# Longlife service problems



## Roberto (Sep 22, 2007)

Hi Guys.

Any help you can give me will be appreciated on this one.

My TT is approx 6 months old, as has covered 8800 miles. it's a 3.2, and isn't driven excessively, mainly motorway miles.

When it had passed 7000 miles, the DIS was warning that a service would be due in 2000 miles, or 200 days (i.e. 1st Anniversary of the car). The service schedule is set (according to the service book) as Long Life.

I took it to the local dealership, who advised everything was fine, and it definitely needed a service.

I rang Audi UK, and another dealership looks at it tomorrow. I know that the service like is variable, but the point is that it is 24 months. Nobody can answer me the question, that if i drive the vehicle nowhere, why will it need a service at 12 months, if it is set up for longlife, and i don't exceed the mileage countdown??

Something doesn't seem right to me.

Any ideas???


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## sheila (Oct 7, 2006)

There have already been a number of previous threads on this.
Some have paid up and had their's serviced!!!
My TT was just 12 months old on 1st March and with 4,470 miles was showing as needing a service at 5,000 miles, I rang the dealer who supplied the car and was told a tale about low miles and short journeys that causes the oil to deteriorate therefore I needed to bring it in for a service, I was not happy about this as I do not believe this to be true so I contacted Audi Customer Service and awaited a response.
In the meantime I took it to another Audi dealer where they happily checked the settings and reset the service interval, they were not in any way pushing me to have it serviced and said that it should not need one at such low miles.
After chasing Audi Customer Service for a reply I got a brief response suggesting I take the car into a dealers and have the service intervals checked out.
I think those that have had theirs serviced at low miles have been conned and should go back to the dealers and challenge them!!!


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## mikegtr (Jan 15, 2008)

Strange how TT on variable servicing seem to need servicing after about 1 year irrespective of milage. My current A3 2.0FSI did 20,000 miles before first service and has currently done a further 16K before its change for a 2.0 TT this week. This is also on variable servicing. Hopefully if my type of drving doesn't change I will get a similar timescale. Only time will tell!!!!!!


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Had mine serviced a few weeks back, checked tonight and it will require servicing in 8700 miles or 340 days ie one year hence. Something has changed from the MKI, it used to count down from 19k.

Engine hasn't change, guess the dealers simply want more Â£s.


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

Mine's 11 months old and the DIS says service in 12600 miles or 397 days. That will take it to 19k miles / 2 years.

I did have a free 'check-up' as offered by the dealer a few weeks ago but that was only visual check and fluid top-ups if required.

Dealer already has enough Â£s ????


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

Hmmmm time for some Autoexpress, Autocar and Watchdog me thinks?


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## cedwardphillips (Sep 6, 2005)

the service and inspection parts have been separated:


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

That may be ok however mine and many others have a 07 model also, Audi themselves have refused to service a car with the maintenence scheme saying "it is too soon" much to the owners dissapointment.


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## BobFat (Jul 24, 2007)

My DIS reports Oil change and inspection separately. Currently Oil change will be required ahead of inspection service. I'll report actual mileages tonight. Nevertheless oil change is something like c.15,000 and inspection c. 18,000. My car is a 2008 model, built September 2008 to be precise.

Cant help but think service regime is not being set correctly in cars despite what owners are being told ? Its very bizarre.

<EDIT> And yes, many people have pre '08 model so whats the situation there ? My old A3 was on long service regime and didnt need to go to dealers until c. 17,000 miles, which I had reached within the first 6 months.


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## fut1a (Dec 28, 2006)

I was always led to believe that if I was on a variable service schedule, then i could expect between 17k & 20k before I needed one. At no point did anyone say that I would need a seperate oil service. That is why its STINKS of something, because stealers are saying different things.


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## cedwardphillips (Sep 6, 2005)

[


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## Janitor (Jul 2, 2007)

A fair response fella [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

I'd actually always support a yearly oil change even if the mileage hasn't been covered. I think most people would. The problem comes though when the bill for this approaches Â£300


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

Hang on this is complete rubbish, lets step back and examine the logic.

1, Fixed service / oil change every year or 10,000 miles.

2, AVS - some reports here of service after 6000 even 5000 miles and 6 months.

The AVS should always have longer intervals (oil changes) than the fixed otherwise the logic for AVS is lost.


