Good day.

New to your forum and have a question about the 2010 tiguan that the wife and I picked up last year. After a couple of dealer oil changes have decided to do every other oil change myself.

I have been doing oil changes on cars for the past 30 years so this shouldn't be difficult and while I certainly didn't want to start with a question like this as a new-bee but where is the drain plug on this car.

Do I drop the plastic pan to get at the oil pan or is it the aluminum plug slightly off centre towards the drivers side of the car.

Thanks in advance for your help on this one

You'll need to remove the under engine cover in order to access the filter and drain plug.

Thanks.

Actually I did some searching and found it.

Pretty dumb first question to the forums. I had a GTI back in the day and everything was right there when you crawled underneith

Oil is changed and we are good to go for another run. Follow up question, the oil was changed at the dealer 7000KM ago and was black as anything, I had read that the oil comes out of the car clean as it goes in. I am wondering if maybe they forgot to drain and change the oil on the last go.

Cheers

Follow up question, the oil was changed at the dealer 7000KM ago and was black as anything, I had read that the oil comes out of the car clean as it goes in.

this would proabably be true if you changed the oil, didn't drive the vehicle for three months and then attempted to drain the oil. it's going to be dirty because it is doing its job...

this would proabably be true if you changed the oil, didn't drive the vehicle for three months and then attempted to drain the oil. it's going to be dirty because it is doing its job...

Understood now, thanks.

I tend to change the oil every 5K in the other vehicles so this is my first experience with synthetic oils. I have a hard time going the 15K as the dealer suggests and was surprised the oil had such a job to do, it looked dirtier than what the ole GM does after a 5K run with normal oil.

Guys thanks for your quick responses, I will do my best to come up with better questions next time around

Anybody tried to do a topside oil change?
On my Golf TDI i go down through the dipstick tube using a 12v marine oil changer and pull the oil out that way, no need to go under the car as the filter is right there too

... I have a hard time going the 15K as the dealer suggests and was surprised the oil had such a job to do, it looked dirtier than what the ole GM does after a 5K run with normal oil.

the first few oil changes will be in the break-in period. you will experience more metallic break-down while the moving parts are settling in with one another. running 15k or 10,000 miles between oil changes is perfectly fine if you are using the vehicle in its intended operating range. lets say you start off-roading or daily spirited driving and you start giving your engine a run for its money; then you may want to change it a little early. otherwise, just keep an eye on the oil level until you get to the 15k mark. you may have to top it off near the end of the run. some people on here do oil changes at 5,000 miles. its seems to be a good happy-medium.

also, welcome to the VWOC and enjoy your stay :)

the first few oil changes will be in the break-in period. you will experience more metallic break-down while the moving parts are settling in with one another. running 15k or 10,000 miles between oil changes is perfectly fine if you are using the vehicle in its intended operating range. lets say you start off-roading or daily spirited driving and you start giving your engine a run for its money; then you may want to change it a little early. otherwise, just keep an eye on the oil level until you get to the 15k mark. you may have to top it off near the end of the run. some people on here do oil changes at 5,000 miles. its seems to be a good happy-medium.

also, welcome to the VWOC and enjoy your stay :)

Thanks, glad I found this site. I had been looking for a tiguan-VW forum back when we were looking at the car but this site never came up.

My plan on this is to use the dealer for the specified maintenance at every 15,000KM and I will get under the car and do it on the 7500 KM plus or minus intervals.

We have had the car for 8 months now and packed on a few more miles than I had wanted at 23,000 KM (had to do a lot of road trips). Its a sweet car, a little harder on gas than I hoped but I guess you have to pay one way or the other for the all wheel drive

the site may not have come up as a tiguan forum back then. there has been some changes to this site over the past year. the original owner decided to open it up to the rest of the VW line-up. previously, this site was backboned by the rabbit/golf owners (i believe they/we are still the majority); that being said, everyone here seems to be welcoming the new groups really well. this, along with its few resident vw technicians makes this site a little more unique compared to the usual internet vehicle forums...

i wouldn't personally do an oil change because of the warranty. if u do it yourself your probably saving 10 bucks

I did my first oil change at 3,000 miles.
IMPORANT: make sure to use only oil that says it meets VW standard 502.00 (or better). I bought mine from the dealer because I couldn't find it in the local stores.

i wouldn't personally do an oil change because of the warranty.

doing your own oil changes properly will not effect your warranty. just keep receipts as proof for what got put into your vehicle, and the dates of the services performed.

doing your own oil changes properly will not effect your warranty. just keep receipts as proof for what got put into your vehicle, and the dates of the services performed.

I am still taking the car in for its 15000K service but I do the oil and filter in the 7500 range with the correct oil and oil filter. @ luke I think the savings is in the 30 dollar range on parts and that is not really worth it but its a pain to take time off work and getting to the dealer across town when they are available.

I had the discussion with the service manager re the oil changes and he said the warranty would be fine but if something like an oil plug got stripped and they had to replace the pan then I would likely be on the hook for it. I just have to trust that the dealershop knows what they are doing when I let them near the car on the 15Ks :)

Thanks for the comments back

...I think the savings is in the 30 dollar range on parts and that is not really worth it but its a pain to take time off work and getting to the dealer across town when they are available.

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