Dealership claims service every 8,000 KM... not 15,000KM as in owner manual!

[gompertz]

Hi All,

I've had my canadian VW CC 3.6L 4Motion for about 3 years now, and it has always chimed for service every 8,000 kilometers. Only today did I flip through the manual and see the manual suggests every 15,000 kilometers for an oil change. When I called out the dealership on it they said they changed the computer to match our climate (Alberta, Canada) for adverse weather conditions. They even said this is suggested in the manual - although I don't see any mention of it anywhere. Are they just scamming me? I mean come on... it snows and gets warm in Germany too.

[haroldv]

Hello,

I have been in Alberta and I live next to Germany in Holland.
The weather is not the same. But...my V6 needs oil change every 30.000km!
Longlife schedule, they call it.

But it's not only the weather, all conditions are different.
How often do you drive above 100mph (and more)? I don't think you do that every day...

I also remembered how often people have to change the windscreen n Alberta.
Here, they last a liftetime.

This is not a concrete answer for you, but I do not think the conditions can be compared.

[dcbc]

There are a lot of people on here who change their oil at the 5,000 mi (roughly 8,000km) interval versus the 10K mile interval suggested in the manual. That's not to say that maybe your dealer isn't taking advantage of you a bit. But, at least as far as oil changes go, it's not a bad idea. Oil filters are rarely meant to last 10K miles.

[haroldv]

Quote: 'Oil filters are rarely meant to last 10K miles.'

Eh, based on what? Not according to VW, since the normal first scheduled maintenance is after 30.000km, in all company cars we own (all passat's).
Maybe we use better ones in Europe?

No VW proposes 60.000km for the first and then every 20.000km
http://www.volkswagen.de/de/Volkswag...intervall.html

I do not expect you speak German, the stated 60.000 can be found easily.

[dcbc]

Quote: 'Oil filters are rarely meant to last 10K miles.'

Eh, based on what? Not according to VW, since the normal first scheduled maintenance is after 30.000km, in all company cars we own (all passat's).
Maybe we use better ones in Europe?

No VW proposes 60.000km for the first and then every 20.000km
http://www.volkswagen.de/de/Volkswag...intervall.html

I do not expect you speak German, the stated 60.000 can be found easily.

Based on the advice of a good friend who is a certified mechanic and who works on his own German cars and who has expressed to me that he is not confident in an oil filter, even a supposedly high mileage one's, capability to reliably perform in our climate (Texas). I should have added that to the original post given that the OP is Canadian. Texas summers are rough on engines.

I plan to keep my car well beyond its warranty period. The 5,000 mile oil change may be overkill. So call me Captain Overkill.

Und, ja, ich spreche nicht sehr gut Deutsch. Ich glaube jedoch, machen sehr gute deutsche Art Bier.

[BsickPassat]

Hello,

I have been in Alberta and I live next to Germany in Holland.
The weather is not the same. But...my V6 needs oil change every 30.000km!
Longlife schedule, they call it.

But it's not only the weather, all conditions are different.
How often do you drive above 100mph (and more)? I don't think you do that every day...

I also remembered how often people have to change the windscreen n Alberta.
Here, they last a liftetime.

This is not a concrete answer for you, but I do not think the conditions can be compared.

VW502.00 isn't made for the long-life schedule (can't be enabled either). This is the specified oil, thus fixed interval.

the flexible service interval uses VW504.00 standard (which replaced 503.00 & 503.01)...


ONe of the factors in this is the amount of sulfur in the North American gasoline. The higher PPM's of sulfur means more sulfuric acid formation, which the 504.00 standard cannot combat adequately, with its relatively low TBN (compared to 502.00)

[haroldv]

Based on the advice of a good friend who is a certified mechanic and who works on his own German cars and who has expressed to me that he is not confident in an oil filter, even a supposedly high mileage one's, capability to reliably perform in our climate (Texas). I should have added that to the original post given that the OP is Canadian. Texas summers are rough on engines.

I plan to keep my car well beyond its warranty period. The 5,000 mile oil change may be overkill. So call me Captain Overkill.

Und, ja, ich spreche nicht sehr gut Deutsch. Ich glaube jedoch, machen sehr gute deutsche Art Bier.

Google translate?

[haroldv]

VW502.00 isn't made for the long-life schedule (can't be enabled either). This is the specified oil, thus fixed interval.

the flexible service interval uses VW504.00 standard (which replaced 503.00 & 503.01)...


ONe of the factors in this is the amount of sulfur in the North American gasoline. The higher PPM's of sulfur means more sulfuric acid formation, which the 504.00 standard cannot combat adequately, with its relatively low TBN (compared to 502.00)

Now, that's a clear answer!

[dcbc]

Google translate?

I know a little German. He's standing over there.

VW502.00 isn't made for the long-life schedule (can't be enabled either). This is the specified oil, thus fixed interval.

the flexible service interval uses VW504.00 standard (which replaced 503.00 & 503.01)...


ONe of the factors in this is the amount of sulfur in the North American gasoline. The higher PPM's of sulfur means more sulfuric acid formation, which the 504.00 standard cannot combat adequately, with its relatively low TBN (compared to 502.00)

And this.