If you're a 10k a year driver and are going to follow the recommended maintenance schedule (oil every 10k) and live near the dealer, it's probably worth having them do the changes. Even at the $150+++ my dealer charges, that's not much money.

For us, that just doesn't work out well. I want it changed every 5,000 miles, the dealership is an hour away and the wife puts 5,000 miles on the car in less than 2 months.

That would mean the dealership route would be $900+++ per year and over 18 hours of time.

I can do it at home and have it cost about $300/year and take 3 hours of time.

 

You will feel better doing it yourself. Plus you'll know it was done right. My local dealer does a topside oil change. In my mind that will leave some dirty oil in the bottom of the pan. So even at 66 y.o. I'm still doing my own oil changes. ;-)

Edit.... Keep your oil & filter receipts you may need them to show proof of your maintenance.

 

With all of our new cars, I've "secretly" changed the oil myself between the factory-recommended changes and this is what I've decided to do with the new Wolfsburg. I use OEM filters so as to leave no trace.

This keeps my warranty intact because the Dealer has no idea that I've changed the oil and it keeps me happy because the car is getting the best of care. I know that my receipts would be key evidence in a dispute if I did all the oil changes, but this way I need not worry about anything.

Do y'all buy oil change kits (such as those offered by DAP and ECS)? They seem to be a good way to go.

 

You and I went to the same school it seems. I'm 60 y.o. and still doing oil changes.

Years ago I was privy to a marketing study by Quaker State on DIY oil changes. The results showed that most car owners that do their own oil changes do so not to save money, but rather to assure that the job is done right. I thought that was very interesting and it echoes what you wrote.

 

doing your own oil changes and keeping the receipts will maintain your warranty if the dealer asks if you have kept up with maintenance. doing more frequent oil changes should not affect your warranty at all..

and yah, i bought the oil change kit from DAP to do my GTI earlier this summer. it's a nice kit with the filter, new plug, and liquimoly. i plan to buy 2 kits next summer to do both my GTI and R.

 

GAFIT- dont u hate replying to dumbarse stubborn newbs? :D hahaha! now u know wat ive dealt with over the yrs on these car forums.

although this forum isnt too bad. the sportier the car the stupider (more stupid) they get.

 

I feel for you and see why you retreated to your own blog thread.

 

hahaha! :D yah, while i still drop in here and there, a lot of times these newbs dont read the post correctly and start going off on their own for no reason.

some folks are best u just let them go.

 

Double update today...

Update 1 - Did the 5,000 mile oil change. Everything went fine, but some things worth mentioning...

There are basically 4 things that you come in contact with when doing an oil change. 1. Oil fill cap/hole 2. dipstick 3. oil filter 4. drain plug

Of those 4 items, 3 are just plain stupid.
1. Oil fill hole is 3/4 blocked so that only a small funnel can fit and forget about pouring without a funnel as you will have splash back.
2. Dipstick is fine
3. Oil filter. I see no value to the complicated design that requires a 32mm socket and has you dripping oil inside the engine bay.
4. Drain plug is a plastic piece of crap that has a seal that is 100% reliant on a rubber o-ring that you can't compress as it ages because the plastic plug has a stopper that does not allow additional tightening. I can see that you could maybe get more than one use out of it, but it's lifespan depends on the 0-ring maintaining 100% of it's original thickness.

They have gone out of their way to fix things that weren't broken. Possibly with the sole goal of making it harder for the DIY'er to perform simple maintenance.

This was my first time under the car and I also noted two interesting things...
1. The block is steel and not aluminum. Steel can be stronger, but weighs more. Probably a wash in my mind, but interesting considering very, very few manufacture's still use steel engine blocks.
2. The plastic oil pan is only about 1" higher than the lowest part of the front lip and is completely unprotected.

Long term we will probably plan on a swap to a metal pan and real drain plug. I probably wasted money on the DAP magnetic plastic drain plug as it will get changed with the pan.

Side note for anyone running 10,000 miles between changes...our car was about 1/2 quart low at 5,000 miles. Not a big deal or unusual, but I'd say that periodic oil level checks would be a good idea if stretching the change interval.

 

Update 2 -

We ran errands in the Golf yesterday and, while having lunch at a restaurant, a bird pooped on the hood. A big ole splat with a run down the passenger fender. YUCK!

At that point, we had one more stop and were an hour from home. So, an hour and half later we got home and I went straight to a full car washing.

