Long life or Variable Service?

[russdeebrown]

After phoning a few garages for quotes on servicing, they have said about Long Life Service's. Reading on the boards though, people want to come off of Long Life to a yearly service.

Could someone explain why and the benefits for me please. Arguments for either case would be greatly appreciated.

I have a 54 plate 1.8t s-line. I only do 10,000miles per year. Mixture of motorway and town.

Many thanks

[STEWY L]

After phoning a few garages for quotes on servicing, they have said about Long Life Service's. Reading on the boards though, people want to come off of Long Life to a yearly service.

Could someone explain why and the benefits for me please. Arguments for either case would be greatly appreciated.

I have a 54 plate 1.8t s-line. I only do 10,000miles per year. Mixture of motorway and town.

Many thanks
well thats just typical:mad:
just joined and want to open the biggest ever can of worms you will ever see:biglaugh:
i don't rate this "long life" servicing at all,( i don't believe that 4.5ltrs of oil
could stay clean enough-long enough)
many others won't agree with that( perhaps they are lucky and can change
thier car before they see the damage that may,or may not occur later in life)
just my thoughts,
welcome to the greatest mad house on earth,
stewy,
p.s. it's the best really.;)

[Marco34]

I agree with stewy. I see oil like blood to a human. What's the point of trying to make the oil last as long as possible to save say, £40 on oil and filter when you've no doubt spent thousands on the car!!

Longlife againsts:

Long time before oil and filter are changed (I've seen filters crumble) The oil protection may well last but the contamination is the problem.
Air and pollen filter will be grim after 2 years, could be leaved and all sorts in the ducts.
No inspection for 2 years on engine and other components
Why trust a DIS when your eyes can see what needs to be done in good time

Pros: Fleet cars and those who get rid of their car every 3 years...

There's only pros to servicing regularly; I do mine myself and drain oil every 6 months and change all filters every 12 months. Car runs a treat.

[Mr_Meeks]

I agree with stewy. I see oil like blood to a human. What's the point of trying to make the oil last as long as possible to save say, £40 on oil and filter when you've no doubt spent thousands on the car!!

Longlife againsts:

Long time before oil and filter are changed (I've seen filters crumble) The oil protection may well last but the contamination is the problem.
Air and pollen filter will be grim after 2 years, could be leaved and all sorts in the ducts.
No inspection for 2 years on engine and other components
Why trust a DIS when your eyes can see what needs to be done in good time

Pros: Fleet cars and those who get rid of their car every 3 years...

There's only pros to servicing regularly; I do mine myself and drain oil every 6 months and change all filters every 12 months. Car runs a treat.


Marco,
how easy is it to drain the oil my self and change the filter, any tips as i would like to change my oil, thanks
Alex

[Hex69]

Marco,
how easy is it to drain the oil my self and change the filter, any tips as i would like to change my oil, thanks
Alex

As long as you can use a spanner it's not difficult.

This (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=7845) shows a Passat diesel, however it's the same principle for petrol.

30 minutes tops really.

HTH

[Marco34]

That link covers it well. It's that simple. Only problem I've heard of is the sump plugs requiring a specific torque ( I think 30Nm) and a new sump plug being used every time. I must admit I didn't change the plug or washer for 4 drains. It was ok. I change it every time now though just to be sure.

[Crasher]

Change over to fixed interval yearly servicing but still use the Longlife 3 oil and genuine VAG 2 year filter even though you will be changing them annually. One quick point though, Longlife and variable servicing are the same timing, it is variable (Longlife) or fixed (annual).

[Marco34]

Crasher - Why do you suggest the longlife for fixed? I drain every 6k which is about 6 months so I don't see the point in spending extra for longlife oil. I ensure 5w40 505.01 for PD. Maybe you have an answer ? ;)

Also, I usually use MANN filters. I thought there was only a few suppliers of oil filters world wide and no doubt VW stamped are made by such manufacturers as MANN?

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Regards
Marco

[Crasher]

Because the Longlife 3 is a very high quality oil. There are others but if I stick to Quantum Longlife 3 as marketed by VAG UK, I can’t be criticised by anyone for my choice of oil, people are always very ready to shoot you down in flames give a quarter of a chance.

[onzarob]

a new sump plug being used every time.

