stevefoster

My wife put only 2300 miles on our ‘17 A4 this past year. Service minder is calling for an oil change based on time, not mileage. But really, with today’s quality oils, is it really necessary to do this? What do you think? Thanks

BullNut

Oil is cheap so I would just do it. Also, the oil change process for this vehicle is very diy friendly.

142 guy

If it is out of warranty, then that eliminates respecting maintenance intervals for warranty reasons as an issue. That leaves the question of how the car is driven. If she did 1 single trip of 2300 miles, extending the maintenance interval is probably a non issue. If she did 2300 1 mile trips that use pattern is going to result in much more nasty stuff accumulating in the crankcase that would benefit from being flushed out. Only you know the real use pattern so only you can make that decision. If you are uncertain, you could take an oil sample to evaluate its condition; but, the cost of doing that probably says just change the oil.

morris39

In ROW (rest of world) bit not North America, Control Module 01- Engine extended time periods are allowed for oil changes, up 2years (from memory). If you have VCDS scanner the oil change intervals are listed and are selectable by the user. But note service intervals are still needed at 12 mo. time intervals. This will not work in NA for warranty reasons but suggests that linger time intervals per se are OK.
Again as 142 says service conditions are important and will be the deciding factor.
My situation is somewhat similar this Covid year. I normally change oil at 5k miles which coincides roughly with 6 mo. In the current cycle I will change at 12 mo. and the mileage will be ~ 3k. I make sure that the engine warms up fully on every trip.

Sjorge3442

Low mileage leads me to believe you do lots of quick trips. It takes this car a solid 10min or so of highway driving for the oil to get to operating temps. If you're not hitting operating temps often, your oil is/was likely contaminated with water along the way from condensation. Switch it out. A year is long enough for a $60 oil change.

VM

Certainly for warranty reasons if there's a warranty, that's reason enough...

I would have to check the records but I think I took my 2020 A4 for its first oil change exactly one year after the in-service date and the car had... 1200kms maybe? So that would be <800 miles, so I have your wife beat by a wide margin . I wonder if it will be 3000km by the time of the second oil change. I already didn't drive a lot (I think my 2017 had done about 24000kms in 4 years), but covid has really cut down on my driving...

Now, the first oil change is free in Canada and I have already bought AudiCare, but my view is that these engines are finicky enough that it's best that they have their oil changed on schedule.

silver03gt

I'm in the same boat with my wife's 2016 VW Jetta Sport. I changed the oil and filter last February at 30K miles. It now has 32,420 miles on it as of today. I do oil changes at 5K or one year on all of my cars. I just received Liqui-Moly oil and WIX oil filter for the VW from Urotuning. Total cost to the door was $72 and it takes me 30 minutes to do the oil and filter change. Money and time well spent I would say. Unless you're planning on selling the car sometime soon change the oil. We own Audi's. If we can afford these cars, paying $80.00 to change the oil once a year is a non conversation.


2018 Audi A4 Premium Plus - Florret Silver/Black/Gray - Ventilated Seats - Sport Package
034 Motorsports Lowering Springs & strut tower brace, H&R 22mm Rear Sway Bar, EMD 10mm Spacers, JB-4, K&N Filter