VW dealer says no Jetta oil change until 10,000 miles???

My father-in-law has an audi and I believe his oil change intervals are also 10k miles. Engines and oil have improved drastcally since the days of 3k mile oil changes. I have an 05 tacoma pickup and the oil changes are every 5k miles. As long as she follows the manual she can't be faulted if there is an issue. Always keep the recipts for documentation.

My fleet Chevy equinox has the oil changed as indicated by the driver info center. This is around 14K miles. There has since been a software change due to issues with the timing chain and thinned out oil.
Diesels can go longer between changes but that seems a little too long. Change it at 5k then have the dealer change it at 10k? Just a thought.

I think our Hondas ask to be changed somewhere around 12,000 kms. I was surprised by that interval at first, but our 2006 Civic has 260,000 trouble free kms. so far and still hums along like new. I think I've only opened the hood on it 4 times.

I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable going that many miles though.

Just read and follow the manual. Pretty much all automakers have moved beyond the old 3000 mi interval 15-20+ years ago. Honda's even 10 years back were recommending 10,000+ intervals even on dino oil. Many new cars - BMW may have been first? but now most imports do it - now have oil life calculation algorithms in the ECU and the car tells you when its time.

Modern engines are built to much tighter tolerances with much more wear resistant materials, also oils - both natural and synthetic have gotten much better with improved additives etc.

The old 3000 mile we all used was not generally recommended by manufacturers for "normal" driving. They (GM for example) called for 7000. The oil maker, (and most sensible mechanics) used 3000. The trick was the "normal" as defined in the manual. Close reading by most would reveal that few use their cars "normally".

wahoowad said:

My mom took her new Jetta back to the dealer for the first oil change. At time of purchase they said they will do free oil changes. She was at 3500 miles and they told her it doesn't need it until 10,000 miles! I don't have her owner's manual to check what the factory recommends. Maybe it comes with synthetic oil? Anybody know? It is a 2011 Jetta (non-diesel).

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Most likely it's Syn oil. My BMW has a computer to tell you when your oil change is needed. The dealers basically change the oil under their free maint plan. You get an oil change after 1 full year since the last oil change or over 15000 within the year.

I would say if it's under one year and it's syn oil, you're fine. If it's older than one year change it. If it's dyno oil, change it. FYI, I changed my syn oil on mine when it was at 1500 miles. Not sure it helped, but I have piece of mind knowing all the metal shavings, if any, were drained out. In addition, I only run the syn oil about 5000 to 7500 because that's all I put on for mileage annually.

Hare are some "myths" about motor oil in modern cars: http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/top-7-urban-legends-about-motor-oil.html
Coming from Europe the 3000 mile/3 month schedule never made sense to me. We had ~6500 miles or 1 year as a guideline. The only good thing about changing it frequently is your mechanic hopefully takes a look over the engine and alerts you of potential other problems before they get severe. But with modern computerized engines that is not really necessary anymore either.

Not only is it due to the better oils, and synthetics, but also the better filtration technology. I’m sure computer controlled fuel injection on more modern engines doesn’t hurt either. Less chance of overfueling/cylinder wash down. Especially on cold startups/warmups.

I'm pretty sure my Passat hat a 10,000 mile oil change interval in the manual -- and it had a turbo!

10,000 miles with conventional oil is fine. With synthetic oil you can go even longer, but you need to change the filters.

Yes, who ever mentioned the definition of 'normal' is on target.

If they suggest a change interval of 10k then it has to be a synthetic because dino oil will not run 10k. Regardless of the mfgr change interval I do my synthetic vehicles at 5k (7k on the diesel truck with oil testing in between). The oil mfgr is the one to listen to on these issues IMO, the mfgr of the vehicle may want an interval of 10k but only in certain circumstances is that viable. I would consider running synthetic 10k miles only with oil sample testing and all highway miles. If there's any in-town driving involved then I wouldn't run 10k. If she drives all in-town then 5k max IMO.

