VW Longlife service and slight judder

[BORA456]

Hi all,

I've just bought a 54 reg Bora 1.9 Highline 130 with 32,000 on the clock. Love it to bits, but got a few quick questions.

It has had full VW service history called Longlife. Can someone please explain what this is?

It was last serviced in August last year and apparently won't need servicing until August 2010. Is this right? Another 18 months between servicing? Only ask as I thought it would need a new cam belt, water pump etc soon. Oil is a bit low too, do i need to buy this from a VW dealer?

Also, it has a slight judder in the pedals which I didn't notice when test driving it. It is evident when I change gear and go above 2000 revs. Not a massive thing, but any ideas what this could be? I previously drove a 06 BMW 1 series 118d which was very smooth. Is it just that the VW Bora is a bit more raw cos of it's age or could it be something which I need to get checked?

Cheers for you help, loving the Bora!

[the surfer]

Hi all,

I've just bought a 54 reg Bora 1.9 Highline 130 with 32,000 on the clock. Love it to bits, but got a few quick questions.

It has had full VW service history called Longlife. Can someone please explain what this is?

It was last serviced in August last year and apparently won't need servicing until August 2010. Is this right? Another 18 months between servicing? Only ask as I thought it would need a new cam belt, water pump etc soon. Oil is a bit low too, do i need to buy this from a VW dealer?

Also, it has a slight judder in the pedals which I didn't notice when test driving it. It is evident when I change gear and go above 2000 revs. Not a massive thing, but any ideas what this could be? I previously drove a 06 BMW 1 series 118d which was very smooth. Is it just that the VW Bora is a bit more raw cos of it's age or could it be something which I need to get checked?

Cheers for you help, loving the Bora!

Firstly, it's good to hear you are enjoying the car!

A Longlife service interval relies on sensors in the engine monitoring the quality of the oil. Typically, with the Longlife servicing, this may not 'need' doing for up to around 20k miles! A lot of fleet cars are on the Longlife service interval for reasons of economy. I personally use the fixed interval service and change oil and filter at every 10k miles; of course, this is down to personal preference. I would recommend that anyone with a turbo aspirated engine should change oil more frequently though.

Cambelt and waterpump, if going by the book, are overdue as they are recommended to be replaced after every 4 years or 60k miles.

The oil you need is VW 505.01 spec for the fixed service interval or VW 507.00 spec for the Longlife service interval. You can buy this stuff pretty much anywhere but a company called Opie Oils can probably do you the best deal on it as you get discount for being a member on here.

As for the juddering clutch, this seems to be very common across the VAG range. It could indicate a DMF issue. I'm no expert on this though so I may be wrong.

Hope this helps.

[BORA456]

Thanks Surfer for the info, much appreciated.

Found a garage (VAGTUNE) near by who will do the cambelt, tensioners and water pump for £300 incl labour and VAt, where as the local VW garage said it would cost me £550 including a discount and before VAT! Will book it in asap if its meant to be 4 years for a camblet change!

Hopefully it's not the DMF, just heard they are costly to replace.