[Foxy]

oops........just checked mine and i've done 7600 miles, and it says service in 1800 miles.......YES 1800.....b*gger.

Looks like i'll have to get a filter and oil at the stealer tomorrow when i'm there for my phatbox adapter lead.

I think i only need 2 litres - i have 3 litres unused in my garage.

Oh, and here is a letter i had from VW about servicing.....still unclear about whether they mean miles or kilometres!!!

the gen on the oil specs:

 

[Foxy]

More bumph

 

[kenl]

Great work. You deserve a gold star Foxy[^]

 

[simfin]

Foxy,

How many days did the indicator say were left - Are you sure yours is on variable ? Any less than 365 days and yours is on fixed.

 

[Foxy]

Quote: posted by simfin on 25/02/2005 21:02:31

Foxy,

How many days did the indicator say were left - Are you sure yours is on variable ? Any less than 365 days and yours is on fixed.

Edited in light of today's findings....CLICKY

It said 239 days........

I specifically said to them "set it to variable" - and i'm sure it even says that in the service book!......

I'm off the my stealer tomorrow - i'll see if the tech. can reset it for a 'drink'......

 

[horatiog]

Just had mine reset to variable after female dogin' that nobody had told me to put longlife oil in at handover last year. They reset the computer but it still came up showing the service due at 18,000 miles. The technician who handed my car back said that the 30k miles is just a theoretical maximum (like the 50 mpg!) and that 18-20k is the realistic maximum.

 

[radox]

Had a letter from VW Customer Service today correcting what they had told me on the telephone a few weeks back (and reported in my post here on 24th Feb).

They have now confirmed, as I have suspected all along, that the 30,000 mile maximum service interval for Mk Vs on the Variable Longlife servicing regime is indeed incorrect. It is in fact only 30,000 km (approx 18,500 miles) for both diesels and petrol engined cars.

So anyone else who was hoping to one day see the flexible service indicator reporting more than 18,500 miles until the next service.... forget it.

Stuart
http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5

 

[kenl]

Anyone with a major gripe about this should get on to VW and have a good old moan and ask for some compensation like the extra service you'll have to pay for!

As for me I will be absolutely delighted to get anywhere near 18k miles between services and think that is easily long enough between services for me.

If however 90% of your miles is cruising along the motorway at 60mph you may have a case.

 

[dmonk]

In the 2005 brochure Issue 1 October 2004 under Service Intervals for Petrol and Diesel engines it did indeed say

"...the interval between services..can be anywhere from 9000 miles or 12 months..upto a maximum of 30000 miles* or 24 months. These engines use built-in sensors..making it possible to enjoy reliable and confident motoring for up to a maximum of 30000 miles*.

* The maximum of 30000 miles is for the diesel engines.

All mileage are approximate as the system uses kilometres as the distance measure"

In the next issue printed on 1 November 2004, 30000 miles had been changed to 18000 miles. All other details remained the same

 

[radox]

My perseverance has paid off. VW customer service have agreed to pay for my Mk V's first service as a gesture of goodwill for them misleading me as the maximum interval between services. I'm happy with that.

Stuart
http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5

 

[Mark V]

All this is very interesting and relevent but I cannot help thinking that an annual oil change or a change every 12,000 miles has to be best for the engine in the long term rather than reliance on exotic oils to tease out the inevitable change. I think I will stick with the traditional time/servicing set up.

 

[radox]

Things have moved on. Companies make engines which are much more efficient now. Manufacturing standards have also improved signifantly. If engines have been designed to go 30,000 miles between services (when driven in a particular manner), seems a bit of a waste of money to change it's oil as often as you had to do with older cars.

If people feel happier changing their car's oil more frequently than their Mk V suggests, that's fine. Personally I'm a believer in the advancement of technology

Stuart
http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5

 

[Mark V]

Quote: posted by radox on 11/04/2005 08:22:40

If engines have been designed to go 30,000 miles between services (when driven in a particular manner), seems a bit of a waste of money to change it's oil as often as you had to do with older cars.

But the point is they havn't! The service interval is now advised as 18,000 maximum (using oil that retails at ?10 per litre).

 

[kenl]

Good result Stuart on getting your service paid for.

As to long service intervals. I was a bit sceptical myself but if it is better for the environment then I'm happy to go along with what VW say.

It wasn't that long ago that petrol cars needed new oil every 6k miles and diesels every 3k miles!

 

[Mark V]

So all this really boils down to an error by VW UK in putting 30,000 miles in their brochure instead of 18,000 miles and this was caused by not realising that the 30,000 was, in fact, kilometres.

Nothing has changed, all they have done is realise they made the error.

 

[radox]

Nothing has changed as far as the engine is concerned. Maybe VW never intended the Golf Mk V to go 30,000 miles between services.

But for them to have printed 30,000 miles (not kms) in all their literature for nearly 12 months and then to suddenly correct their mistake and hope that some high-mileage customers wouldn't feel a bit let-down, I thought, deserved a little compensation. This I have now got and am happy with how VW have dealt with this matter.

Just to add another little bit of info (and risk confusing more people). VW are still claiming that their "main" longlife service regime (not to be confused with the "flexible" longlife service regime of the MkV's) still has a maximum of 30,000 miles between services. By "main longlife service regime" I think they mean fixed service intervals but still using the super-dooper/expensive longlife oil. That sounds to me like VW have designed some engines to go 30,000 miles between services. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the MkV Golfs' engines could go 30,000 miles between services but this new "flexible" regime has been introduced with a lower maximum just in case of any problems. (The problems mentioned in other posts about the Variable Service Indicator being a good example of such).

Stuart
http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5

 

[Mark V]

Radox, I agree, although it does seem that the main mission of VW UK is to confuse the hell out of their customers.

Well I just checked my service indicator (by pressing the trip zero button down for longer then 2 seconds) and its telling me it needs a service in 4,800 miles or 392 days! My car was (allegedly) serviced, including an oil change at the end of January and since then I have done 1,000 miles - strange?

 

[sadsack]

Just been on the phone to customer service who in turn spoke with technical they are saying 30.000 miles per service for a diesel mmm!