davyjordi

Hi all,

So I have a 2021 S4 that is coming up on six months since being purchased. I know that Audi recommends oil changes every 12 months or every 10k miles, however, I think that may be too long of an interval. My car doesn't have 5k miles on it yet, however, I know that oil does start to break down after a certain period of time and that time was what I thought around six months. I mean, I could be totally wrong and these super long oil change intervals just reflect the incredible advancements in synthetic oil technology.

What do you all think/do with your own cars?

Thanks!

jrhgto

I personally think 10K is too long. I know others have had oil analysis done, and those results have shown that intervals over 7500 miles are ok, but to be on the safe side I generally change mine at 6K-6500 or so.

davyjordi

gotcha - thanks for responding. now i'm torn on whether to go by time or distance because this year i haven't driven nearly as much as normal as i've been working from home. ahh!

RickNY

The only one I've done more frequently than the suggested was the first one.. I did that at 5K, then I changed at 10K, 20K, 30K, etc -- that was on my 2018.. Doing same on 2021

davyjordi

@RickNY i'm at six months of ownership, but only 2k miles -- would you recommend changing the oil or waiting the full year when i'll likely have under 10k miles but more than 5k miles?

michael sullivan

Low mile oil change decisions involve not only time/mileage, but also just how those miles were driven. If your 2000 miles were all short trip local stops, the oil is much more contaminated than if it was all on occasional highway trips. Short trips don't heat the engine sufficiently to burn off the contaminants that shed into the oil at every start-up. These are mostly acidic in nature and not particulates that are caught in the filter. One long standing catch phrase here is that "oil is the cheapest thing you can do for your engine".

The cheapest route is to get yourself an inexpensive oil suction device for around $50. Then just suck out the oil through the oil dipstick tube and refill around 7 quarts of the right oil. No real need to change the filter on every low mile change, as there is no increase in filtered contaminates as far as I know. If not a DIY driver, still pretty inexpensive, relatively, to schedule a quick change which is often on a special. Ultimate decision may also be impacted by how long you plan to own the car.

davyjordi

thanks @michael sullivan for the detailed response.

the 2000 miles that have been driven have not been short trips - they were to the office and back when i did have to go in which is about 25 miles away - so around 50 miles roundtrip, so the engine definitely gets up to ideal operating temp.

that's a really good idea re: the oil suction device and then just replace the oil sans filter. i might just do that.

and yeah, it does depend on how long i'm going to keep the car and at this point i can't see myself keeping this car for more than four maybe five years, but ideally four because i'll be under warranty coverage the entire time. i did purchase and not lease, so i dunno - kinda conflicted, but with the rate of tech innovation, i feel like all of the tech in the car is going to be dated in several years. however, because of electrification, i feel like this might be one of the last decades of pure ICE cars, so it might be worth keeping. in short, i dunno haha.

toxicxk23

I bought my 2018 S4 with 41k miles. Did an oil change at 45k with Motul Specific. Planning on doing it every 5k. I have an extractor so it makes it pretty easy and quick. Plus I go WOT pretty often so....yeah lol doesn't hurt to do it more often imo.

davyjordi

it certainly doesn't hurt to change it more frequently, i agree. i called up the audi dealership local to where i live and they want 379$ PLUS tax for a simple oil and filter change. that's ridiculous. so my job is to call indie shops today. i briefly came from bmw and before that lexus and neither dealership wanted like 380 bucks tax not included for an oil/filter change. btw, this was audi of temecula (i see that you're in san diego -- i live in wine country)

i'd do it myself but i don't have the time during the week and on the weekends the last thing i want to do is work on my car, so an high-end indie shop it is.

jrhgto

Yeah I also use an extractor, works great.....I recommend the Mityvac 7201. it allows you to also pump oil back out into containers etc.
DYI is about $70 including filter. Also if you buy the oil from FCP Euro you can use their lifetime replacement program to get your money back (minus shipping) if you send the old oil back.
Though if you are on the west coast, shipping might be expensive back to them...I live about 100 miles away from them, and it costs me like $20 to send 2 5L jugs of oil back.