Servicing Mileage Indicator

[caiminbrowne]

Hi,

I purchased a 06 Passat 2.0 TDI Sport in May. It had just had a service at 41000 miles with long life service interval and am now at 58500 miles. From reading previous posts there seems to be an indicator indicating how much mileage I have to do till the next service which I though would have been after 18000 miles.

I havent been driving the car hard however have not seen this mileage reading tell me that I have to service in 500miles etc. This is what appreared on previous 04 passat I had. worried that sensors are not working correctly or is there something I need to do to get this info to appear. Have tried pressing tool button but nothing happens. Any ideas on this would be great.

Thanks:confused:

[bimster]

you need the keys in until the dashboard lights up (the point before starting the engine) and the seatbelt on and then press the spanner button and it will display the mileage and days till next service.

[caiminbrowne]

That worked perfectly. Came up and said 5400 miles to next service. Even though I have done 17500 miles. I expected it to read 500miles. Is this normal??

[Stuart W]

Are you sure it had done 41,000 at the last service? That doesn't equate to a long life schedule, since it should have been done a few thousand before that, so it must have either been a few thousand miles late or was on the time/distance schedule previously.

And even assuming the 41,000 is incorrect the indicator is showing the next service at 64,000, which doesn't equate to a long life mileage either, so something's clearly askew.

There have been plenty of posts on here about the indicator showing the service to be earlier than expected (for various reasons) but never later, if I remember correctly.

Incidentally, if your indicator is like mine then you need to press the spanner button until it's 1,300 miles until a service, thereafter the mileage displays automatically when you turn the ignition on.

I know that because mine came up at 1,300 last time I was out :(

[hartry]

could the car have been drive sooooo hard by the previous owner that it's reallly early on it's service schedule?

[caiminbrowne]

I really hope not. I am finding it very strange. How does the long life service work. Is it based in sensors monitoring the quality of the oil.

Probably best to bring to a garage to get checked out

[patomlin76]

just a quick thought - if the car has previously had the service indicator reset by the method of holding in the spanner button plus one other (forget which one), this will reset the service to 10,000 or every year, rather than a long life 18,000. The independent garage I use said that to reset to long life service needs the VAG-COM.

[martin1810]

If this helps. The ecu measures oil temperature, fueling and miles covered. From this it calculates roughly when the next service is due. (if it's on the 20k time/distance setting) That's why the warning may come early but not late. In theory long motorway trips with the engine at optimal speed and temperature do less damage to the oil so the service will be calculated towards the 20k mark. Short, cold trips, driving in town etc do more harm to the oil so the figure will drop. In theory it could drop to 10K but I don't know if that ever happens.

[OpenRoad]

My understanding from a main dealer, is that long life service intervals are anything between 20 & 30K. My Passat B5 called for a service around 52K, so this seems about right.
The car is used to travel to/from work in East London via the A2 & Blackwall Tunnel, it's therefore subjected to both motorway and town driving in fairly equal measure.

[martin1810]

Your dealer should read their service data more carefully. Longlife is 30,000km which is roughly 18,750 miles. The service intervals will not reflect 20k, 40k, 60k etc because the first service is recommended to be earlier.

[Teflon]

The only thing that is fixed on a long-life service is that it will insist on not more than 2 years. When you get close it starts counting down in days.

Elapsed mileage is entirely dependant upon the mix of granny/maniac driving. When you get close it starts counting down in miles. If it is giving you a big number (like 4500), this may change if you vary the amount of lead in your right boot.

The 41k at last service indicates nothing at all. Previous services might have been interval or long life; granny or maniac; on schedule, late or early depending upon when the car changed hands.

In my experience, even if you ask for long-life setting dealers seem to **** it up and set for interval. Maybe because this gives them the chance of more revenue if punters don't notice. I've had to take two cars back at exactly 12 months old to have the long-life indicator "adjusted". Caiminbrowne is fortunate that things seem to be working the way they should.

Long-life service is designed for just the sort of 3.5k/month driving he is doing, at the behest of leasing companies who like to avoid service bills and don't care about the car 5 years down the track. If it's your own car my advice would be to get an oil and filters change done anyway by a independant; it would be a good investment in the future of the car.

[OpenRoad]

Thanks for the clarification and great advice. :beerchug: