How does vehicle determine remaining days/miles to oil service? Contemplating quick DIY oil change.

lohr500 · Monday at 8:56 AM

Our 204 4Motion Cali is just over a year old and has covered 6000 miles.
The oil service indicator says 8000 miles / 310 days.

I'm contemplating dropping the oil and filling with fresh oil, but leaving the filter change until next year when it will need a service anyway.
I don't like the idea of the original oil being in there for two years, especially given our low mileage and short journeys.
I know changing the oil, but not the filter, is not best practice, but I figure it is better than leaving the original oil in there for another year.
And I would prefer to leave the filter change to VW so there is no wriggle room on warranty. I would obviously use the correct specification oil.

Does the engine management system actively analyse the oil condition using some form of sensor, or is it calculated based on a usage/driving pattern algorithm?
If I change the oil, the last thing I want to happen is the mileage/days remaining drops significantly causing the system to prompt an oil change service before the main service is due!!

Any insights would be much appreciated.

WelshGas · Monday at 9:48 AM

lohr500 said:
Our 204 4Motion Cali is just over a year old and has covered 6000 miles.
The oil service indicator says 8000 miles / 310 days.

I'm contemplating dropping the oil and filling with fresh oil, but leaving the filter change until next year when it will need a service anyway.
I don't like the idea of the original oil being in there for two years, especially given our low mileage and short journeys.
I know changing the oil, but not the filter, is not best practice, but I figure it is better than leaving the original oil in there for another year.
And I would prefer to leave the filter change to VW so there is no wriggle room on warranty. I would obviously use the correct specification oil.

Does the engine management system actively analyse the oil condition using some form of sensor, or is it calculated based on a usage/driving pattern algorithm?
If I change the oil, the last thing I want to happen is the mileage/days remaining drops significantly causing the system to prompt an oil change service before the main service is due!!

Any insights would be much appreciated.

The Days is a simple calculation since last reset. A sensor monitors the oil conductivity, carbon content I believe, which varies depending on driving style. So if you do an oil change without a reset. Time to change in Days remains the same, milage to change will increase because of the new oil being less contaminated.
Oil change is miles or days whichever comes first.