'54' reg Ibiza cupra tdi- 'Long Life' servicing or not?

BLITZ2703 said:

Dear Forum, i am the owner of a '54' reg cupra tdi. it is on 36k at the moment and i have owned this car for 18 month.

I have been ringing around a few garages for servicing and some are saying that i should be servicing this car with 'long life' intervals and others are quoting without stating this..

it is only 10k since the last service and looking at the book, this have been whatt has been done since new....

So, what is correct? and can someone recommend me a garage nr. Basingstoke.

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This thread is very similar to mine: http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=183773

I have a 36k 55 plate FR TDi. Only Volkswagen have told me about the two different servicing options. The bloke I talked to said that there were two types:

Short life: One service every 10k/1yr at approximately £260 a pop.
Long life: One service every 20k/2yr at approximately £280/£185 alternating.

He said that the first is best for petrol and some diesels that do mainly urban driving, whereas the second is best for primarily diesels that do a high amount of miles and a lot of motorway driving.

I'm in the same boat as you and I think I'm going to be going for the long life service as I do 18k (70% motorway) a year.

Hope that helps.

There is a garage called Autobarn in North Waltham, basingstoke, who I would recommend.

Telephone is: 01256 398828

or http://www.autobarn.org.uk/

I know the owner through the performance vw magazine forum, he has a great bloke who really knows his stuff, especially about VAG's. He finished off the first PD TDI conversion into a mk2 golf, so doesnt mess about. And he did my cambelt for me and gave me no problems at all.

Give him a call he will be happy to help. Worth getting a quote at least.

the labour costs they charge are defined by seat uk, not the dealership

can't say how i know but i do having supported a car company and saw the records for each stealership - yes it is a rip off hence the recommended route of good known indie specialists

I remember asking not that long abo how much half hours labour was to have my boost pipe replaced as it kept popping off and it was £65 i think! :O

BLITZ2703 said:

Dear Forum, i am the owner of a '54' reg cupra tdi. it is on 36k at the moment and i have owned this car for 18 month.

I have been ringing around a few garages for servicing and some are saying that i should be servicing this car with 'long life' intervals and others are quoting without stating this..

it is only 10k since the last service and looking at the book, this have been whatt has been done since new....

So, what is correct? and can someone recommend me a garage nr. Basingstoke.

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10k services where the fixed spec on SEATs. only VWs got the variable servicing length, something to do with brand and appeal or the like, but ive heard that you can convert to long life servicing.

Do the Seat engines have the oil quality sensors that long-life servicing needs ?

I always assumed they didn't.

I was under the impression that the long life option has to be done from day one and that it wasn't advisable to swap and change between the two options

Your mad to leave your oil in for more than 10k. Dip the stick and see just how nasty and black it is after 10k, then think of that in another 10k. Not nice for your engine, never mind the turbo! Doesn't your car tell you it needs servicing on the dash when you start it when they are due!

leontdi130 said:

Your mad to leave your oil in for more than 10k. Dip the stick and see just how nasty and black it is after 10k, then think of that in another 10k. Not nice for your engine, never mind the turbo!

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It depends whether you're using an oil designed for the job of extended service intervals - if you are, you should be able to quite happily go to higher mileages, but it all depends on the type of driving, number of cold starts, and the oil quality among other things, all calculated by the ECU (I believe the engines with the option of extended intervals have an oil quality sensor).

You can't tell how good oil is just by looking - pour new oil into a TDI and it turns black before it even hits the sump.
It's the reason a lot of people accuse their garages of not changing oil because they expected it to come out clean on the dipstick, whereas it looks no different to the old stuff that just came out.