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## Janitor (Jul 2, 2007)

The counter there sico is that AVS takes into account typical usage and makes the calculation / prediction from there

Whether this â€˜calculationâ€™ is remotely accurate however has yet to be properly established


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

Janitor said:


> The counter there sico is that AVS takes into account typical usage and makes the calculation / prediction from there
> 
> Whether this â€˜calculationâ€™ is remotely accurate however has yet to be properly established


Well if we take it as correct it means that people on fixed are not servicing their cars enough and could damage the engine? However fixed, by its very nature, means that it should be the service that is carried out more often than longlife and therefore the logic is lost.


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## fut1a (Dec 28, 2006)

cedwardphillips said:


> fut1a said:
> 
> 
> > I was always led to believe that if I was on a variable service schedule, then i could expect between 17k & 20k before I needed one. At no point did anyone say that I would need a seperate oil service. That is why its STINKS of something, because stealers are saying different things.
> ...


It does STINK, and it will remain STINKING, until Audi change their literature and explain to people that they may need an oil change a lot sooner than they are making out, and that the long life oil we pay a premium for, is not so long life after all.

How many people collecting cars now, and choosing the AVS schedule, are expecting to fork out up to Â£350 for an oil change (not a service), before the car is even 12 months old?


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

Yes, I think its worth changing to fixed. At least you know you will be doing it every 10,000 miles or yearly and it may save you money.

The AVS system is flawed completley and it should be highlighted to some sort of regulator as it is misleading to the buyer.

When you look at the cost for a fixed service and a AVS (oil change only) due to the labour rates the difference is negligable. The parts are cheap and therefore this futher lessens the value and logic of AVS.


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## Jimbo2 (Nov 30, 2006)

fut1a said:


> It does STINK, and it will remain STINKING, until Audi change their literature and explain to people that they may need an oil change a lot sooner than they are making out, and that the long life oil we pay a premium for, is not so long life after all.
> 
> How many people collecting cars now, and choosing the AVS schedule, are expecting to fork out up to Â£350 for an oil change (not a service), before the car is even 12 months old?


How many people check their oil in the first 12 months? IMO Joe Public (i.e. not typical forum members) expects to be able to get in the car and drive it until the car tells them otherwise. After 6,000 miles the oil level in my TT was on MIN but I only knew that because I checked.

IMO it makes sense to have an inspection after 6-8k / 12 months just to make sure everything's ok. Totally agree that an oil change @ 300 quid is not necessary but an official visual inspection, check of fluid levels, etc is a good idea.

Incidentally, I've just had mine serviced at 16k/1 year (on variable apparently) and I asked them to check & upgrade all software. I know they have done this as S-tronic is now behaving differently (i.e. D now changes down to 1 at standstill which it never did previously).

Will be interesting to see when the next service rolls round. It was still on ---- last time I looked.


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## cedwardphillips (Sep 6, 2005)

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## docTTor999 (Dec 24, 2007)

Im confused :?: Does that mean that we have 2 trips to the dealer in the first year one for oil change and one for service each at Â£300?


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## BobFat (Jul 24, 2007)

Quite, very confusing. One would think the economics of this should be relatively straight forward.

*Previously.*
Assume Variable service required you to book in at 16k miles. In it went, full inspection of all components as required plus oil change, new oil filter, new sump plug or whatever. Cost say Â£350.

*Now.*
Assume Variable service indicates oil change at 12k. In it goes, oil changed, new oil filter, new sump plug etc. cost c. Â£300 ?? (so people reported)

Next up is the service, comes up at 16k miles. It goes in for the service. Does oil get changed again? assume not. So its an inspection of everything else and any works needed will be performed as required.

Call me dumb, but splitting 1 into 2 must mean the costs are split save for a bit of additional admin on the part of the dealer. m

I'll be questioning my dealer hard tomorrow as mine is being admitted for Seat belt and steering rack investigating. Will report back on my findings.


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## fut1a (Dec 28, 2006)

docTTor999 said:


> Im confused :?: Does that mean that we have 2 trips to the dealer in the first year one for oil change and one for service each at Â£300?


That's the point....most people are confused, and nobody including the stealers can confirm to my liking, what the situation is 

Depends what your stealer wants to charge you. My car flagged saying it would need a service at 9k, after speaking to the stealer they said there must be something wrong, bring it in, and we will re-set it. When I called a couple of weeks later to get a seat belt problem resolved, and AVS re-set, i was told that it may need an oil service. After some discussions and telling them that there was a big debate on here about this issue, and some people think it's a sofware problem, they charged me about Â£156.13, which is very cheap considering some people have been charged up to Â£350. But the charge is not the point..... it's the fact that nobody said when you choose AVS it may need an oil service beforehand


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

When you look at the cost of the service its the labour that costs the most.

So based on that fact.

*Labour *

120 an hour, the least you get charged is an hour by the way!

*Parts*

oil is the second most expensive so this would be around 40-50 quid.

Ok so lets say that is an oil change service 120+50 should be around 170 but hey add on some other bits and it can reach 300-350.

Now whats the difference between the oil change and the other? My guess is it will be a few more parts which may cost upto around 40 quid.

So taking into account the labour costs you may aswell have a proper service everytime (fixed).


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## leejgilb (Feb 7, 2008)

Hey cedward! Thanks for that section you posted and well done for offering a "calm down" post. Having read what Audi say in their manuals, I actually feel a little bit better about the whole situation.

Cheers!


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## VeeDubDan (May 6, 2006)

What the hell are Audi thinking. Since when has making two trips to the dealer easier than one?!!! The whole point of AVS is you limit the amount of time you spend (& money) on servicing.

Its a total joke!

As a member of the 07 club my car flagged for a service on its first birthday regardless of the fact it only had 6k on the clock. I'm now on VDD servicing - I'll decide when it gets serviced not the f*cking piss poor computer!!


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## BobFat (Jul 24, 2007)

As planned, popped mine in today and discussed Variable service with a very pleasant young lady on the service desk. Suffice to say she was not aware of this 'new' regime on the TT but was aware A3 had a new regime. An expected response given the lack of clarity out there !

I have requested clarification on some points and quotations for each visit. Update you all again later.

Mines at 8970 miles since 6 October. DIS reports *oil change* due in 5600 miles (c. 14.5k total) and *service* due in 10,100 miles (c. 19k total). Happy days :?


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## madforiTT (Aug 20, 2002)

Mine is on the new 2008 AVS regime and needed an oil change at just under 10K when 6 months old.

Total price was 85 quid


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## Raider (Sep 9, 2007)

madforiTT said:


> Mine is on the new 2008 AVS regime and needed an oil change at just under 10K when 6 months old.
> 
> Total price was 85 quid


Mine also is same..
DIS reports oil change due 8000 miles
Service at 19000 miles

Been quoted same price for oil change at 8000


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## BobFat (Jul 24, 2007)

New seat belt guides required - new steering rack required pending DIS report review - rack showing a fault. Joy.

As for Service interval regime, service dept was not even aware car had an oil change indication seperate from service indication :? Started going on about all Audi's supporting variable service regime, blah blah blah. Anyway, not one to take any bulls**t they are firing through a query to TT master technicians. Sigh.


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## piloTT (Jan 19, 2004)

I am now onto my second 2.0T, each with different story and both with the same mix of driving.

Sep 2006 car was looking for a service at 10,000 or 1 year despite being on AVS.

Sep 2007 car is looking like a oil service at 19,000 or 2 years AND inspection service at 19,000 or 3 years.

The first car went back to the dealer twice to verify AVS but on each occasion came out with no change. In the end I resorted to changing it myself using VAG-COM and changing certain servicing requirement perameters that appeared incorrect. (365 days max between services, for example, had to be changed to 730)


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## davidstick99 (Mar 1, 2008)

Roberto said:


> Hi Guys.
> 
> Any help you can give me will be appreciated on this one.
> 
> ...


Hi I had the same problem 12 MONTHS OLD 5000 miles, and after taking the car to Audi twice they reset the service indicator and told me the service was not required. I did let Audi uk know of the problems (ITS STRANGE HOW YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO BE THE FIRST OWNER TO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS :x :x ) Try contacting audi uk Mr Steven Conner as he is the person that i told.......


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## shamster (Feb 21, 2007)

BobFat said:


> New seat belt guides required - new steering rack required pending DIS report review - rack showing a fault. Joy.
> 
> As for Service interval regime, service dept was not even aware car had an oil change indication seperate from service indication :? Started going on about all Audi's supporting variable service regime, blah blah blah. Anyway, not one to take any bulls**t they are firing through a query to TT master technicians. Sigh.


I had both steering rack and seat belt guides done a couple of months ago. The new belt guides make a huge difference.


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## BobFat (Jul 24, 2007)

shamster said:


> BobFat said:
> 
> 
> > New seat belt guides required - new steering rack required pending DIS report review - rack showing a fault. Joy.
> ...


Thanks sham, well aware its a common set of issues too. Have every confidence the work will be completed to my satisfaction. Glad your experience has been positive.

