I'm trying to get to grips with the variable servicing thing on VWs. Car is a Sept 2001 PD 130 Passat. Basically, when I bought the car, it came with a carton of 5W-50, VW part no. G 052 157 A2 and I was told only to use this oil. At around 9000 miles, the service indicator came on saying it was due a service in 1000 miles (or something like that!) so I took it to the dealer (not the supplying dealer) and said that I thought it was set up for variable servicing (the sticker on the windscreen said 'When indicated or at 10000 miles'). When I picked the car up, the dealer had filled it with 5W-50 oil at £7.87 a litre inc. VAT. and was told the next service was due in 1 year or 10000 miles. My car has the 'QG1' stamp in its book but the dealer said just because it's got that, it doesn't mean it's on variable servicing; that's set up by the supplying dealer. Not knowing the difference between the oils, there was me none the wiser! My colleague has just taken delivery of a Sept 2002 Passat with the same engine: it has 5W-50 oil and the QG1 stamp in book but the service intervals are 2 years, 20000 miles, or when indicated.
Have I been done?
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Gordon
I'm by no means an expert on these matters, but I have an Audi A4 115 PD (Sept 2000)which is supposed to be serviced every 10,000 miles and not according to the service indicator. This was made clear to me on delivery and is explicit in the handbook. I actually prefer this, and, in fact, have the oil and filter changed every 5,000 miles and will continue to do this myself once it's out of warranty.
I just think that 10,000 miles is too long for oil to be sloshing round and engine, and 20,000 miles is just absurd! I suppose it depends how long you intend to keep the car, but if you want to keep it beyond the warranty period then it may be worthwhile having more regular oil changes.
Anyway, you've got a great engine and a nice car! Enjoy it.
Pat
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Thanks for the replies. Would I be able to ascertain in any way what the car was originally set up for? Would the supplying dealer have the information or could I go to the local dealer and ask them to check the main VW records?
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Ask any VW dealer to enter your Reg Number on the Dialog system,this will give details of current set up for servicing.Or give me your Reg Number & I will check for you.
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Mark S - you sound like a man who knows about VWs, so here's a question for you -
according to the Vehicle inspectoracte, and HJ, all VW boras were subject to a recall, r/2002/030, this july.
according to my VW dealer when it was in for a service this morning, 'there are no recalls on your car' - what's going on - can they check a range of chassis numbers or build dates or what ?
when you've got tired of driving ...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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With my 2000 A4 i opted for the annual/10k miles service even though the car is also set up (as yours)for the variable servicing. If your annual mileage is less than 10k there is no point in going the vs route. For example my service indicator flagged up just before the first year at 7.5k miles. This is because i have more short trips than long runs, the computer uses this in its calculation, some one doing long motor way trips will get flagged up for service nearer the 20k mark. Also the long life oil is more expensive along with the service , quotes for the first service were annual £150, VS £250. The service records can be seen at any VW dealer, so you can check what type of previous service the car had.
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my dad has a bora 130 tdi and at a 10,000 service the oil cost £53 for five liters from vw main dealer. as an experiment i rank my local skoda dealer to find out how much the would want it was a lot cheaper. so go to local skoda dealer as oil is same for all pd (pumpier duse)tdi diesels. just say for octavier tdi
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Sounds about right...
To be honest you're better off servicing it every 10,000 miles anyway, it may cost a little bit more, but it'll save you from suffering so much engine damage it's worth it....
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Skoda don't sell a 130 bhp tdi with the PD technology so the oil they put in their tdis (which go up to 110 bhp) may not be the same.
Matthew Kelly
No, not that one.
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I'm fairly sure the Skoda Superb I was looking at last weekend at the local dealers had a PD 130BHP engine under the bonnet. If I recall from the brochure I took away the 100BHP PD is available as well.
as ever
Mark
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Tonight Matthew you're going to be wrong!!
Skoda sell a Fabia 100 TDi PD. This uses the same spec oil as the more powerful 130 PD.
Therefore the previous correspondent could in theory get his VW serviced at a Skoda garage with no issue.
Cheers - Jon S
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Sorry.
I should have been more specific and limited my comment to the Octavia range, which the conductor had suggested shared common oil with the VW PDs.
If they did have a PD version of the Octavia that would be top of my company car choices, instead it's the 110 bhp version.
Matthew Kelly
No, not that one.
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The oil used for the Octavia tdi is not the same spec as that required for the pd type tdi.
The pd engines need a special grade to properly lubricate the unit injectors, as someone in another post mentioned about the Castrol oil.
Be very careful what type of oil a Skoda dealer supplies for the pd tdi, as I read a letter (in Diesel Car I think) where the dealer wasn't even aware of the need for a different spec of oil.
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I was just thinking on that subject this morning.
What indeed does the engine oil have to do with the unit injectors?
I thought that the fuel acted as the lubricant.
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I'll have to rake through a few back issues of Diesel Car to find the actual description used, but I believe it was to do with the lubrication of the cams which pressurise the units.
As an aside, have a look at this site, and at the wording (in brackets) on the rear of the can in the third picture down. My loose French translation reads this as "including diesel engines with pump injectors".
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The Octavia diesels on variable servicing use spec VW 506 00 oil except that engines with direct injection use spec VW 506 01 oil. The maximum servicing interval for these engines is 50,000 km. Castrol SLX Longlife II 0W-30 oil sold by Skoda dealers meets specs VW 503 00 (required by variable service petrol engines), VW 506 00 and VW 506 01 - ie the one oil is suitable for petrol and diesel engines.
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