Dealership experience

[CoriBug]

I love my dealership(really, I do). I know the owners and they're great people. I wonder about one of their employees though!! I took Daisy in last week for a passenger seat repair and I asked about mileage. I happened to mention I put in 5 gallons of biodiesel and proceeded to get a lecture from the service advisor!! He said "You'd better not be telling me you're putting biodiesel in since VW hasn't approved that yet...that's like telling the officer you were speeding...!" Yeah I know VW hasn't approved it and they're probably supposed say stuff like that but it was totally out of line for him to talk to me like that!! His tone of voice was like he was talking to a 3 year old. Plus I can't help feeling that part of it has to do with me being younger and female. I can't imagine this guy talking to another guy like that. And what's weird is that he seems to be a big "by the book" kind of guy, yet he highly recommends me bringing in the car every 5k for oil changes. An extra $75? I don't think so.

Anyway I just had to get that off my chest. Now I know why I feel so self conscious talking cars with the techs!! Sheesh.

Cori

[hannaco]

Well, just go down there and scream as loudly and publicly as you can "VW has approved the usage of biodiesel in the TDI. Can't you read?". Embarrass the guy in front of as many people as you can.
VW has approved the use of Biodiesel in small amounts. It works out to about half a gallon in a tank of fuel.

[Bonedaddy]

You probably hit the nail on the head - you're young and a female. Obviously he's woefully out of date. Regardless, his skills as a customer service representative are seriously lacking.

You could show him the VW tech bulletin just to watch him flounder but in the end it's probably best just to let the whole thing go.

[BlondieeAggiee]

I'm always having the same kind of trouble. It's usually at the fuel pump where a big guy driving a lifted pickup gets angry because I'm the at the only diesel pump, and a blonde girl in a yellow Beetle doesn't need diesel.

[DR.billZ]

He wouldn't talk to a guy like that because a guy wouldn't tell him he was using biodiesel.................

[CoriBug]

Originally Posted by BlondieeAggiee

I'm always having the same kind of trouble. It's usually at the fuel pump where a big guy driving a lifted pickup gets angry because I'm the at the only diesel pump, and a blonde girl in a yellow Beetle doesn't need diesel.

Yeah! I got yelled at the Flying J in Cheyenne a couple months ago because I evidently 'stole' a guy's spot at the diesel pump even though he was nowhere near it. He drove past me, flipped me off and called me some name I didn't hear and didn't care to. He was in a lifted pickup and obviously thinks he's the only one on the planet.
I'm not going to make too big a deal out of it, but I am going to talk to the owner/manager. He and his wife let me take care of their kids for a week last October, so I should be able to talk to him about this. Plus he needs to get all his employees on the same page - the salesman told me every 10k is fine for oil change and the tech says 5k.
Thanks for the empathy!! I can feel the Beetle love!

Cori

[tdi jerry]

i change the oil in my tdi every 5000 miles.if you do stop and go driveing ( city ) 10000 is a little long i think just my 2 cents worth.

[CGK]

The VW recommended change interval for the 1.9 TDI-PD is 10,000 miles.
If you use a good synthetic oil, this is perfectly fine for diesels. Diesel fuel, by default, has lubricating properties in it as well. The key is, use top name brand oils and good quality diesel fuel.
You certainly can change every 5k, but IMHO that's a little overkill and extra expense that really isn't necessary.

BTW, don't forget to change the fuel filter every 20,000 miles.
That's pretty important to keep water from acculmulating in it and impurities getting to your injectors.

[MAd_Matt]

I here what your saying and I know in my 06 manual the PD is now certified for b5. That not much but they are certified for line b20 in europe. Go figure. As for the service interval my manual stated 5K. I'm driving and 06 with DSG. That should not matter but all dealers have bought into the Jiffy Lube mentality of 3 mo 3K. IT BS with and synthetic. Look evem Moble 1 is making 5 , 10 and 15K mile oils. Straighten that AH out. VW has frogoten that the custoemr is always rite. As for this VW it will be my last. I can get the same fule milage out of a honda Civic and it costs about 4 K less pule CS and service are much better. Heck even Ford Dealer CS is better than VW.

[AndySL]

When I bought my beetle new from the dealer he also sold me a lifetime of oil changes. I have to pay for the filter but they cover the cost of labor and oil. I can have it done up to 4 times a year. I figured I would take advantage of the offer and have the car in every 3 months. Is there anything wrong with changeing the oil when I have only put 2500 to 3000 miles on the car? Besides, if I take the car in only twice a year it will take over 4 years to brake even with the lifetime oil change price. With me taking the car in every 3 months it pays off in only 2 years and I'm the kind of person that keeps a car until the wheels fall off.