Back to service regime, all squared off with my local dealer. After consulting the service & warranty booklet and discussing with a master tech it now seems to make sense, at least to me. Here we go.

The standard Audi Inspection Service (fixed interval regime) is very clear.
- Oil change every 12 months or every 10,000 miles.
- Service inspection every 24 months or every 20,000 miles.

Now the previous variable service regime did not distinguish between oil and other parts. Given inspection of all major components on a fixed regime would be 20k or 2 years, variable service regimes were getting a raw deal, full service inspection was actually more frequent anywhere between 14k & 20k miles. The real reason for variable over fixed is more consistent driving (motorways for example) resulting in slower oil quality deterioration.

The new variable regime should actually result in extending the time before an oil change is necessary over fixed service regime (which it is for me as it happens), and getting pretty close to the full inspection timetable of the fixed service regime - c.20k (again true for me). But it is noted that other sensors on other serviceable components do contribute to the Service inspection schedule on the variable regime - the idea being that such pro-active monitoring to provide the driver/dealer with information should enable elements to be serviced before they fail, thereby reducing the risk of total component failure.

As for servicing costs on the variable regime... well i'd be looking at oil, oil filter and max half hour labour charge for the oil change. So up to Â£100 lets say. Then when inspection service comes up the oil wont be done so i dont pay for it again and that element of the bill you would otherwise have incurred on a full service will not be present.

And there you have the new variable service regime on the TT as of the 08 model. Clear as mud ? If yours is not working like this and you have an 08 build model clearly something is not right and you should get it looked into if it concerns you.


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## Janitor (Jul 2, 2007)

Good info Neil [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


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## Merl (Jan 8, 2008)

great post mate....

so if I understand correctly from a lot of peoples posts and yours, it would appear that some cars are incorrectly set (pre 08 usually) and some dealers are resetting them (but not changing the computer via VAGCOM.....would that fix it?) whereas others are taking your money for a service that isnt actually needed (either knowingly or unknowingly).....

I would expect that most cars on the variable service need an oil change around say 12k miles and a full service (but not an oil change) at about 17.5k miles and then another oil change at about 12-26k miles and so on....

as long as those oil changes are being charged at Â£100 ish then I have no problem with that and it makes sense and helps to spread the cost, those that have been told to do the full service at 10k or 12 months are being ripped off it would seem?


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## Raider (Sep 9, 2007)

Great post Neil.
Thats exactly how mine is running at the moment..9000 mile oil change...19000 sevice.
Thanks for the confirmation.
J


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## piloTT (Jan 19, 2004)

...........and mine is running at 19,000 oil change and 19,000 service.

I just dont see why there should be such a wide variation in oil service when using the same (higher quality) AVS specification oil :?


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## ggruosso (Aug 7, 2006)

I spoke to my dealer service guys yesterday. He said that because I've done only 5000 miles and the long life oil deterioates quickly with short journeys thats why the service light has come on.

He suggests that I do an oil & filter change now for Â£125 +vat and change my service interval to yearly. So first full service will be next year (2 years after buying the car). He also suggest that as I'm not doing long journey to change the oil to non long life (as cheaper) as service intervals will be yearly.


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

ggruosso said:


> I spoke to my dealer service guys yesterday. He said that because I've done only 5000 miles and the long life oil deterioates quickly with short journeys thats why the service light has come on.
> 
> He suggests that I do an oil & filter change now for Â£125 +vat and change my service interval to yearly. So first full service will be next year (2 years after buying the car). He also suggest that as I'm not doing long journey to change the oil to non long life (as cheaper) as service intervals will be yearly.


BULLS*IT!

long life oil deterioates quickly with short journeys!

They/Audi use the same oil for longlife and fixed. Ask them what oil they use for the fixed and why it lasts longer.

Check the Castrol site for details on Edge 5W- 30.


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## VeeDubDan (May 6, 2006)

ggruosso said:


> I spoke to my dealer service guys yesterday. He said that because I've done only 5000 miles and the long life oil deterioates quickly with short journeys thats why the service light has come on.
> 
> He suggests that I do an oil & filter change now for Â£125 +vat and change my service interval to yearly. So first full service will be next year (2 years after buying the car). He also suggest that as I'm not doing long journey to change the oil to non long life (as cheaper) as service intervals will be yearly.


I'm planning this route too. I'm still utterly confused by what is "correct" for an 07 car and its older regime. Certainly I don't believe it requires a service at 1 year old/6000 miles. I will have it servied in the summer and switch to annual servicing. At least then I know where I stand.

