Audi's service interval schedule is ridiculous. Change your oil every 5K on C7 A6!

[Arnold K.]

It feels like Audi is intentionally sabotaging their own products by telling its customers oil change intervals are fine at every 10K miles. Sabotage is the only word I can think of, because after about 5K miles, the engine begins to feel extremely sluggish. I noticed this with the first oil change at 5K - the car felt immediately more responsive. And that first oil change, the oil came out extremely dark and nearly sludgy. That does not seem normal to me. Why sabotage? Well, when this car has 50K miles on it and is a used car, the 2nd owner will surely be dropping coin to fix mechanical issues at Audi dealers. That's just my paranoid way of thinking, of course.

Now at 12K miles, for the past few weeks, once again that dead-weight sluggishness has been around to the point even my father noticed it. Normally he's the kind of guy who doesn't notice anything, but he just took the car out for some errands, came back and said "is it me or does the car feel slow? Like really slow?"

No doubt about it the oil seems to be sludging up in there yet again, on top of burning away, which does not bode well for this motor's future to whoever buys this car after our lease is over. I'm taking the car in on Wednesday to pay out of pocket for an oil change and get an annoying rattle fixed in the passenger side b-pillar.

So far, I feel like the first 3K miles on my new Jaguar XF 5.0 have been better than the first 3K miles of the A6 3.0T.

[SinCityA6]

Though I agree that the 10k service intervals are counter intuitive to our thinking, it is far from sabotage. Audi has nothing to gain from it.
With the tech in current day lubricants, filters, etc, the old standard of 3 months or 3k miles (oil manufactures brainwashing) is extreme as well. I have owned 2 C6 A6 models (4.2 and 3.0t) and have changed oil every 7500 miles give or take. Not once have I experienced a power drop (or increase) prior to or after an oil change. In fact, science shows that oil should be and is thinner (loss of viscosity) as it wears from use. As for the oil being black; means the oil is doing its job and cleaning the engine. The 3.0t has been known for some oil consumption since its introduction in 09.
If you are comfortable with changing the oil every 5k (and want to spend the $100+ for he dealer to do it), then by all means do it.

[rayray]

Most Audi enthusiasts will change their oil every 5k miles or so. I had Audi Care with my previous A4 and I still changed the oil every 5k, just not with the dealer. I was told by a master Audi tech that the because of the large capacity oil filter, it only needs to be changed every 10k, like the recommended interval, so that saves a little bit of coin.

[tenspeed]

Take a sample of the old oil and have it tested at the next change. They will be able to tell you the chemistry and how much life remains. Audi seems to be very conservative with everything else.

In the old days when 3,000 mile oil changes were recommended, the engines were looser, made of inferior metals and held four quarts. They had a service life of around 100,000 miles. The oil formulations were not anything close to today's mixes.

[A4_Mike]

What's the recommended service interval for the Jaguar?

[Arnold K.]

It's very poorly defined in the manual regarding oil changes. So I actually asked my Jaguar dealer and their techs all agree and recommend every 5K miles for oil change. But "larger" service intervals are once a year or every 15k miles.

[Kevin1]

When I purchased my car I asked the service department how frequently I should change the oil. He said if you bought the car change it every 5K miles and if you leased it change it every 10K miles and let the poor bastard who buys it off lease pay for the neglect. By the way, I change it every 5K miles.

[FuchsB]

You metioned getting the oil change and pillar rattle addressed.

If your that concerend about the sluggishness why not address it with the dealer and have them take a look at it since its a brand new car?

[-C5-]

1st. i never listen to recommended oil intervals by dealer. i only go by what the oil manufacture says on the bottle. and usually not even that long.
if it says 7k ill do it at 5k for piece of mind so i can rest assured.

2nd. you would think after all these years, audi would address and solve the mysterious oil burning problem. every audi ive owned has burned oil, and i have friends with bmw's and merc's the same year that dont consume ANY oil whatsoever. im the only guy that drives around with a 5qt jug of oil in his trunk and a stack of paper funnels and paper towels.
DAMN YOU AUDI!

[shafar22]

Always get mine changed between 9000 and 11000 depending on my schedule. Currently at 105,000 and I have oil report done every change. No problems.

[maga4]

Bringing this thread back to life. This is the first car I've owned out of warranty in a while (other than the 50/50 one it came with) and plan to keep it for some time. I do about 60% highway, 40% town driving and am assuming that I should probably change the oil somewhere between 7500 and 10000. Pretty sure I wouldn't need to do it every 5000, but open to other views.

Anyone have any strong experience or preference with their 3.0T motor? Thanks!

[FormulaElement]

Really depends on the climate of where you live and how hard you drive your car. I would say 7500 is a safe mark to change your oil. I do like to keep things on the safe side though. Many people have never had a problem changing the oil every 10k miles. i strongly suggest you buy quality oil regardless of when you are going to change it.

Just like the comments say on Shafar22's picture, that doesn't look like oil that been used for 10k miles. Not calling him a liar but damn, that must be really expensive oil.

[PatPS6]

I still change my oil every 3k in the s6 but i am trying to maintain my low mileage v10 and i am also scared of this darn motor :(

[maga4]

Really depends on the climate of where you live and how hard you drive your car. I would say 7500 is a safe mark to change your oil. I do like to keep things on the safe side though. Many people have never had a problem changing the oil every 10k miles. i strongly suggest you buy quality oil regardless of when you are going to change it.

Just like the comments say on Shafar22's picture, that doesn't look like oil that been used for 10k miles. Not calling him a liar but damn, that must be really expensive oil.

Good info, thanks! Never really thought about weighing the oil quality over the interval but certainly makes sense.

I still change my oil every 3k in the s6 but i am trying to maintain my low mileage v10 and i am also scared of this darn motor :(

Definitely understand that!