Thats crazy, I never change a sump plug, is that a vw suggestion? I allway change the copper ring as nothing worst than a leaking sump :(

[Crasher]

The sump bung is now a once only item, even on steel sumps. The seal cannot easily be removed so it is always a new bung-yes it is daft.

[Col]

Glad the link to my how-to is proving useful.

The oil filter on the 1.8t is not as user friendly but still easy to get at.

Also, if you use a Pella (as in the link) or similar oil extractor (note VW / Audi dealers use something similar), there is no need to faff about with the under-crackers (shields) which make life easy.

Going back to the original question.

Longlife Pro's. (but only if you are a fleet manager !!);

Extended interval.
Slight reduction in cost.

Longlife Cons;

As mentioned above and..
On the 1.8t engine, acceleration of the onset of the infamous slugding problem which will as more than likely write your engine off. However this is unlikely to manifest itself if you are a company car driver and will get rid of the car at 3 to 4 years old.

Fixed Pros;

Better for your car and all the reasons as stated above by others. The main thing though is that you are effectively buying insurance as to longlivety and wellbeing of your car.

Fixed Cons;

Slightly more costly at the time.



Personally, I think the best compromise if you are worried about getting a dealer stamp in your service book is to go on fixed 10k intervals at the dealers and then to do an interim oil change yourself at 5k using normal oil.

As to Crasher using longlife oil over a 10k interval, makes perfect sense to me. He could never ever be accused of or be culpable in any circumstances if a car he serviced became victim to any oil related issues such as the sludging. As most punters will go the 10k or a bit more, Crashers regime is still effecitvely halving the longlife interval. If I were in business, I think I'd do that to !

But I'm not and normal oil at 5k is just fine for me.

[onzarob]

The sump bung is now a once only item, even on steel sumps. The seal cannot easily be removed so it is always a new bung-yes it is daft.

Another throw away item...crazy, might be my excuse to use an oil extractor, fed up of removing plastic panel and rolling around the floor, now i've got to buy a sump plug as well!!!!....bring back copper washers they work ;)

[Crasher]

We still keep copper washers and separate sump bungs for steel sumps but use the new throw away bungs on ally sumps.

[onzarob]

but use the new throw away bungs on ally sumps.

I must admit i don't know if the sump is ally or steal on my mk5 Golf, not done a change yet ;)

[Crasher]

Ally, MUST use a new bung.

[onzarob]

Ally, MUST use a new bung.

I shall put that on the shopping list, cheers :)

[Marco34]

Because the Longlife 3 is a very high quality oil. There are others but if I stick to Quantum Longlife 3 as marketed by VAG UK, I can’t be criticised by anyone for my choice of oil, people are always very ready to shoot you down in flames give a quarter of a chance.

I'll go with that. ;)

[spartacus 68]

I might be the lone voice in this - but I'll put my tuppence worth in for the long-life schedule.

My last car was an Audi 80 1.9 TDi Avant SE with 175k on the clock that I'd had for 9 years. I religiously changed the oil every 5k, (used 4.5 litres of VAG Synta) including a replacement oil filter. I also used added a bottle of STP flush to the oil prior to draining. That car was the most pampered, well-maintained car in the street.:approve:

A couple of years ago I traded up to my current car (A4 2.5 TDi Quattro Sport Avant). It was already on the long-life schedule, so I've left it as such. I reckon if you're doing less that 15k miles a year I'd stick with the annual service. I probably do between 15-18k so it works for me.

The V6 uses 5.2 litres of Castrol Edge. At £15 a litre it's not cheap (can be sourced from Costco for cheaper). Then you've the other consumables such as diesel filter, air filter, etc. It all adds up. We're also running two cars in the household, and sometimes unexpected mechanical bills are the last thing you need.

My car hasn't missed a beat on the longlife schedule, and sailed through it's MOT. Like everything - you get what you pay for.

[Scorch]

Just a word of warning with regards to longlife servicing.

The 1.8T engine suffers from sludging, this is made worse by leaving the same old oil in for 20k.

This problem cost me £530 to put right:mad:. My oil flickered a few times whilst towing, vag-com showed oil pressure slightly low. Chemical flush made little difference. Engine sump/strainer had to be stripped and cleaned:aargh4:.

I understand that Audi U.S.A. cover 1.8T engines for this problem up to seven years for pre 2003 models, but Audi UK don't recognise it as a problem.:p

I now change the oil every year with Mobil Super S, as recommended by the VAG specialist who sorted my engine.

Hope this helps