The Itty Bitty NOVA VW Committee

[Sijray21]

Aren't the MkVII supposed to be nicer on oil than the MkVI?

i would assume so, being a newer design. i know the mid-gen mkvi refresh (late '12 to '13) changed a few things including an oil-pressure-driven timing chain tensioner that was an issue for the earlier ea888 motors (gtis and tiguans 2012 and older). Doing oil changes on the mkvii is easy enough that i really don't mind doing it every 5k just to be sure (works out to be about 2 times a year). I'm sure running it to 10k isn't a huge deal, but i've been paranoid with what i've read about for timing chain tensioner failures on cars of my generation. Plus the oil filter location is so nice compared to other cars i've owned that i almost feel obligated to do it myself and every 5k for the long-term reassurance.