Well done Audi!!!! :evil:


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

VeeDubDan said:


> ggruosso said:
> 
> 
> > I spoke to my dealer service guys yesterday. He said that because I've done only 5000 miles and the long life oil deterioates quickly with short journeys thats why the service light has come on.
> ...


As I said:

This is BULLS*IT!

They/Audi use the same oil for longlife and fixed. Ask them what oil they use for the fixed and why it lasts longer with short journeys.

Check the Castrol site for details on Edge 5W- 30 which states for both fixed and variable the oil is the same.

Im disgusted that the dealers dont even know about the oils used in the engines, what a complete bunch of morons!

PLEASE ask this moronic dealer what oil they used for fixed and if its not 5W-30 report them to Audi CS as they will be killing engines and causing warranty recalls!

Your money...... Which they will gladly take.

Mitsubushi EVO's need oil changes and services every 5,000 not bloody Audi TT's!!!!


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## fut1a (Dec 28, 2006)

ggruosso said:


> I spoke to my dealer service guys yesterday. He said that because I've done only 5000 miles and the long life oil deterioates quickly with short journeys thats why the service light has come on.
> 
> He suggests that I do an oil & filter change now for Â£125 +vat and change my service interval to yearly. So first full service will be next year (2 years after buying the car). He also suggest that as I'm not doing long journey to change the oil to non long life (as cheaper) as service intervals will be yearly.


The plot thickens 

Looks like lots of us are being screwed. Me thinks I will contact Autoexpress about this, and see if they want a story


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## shamster (Feb 21, 2007)

Hmmm - I think I'll check mine and see what it comes up with. I've done 6k miles since delivery in July last year.


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## fut1a (Dec 28, 2006)

Anymore unexpected services :?:


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## Fac51 (Feb 4, 2007)

Mine is an '07 car and is indicating a need a services on 1 year (to the day)/9000 miles. So looks like this should be the simple oil change then.

However, as part of the deal I got the '1st service' thrown in. I wonder what the service the dealers will do (as they will be paying for it). If I get the full works (which would be bonus I suppose) it would show that dealers are not aware of how this variable service really does work. If I get the just the oil change, well shows they are fully aware and think I will request to get the parameters re-jigged.

Is a right cock up on the 07 cars from Audi this :evil:


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## TTRTWO (Dec 9, 2006)

Mine is due at a year old and about 5k. I'm not too worried as Audi are paying for two services and a brake fluid change due to a cock up but in year three I will be paying myself so hope that it is all sorted out.


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## ggruosso (Aug 7, 2006)

Dealer service guy said that the condition of the oil is checked in the sump of the car. This detemines the condition of the oil and informs the car when a service is needed. Short journeys will cause any oil to deteriate whether long life or not.

He suggest that those doing short journeys should change to a yearly check. This means that in the first year its only an oil change and the first full service will be in year 2 (or 20k). This will keep costs down and car in good condition. Therefore a service is done every two years with an oil change in between.

He also states that the oil used for Variable Service is SMX Oil at Â£10.80 per litres (i think in litres) and for yearly fixed service Synta Silver would be fine at Â£5.00 per litre. You will need Synta Gold on turbo TT's but as mine a 3.2 Synta Silver is fine.

I hope this helps.


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

ggruosso said:


> Dealer service guy said that the condition of the oil is checked in the sump of the car. This detemines the condition of the oil and informs the car when a service is needed. Short journeys will cause any oil to deteriate whether long life or not.
> 
> He suggest that those doing short journeys should change to a yearly check. This means that in the first year its only an oil change and the first full service will be in year 2 (or 20k). This will keep costs down and car in good condition. Therefore a service is done every two years with an oil change in between.
> 
> ...


Your dealer is not using the recommended spec of oil. Both oils should be the same for fixed or variable and Audi recommend (as per your filler cap) Castrol. Castrol EDGE 5W-30 as per the Castrol site and Audi manual.
Castrol site will allow you to put in your car details and will then provide you with the correct oil for that car.

It appears that Syntra oil is a VW own brand. The Syntra Silver is 10W-40 which should not be used in any TT! it is the wrong SPEC as per your manual. I beleive using the wrong oil can invalidate your warranty.


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## ggruosso (Aug 7, 2006)

Spoke to another dealer who said it doesn't matter the oil make you use as long as the oil has the valid Audi code required for that make and model of the car. So it may be Mobile Long Life or Castrol Long Life as oil is supplied to local dealer by local negotiation.


