How often should I change my oil in my 3.0 if I'm only putting 3000 miles/year on it?
12-31-2003, 08:45 AM
#11
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Good point. Doesn't make much sense to me...
Unfortunately, I don't think the engineers had much of a say in those discussions at Audi or VW. Since Audi pays for your services up to 50K, their incentive to recommend a longer interval was most likely to cut down on their maintenance costs. Whereas VW does not cover maintenance (or do they now?), so their incentive would be to recommend a shorter interval, thus drumming up more business for their dealer network...
12-31-2003, 08:58 AM
#14
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so if costs to both are same (practically), it pisses me off.
BESIDES - you have to be a tard to think going 10K with the same oil, highway driving or not, is OK for your car.
Cleaner oil is better. Every 5K period.
Especially when I hear about all the folks who (including myself) ran completely dry of oil by their initial 7K miles. I swear to god, if I had just continued to drive my car into a melted oblivion to get to my first 10K after the 7K dry-up, audi would have had to suck up the costs of a new CAR.
Something's not passing muster over in the Audi Oil Change Interval Decision Department in Ingolstadt. Or however you spell it.
Cleaner oil is better. Every 5K period.
Especially when I hear about all the folks who (including myself) ran completely dry of oil by their initial 7K miles. I swear to god, if I had just continued to drive my car into a melted oblivion to get to my first 10K after the 7K dry-up, audi would have had to suck up the costs of a new CAR.
Something's not passing muster over in the Audi Oil Change Interval Decision Department in Ingolstadt. Or however you spell it.
12-31-2003, 10:01 AM
#15
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Get out more and drive. Enjoy it.
Anyways, if you use a good synth like Red Line, AMSOIL, Pentosynth, Kendall GT-1, Lubro Moly, Fuchs, Motul, Castrol SLX,...etc., then you should be able to easily get 8-10K miles between changes. Every 3-5K is a waste and unecessary (unless you are using cheap crude oil or work at Jiffy Lube).
If you have severe seasonal changes, then change with summer and winter (twice a year). The only reason you would need to change more often is if your driving was very limited to short distances/driving time; where the engine never really gets a work out (reaching operating temps for 30 mins or so). After a while, there will be internal condesation build up.
As for what grade/viscosity to use; follow factory recommended in manual for your engine. I use Red Line 5W-40 in my 1.8t
If you have severe seasonal changes, then change with summer and winter (twice a year). The only reason you would need to change more often is if your driving was very limited to short distances/driving time; where the engine never really gets a work out (reaching operating temps for 30 mins or so). After a while, there will be internal condesation build up.
As for what grade/viscosity to use; follow factory recommended in manual for your engine. I use Red Line 5W-40 in my 1.8t
12-31-2003, 02:11 PM
#16
Once is more than enough.Find 1 brand that is easy to get & stick w/ it.Syntec Blend is perfect.
for you. IN a non-turbo the is no reason to bother with a run-of-the-mill "fool" (full) synth when the newer semi-synths with esters preform way better. I am basing my opinion on used oil lab analysis and published specs, Syntec Blend is great stuff. The 10w-40 is an ACEA A3 approved oil and it costs about $2 a quart! I would use that or a premium ACEA A3 or VW-spec synth ONLY once a year, no doubt. With your low miles and quality oil reciepts, you will defnately get top-dollar for your car used. A high-end oil is totally unnecessary since it is only being used for 5000 miles max. Another interesting oil is Pennzoil SUV oil with "Time-Released Additives". Also, don't run you car when stored, it is better to let it sit rather than stir up the oil and contaminates without reaching full operating temp, about 20 minutes of normal driving. Good luck.
12-31-2003, 02:18 PM
#17
Take a look at Used Oil Analysis. There is nothing to gain with 5k changes on VW 505,503.01 oils.
5000 is a meaningless number, you might as well say 3000 miles. 10k is perfectly fine, BMW is at 15,000 miles on their HP synth, not even as good an oil as Audi's SLX. I am going about 10k in 6 months by my next German Castrol change and will have a full analysis by July. Blackstone Labs will probally recommend that the oil is still serviceable.
12-31-2003, 02:36 PM
#19
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you say "fine" but can you argue that new, clean oil will not make your car run longer in its life?
COnsider all things equal, drivers, cars, etc.....can you honestly say that if given the options of 1. changing every 5 or 2. changing every 10, that option 1 wont last longer? Or at a minimum, have a better engine at 200K?
12-31-2003, 05:17 PM
#20
I can actually say there is no benefit. Wear and deposits are completely checked with correct oil...
at factory intervals. I rave about the "super-oils" and it is because they function perfectly for a long time. 5000-6000 oci is perfect for the last generation of synthetics. At this time, a 5000 mile figure is totally arbitrary with VW 505, 503.01 oils. More of a threat to wear and deposits is inferior-grade oil which is full of sludge-forming viscosity improvers and a light basestock that shears out and accelerates wear. If the choice was 5000 miles with Valvoline 5w-30 or 10,000 changes with M1 0w-40 or Castrol SLX, I would take the SLX because of the many physical and chemical benefits which are still present at 10,000 mile oci. A driver could change their oil every week, that would be maybe be better, but reality is, why dump usable oil out? I think it is great that you care about your car to be concerned about long-term condition, but short oci s are a thing of the past. I think going by the calender instead of miles allows for relatively short oci mileage-wise and is really easy to keep track of. 6 months equals 7000-8000 miles for most people, totally acceptable and no more counting miles and wondering what exact figure is perfect.