AMDG75

Avantly

Ok, I understand that point of view, as far as the dealership experience I know more people than not who have had bad experiences with VAG dealers since all that dieselgate stuff happened. Not sure if that actually affected the dealerships in this way or if it's just a Michigan thing. Nowadays I really don't trust the average dealership any more than an independent shop, unless it's something programming/coding related. As far as getting to the bottom of the pan, it seems that this would be directly related to dipstick positioning, most of the engines I've seen have the dipsticks positioned away from the low point in the pan/sump where the drain plug is. Then again, there isn't really that much of a slope in the pan so the difference is probably minimal. Now, with dip sticks being eliminated left and right over the past decade or so, maybe my concerns are a moot point since you have no choice but to do the standard drain and fill on those, and the same would go for vehicles with oil filters on the bottom of the engine as well. As far as removing the oil pan, sure I have seen this, however my train of thought has always been that draining out the plug with hot oil will allow fluid flow to pull as much of the heavy solids with it as possible, sort of how a standard slope in a septic system pipe works. I'm a bit OCD about cleaning the drain pan screen every time and inspecting afterward with all of the chain guide failures I've seen over the years.

As far as early signs of failure, some of the chunks I've seen from timing components were pretty large, they would have a hard time getting sucked into one of those tubes, though if the tube picked it up on the end that would restrict the tube and at least indicate that something wasn't right.

I am a big fan of the standard drain and fill and that probably won't change over time, however for a vehicle that gets driven tons of miles resulting in frequent oil changes, I can definitely see the benefit of being able to quickly extract and replace the oil with the wheels on the ground!

UCLABB

I've been using an extractor for years. Indeed, you can feel the tube hit the bottom of the pan, so you are getting anything bad that is there. Furthermore, this is why there are oil filters to sift out things. Yeah, maybe if my car head a couple of hundred thousand miles I might pull the drain plug, but I'm a long way from that.

Valpo A7

When I had my A7 I only used an extractor for oil changes. Suctioned out all the oil and always was able to put 7 quarts back in. I never pulled the plug to verify it got everything out but since I put 7 quarts back in then I am reasonably sure it got everything out. If I had a bottom filter engine then I would not have bothered with the extractor.

I was talking with an Audi tech once and he told me that his dealership recommended the extractor as it got a bit more oil out than a dump and fill. The bottom of the pan is flat and there was a a raised boss where the plug is at. The raised boss will allow a slight puddle to remain in the sump. The dip stick tube lines up to where the puddle sits and will pull some of that oil out.

We picked up a Chevy Cruze for our daughter to drive and it is a top filter as well, on a whim I tried the extractor on that engine then pulled the plug once done to see what remained. I got 1 drop out of the plug hole. I realize it’s not a 3.0 but I expect I should have had the same results.

Avantly

The problem with heavier/larger material in the pan is that it gets sucked against the pickup screen while the engine is running and then floats back to the bottom when it is off. Granted, the C7 generation is new enough that there shouldn't be too many with plastic floating around in the oil pan but I will take what VAG service documentation says over a dealership any day of the week. Dealerships in general are known for making money, not for service excellence, at least in my state.