I hate guessing at service intervals. Ask a forum how often the official service schedule says to change the oil, and you get ‘opinion’ from dozen’s of helpful folks ranging from every 3,000 miles to once per year, but nothing that I can trust as authoritative. To that end, I always try to provide an official reputable source for the data I will post.
What Does VW Recommend Officially?
Here are scanned copies of the official VW Maintenance Schedule Books from two of the cars we look after. A 2016 GTI SE and 2017 AllTrack. It’s the ultimate source on what the factory says at least. The table below is information we just took from the books.
Volkswagen USA Official 2016 Maintenance Schedule Book
Volkswagen USA Official 2017 Maintenance Schedule Book
Volkswagen Technician Service Manuals – Maintenance Intervals
[And what about dealer’s published service intervals? I don’t trust the dealers to tell you what the basic requirements are. Many times (in my lifetime at least) I’ve gone to a dealer to ask for something like a scheduled 20K service and their ‘list’ includes many more items, and cost, than the manufacturers book in the glove box. When I ask why the difference, they are shocked that I read the book and then fess up that they add items based on their ‘experience’. Sure. So, I stick to the manufacturers guide and common sense.]
Service Manuals and Procedures
If you are looking for the service schedule its likely you are gearing up to tackle your own maintenance. I’ve tracked down the official VW Workshop Service manuals and have them linked on the Service Manuals page. I’ve also found good YouTube videos for many of the items and have them all posted on the Knowledge page. Hopefully these resources help you out.
Service Schedule
We’ve created this from the service books linked above, and are including only the information for the USA VW Golf GTI, AllTrack Mk7 1.8/2.0 Turbo TSI engines only (2015-2017). Be sure to verify this matches up with your own vehicles book and specs.
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Mileage | 10K | 20K | 30K | 40K | 50K | 60K | 70K | 80K | 90K | 100K | 110K | 120K |
| Oil and Filter Replace | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Cabin Filter Replace | 2yr | 4yr | 6yr | 8yr | 10yr | 12yr | ||||||
| Auto Trans Service | X | |||||||||||
| Manual Trans Service | 50K | 100K | ||||||||||
| DSG Trans Service | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Haldex/VAQ Service | 3yr | 6yr | 9yr | 12yr | ||||||||
| Spark Plug Replacement (TSI) | 6yr | 12yr | ||||||||||
| Engine Air Filter Replace | 6yr | 12yr | ||||||||||
| Brake Fluid Flush | 3yr | 5yr | 7yr | 9yr | 11yr | |||||||
| Clutch Fluid Flush | 3yr | 5yr | 7yr | 9yr | 11yr | |||||||
| Lubricate Door Checks and Pins | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Sunroof Lubricate | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Sunroof Check and Clean Drains | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Tire Pressure Set | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Service Due Reset | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Fluid Check and Top Off: | ||||||||||||
| Engine Coolant Level | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Power Steering Fluid | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Washer Fluid | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Brake Fluid | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Inspections: | ||||||||||||
| Engine for Leaks | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Lighting | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Brake System | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Wiper Blades | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Battery | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||
| Tires | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||
| Suspension | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Body | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Engine Coolant | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Ribbed Belt | I | R | I | R | ||||||||
| CV Joints | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Exhaust System | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Headlight Alignment | X | X | X |
What does ShopDap.com Say?
Another place you can look is the ShopDAP.com website. I like the info Paul from ShopDap works hard to share. He has articles for Service Schedules for both the Mk7 GTI and the Mk7 AllTrack. His don’t match up exactly, and I think they are a bit more ‘seat of the pants’ experience based, but well worth considering since he has the experience. He does have a few ‘recommended options’ for additional services that I think are appropriate, like doing the manual transmission fluid at 7 years and the Serpentine Belt every 6 years. He has a profit motive, but he’s also sharing good practical auto knowledge. Check the articles out here:
Stefano's Garage 