VW Passat MPG issue

So... by this logic my workmates Golf TDI should have run out of oil months ago, because he certainly never services his car and yet does lots of miles

Doesn't sound right to me
 
Err...

It has a warning light to tell you to check the oil the next time you fill up if it's getting low, not something you'd ignore as it beeps every time you start the car.
 
The "1L per 600 miles" figure is an arbitary one used by VAG for what they deem to be acceptable levels of oil consumption. Basically, as long as its not consuming more oil than that they won't do anything about it.

Personally, I'd be extremely miffed if my car used anything like that much. A litre of Castrol SLX Longlife is about £13 from Halfords, a Passat will do 600 miles on a tank of diesel so if you were putting a litre of oil in every time you fill up it would probably be cheaper to run a petrol!

Most don't use anything like that amount though - the OP's car has probably used under a litre in 7k.
 
it might be because it was new, I dont think they fully fill them with oil when they're new, I seem to remember my first golf did a similar thing after 4000 miles and that was petrol.

at *** moment with the econ and oil petrol is by far cheaper :(
 
I've dropped around 5mpg using Winter Diesel, but under 40mpg on a motorway run doesn't sound right. Diesels can take quite a while to warm up in winter which means I get nasty numbers from the trip on short journeys.

Have you actually checked the tyre pressures? I've got a rear one that goes soft (30 to 18psi in a couple of weeks). When it's flat then the MPG drops 5-6mpg on the motorway.

Other than that it could be the MAF or perhaps an EGR problem. TDI's tend to eat oil for the first few thousand miles until the engine beds in. My 130 used half a litre in the first 2k, another half litre by 8k then nothing since.
 
I'd start bitching to your dealer about the oil consumption if nothing else!

My VW Passat 130HP (Same 19.9TDI engine) needed only 1/3 litre after around 10k, and I only put in another 1/2 litre before its first service at 22k.....

That Passat was taken from me by a pensioner in a Honda Jazz, but the one I have now, has covered 4,000 miles since I bought it and has not used a significant amount of oil.

Your car sounds like something you should be talking to a solicitor or Citizens Advice about...

Also, you will certainly know if you have an EGR problem - the car will buck at low throttle opening ie letting the car more or less coast at around 40MPH. If your MAF were at fault, which it could be, as your car does seem to be using a lot of oil, no I would get it checked but this fault is usually accompanied by a CEL....
 
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Baron_Samedi said:
Also, you will certainly know if you have an EGR problem - the car will buck at low throttle opening ie letting the car more or less coast at around 40MPH. If your MAF were at fault, which it could be, as your car does seem to be using a lot of oil, no I would get it checked but this fault is usually accompanied by a CEL....
Click to expand...

Sorry you've confused me a bit here, firstly what is a MAF and what does it do?

what gear should I be using to test the coasting? however I dont think theres a problem with driving a low speeds, the car seems to be performing as expected for a 105 its just the fuel situation. Its the VW dealer who tested the car (I actually watched the tests being carried out) and they're the ones who said about the oil. I'll book it into another dealer for a second opinion, if their diag machines are out then it may look normal.
 
The MAF is the airflow meter that guages the amount of air being drawn into the injection system and matches the fuelling in response.

The EGR is responsible for exhaust gas recycling and given your oil useage could be gumming up and causing the engine to baulk when cruising.

Now, the momentary baulking will be noticed when cruising in say 4th or 5th at around 40 - 50MPH and feels as if your foot had just slipped off the accelerator pedal for an instant.

Note also, that this problem can also be caused by a loose turbo boost hose that is a pig to fit correctly and comes loose quite easily. If this is the problem expect it to detach completely and issue shed loads of grey smoke out the exhaust and drop the engine power by half.... :eek:

Hmmm, I'd get your dealer to check the security of the hoses as this fault in the making is accompanied by a moderate decrease in fuel economy....
 
thanks Baron_Samedi, I'm going to take it to another dealer next week and see what they say. I've put 1 litre of oil in this morning £16 :eek: from what he was saying I should expect to put 1 litre in everytime I fill up... sounds like crap to me
 
Well done, Arfur,

Anyone who says a modern car needs a litre of oil every 500 miles or so needs shooting (unless its some kind of V-whatever monster sized motor)

Perhaps what I would do, and its easy for me to say as I have a non-franchise workshop on my doorstep is to take your car to someone independent of the dealer network and ask their opinion, given that your engine is a class that has been around a while so they should have plenty of experience with the engine.

That or a Bosch service centre and ask them to test the engine thoroughly.

Good Luck!
 
just to let you know the car never made it to VW today as it started behaving its self again today so I wanted to monitor it.

Nothings changed on my driving style but today it averaged 48 Mpg, the only 4 things I can think of thats changed are

1 - We had a really cold snap and it could have reset a temp prob or something

2 - I put 1 litre of oil in on Friday as the light was on

3 - I filled up at Tesco instead of the normal BP or Shell

4 - I washed it yesterday :)
 
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