubles would start.

[preeman]

@Hillbilly

You didn't say what for so I was right to assume that they should check it when you go in no matter what for.

If you had perused the thread you would have seen the details and realised the comments and frustrations were regarding an engine fault that Volkswagen has been unable to fix. You would have also noticed the frequency for these service visits.

You could have gone in for an unrelated problem and they wouldn't.

As per this thread, that is not what I am talking about. Any technician with some nous would look at fluid levels while doing a diagnosis of an engine problem.

you have different sized wheels

I had them on the car in April 2013 and were in uses for about three months.

talking about 1/4 mile times

One post saying that I have gone from 0 to 80 and had it timed with a stop watch.
That was a Red Light to the Speed limit on the road.

Both will do nothing to enhance your reliability issues

My first issue with the car was two months after buying it. The wheels were on nearly 1.5 years later.

Honestly, thinking back, when I picked it up, it was the first Scirocco R the dealers had seen and I was told by the sales manager that all the "boys" were so jealous of me taking the car away. It had 42KMs on it, compared to my other brand new cars it seems like a lot. I wonder if the "boys" took it out for a test drive on the local bendy hilly roads.

[preeman]

@Hillbilly

The ones who don't join forums probably read and understand the manual and have enough nous to check things themselves.

I am certain that is a fallacy. Thinking about new cars bought by the people around me in the last couple of years, only 3 out of the 8 people have looked at the manuals.

[preeman]

@rjg
Fair enough

Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful car and there is nothing on the road like it.
I am just fed up with the large amount of issues it has had.

The latest being, has it really chewed through all its oil in 9,000KMs? Going from new Oil Change Service which is brand new oil and oil filter to now being below minimum.
Or
Is VW Service not doing its job? They didn't change oil and filter but charged for it?

[preeman]

In other news, I have checked the oil level and it is at minimum.
I will get that sorted in the morning.

[brad]

@brad

You are such a proponent of checking fluids and even highlight that I should be doing it at every fuel stop and you don't do it? Your old post states you do it every three or so months. Bit different to what you are preaching here.

I've had my car since new & have done 125,000km. I can assure you that when it was new I checked the oil at every fuel stop - which is about 700km or every 1.5 weeks. As I got a feel for how much oil was (not) being used I adjusted the time period to suit. If I bought another car tomorrow I'd go back to checking every fill.

So what type of feel do you have for your oil usage?

I am paying for a qualified, certified and trained professional to do a job. I am confident that Volkswagen keep a high standard.

LOL. They'll keep as high a standard as they can make a profit on, or more likely, what is available on the labour market. When I was at Capitol BMW (many years back) they had terrible problems attracting & retaining staff as the pay was lousy. I ended up going to fix aircraft as pay & conditions were better. I know shedloads of mechs that no longer follow the trade because the pay is so lousy.

That is not my problem, if you read the Scirocco sub-forum you will know the history of my car and the issues that I am facing with it. This is just something on top and thus frustrating.

Sorry, don't generally read that area.

Using Oil? My others cars have been Japanese made. Including a RX8, I know about Oil use. Have to say though compared to my Scirocco the Japanese cars have been more reliable and more trouble free.

Couldn't agree more. If you want reliable & trouble free then don't buy a Euro or UK built vehicle - although in chasing a lower cost base, the Japanese seem to be starting to lower their standards now.

Our Audi is now just over a year old and has only had a single window issue and Audi fixed that promptly. A world of difference in the experiences between the Volkswagen and the rest.

Yes, I'm told that Audi treat their customers a bit better.

That sounds horrible. I am shocked that Volkswagen would let that happen. I have had a tour of their head offices and seen all the training bays, yards and rooms for their technical updates.
Five Dock are even proud to say that they have an R division as they are trained better than the rest of standard Volkswagen mechanics.

I doubt Volkswagen are happy to waste thousands of man-hours on training and 10s of thousands of dollars on training to get a 1 out 10 qualified technician in VW.

I'm talking in a general sense through-out the industry. No dealer is happy (the dealers pay for the training in my experience) wants to train up a tech & then have them leave so many are reluctant to send their guys on course (lose a days pay + course fees + lost revenue from the workshop), so they only send the long term staff. The new arrivals get disillusioned because they were promised shedloads of training & they bugger off elsewhere.

The worst part about all you have said above is that it seems to be acceptable?

What you are saying is:

* The only way to keep my car going smoothly is NOT TO GO TO trained, certified, professional people to do the job.
* An unqualified, untrained, uncertified, unprofessional consumer is the answer.
If this is what Volkswagen Service is like, I have wasted a lot of money paying these Service agents.

I take my vehicle to a specialist independent (like Transporter). I'm aware that my mechanical skills are 20 years out of date & my toolbox & home workshop are crap, so I'm happy to pay for a workshop that I trust to keep an eye on my vehicle. I've come to know the owner of the shop & he looks after me if there's an emergency, lets me go in the workshop if I have my safety boots on, discusses my specific servicing needs, etc.

Dealerships are for the birds as it's a gamble whether you'll get the top guy on the job or a dropkick that doesn't give a toss.

It's not really an option to go independant if you have warranty issues although mine diagnosed an N75 valve once & I took it back to the dealer for a warranty fix that was approved but never happened.

[preeman]

@brad

You have to realize that you have experience and this seems to be (or was) your field. These type of things have nothing to do with my skills or my training. I only ask basic questions as I have little engineering knowledge (in theory), nothing specific to cars or engines.


I am an end user, if VW tell me to bring the car back to them and I ask them what else I need to do I will do it as I won't know any better until I ask questions.


An example is, when you bought your PC/MAC or Software or download Apps on your smartphone, what do you think of their EULA?

[Transporter]

@rjg
Fair enough

Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful car and there is nothing on the road like it.
I am just fed up with the large amount of issues it has had.

The latest being, has it really chewed through all its oil in 9,000KMs? Going from new Oil Change Service which is brand new oil and oil filter to now being below minimum.
Or
Is VW Service not doing its job? They didn't change oil and filter but charged for it?

There are 4.7L of oil in your engine. The difference between the min and max mark on the dipstick is around a 0.5L, when the oil level gets just bellow the min mark, you need less than 1L of oil to bring the oil level to max. Your engine most likely used less than 25% or less of the oil which not bad at all. So, you're blaming someone else for neglecting your car when they service it, which is wrong. As Brad and others suggest, get into the habit taking some care (or at least the minimum what is required) of your car and stop relying on others and blaming them when you find out that there is something that doesn't look right to you.

[Transporter]

@brad

You have to realize that you have experience and this seems to be (or was) your field. These type of things have nothing to do with my skills or my training. I only ask basic questions as I have little engineering knowledge (in theory), nothing specific to cars or engines.


I am an end user, if VW tell me to bring the car back to them and I ask them what else I need to do I will do it as I won't know any better until I ask questions.


An example is, when you bought your PC/MAC or Software or download Apps on your smartphone, what do you think of their EULA?

When you bought your car, the salesman should go through the basics of your car with you and most likely mentioned to you the owner's manual. All the basics you need to know how to SAFELY operate your car are in there, including some basic maintenance tasks. As the cars servicing intervals are becoming longer, the driver/owner has to pay more attention to those. There are some cars that have the servicing interval 24 months or 50,000km, which ever comes first and you can't choose the distance or time, which ever comes first it is. If, during that time you run out of brakes and kill some one on the road, you'd be 100% responsible, since it is clearly in the owners manual that some parts of the car like brakes and the tyres require more frequent checking - yeap, you guessed it, every 500km/weekly/or when you refuel.