Was not surprised to find that the poop marred the paint. Not just an outline, but clouded the paint and etched the edges. Hit it with bug & tar remover...didn't help. Hit it with Griots clay bar...didn't help. Hit it with Meguiars Scratch X...didn't help.

Out came the rotary buffer once again! Paint back to looking OK'ish, but I am over this sh!ty paint! Problem is that, even if the dealer agreed about it's quality, I don't want a new car that's been repainted. Thankfully for my sanity, it's my wife's car and not mine. I'd dump it and move on. Not sure how long the wife will put up with it. She's not happy either, but loves the way the car drives.

 

Since I gave the car some rightfully deserved criticisms, I should also include that I drove it all around yesterday and it is a great driving car. Much better driving experience than any Honda I've been in. Just a lot of over complicated German type engineering and the worst paint quality I've experienced.

 

huh, not sure how different the golf is to my GTI, but i had zero drips of oil into the engine bay and was the easiest car to do..?

i did allow the oil to drip out of the canister for a couple of minutes and used the little stick inside to allow the oil to drip down that.. maybe you pulled too quick? not sure.

sorry to hear about ur paint. dat really sucks. i keep a bird emergency kit in my trunk at all times.. disposable glove, soft paper towel, and QD. after you blot off the crap, just ball up the paper towel and pull off the gloves over the ball of paper towel and you wont touch it.

 

It wasn't like the Exxon Valdez or anything. Just maybe 10 drops of oil, but it's also like a nook and cranny area. Took a bit of cleaning. Really not a big deal in the least, but messier than a spin on oil filter that drains down under and away from the car.

Another thing I should note about inspecting the underside of the car....things like the half shafts, a-arms, etc are nice and beefy. Everything also has nice welds and looks to be quality.

You are definitely as bad as I am. I keep a mini-detail kit in the Lincoln. Came in handy when the boy projectile vomited in the back seat on a short road trip. Went through half a container of Meguiars interior detail wipes on the side of the road.

 

GAFIT crack the filter housing loose & let it drain for a while before pulling it all the way off. I do that with the filter housing on my wife's MINI & it keeps the leak from happening.

Birds !@#$*!! I hates when they do that. I also keep a bottle of quick detailer & microfiber towels in the back for such occasions. It doesn't take long for that stuff to etch the paint. I'm glad you got it off.

 

10 drops is pretty significant. i would be pretty pissed if that happened on my cars. i would just wait a little longer when you remove the canister next time and let the stick inside guide the oil back into the engine. yah, as ashchuckton mentioned, just loosen the housing and let it drain out.

maybe you can grab some MAF cleaner or the RC motor spray i talked about on the other thread and just blast the drips of oil clean next time..? then you can get deep into the nooks and not have to worry about residue.

when i watched that DAP guy do an oil change on their DIY vid, i was like wat a mess the guy is making! so sloppy, geeez..

 

Thanks for the heads up to both of you! I gave it probably one minute. Will give it more time next change.

Thinking a switch to a metal pan and real plug would make me happier in the long run as well. I just don't care for the plastic plug or pan.

Guessing that VW just plans on changes using the suction method and I'm sure it works fine. I just prefer the old method because it also gives me a chance to inspect under the vehicle.

 

agreed, its not like i go under the car that often so i too like to go down there a few times a year just to check and touch up on any rust spots on the subframe.

plus, unlike most cars these days, no lower shroud to remove for the oil change on these cars so this is a big plus.

 

i should stop listening to music when i post.. lol

 

new tint picts coming soon? (^_^)b

 

Yes! Pics should happen tomorrow. Nothing improves the looks of a black car more than window tint.

So...the I asked the tint guys if they knew of a good detailer and they said yes and gave him a call for me. He came by the tint shop to look at the car and give me a quote.

Great guy. Older and we talked about old products we used to use and how things have so greatly improved...yada, yada, yada. Kenchan will be glad to hear that he gave me crap for using a rotary and asked if I was really that brave. He looked over the Golf and started grabbing products from his detailing trailer.

I just kept asking him for an appointment. After about 30 minutes of him playing with some of the trouble spots he started putting up his stuff to go to lunch with the shop guys. I asked one last time...when can you detail it? He said he was really sorry, but he had to turn this one down.

Said he's seen this one time before (was on a dark blue BMW) and said that it's just not worth messing with. It will just re-scratch and mar from everything afterward. His suggestion was to use Griots Boss System polish/sealant and then leave it alone.

I still think that maybe a serious hard quartz/ceramic type sealant may be the best option, but he said they just take too long to do properly.