My Skoda only needs an oil change when "the computer" says so and this could mean after years and/or many, many miles. So, following HJ's sound advice, I'll ignore the car computer and change the oil every 6 months regardless.
The question is, do I have to stick to the very expensive "long life" oil intended for this longevity of duty if I am only going to use it for 6 months? Could I change to something just as good and cheaper, or should I stick with the recommended oil?
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Is it in warranty still or out of warranty ? If latter use what you like. If former, using an out of spec oil could invalidate your warranty.
Are you sure that the car is on extended servicing intervals - even if it is you can have it switched to fixed I believe. My Octavia computer tells me when to have a service and it seems to match pretty exactly what the fixed interval is. Your handbook should tell you how to tell if it's fixed or variable.
Try searching the forums at
www.briskoda.net
You'll find plenty on variable servicing, although much of it will relate to petrol engines.
Matthew Kelly
No, not that one.
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The problem is that your "service computer" does not decide based on what the oil is like, its based on the type of driving. You could end up with changing the oil and then the computer decides its time to change the oil 16 miles later, and unless reset you are stuck with a machine saying "service me" when it it doesent need it!
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Thanks for these replies folks. It's a flexible service interval and still under warranty (now in second of three years). So it looks like it's prudent in the short term to stick with the Skoda recommendations even though my driving clearly isn't as punishing as that anticipated for this engine.
The demand for first annual service is now some months overdue and the dealer assured me not to worry about this, stressing that the oil is good for many more miles than I am doing, regardless of time.
It's just that this goes against what I've done for many years in both cars, i.e. follow HJ's advice and oil change every 6 months.
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How expensive is the long life (synthetic?) oil you are using?
To change the oil and filter yourself wouldn't cost a fortune, I would have done it after a year regardless purely for peace of mind.
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Best advice is to look in the handbook. This gives you the specs of oil required for both variable and fixed intervals. If you are going to change every six months switch to the oil used for fixed service intervals. At the moment the variable service oil is only available from a few manufacturers and is therefore expensive (£15 a litre in 1 litre bottles, bit cheaper if you buy 5 litres). The fixed service oil is more common and available at a more affordable price.
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Does the car have the older VAG tdi engine or the later pdi engine? If the later engine you must use oil to specification VW 506.01 for variable (i.e. possibly extended service intervals) or VW 505.01 for fixed service intervals (i.e. 10,000 miles or 1 year).
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