[Lavs]

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd throw this out to the other aussie owners...

I've had my Touareg (V6 180TDI) for about 6 months, and done a bit over 8,000kms.

About 3 months ago I did a trip to the country (900kms round trip) and when I got home, checked the service screen and found the digital "dipstick" (for lack of a better term) was now about half way down. I just did the same trip but towing a boat, and its now showing about one bar off the minimum line on the digital dipstick.

I have a contact at the dealership who said to "swing past and we'll top it up for you", but this just seems odd that a relatively new car would be using any oil whatsoever. That said however, this is the first diesel I have owned.

Is this normal? Is it just a diesel engine thing?

(PS... I have noticed the bottle of oil in the boot that came with the car... So maybe its normal?)


Cheers,
Dave

 

[MtnPass]

We're not down under but My Duramax truck would use oil when towing and our Touareg does the same. It's normal to use some oil while towing.


This is something to check. I have always asked the dealer to show me the dipstick after every oil change. They would not fill it to the max level. The dealer said it not recommended to fill it to the max. Somehow that does not seem right. I would ask them to fill it to the max because of our towing.

I hope this helps.

 

[tassie9999]

Hi,
I have a 2013 V6 TDI. When I tow our 2.7T caravan I use about 4 Bars (according to the service monitor) per 1000Km. When I am not towing I do not see any oil consumption. I am wondering if this part of the towing package programming.

Rgds

 

[schootsie]

From most historical reports al diesel Touaregs use between 500ml to 1.6l of oil between oil changes depending on how hard they are driven. It is normal for them and seems engineered into them somehow. Other makes and model generally would not use as much. John

 

[ToolmanJohn]

Seems normal.

I also have a 2013 TDI. It will use a couple of bars over 10K miles not towing. When I tow it can use slightly more. The most I have ever used was 3-4 bars through a Summer of moderate towing ( 2000 miles ) . I topped off at about 6000 miles.

 

[Colin G]

The new Touareg engine will use oil during running in then should settle but under load towing they will use a small amount of oil i've heard there is a drip system into the turbo for cooling but im not sure
Colin

 

[weedie]

We have a second hand 2014 Touareg with 35,000kms. Just been on a 2,000 km drive with a 2.5 tonne van. Used about 4 bars on the 'dip stick'. I expect that being diesel it will take up to 50k km to really run in and would use some oil during that time. Also towing the van adds a huge load to the motor and drivetrain. Everything works much harder. I topped up with correct oil, took 1 litre and didn't go over the top mark on the 'dip stick.' I would much prefer to see a conventional dip stick for something as important as oil level.

 

[Copwahn]

Hi Dave, when I got my 2013 V6 Tdi I went through about a litre every 5,000km. It did this till about 25,000 then just stopped.

 

[Coight57]

Dave, mine is 2014 Touareg (V6 180TDI) with 50K on the clock and uses between 0.5-1.0 litres between services (15K). My 2011 Audi Q5 with the identical engine used no oil (at least not detectable) through its 130,000 kms life with me. Oil brand/type/spec can influence engine oil consumption along with many many other factors.

Yours would appear to be using a little more than average (as John/Schootise outlined). And each manufacturer has acceptable consumption limits, Audi for example have stated in writing that their engines "may consume up to one litre of engine oil per 1200 kms, under certain driving conditions". Nicely covering their rear ends.

Interesting Top-30 Oil Consumers attached (these are the 30 thirstiest). Note the trend with the latest and most modern engine technologies/designs.

Cheers Paul.

 

[Lavs]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I understand the minimum to maximum to be about 1L. so I've probably used about 800mL of oil in now 8,500kms since new (about 1000kms of which towing a fairly heavy boat).

So I'm getting the impression its relatively normal then.

 

[GazzaK]

So I'm getting the impression its relatively normal then.

Roger that Dave. My 2013 had about the same oil consumption you report for the first 20,000 Kms or so. I've now done 60,000 Kms and the oil consumption is negligible but does increase a little when towing our 3.5T Van.
I guess it's important to understand that the bottom of the electronic dipstick does not mean you're about to run out of oil but rather it needs to be topped up as you suggest in your last post.
BTW, welcome aboard.

 

[Steve104]

My MY2015 150TDI has now completed 19000km. It was serviced (1st time) at 12000km and since then I've also done 3500km towing a 2.6 tonne caravan.
The oil level has dropped 3 intervals since the service and is 2 from the bottom. The only reason it's down there is because the dealer didn't fill it right up!
I only checked the oil level because of the OP, which got me thinking. Over the years my regular saloon cars (no towing) have not required oil between services and I've got out of the habit of checking (ditto tyre pressures too I must admit).
I used to drive British cars in my youth and oil levels needed to be checked regularly; I need to get back into the habit and remember to check more often!
Incidently, I've been getting 14 l/100km when towing, which I think is pretty good for my combination.

 

[Lavs]

Just thought I'd add that I recently had the first service and was chatting to the service advisor about this. Im not sure if it applies everywhere or just this particular dealership but he said that if ever the oil level drops, owners are welcome to come in without appointment and they will top the oil up at no charge. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

 

[Coight57]

Just thought I'd add that I recently had the first service and was chatting to the service advisor about this. Im not sure if it applies everywhere or just this particular dealership but he said that if ever the oil level drops, owners are welcome to come in without appointment and they will top the oil up at no charge. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

My local dealer refills the 1-litre spare oil bottle at each service if I use half of it or all, or can come in to get it refilled between services (haven't had to, to date). All helps