I know...I know....I know..but...

No

Who is "we all"?

I certainly didn't. Since I can recall My fathers cars (some 30 years ago) we never changed at less than the company recommendation.

Possibly. My A6 needs oil changes every 35.000 km and the 4 cylinder TDI's go until 50.000 km.

Regards

Wolfgang

Blimey - those must have been the days when you had to lift the head for a decoke every other month - my dad used to talk about doing this back in the 1940s.

Even when I started driving in the 1960s we were on 6000 mile intervals.

I suspect that the oil/service companies are taking the American public for suckers!

Yes, my RS6 is on 10,000 mile intervals, because it has a 'performance' engine. My previous car (A6 2.7T) was on 20,000 mile intervals.

Only on the fixed service - otherwise it's nearer to 18,000.

The oil is fully synthetic and (just for reassurance on that 3000 thing) - my 1971 mini used to go 6000 between changes. That's with 1950s technology, and mineral oil.

Extreme climate and performance aside, 3,000 is very low and (AFAIK) very much a US thang.

Adding my two cents: From everything I´ve read we can now change oil at far more than 3K miles. We can debate how much... I would´t go too far from 7.500. No objective data to support that. Just the fact that an engine overhaul is so expensive that I prefer to "invest" in oil. On the other hand I feel there is a second and perhaps as important variable: time. I run a very low monthly mileage. This means that making 7.5K takes me well over one year. In this case, again, no objective data, I change synthetic every year or mineral every six months. On top of low mileage I have lots of very low mileage use from cold engine. I´d really like to know your thougths

For low mileages (like mine! ;o), I agree.

AFAIK, Audi also specify an annual service, as well as a mileage-based service.

The only thing that I'd *really* disagree with them (in the UK) is their inattention to brake fluid.

H1K

BINGO!

-- C.R. Krieger (Been there; didn't buy that)