Why do people doubt AVS service?

[Defratos]

Hey guys, I've just recently heard and realised that there is such a thing as AVS service (which my car is currently on). But why do quite a few of you not believe in it? Is it better to service the car (i.e. change the oil and filter) yourself more often than the car asks? Because I'd like to keep my car healthy and by that I mean the best oils for the engine.
Moreover if anyone here has directions or has a diagram of some sort on how to change the engine oil in an S3 it would be really nice, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[jcs356]

I'm another non-believer. I agree with everything AndyMac has said. 5000 miles or 6 months for an oil change. Use a fully synthetic - something like Synta Gold. You can get the oil, filter and a new sump plug washer for not much more than £30 and it isn't that difficult to drop the oil on a car yourself. If you don't want to get your hands dirty, it is only half an hour labour at your local garage and they'll even stamp the book.

AVS is a con designed to reduce costs for fleet users. If it cuts out a couple of services for a fleet buyer on a 3 year 60,000 deal, then that is £600 or so off the costs on the bottom line and makes Audi's look cheaper to fleet users - who face it, are still the biggest buyers of cars in the country. The power these companies have over car manufacturers is impressive - but you'd expect that if you were buying 1,000's of cars from them every year.

The big issue I have is when you come to buy an AVS car. OK, it is 3 years old and done 60,000 miles. How do you know that it was 60,000 miles on motorways and the 18,000 service interval was what the car said? How do you know that the previous owner didn't do loads of stop start journeys, the car told him to get it serviced at 10,000 miles and he just ignored it because he 'knew' the oil was good for 18,000miles. He was driving round with sludge in the sump for ages but he didn't care - he is a fleet user so it isn't his problem as he gets another new car to abuse after 3 years.

I'd be very, very wary about buying a high mileage AVS car. I'd rather have a nice collection of stamps or other evidence that the car is being looked after properly.

 

[Defratos]

Woooow, total overload, never knew I'd get this much info, thanks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif. So I see now how it kinda works. So what benefits does the car get, I'm guessing a healthier engine in general, better performance maybe?
I’ve recently bought a second hand 2002 S3 that’s done 30K (previous owner) and is looking to get serviced in around 4K. What would you recommend the next step to be as I'm interested in the change. But would this void my warranty? Or would it mean more stops to service the car? Even though I'm up for the work I'm just curious what it would involve.

 

[imported_oilman]

Well, the facts are that VW coded longlife oils are tested for this purpose and should be suitable for longer running periods but...........

I'm in the industry and have to confess also to being a sceptic!

Some of the quoted periods are too long IMHO as the oil is affected by different driving styles. A lot of short trips can be very tough even on the best oils and as the oil loses viscosity through "shearing" it becomes less effective as a lubricant.

I'm old fashioned and believe in 6-9000 mile oil changes regardless (not because I sell more oil) as this has to be better for the engine.

Synthetics are fantastic oils and way exceed the performance of their petroleum counterparts but like all oils they wear out and as a consequence provide less protection.

This in my opinion could be the reason for shorter engine lifes in modern cars as the oil once past its effective cycle may not be able to protect the engine adequately from wear or at least premature wear.

Just my thoughts.

Cheers
Simon

 

[Defratos]

Ahh I c, well I get it now why Audi would use Longlife oils for the reasons you just stated. I believe I'd like to follow a non AVS service schedule. How would I go about changing it from AVS to regular change intervals and different oil? Would Audi have to do this as mentioned below? because I am currently on warranty


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If it has a warranty then you'll need to get a dealer or Audi specialist to carry out the work otherwise you could end up with the waranty company weaselling out on a claim (like they tend to do).

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