I have done oil analysis of my VW Golf TDI. I’ve always been informed by the testing company that there was life remaining and that the engine was not sheering metal.
I’m not sure why, but I sense some sort of almost personalized hostility here…
Do what feels best.
My wife’s turbo Subaru has a 7500 miles OCI listed in maintenance manual and that is using regular conventional oil.
Interestingly they sent a letter strongly recommending 3750 miles a few years latter and likely after paying out engine and/or failed turbo’s under warranty.
Thankfully I just stick to cheap $30 dino changes every 3-4k miles since new. Turbo/engine going strong at 110k miles.
Sometimes the concept of “the owner’s manual is the final authority” goes right out the window.
No personal hostility. Since the oil change interval is site- and use-specific, maybe you can tell us where you live and what your driving pattern is. If, like irlandes you had the oil analyzed, and it meets your driving pattern, fine.
The problem is the wide readership here who may conclude that what is good for YOU, is also good for them, even though their car may be used for short trips in Minneapolis, and sits ouside, unheated, all night.
Also when an engine is sludging up, it does not shear metal right away, until the oil circulation stops.
A proper oil analyis should at least give you: Total Acid Number, Total Base number, Viscosity compared to new, presence of water, silicon, glycol, wear metals (less than 150 parts per million), additive depletion, and a number of other depletion factors. Carbon in the form of soot should also be measured.
The remaining miles on the oil will be a personal evalution of all those. Good labs do not rely on a computer telling them when to condemn the oil.
I used to change oil every 3000 miles in a small block Chevy. The oil analysis usually came up with about 50-60 ppm of wear metals; EXXON condemns oil at 200 ppm.
As I said mostly highway driving in a mild climate will be OK for a 10,000 mile change interval, assuming a VW specified synthetic is used.
If 10k mile oil change intervals are going to be considered fine then I trust we won’t see any more trashed engine/sludged engine/overhead cams gone to hxxx/low oil pressure complaints on this forum.
There is no us oil spec and euro spec. It was settled 30 years ago. Look at the label on the oil. Or look at the owners manual. The spec is in there. It is an engineering spec. The country does not matter.
I am not sure what is the correct interval, but before we make this a German issue let me say that my newly acquired Honda has a oil life meter and the recommendation is for 10K oil change unless deemed necessary by the maintenance minder. It calls for 0W-20 oil which is a synthetic.
I do my own oil changes and even with synthetic oil if I do it every 7500 miles vs 10K, the extra cost in 150K miles is ~$150, much less than a major engine repair and by today’s standards saving $1 per each 1000 miles driven is not going to help me retire earlier.
Keep doing what you have been doing. Too many drivers erroneously believe that buying synthetic will allow them to extend the drain interval.
Neither the European push to reduce waste oil or the US sales pitch for reduced maintenance has the interest of the car owner in mind. Both allow the engine to make it to the end of the warranty, so as to minimize payouts for wrecked engines to sludging and excessive wear. After that, it’s the owner’s problem.
Personally, having owned cars since 1958, I have never gotten rid of a car as a result of engine failure or transmission failure. In all cases, disregarding the recommended maintenance interval and performing it more often has saved both.
With our 1984 Impala, for instance, we had 60 extra oil changes over 300,000 miles in 20 years at $20 per oil change or $1200 in total, which would not cover much engine work. For the extra $1200/20=$60 per year we ended up with an engine that at 300,000 miles had full 100% compresssion in 6 cylinder and 96% and 93% in the remaining two. Likewise, the transmission, even with trailer towing, was totally sound.
Well, whatever I was going to add to the discussion has been stated already by several different people.
The only thing left out is simple:
We are talking about a diesel engine.
Now, I’m not saying that it isn’t possible, but so far, I have NEVER seen a TDI engine sludged up in any climate, with any driving style, with a 10k mile oil change interval.
Diesel oil contains a much higher level of detergents than normal gasoline grade engine oil, and the soot contaminants in the diesel engine oil are kept in suspension really well by the specs that diesel engine oil needs to achieve to receive VW’s current spec for their diesel engine.
Ultimately, if you want to change the engine oil in your TDI at 5k or even 7500 mile intervals, you won’t have anything negative happen to your Jetta. If you listen to the owners manual, nothing negative will happen at the 10k mile oil change interval, either.
BC.
I have nothing against the idea of a 10,000 mile OCI,
but too many people think that means not checking anything for 10,000 miles.
I have friends, neighbors and co-workers who think I’m a little eccentric because I give my car a going-over every month and every 1000 miles.
OTOH I have a neighbor who wipes his 2 sedans down with a wet cloth and a bucket of water every day, and I think that’s a little eccentric.
We also have the VW Bug owner who spends 1 1/2 hours each week cleaning her car, but did not lift the hood to check the oil.