High (?) KM Intermediate Oil Changes

[Ryeman]

The rate I'm going my 15K annual services are coming up every 6 months so, to me at least, the subject of 'intermediate' oil changes comes up.
Would you do 4 X 8K oil changes per year?
Whadaya think?
We know diesel oil gets dirty v quickly so is it worth it?

[maelgwn]

If you really want to know, you could get the oil tested. Haven't read any results of people doing this on VW tdi's tho. (A quick google shows it is surprisingly cheap - $33 at Engine Oil Analysis for Cost Effective Servicing and Maintenance)

Given VW's need synthetic oil - should be very low friction/wear when the engine is cold, I think it is unlikely there is any problem sticking to 15K oil changes.

If your use of the car is under 'extreme' conditions - you live somewhere very hot or dusty, lots of short trips with the engine cold, lots of track days, then it is worth thinking about more regular oil changes. If you mainly drive longer trips on the highway/motorway where the engine is under low(ish) stress, then I wouldn't worry and stick to the 6 month schedule.

Lots of people do change at 8K for piece of mind. Personally I do 10-12K or 12 months because I'm not sure which way to go.

[Umai Naa!!]

Time and distance are both factors.

You're not exceeding the stated service intervals (12 months/15,000kms), so I don't see the need to increase oil change frequencies.

[MGV]

Would you do 4 X 8K oil changes per year?
Whadaya think?

I would do 3 x 10000km changes, do 2 of them yourself & get a 'proper' service every 30K.

[Ryeman]

I would do 3 x 10000km changes, do 2 of them yourself & get a 'proper' service every 30K.

Trouble is warranty requirement is that THEY do the 15K services by the odo/maxidot.


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[Diesel_vert]

A vehicle with an annual mileage of 30 000 km is likely to be driven with the engine at nominal operating temperature for extended periods and on long journeys, as opposed to frequent cold starts and/or short journeys. Such driving conditions are conducive to extended oil change intervals, so in this instance, I would not hesitate for the vehicle to be serviced every 15 000 km.

Taking your driving conditions into account, your vehicle would in fact be a suitable candidate for Volkswagen's LongLife service regime, where service intervals are variable (from a minimum of 15 000 km, up to a maximum of 30 000 km) and determined by the vehicle.

I would foresee service intervals of between 20 000 km to 25 000 km for your particular vehicle. However, at this point in time, all vehicles bound for the Australian market are on the Time and Distance service regime (fixed 15 000 km service intervals).

In European markets, the dealer can switch between the two service regimes at the driver's request, but it is not likely that Volkswagen would approve any change in the service regime for vehicles in the Australian market.

[GTD_XU1]

I have had my GTD for a bit over 3 years now and recently brought up 110,000 km, dealer serviced at 15,000km intervals and feel no need for more frequent changes. I do more than half my distance on long trips (BrisVegas - Mt Gambier twice per year) and have rellies at Esk ( about 200 km round trip) I visit often. About the only concession I make for "around town driving" is I don't "give it the gun" until it is warmed up and I try to not switch off until the oil is warmed up. As the engine gets more Km's on it I may go to more frequent changes, but only if the knowledgeable "grey-hairs" on this forum came up with a good reason to do so. Just my anecdotal 2 cents worth, hope it helps.

[Ryeman]

A vehicle with an annual mileage of 30 000 km is likely to be driven with the engine at nominal operating temperature for extended periods and on long journeys, as opposed to frequent cold starts and/or short journeys. Such driving conditions are conducive to extended oil change intervals, so in this instance, I would not hesitate for the vehicle to be serviced every 15 000 km.

Taking your driving conditions into account, your vehicle would in fact be a suitable candidate for Volkswagen's LongLife service regime, where service intervals are variable (from a minimum of 15 000 km, up to a maximum of 30 000 km) and determined by the vehicle.

I would foresee service intervals of between 20 000 km to 25 000 km for your particular vehicle. However, at this point in time, all vehicles bound for the Australian market are on the Time and Distance service regime (fixed 15 000 km service intervals).

In European markets, the dealer can switch between the two service regimes at the driver's request, but it is not likely that Volkswagen would approve any change in the service regime for vehicles in the Australian market.

I don't think the dealers would be the least bit impressed with extended oil changes as so much of their profit margin comes from servicing with ever decreasing new car sales margins.
All my driving is done under almost ideal conditions eg min 30km trips, brakes hardly ever used, grandpa driving etc so for me 15k intervals look like a happy medium.

[Transporter]

I'd do every 6 months, the 3 months could be over kill, especially if you keep your car up to 160,000km only.

I service all our family cars before Sumer and before Winter, regardless of the km, simple.

Wife's Tiguan after 4 years is just on 35,000km, and my daughter's Tig done less than 15,000km in 2 years.

[Amalgam]

Like the others, I would be comfortable with the 15,000km service routine. This is based on my personal experience with a C Class Mercedes which had a variable service indicator. My weekday drive consists of 5km of suburban, 30km of freeway and 10km of arterial roads and repeat in reverse in the evenings. I would get service interval around the 25,000km mark. I understand that we are discussing different manufacturers and fuel types.

Once I was out of my warranty period, I would strongly consider enabling the variable service regime on my VW.

Just my 2cents worth and all based on personal experience, not hard engineering.

[Ryeman]

I know you can't judge diesel oil by its colour but for me it's v hard when your previous LPG car never visually fouled its oil

[Amalgam]

If you are uncomfortable with the colour of the oil or change intervals, then change the oil. It is cheap insurance, especially if you do it yourself and want to keep it past 200,000kms.

[Diesel_vert]

One of the well known by-products of diesel combustion is soot.

Lubricants designed to be used (but not exclusively) in diesel engines are formulated to hold soot in suspension and prevent it from agglomerating. It is this characteristic which causes the lubricant to turn black as it rapidly circulates throughout the engine, as well as mixing with some left over lubricant from the previous oil change.

Based on that metric alone, the engine oil in a diesel engine would either need to be changed monthly, fortnightly, weekly, or even daily (depending on the engine itself).

Such a maintenance regime would almost certainly result in a considerable loss of time, money and resources, with no change or no gain in vehicle service life.

Based on the driving conditions described, I remain confident that an oil change interval of 15 000 km for this vehicle will provide an excellent cost/benefit ratio and a long service life, with regards to the engine (I do not make the same claim for any auxiliary or electrical components, which tend to fail or disable the vehicle much sooner than actual engine wear).

If and when the vehicle is eventually taken out of service, I find it unlikely it will be due to engine failure from excessive wear caused by insufficient lubrication (aside from operator error, such as insufficient volume/top-ups or the use of an inappropriate product).

[brad]

I know you can't judge diesel oil by its colour but for me it's v hard when your previous LPG car never visually fouled its oil

I was on 15k changes (about 9 month intervals) until 60k. I had UOA done and the oil tested like new. I also had 20L of oil sitting on the shelf so I started doing 7500km changes because it was cheap to add an OEM filter to the stockpiled oil & DIY the change.

If you can DIY & it makes you feel good then I'd do the change.

If you're paying labour for the change then why not pull your intervals back to 10,000km or 12500km. I'm sure the dealer won't object.

Keep in mind you are probably only doing 14500km between services anyway as the odometers aren't as accurate as they could be.

[Johnnojack]

Quote "as well as mixing with some left over lubricant from the previous oil change." One way to minimise this is to get more oil out. I found by putting a sucker tube down through the filter body into the oil cooler you can get out about 300ml more oil out.