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

ggruosso said:


> Spoke to another dealer who said it doesn't matter the oil make you use as long as the oil has the valid Audi code required for that make and model of the car. So it may be Mobile Long Life or Castrol Long Life as oil is supplied to local dealer by local negotiation.


Well I would agree the make is not so important although for me it would have to be Mobil or Castrol as they are well known big companys.

However the spec is very important and for fixed and variable these should be the same. Clearly stated in the user manual and in the service manuals it should be 5w-30!


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## fut1a (Dec 28, 2006)

sico said:


> ggruosso said:
> 
> 
> > Dealer service guy said that the condition of the oil is checked in the sump of the car. This detemines the condition of the oil and informs the car when a service is needed. Short journeys will cause any oil to deteriate whether long life or not.
> ...


Do you reckon they put the cheap stuff in and charge for the expensive stuff :?


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

fut1a said:


> sico said:
> 
> 
> > ggruosso said:
> ...


I have to be honest that was my initial thought. I would check the price they charged and the actual price from the dealer (as it is VAG own brand).

However my main worry would be the spec they have used in the car. I would ring Audi CS and tell them, you should get a free oil change and the correct oil added.


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

Check this :

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/product-finde ... mmendation

You can use this site or the Castrol site:

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/castrolh ... oryId=3205
(bottom left "what oil should I use")

and select the car. On all sites you will see that you NEED 5W-30 whatever your service type.


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## fut1a (Dec 28, 2006)

sico said:


> Check this :
> 
> http://www.opieoils.co.uk/product-finde ... mmendation
> 
> ...


This is getting more confusing all the time :? Does anyone know what the F*** is going on :?:


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## sico (Feb 6, 2003)

fut1a said:


> sico said:
> 
> 
> > Check this :
> ...


I dont think there is or was any question on the Spec of the oil.

We have gone off track a bit here as the issue (and this thread) is to do with the variable service interval timings.

It does however amaze me at the stupidity of the dealers. When you watch the Audi channel about how they train the workshop staff etc etc and then the morons cant even use the right oil!?
Must all be Audi channel propoganda, they probably poach these guys from Halfords :lol:


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## CraigyTT (Oct 19, 2006)

Just to add my experience, I've got my car set to variable servicing and it waited till 17K before the first service.

C


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## ggruosso (Aug 7, 2006)

CraigyTT said:


> Just to add my experience, I've got my car set to variable servicing and it waited till 17K before the first service.
> 
> C


How many miles a year do you do?


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## CraigyTT (Oct 19, 2006)

ggruosso said:


> CraigyTT said:
> 
> 
> > Just to add my experience, I've got my car set to variable servicing and it waited till 17K before the first service.
> ...


I've had my car since Jan 2007, it's done nearly 20K since then.

C


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## ggruosso (Aug 7, 2006)

CraigyTT said:


> ggruosso said:
> 
> 
> > CraigyTT said:
> ...


As dealer states - variable services is fine if doing high mileage. You're doing about 15k+ per year


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## VeeDubDan (May 6, 2006)

I think the point being missed that perhaps hasn't been mentioned in this thread (but has in others) is that regardless of the milage or driving style many cars (mostly 3.2s apparently) have flagged EXACTLY the same thing;

Service at 9000 miles or one year old. That simply isn't variable!!!!! Or perhaps its just a very big coincedence?!! :? :x


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Nope and don't forget you pay double for the AVS oil and you get 1k less miles from it when compared to the fixed service route.

I've complained to the dealer that the car is already saying i need to service in 340days, or 8700 miles. Its simply wrong. reply was come back to us in a month - it will have gone up. Yeah right. Had 5 TTs before and they don't do this. Normally goes to 14k after a service then climbs before coming down.

Fact is, IF it was variable it WOULD say 600days+, not 300 - Rip off Audi.
Guess it will be like the seats - just customer being awkward.


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## Jimbo2 (Nov 30, 2006)

Toshiba said:


> Fact is, IF it was variable it WOULD say 600days+, not 300 - Rip off Audi.
> Guess it will be like the seats - just customer being awkward.


Like this - taken today, about 10 days after a 1st service.



I'm hoping this gets sorted before I pick up the TTS. :?


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Yep.


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## CraigyTT (Oct 19, 2006)

Toshiba said:


> reply was come back to us in a month - it will have gone up. Yeah right. Had 5 TTs before and they don't do this.