[tdi jerry]

Originally Posted by AndySL

When I bought my beetle new from the dealer he also sold me a lifetime of oil changes. I have to pay for the filter but they cover the cost of labor and oil. I can have it done up to 4 times a year. I figured I would take advantage of the offer and have the car in every 3 months. Is there anything wrong with changeing the oil when I have only put 2500 to 3000 miles on the car? Besides, if I take the car in only twice a year it will take over 4 years to brake even with the lifetime oil change price. With me taking the car in every 3 months it pays off in only 2 years and I'm the kind of person that keeps a car until the wheels fall off.

it want hurt a thing to change your oil offen.oil and filter is the cheapes thing that you can buy for your car a lot cheaper thn parts.

[AndySL]

Thanks Jerry. I'll make sure to take advantage of the oil change deal. The dealership will be sorry they offered it to me. Course that is until they start pointing out all the other maintence items they want to do to the car.

[CoriBug]

I think I've decided to go along with the 5k OCI. I'm putting the biodiesel in every 3rd tank or so, plus my driving is pretty much 100% city. LOTS of stop and go. I don't really see how 5k OCI could hurt the car. Besides, I get to look at the other cars at the dealership

Cori

[vikingrob]

Originally Posted by AndySL

When I bought my beetle new from the dealer he also sold me a lifetime of oil changes. I have to pay for the filter but they cover the cost of labor and oil. I can have it done up to 4 times a year. I figured I would take advantage of the offer and have the car in every 3 months. Is there anything wrong with changeing the oil when I have only put 2500 to 3000 miles on the car? Besides, if I take the car in only twice a year it will take over 4 years to brake even with the lifetime oil change price. With me taking the car in every 3 months it pays off in only 2 years and I'm the kind of person that keeps a car until the wheels fall off.

Actually, if you look at the oil analysis thread over on TDIclub, there was some discussion on the subject of OCI and engine wear, and the finding is that changing the oil too frequently would result in MORE wear. It's a sticky in the Fuel & Lubricants forum. You should check it out.

[AndySL]

Viking, Thanks. I'll check out the old thread. I was told by the dealer that the first oil change should wait until 5000 mi. That VW puts additives in the first oil fill that helps the engine break-in. I'm at 4500 miles right now and figure the car will go in next month or so.

[CoriBug]

I went looking for the info on how 5k OCI could hurt the TDI on the TDI site. There's 2 stickies but there were pages and pages of discussion and I didn't really want to wade through all that. Basically, newer cleaner oil is better for the car. It is a known fact that colder weather and the more times the clutch is used, the more wear on the car. So maybe in a warm climate like San Diego with mostly highway driving, the 10k OCI is plenty. And it's probably fine for cold weather and stop and go too. But I plan on keeping my car for as long as it will go, hopefully 500,000 miles. An extra $75 every 5k is a lot but it's worth it to me to avoid problems in the future.

~Cori

P.S. Can anyone give me a direct link to the info on TDI Club's site? I'd still like to read it. Thanks.

[scooperhsd]

Here's a quick link to the Fuel and Lubrication forum -
http://forums.tdiclub.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

[CoriBug]

Thanks for the link, but I was really looking for the specific posts that discuss the 5k OCI vs. the 10k OCI. I went through the first several pages on both stickies and couldn't find what I was looking for. And there's quite a few pages

~Cori

[licibug]

Seems kinda like a waste to me. But I try to avoid oil for other reasons too.

IMHO, just because it's free, doesn't mean noone is paying for it.

[dunno513]

Yesterday I was at my local dealership and the service manager did not have any 505.01 oil in stock, and he pointed to a full synthetic 5w40 oil and said that is what they are using for All TDI's INCLUDING PD's! And here I was in disbelief about dealerships not knowing what oils to use by now. VW where are you ? Are there that many dealerships in NA that they can't get the message across about PD TDI oils. Or is the non warrantied oil not really that big a problem after all? (food for thought)

Personally I plan on using ELF 505.01 until USLD is well established (2008) and then switch to 507 oil if VW gives us the nod. I plan on using a 2.5,5,10,15,20,30,40k... etc. oil change cycle. Ya I know I know, 5,10,20k.... but the extra 80 bucks for 2 oil changes I feel is worth the peice of mind, especially until USLD is available everywhere.

PS if you live anywhere near Rochester NH and have your PD TDI serviced locally.. BEWARE !!!