Oil change question

[marklcfc]

I've got the message oil change required come up. I had this last year after 10k I think and reset it as it was coming up every start up. I took it to a garage who checked the oil level and they said it was fine. I ended up doing 19,000 miles without an oil change before I took the car into its yearly service but I was wondering is it ok to do that?

I thought it would show a symbol on the dashboard when an oil change is due, so I assume I can just carry on again like last year

 

[H Rafiq]

You need to change the oil every so often. Annually or 10k I believe, depends on your engine and if you’re on long-life servicing. Just because the oil levels fine, doesn’t mean you don’t need an oil change, you get me? An oil change isn’t dependent on oil level, it depends on mileage and time since last oil change.

 

[marklcfc]

All I know from the receipt is it had 4 litres of 5/30 oil, which was the same the year before which I did 19k on

 

[H Rafiq]

Last service? Service history? Service book?

 

[marklcfc]

End of July this year

 

[H Rafiq]

Was the oil changed in July? Must’ve been if it was serviced.

 

[marklcfc]

Was the oil changed in July? Must’ve been if it was serviced.

Yes 4 litres of 5/30 oil

but I’ve done 10k since that hence the question

 

[H Rafiq]

If it’s on the longlife service, you can do 19k miles between oil changes I think. If your warnings coming on after 10k, it’s set to normal servicing. I’d just drop the oil, change it and the filter, and you’re good for another 10k.

 

[SRGTD]

IMHO if going up to 19k/ 20k miles between oil changes its important to ensure the correct spec oil is used and it’s one that meets the approved VW standard for longlife servicing.

 

[marklcfc]

I've checked the service book and its got longlife sevice ticked

 

[nd-photo.nl]

Longlife service is the main culprit for a lot of issues. Change the oil every year/15000km, whatever comes first. And off course, use a proper brand

After using the oil for a while, it starts to degrade, that is what @H Rafiq is pointing to

 

[marklcfc]

I usually have a car service and mot together once a year, but as I've been driving more miles than normal I wasn't sure what to do, leave it like I did last year or not.

I'm wondering now whether its worth having a car service instead of just an oil change. (I'm useless with cars and can't do this sort of thing myself)

 

[tracktoy]

As everybody has said make sure you use the correct oil.

As an example this is the various items that my pre facelift car needs servicing so its not just oil and filter change but it obviously depends on your model of Leon.

Work Required	At Millage	Additional Notes
6-gear DSG gearbox 0D9: change the oil and filter	Every 60,000 km 37,300 Miles
Panorama roof: check operation, clean drains and lubricate guides	After 3 years / max 60,000 km and then every 2 years or 60,000 km after that.
Engine Oil Filter	Flexible oil change interval then every 18,641 miles / 30,000 km or 2 years Fixed oil change interval, Maximum every 9320 miles / 15,000 km or once a year
Air Filter	Every 55923 miles / 90,000 km or 6 years
Dust and Pollen Filter	Every 37282 miles / 60,000 km or 2 years
Oil Change Service		PR QI1 - every 5,000km PR QI2 – every 7,500km PR QI3 – every 10,000 km PR QI4 – every 15,000 km PR Q17 – every 30,000 km
Spark Plugs	Every 37,282 miles / 60,000 km or 4 years
Front axle differential lock oil change	Every 3 years	Please note many main dealers don’t deal with cupra’s and do not understand about the front diff, this needs to be looked after.
Brake fluid and clutch: Renew	After 3 years (first time) and then every 2 years
Key Fob Battery	When warning message shown on the screen	CR2032 Battery. How to video can be found here

 

[nd-photo.nl]

Thank you for this, as I also have a pre facelift

 

[R3k1355]

The manufacturer says you can do 19,000 miles on long life oil. They also don't care if your engine explodes once it's out of it's warranty period.

19,000 miles is way too long to run oil IF you want long term reliability. If you're happy to fix/repair the problems that it'll cause then crack on.

 

[nd-photo.nl]

Exactly this

 

[Mr Pig]

No way I'd do 19K miles between oil changes. Not a chance.

Many manufacturers introduced these long-life service intervals years ago. The fundamental goal was not to improve reliability but to make the cars more attractive to fleet buyers as it reduced the service costs. If you google you'll find out about the issues it caused later in the car's life, off the top of my head I can think of serious issues with several BMW engines.

Bottom line is that skimping on serving is never a good idea. Even if you don't suffer directly for it, poor servicing could well effect the future value of the car and make it hard to sell. I've walked away from several cars because of gaps in the service history. I went to see a Mazda MX5 a few years ago. Two year gap in the history. Girl said it had been serviced but had no record of it. That car still isn't sold! It sits a garage gathering dust. They'll have to drop the price a lot to get it away, certainly by more than it would have cost to just service the damn car.

 

[BillyCool]

When I first got my Leon I was doing 20k miles a year and thought the "long life" service interval was ideal so it only needed one service a year. My mechanic soon changed my mind when he said that 20,000 miles for any TDI on the same oil is quite a stretch. It was another VAG brainwave to appease fleet buyers as they could claim longer (cheaper) service intervals. Don't worry about the long term mechanical implications. Any fleet car would have gone through the auctions by then and be owned by the likes of you and me before they went wrong. VAG don't care.

So - I now change oil and usually filter every 5,000 miles. It's personal choice - I do it myself in an hour and it costs about £50.

I'd agree with the other comments that ideally you should be looking to have an oil and filter change every 10,000 miles. It is a long term investment in the health of what can be a slightly fickle engine. I'd rather have my Mk1 PD engine than the EA288 lump I currently have.

 

[mty12345]

As others have said, no way i'd ever go over 10k on any engine and I change mine at 5k or 6 months. Also depends a lot on the type of miles you do. If you do lots of motorway commuting in 6th gear, then that's fairly easy on the oil and 10k MAY be ok. If you do lots of town driving with short trips, or drive it hard, then i'd change it at 5k.

 

[G.P]

It was another VAG brainwave to appease fleet buyers as they could claim longer (cheaper) service intervals. Don't worry about the long term mechanical implications. Any fleet car would have gone through the auctions by then and be owned by the likes of you and me before they went wrong. VAG don't care.

I think they were the first with the 20k service's back in late 70/early 80 with the 90 5 cylinder engine..