Tosh, in fairness to the dealer, how they are telling you it will behave is how mine behaved. It started out giving no reading at all, then after about 1000 miles it said 10K, and started to go up progressively till about 4000 miles were gone when it said 14K.

I'm _not_ saying you're wrong: clearly there is a problem; all I'm saying is that for me, it worked.

From all the posts on here all I can sugggest is that the 3.2 doesn't seem to behave as my 2.0 did.

C


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

It doesn't calculate the days, its a fixed number ie 2years or x - key is OR. Miles, yep it goes up and down. Normally on MKIs at least after a service the miles would read 14k by default for AVS.


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## Raider (Sep 9, 2007)

This issue got a brief one liner in the Top Gear long term test in their magazine. Dont have the exact words but it was a down point. Someone might have a copy of the mag and can post the words before i do tonight


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## keithsto (Jun 8, 2007)

I got my car in March 08.

In the DIS there are two options to check service. One for oil and one for service.

After reading this post am I right in saying both are needed at whatever interval they come up at, with the 'service' not needing an oil change as this is covered seperately?

The service interval is 'x' miles or 3 years (from March) which would seem to back up an earlier post whearas the oil counts down from 2 years. I'll check the milage and report back (I think it was a lot less than 19k last time I looked.)


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## keithsto (Jun 8, 2007)

Just read the whole thread again...

I think the spec of the oil is not just the viscosity. The long life oil has a different VW specification than basic oil I suspect. 5W 30 is important but far from the whole story.

Mine is looking at around 12k for an oil change. Hardly seems worth the money for fancy oil to get an extra 2k miles.

And having an oil change then an inspection seperately and not that long after seems a bit of a pain. Although they wont be able to use the usual excuses to replace brake pads that have loads of life left in them...


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## TTRTWO (Dec 9, 2006)

You are lucky enough to have an 08MY car so don't worry. The problem is for 07MY cars and, for some reason, 3.2 engined cars like mine which is counting down its last month as we speak.


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## squiggel (May 16, 2006)

ggruosso said:


> As dealer states - variable services is fine if doing high mileage. You're doing about 15k+ per year


On my 06 3.2, it works fine for 6K per year low mileage car also. Its still giving 140 days till the first service.


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## Fac51 (Feb 4, 2007)

Just picked up this post (I know its been flat for a while). I have one of the 07 modles on so called variable services, which is reality a rigid 9k or 1 year service schedule (cheers Audi).

Anyone managed to get here car pack on to proper variable service (ie getting 18k odd out of the oil)?

Just one of the problems on the list this, but certainly the most annoying - knowing I am subscribed to one service a year at AVS services prices. Bag of Sh*te :twisted:


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## TTRTWO (Dec 9, 2006)

Well, without going through old ground too, I 'suffered' the same one year AVS on my 07MY car as many have but since my TT's first service six or so weeks ago things have changed. It is now counting down for nearly 13 months to the next service. The days goes up and down too with use which is something which never happened in the first year with the car counting down strictly from 365 days. It appears to have improved - I shall report more as the six weeks since the service increases but I do wonder if the AVS has been updated as part of the service to be 'less strict'. Anyone else?


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## moley (May 14, 2002)

Fac51 said:


> Anyone managed to get here car pack on to proper variable service (ie getting 18k odd out of the oil)?


No. I'm heading for a 2nd AVS service at 18k (1st at under 9k - not happy :x

Moley


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## piloTT (Jan 19, 2004)

To cut a long story short.......... I ended up sorting it myself with VAG-COM. There are various perameters that must be set within the instument cluster in order to get the correct AVS schedule. After two trips to the dealer and still not sorted I found that my car (and prob most 07 cars) was set up incorrectly,( prob at the factory). Although it was set to "variable", the "max time between service was set at "360" as opposed to the correct value of "720", and the correct "max mileage to service" was also incorrect and both of these were overlooked when it went in for checking. It would appear that when cars are taken in for checking, they only check that variable is set and not the various perameters that define this condition..... my 08MY car however is OK and has a different AVS regime.

If anyone is taking their car in for checking. GET THEM TO CHECK THE "MAX DAYS" BETWEEN SERVICE! tell them its in the instument cluster setup.


