My 1.8T just turned 5,100 and the service indicator never came on. When I took my car into the dealer for the oil change I told the service adviser that the indicator never came on and he told me that it only goes by time (6 months). Surely it should come on at 5,000 miles or 6 months which ever comes first! Is it true that it can only tell time? If not has anyone else had this problem and how did they fix it?<p>Bill P<br>Blk A4 1.8t QMS & all Wett<br>

Interesting about the time. I made the mistake of waiting until 5K miles to make an appointment. There was a 4 wk wait. By the time my turn came around my odometer was at 6225. The service indicator never came on. It was only 5.5 months though.<p>Before oil change, my mileage was 23.3 mpg. In the 2K miles after, my mileage is 24.2 mpg. I haven't changed my driving mix or habits, so I think the mileage is improving as the engine breaks in. Subjectively, it seems to pull a little better now on on-ramps than when new.<p>Mike C.2<br>98 1.8TQMS (no chip yet)<br>

Did you tell your service advisor that the indicator never came on? If so, what was his response? Were they able to fix it?

My car was at 5840 or something when I took it to its first service late because of some reasons, but I never saw the service indicator.

Nope, forgot to mention it. there have been other posts saying that the service indicator doesn't come on at 5K. I remember one post said that it should come on at 6K, but it didn't for me.<p>Mike C.2<br>98 1.8TQMS<br>

Someone told me (salesman, maybe?) that there is a different (heavier) oil in the car for the breakin period, and I could expect a slight increase in performance after the first oil change. I've never heard this confirmed, but it sounds like your experience.<br>

Mine just came on this morning at 14430. Never came on for the first two services. My Guess: It comes on at 7500 and multiples thereof, and it got reset at the first service before it came on. (They probably tried to reset it at 10K too, but that may be too early for the computer to accept it.)<p>98.5 1.8 tqms

*If* the service indicator works on dates, will<br>the Year 2000 problem affect it?<p>Mike D.<br>98.5 1.8tm

My indicator didn't come on until around 8500. If I remember correctly what I read in the manual to turn it off, it said that it comes up a bit after the recommended oil change, so if you are following the recommendation then you won't ever see it. But since the 1.8 has its first service at 5000 instead of the 7500 for the 2.8, I bet that it is just too early to clear the 7500 warning.