Oil change at 5000 service question

Re: Oil change at 5000 service question (supertle)

Tuan...I do not believe that putting in synthetic oil for your first oil change
is a very good idea...
Let your 1.8T go with dino oil for at least two or three changes before
you make this conversion...give the engine seals time to seat...All of the
synthetics are so slippery that they oooze thru everything...
The only engine that comes with Synthetic from the factory is the TDI...
Why??? Because it is the only engine that we make that, the Engineering Team
feels, needs the stuff...
Price for this basic service should be about $40...like everyone else. Point of
Order!!! Make sure that you ask them to rotate your tires(front to back) in
order to remain compliant with your tire warranty...


[Modified by vwguild, 11:10 PM 2-8-2002]

Re: Oil change at 5000 service question (E36BMW)

I paid $15 for my oil change at our VW dealer. It would have been $22, but I brought my own Mobil 1 5w-30 oil, so I received a slight discount. I bought a fully synthetic motor oil rather than the durablend which is a blend of regular and synthetic (SynPower is their fully synthetic one). I paid $3.94 a quart at Target (it was $4.69 at Kmart). I don't know how much it really matters if you use a blend vs a synthetic oil since we are changing every 5000miles. IN England, there are cars that have 20,000miles recommended service schedules where it probably makes more of a difference. As far as tire rotation, I would have paid another $15 for it, but since I put winter tires on and have only driven on them about 4000miles I didn't think it was necessary. I like to rotate my tires every 7500-10000miles

[Modified by dankatz, 9:15 AM 2-9-2002]


[Modified by dankatz, 9:17 AM 2-9-2002]

Re: Oil change at 5000 service question (supertle)

I just had my 5000 mile service yesterday .... or so I thought. I paid $25 for oil (10w-30) , filter & new washer (according to the bill) and was happy as could be until I checked under the hood.
Heeding the warnings others have given on this forum about shoddy STEALership service I marked the oil filter the morning I took it in. After the "service" I got the car back washed and vacuumed. I even commented to the service staff how pleased I was with the experience. I drove about 2 miles to a mall, did some shopping and ate lunch. A little over an hour later I returned to my car (that I had purposely parked on a level spot) popped the hood and to my HORROR saw the filter had not been changed. I pulled the dip stick and it was nearly an inch over the MAX fill bend.
I imediately called the STEALERship (Karmart VW-Burlington, WA) the, service manager was out to lunch. I drove the car to a German Car Speciality shop 2 more miles down the road and asked for there assistance which they graciously provided.
About that time I got a call back from the STEALERship and she said I was mistaken. She said she had the old filter right in front of her and I would not have been able to "mark" the filter as it is underneath the car. At the time I was in front of my car with TWO mechanics. I asked them to point out the oil filter to me and they did so. The even saw the marks I had put on the filter this morning. I told her she was lying but she continued to deny any that anything had been done.
The shop I was at graciously drained the oil (which still looked very dark) to the correct level and scheduled me for an appointment next week. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
When I got home I did get a call from the head honcho of Parts & Service and he admitted the service had been botched and would send my check back to me. Better late than never I guess?
My advice to EVERYONE is to mark your filter and check the oil level soon after you get the car back. I would have been perfectly happy with the experience had I not checked and gladly sent in the satisfaction form with all 5 marked. You can guess what they will be marked now ...

Re: Oil change at 5000 service question (Just say Mo)

Hearing these stories are exacly why we should be cautious (if not paranoid) about dealing with dealerships. Does VWoA EVER monitor this kind of stuff. Whatever happened to the customer's always right? duh.
Botched? how bout Fraud? What do they have on mechanic who lets the oil out and another who fills it? They probabaly never even put it on the rack. It it wasn't fraud, then it was pure stupidity. And besides giving you your money back, there should have been a profuse apology with like the next 3 services free (not that you'd even want to go back there, but it's the point). IMHO they owe you a whole lot more than just your money back.
Can you tell us how you marked your filter? Thanks for sharing your horror story with us. Perhaps it'll save someone else from having the same bad experience.
The worst thing of it all is not the cost of the oil change, but the damage they are going to your baby when you are trying to take so good care of it.

Re: Oil change at 5000 service question (Just say Mo)

Your post scared me...I also just had my oil changed last night. I am wandering now if it was done right. I left 5 pints of Mobil 1 and got one back, unopened. As far as I know we need slightly more than 4. I am wandering if they added from their own or not. I checked and the oil level was fine. I'll go out and chack the filter now too....thanks for the info
I just got back from my car and it looks like the oil is not the cleanest I've seen, but I'll assume that they changed it for me. Also, the oil filter that I saw is black and says 2 years 30000km on it in German. Is that also the replacement OWM VW filter or is that the one that came from the factory? The service advisor did say that they are the same so I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Next time I will mark my filter for sure...


[Modified by dankatz, 2:04 PM 2-9-2002]