I think we can all remember such mfgr hits as Dexcool (junk) and the batch of 1.8T Passats from 1998-2004? that had oil sludge issues due to various faults including oil change intervals. A more frequent oil change is just good insurance, especially if you intend to drive the vehicle for an extended period of time. I don't believe more frequent oil changes will void a warranty.

My .02

They probably are using synthetic oil.

-SF

I remember reading/hearing about this, think it was a Mercedes or some such, it is true--but the cost of that oil change is off the charts.

wahoowad said:

I am asking about the Jetta

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I have a 2010 Passat and the suggestions are the same. I have only changed it every 10K, although once in a while I check it and have added a cup or two.

It uses synthetic oil, which lasts longer.

Some folks say to do it just a bit more often if you use it very hard - in dusty or otherwise damaging environments - but, even in those cases, it would seem that 5-6K would be fine.

Since VW warranties their car - there is no reason for them to fool us about this..at the expense of their reputation and their cars.

Ugggg dexcool. I had a 96 S10 pickup with that crap in it. I became an expert in backflushing the heater core because of that sludgy junk. Anyways i switched over to royal purple synthetic all around and have had good luck with it. I was considering
having the oil analyzed to see if i could stretch the change intervals. A little over the top but i guess it's no worse than checking my firewood with a moisture meter.

My Honda civic gets it oil changed once a year whether it needs it or not. I put on around 12000 hihgway miles per year andthe car still get 40 miles per gallon. I have run Mobil 1 synthetic since the first oil change.

It is odd that they dont do a short service interval for the first change and then extend it out as no matter how well it gets flushed at the factory, some materials from manufacturing may appear during the early miles.

glenlloyd said:

If they suggest a change interval of 10k then it has to be a synthetic because dino oil will not run 10k.

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Not true. We have a had a lot of Honda products in my family and every car from '03 onward has specified 10k-15k normal (and no less than 5k severe) oil change intervals on conventional oil. Ive used those intervals and put 6 figure mileage on these vehicles with no ill effects or early breakdowns. I don't think Honda is unique in these recommendations....

I trust the auto manufacturer, who actually tested your specific engine & vehicle, much more than a generic recommendation from the oil company.

peakbagger said:

It is odd that they dont do a short service interval for the first change and then extend it out as no matter how well it gets flushed at the factory, some materials from manufacturing may appear during the early miles.

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Honda puts in a special oil at the factory that has extra additives to promote the break in process. They want to keep this oil in the engine for a while hence no more early changes.

I had my TDI Diesel Beetle for 225k miles and it was running and looking great when I sold it. I used Delvac 1 every 10k miles. VW is fussy about using the right grade oil.

jharkin said:

glenlloyd said:

If they suggest a change interval of 10k then it has to be a synthetic because dino oil will not run 10k.

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Not true. We have a had a lot of Honda products in my family and every car from '03 onward has specified 10k-15k normal (and no less than 5k severe) oil change intervals on conventional oil. Ive used those intervals and put 6 figure mileage on these vehicles with no ill effects or early breakdowns. I don't think Honda is unique in these recommendations....

I trust the auto manufacturer, who actually tested your specific engine & vehicle, much more than a generic recommendation from the oil company.

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I think the only thing VW specifies any more is synthetic and deviating from that voids the warranty. If you have a turbo charged gas engine or TDI powered car you must adhere to the VW specification.

I couldn't bring myself to do a 10-15k oil change interval ...then again everything I have is diesel and diesel engines are a lot harder on oil. But even if I still had a gas powered car I couldn't bring myself to run oil over 3k miles. I might stretch it with proper oil analysis but probably wouldn't be comfortable for longer than 5k miles in a gas powered car with dino oil.

I'd had change the oil at 500-1000 miles, draining out the initial wear and fitting of metal parts, piston rings , etc. Then once year with synthetic.

Yeah don't forget to check it....10K is a lot of miles, that's why they put in the 3-5k oil changes...no one was checking their oil with the change to self server gas station.
md

I have had the same quart of synthetic oil in my lawn mower for the last 13 years. It still runs great