[CJBean]

Hi,
I recently bought a 2 1/2 year old Yeti Elegance 2L diesel. It has been on lease for 2 years & was unused 6 months. It is on "variable" service intervals It had a long life oil change 15 months ago at 19K miles & has now done 27K. We only do 6-7K a year & now wonder at the wisdom of another diesel but after 35 years diesels are a habit!
The local dealer advises the oil is left alone until it indicates need to replace. That could be another 2 years, 3 1/2 years between changes? They say its much cheaper (at £19 a litre?)& there is a sump sensor that tells the car when the oil requires changing. I wouldn't be surprised. I am already discovering its more a computer on wheels than a car! I am inclined to go against dealer advice & just have a change to ordinary life oil & filter service done with the 3 yr brake fluid change etc.& then routine annual changes thereafter. If they can't easy reset service interval clock to annual too bad. It might be new technology but diesels tend to dirty oil more than petrol. Any thoughts appreciated. Always look after my car & keep a long time if happy. Always been a VAG man Our 1999 AFN (cracking engine) Passat Varient did 14 years & 130K without missing a beat & was as clean the day we swapped as when new.

 

[plbxr]

Hi CJBean and welcome. Yes, there is a sensor in the bottom of the sump that tells the ECU when the oil needs changing. If you want to change your oil earlier than indicated then you can, but, you will need to reset the service interval indicator so it registers that you have changed the oil and will clear any previously accumulated values. It is easy to reset using the instrument cluster buttons and takes about 10 seconds to do.

uploads/467/E38_Oil_Level_Sensor.pdf

http://www.yetiownersclub.co.uk/forum/reset-service-light_topic526.html





Edited by: plbxr

 

[plbxr]

I forgot to add earlier that you could also have your ECU reset to "set" service intervals either by the dealer or yourself through VCDS. Setting it yourself means that you could add your own custom values for the service interval.

 

[CJBean]

Many thanks plbxr. The dealership would do all the work. I gave up messing a while ago. I just drive these days or as it now seems the computer does ;-)
The dealer appears very reluctant to change the service "plan" to annual I was concerned as to why. The notion that I would not need to change the oil for 5 or 6 years seems silly. The "plan" seems to me of financial value to high mileage users and is not cheaper as the dealer says for low mileage domestic users.
I see your cappuccino too. Wife says VAG do uninspired colour. Only 3 that go with sand interior. This is the second same colour & beige interior we had. Apparently your odd if you don't like black ;-)
I think I will get an oil change anyway.

 

[CJBean]

I was also wondering plbxr (or anyone) as you seem to have intimate working knowledge has there been any recall or habitual handbrake lever stiffness problems? My handbrake from when I bought the car is a push off (if you don't push hard on button release the lever more or less stays up)No binding at the calliper when off though. The car is still under warranty & the dealer said it was warranty issue & appeared to know exactly what I was talking about when I booked her in & told me it was a link under the centre console, that would need removing & dealing with, so was just wondering

 

[plbxr]

I can't say that I have heard of any handbrake lever problems at all. It sort of seems like the button is not disengaging the lever lock properly which seems like a simple thing to fix. Hopefully just an adjustment somewhere.
As far as the oil change intervals go they are all time dependent, so if you don't travel far then the time limit indicator will alert you instead of the mileage limit indicator. The maximum time for variable service intervals is 2 years. The maximum for set service intervals is 1 year. So you will never go for longer than 2 years before it reminds you to change the oil (...and the filter). That might be a better compromise for you.



Edited by: plbxr

 

[wakev]

The handbrake lever is a known problem the slider in the center console get's dry and will not slide in it's runners properly, it maybe the linkage but so far all the problems with the handbrake lever have been the slider.

 

[plbxr]

The handbrake lever is a known problem the slider in the center console get's dry and will not slide in it's runners properly, it maybe the linkage but so far all the problems with the handbrake lever have been the slider.

Thanks wakev. I didn't know that.

Edited by: plbxr

 

[CJBean]

My thanks to you both for your kindness sharing experiences.....
Just hope now that being retired & now low miles with these new exhaust filters that a diesel was not the way to go. I just cant come to think a 1.2L engine of 105bhp is going to be durable & have the bottom grunt we are used to . I was warned off the 1.8 petrol & there don't seem many about.

 

[The Hood]

Talking about DPF's I wonder if they influenced the new London Cab which is petrol driven. O.K. a London Cab probably notches up a lot of miles but it ismaking a lot of short stop start journeys, and stationary in traffic for long periods, things which would not be kind to a DPF.

 

[JOOKS]

Talking about DPF's I wonder if they influenced the new London Cab which is petrol driven. O.K. a London Cab probably notches up a lot of miles but it ismaking a lot of short stop start journeys, and stationary in traffic for long periods, things which would not be kind to a DPF.

Well Mr Hood, as you are talking about DPFs, I have by coincidence got some details of a company(you may know it) that specialises in cleaning DPF filters in a 2 part process.
Company iscalled Ceramex Theygot back to me very quickly when I made an enquirey on behalf of YOC.
If you think it worth while I can post more details.(under a separate heading?)

 

[The Hood]

That sounds like a good idea as I expect it is only a matter of time before someone has a problem with theirs. If it were called something like DPF problems it would be easier to find in a search.