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## moley (May 14, 2002)

piloTT said:


> To cut a long story short.......... I ended up sorting it myself with VAG-COM. There are various perameters that must be set within the instument cluster in order to get the correct AVS schedule. After two trips to the dealer and still not sorted I found that my car (and prob most 07 cars) was set up incorrectly,( prob at the factory). Although it was set to "variable", the "max time between service was set at "360" as opposed to the correct value of "720", and the correct "max mileage to service" was also incorrect and both of these were overlooked when it went in for checking. It would appear that when cars are taken in for checking, they only check that variable is set and not the various perameters that define this condition..... my 08MY car however is OK and has a different AVS regime.
> 
> If anyone is taking their car in for checking. GET THEM TO CHECK THE "MAX DAYS" BETWEEN SERVICE! tell them its in the instument cluster setup.


Thanks for that piloTT - I'll certainly let them know about this.

Moley


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## Roberto (Sep 22, 2007)

I'm even more confused now, than when I started the thread!!!!

I cover a lot of miles on a nationwide basis. Can anyone recommend a dealer that has actually got a grip of this issue to check out my settings??

I don't mind paying for services, but I'll be b*ggered to pay out unnecessary cash to Audi!!!


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## jbell (May 15, 2006)

ggruosso said:


> My dealer suggests that I do an oil & filter change now for Â£125 +vat and change my service interval to yearly. So first full service will be next year (2 years after buying the car). He also suggest that as I'm not doing long journey to change the oil to non long life (as cheaper) as service intervals will be yearly.


This is good advice based on your yearly mileage, a friend of mine is a Technician at Newton Abbot Audi, he says Audi recommend the following:

<15k per year have the car set to yearly servicing
15K> have the car set to AVS

Simple as that.

The correct oil is 5W-40 but it has to be fully synthetic whether it is Castrol, Mobil or any other brand, for yearly they use Quantum Synta Gold as it is cheaper than the Castrol as it is changed every year and it is VW/Audi own brand.

Yearly servicing is cheaper in the long run for low mileage cars as the intervals are fixed.

Yearly servicing consists of:

Service 1: Oil, filter and checkover
Service 2: Oil, filter, Pollen Filter, Fuel filter, coolant etc + Haldex Oil and filter (where necessary)
Service 3: As service 1
Service 4: As service 2 
and so on

AVS consists of service 2,4 every time but the intervals can be short if you do short trips and a low mileage. The car has an oil viscosity sensor in the sump that measures the oil constantly and is part of the system that dictates the service intervals on AVS, the days should, as PiloTT said be set ot a max of 720.

Your dealer should ask you questions regarding your yearly mileage to set the service indicator up accordingly.

All the blame on Audi on here is totally unwarranted, your DEALER is the one at fault and should be the one to advise you when purchasing the car.

*An interesting point:*

When I looked to buy a MK5 Golf GTi from the VW garage directly opposite the Audi garage the salesman went through the servicing schedules to determine the correct one for MY needs, this was yearly based on the fact I do <10k per year.


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## TTRTWO (Dec 9, 2006)

This has all been discussed many times before. Don't be convinced that because some cars are set to 365 rather than 730 that they all are. Even if they are correctly set to variable, cars are coming in much earlier than they used to for 07MY. It will be interesting to see how it settles down for 08MY cars and beyond with the new split variable service schedule.

My 07MY car is now counting up in days as I use it (having had the first service a couple of months ago) as one would expect with AVS. AVS used to be a pretty much guaranteed 730 days/19000 mile experience. It is not now but don't pretend that Audi are legging you; they are not.


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## shamster (Feb 21, 2007)

I just had my car 1st serviced at 9300-ish miles but paid a bargain price of Â£125 all in - woohoo! 

However, I'm getting the dealer to check the next service and oil change info as the next oil change is showing up as 9400 miles/378 days and the service is showing up as 9600miles/751 days. That can't be right? :?


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## shamster (Feb 21, 2007)

Well a quick update on this. I quote:

" Please Check servicing interval is set to max customer doesn't think it's working correctly. Checked service parameters via 5052 adaption channels. Checked service history, *never had oil change or service. Oil change reading due in 9400 miles or 378 days which is correct. Service reading showing due in 9500 miles or 757 days which is incorrect. Mileage ok but days incorrect, altered adaption channel for days, now showing service due in 9500 miles or 392 days which is now correct."

*See previous post - it was 1st serviced 4 days ago. :roll:

So can anyone shed any light on what all this means? I had a lengthy chat with the workshop controller who said that it was definitely set correctly now. I queried why I would be booking it in for another oil change in 9400 miles and then a service (whatever that is) in 9500 miles? :?

It looks like it's another 9000-ish miles again to me so how can it be variable? :?


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