Oil change

[Magpie-01]

Hi I’ve been reading a few things saying to get an oil change after 1000 miles for your new polo gti any truth in this guys ?

[monkeyhanger]

Nope, not a bit of it. The tolerances in en engine manufacture are tiny these days, there's no huge initial wear that'll fill up the oil filter. Oil change at 10k miles/15k km will be fine.

[SRGTD]

Not necessary IMO.

It may have been the norm 40+ years ago to do this, but oil technology and engine manufacturing processes have advanced significantly since then. VW’s on the long life / flexible service regime can go up to 18,000 / two years on the original oil that the engine is filled with in the factory before the first oil change is carried out.

I have a service plan for my VW so it’s on the time and distance service regime and will get oil and filter changes at the sooner of 10k miles or 12 months. I’m on my fifth VW and I keep my cars between 4-5 years. One of those cars was on the long life service regime and the others on annual / time and distance servicing, and during my ownership have never had any engine related issues with any of them, or with any other new cars I’ve bought before my current run of VW’s.

[Magpie-01]

Thanks for the replies that’s good to know

[Boxerboy]

Ours is almost a year old, running low annual miles so happy for an annual oil change.

Called the dealer today and asked what I get for a first service - knowing the answer of course.
I was parked on the forecourt as I was passing by for a totally different reason.

“Oil filter and oil change” says service lady. Nothing else. A mere £214. I had to ask her to repeat that.

“I’d like to buy a filter please.”

“Let me transfer you to Parts Dept.”

Came home with one new VW filter plus plastic sump plug. Haven’t met one of these new fangled things before.

£18.20

Had to ask (demand) a proper receipt, so that was eMailed to me for the record.

Full spec oil should cost around £40.

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[PO10ASH]

Ours is almost a year old, running low annual miles so happy for an annual oil change.

Called the dealer today and asked what I get for a first service - knowing the answer of course.
I was parked on the forecourt as I was passing by for a totally different reason.

“Oil filter and oil change” says service lady. Nothing else. A mere £214. I had to ask her to repeat that.

“I’d like to buy a filter please.”

“Let me transfer you to Parts Dept.”

Came home with one new VW filter plus plastic sump plug. Haven’t met one of these new fangled things before.

£18.20

Had to ask (demand) a proper receipt, so that was eMailed to me for the record.

Full spec oil should cost around £40.

BA83DC98-FA56-4C7B-A230-B8DC1CB9D06E.jpeg

Doesn't surprise me, the dealership charge like £60-£80 per hour in labour, unfortunately doesnt get passed down to the techs.

[monkeyhanger]

Is yours on fixed (annual) servicing) or variable (longlife)?

If mine was on longline I might be tempted to change the oil at 1 year and do the official service when it's due.

If you're skipping getting the service done at any garage with the proper parts (doesn't have to be a VW garage, dies have to be a VAT registered garage) , you'll almost certainly be putting your warranty in jeopardy.

Just having proof you bought the VW sump plug and filter isn't enough.

Oil change is easy enough to do yourself (I did a 1000 mile change on my Golf R - totally unnecessary in hindsight), the sump plug is easy to remove.

When you can get a 2 service pack with the car for £199, I wouldn't put my warranty at risk to save £40 per service, nor miss out on the dealership"s opportunity to find other things underneath for warranty claims (mine found 2 shocks on their way out and replaced them at 34 months old on my Golf R).

Outside warranty, i'd do my own oil changes.

[RUM4MO]

My slightly used Audi S4 came as an approved used Audi car with extremely low mileage and still set on flexible servicing, so I changed the oil and filter at the "mid point" and let Audi carry on servicing it every 2 years, so that ticked all the necessary boxes!

Now out of warranty I tend to buy my oil filters from either GSF or ECP whoever has the best price at "best prices time" of year, this year it was GSF for the same Mann filter as Audi use, as you can see your oil filter is also a Mann filter, oil, Mobil One 5W-30 comes from Opie Oils again bought in advance at the right "price" time of year, sealing washers, get bought in batches of 4 from CCP while ordering any other parts.

I agree, avoiding VW main dealership for early life servicing is just not being sensible, I'd think that it only works if you don't have any warranty issues AND you keep that car until it is 6 > 10 years old.

[Boxerboy]

Is yours on fixed (annual) servicing) or variable (longlife)?

If mine was on longline I might be tempted to change the oil at 1 year and do the official service when it's due.

If you're skipping getting the service done at any garage with the proper parts (doesn't have to be a VW garage, dies have to be a VAT registered garage) , you'll almost certainly be putting your warranty in jeopardy.

Just having proof you bought the VW sump plug and filter isn't enough.

Oil change is easy enough to do yourself (I did a 1000 mile change on my Golf R - totally unnecessary in hindsight), the sump plug is easy to remove.

When you can get a 2 service pack with the car for £199, I wouldn't put my warranty at risk to save £40 per service, nor miss out on the dealership"s opportunity to find other things underneath for warranty claims (mine found 2 shocks on their way out and replaced them at 34 months old on my Golf R).

Outside warranty, i'd do my own oil changes.

If I’d been offered a £199 double service pack, I might have bitten their hand off.

But it’s a bit more expensive.

And, even at £80 per hour labour rates, its ridiculous for a short oil and filter change to cost over £200.

For me, just too much cost for “extra insurance”.

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[monkeyhanger]

Up to the point at which you pick up your car, you can get the service pack for £199. Once you've got it, and before it's a year old, you can pay £299 for the service pack, either upfront or 28 interest free installments.

If you get a big warranty claim but have invalidated the warranty due to not officially getting a service done, you'll wish you got a proper service. Most VW dealers will price match local independents.

I wouldn't risk a bill of £1000s to save on a service you could get done for £100 from an independent at this stage.

[SRGTD]

Looks as if VW have increased the cost of the service pack when purchased at point of sale - I paid £199 when I bought my current car, but the current service pack cost when purchased at point of sale cost is now £269 . That’s a 35% increase on the previous price!

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/offers-and ... s/polo#710

[Andy Beats]

Mine will get treated the same as any car I own.
Serviced only when absolutely necessary and I'll check the oil if/when the low warning light comes on
And even then I'll curse the thing for using oil (which no car should these days)