I have spent the morning ringing round for an oil service for my 2002 A4 TDi. Out of the 8 garages I got quotes from, 5 said they use generic oil and will be fine if I change it every 10,000 miles.
Luckily I know different and I want longlife oil thats 507 00 spec. I wonder how many people have their cars filled with incorrect oil from unknowing garages.
Have I been unlucky this morning or is it as widespread as my little survey suggests?
In the end, I have it booked in at a VW specialist for £180 which isnt too bad. Audi themselves only wanted £220 but they couldnt give me a courtesy car for the next 3 weeks and I dont fancy walking 30 miles to work after dropping it off!
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That's very common; the ignorance about modern lubricants [and everything else] is widespread throughout the industry.
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Even on my (now getting on) diesel Merc, it got so confusing after talking to several MB dealers that I bought my own oil and took it the dealer (handily saving £70 too).
I *think* they used it, but they may well have kept it for themselves and put any old rubbish in the car. :-(
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Not just VW garages. Plenty of examples on the Vauxhall internet forums about current Vauxhalls being deliberately refilled, by main dealers no less, with semi synthetic 10-40 rather than the correct 5-30 fully synthetic to Vauxhall spec.
JS
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Ignorance is still widespread on this issue ... mind you, when I got my Passat PD in early 2003, there were horror stories on the SeatCupra forums of some Seat main dealers not using PD oils either ...
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Luckily I know different and I want longlife oil thats 507 00 spec.
I have a 2007 Skoda Octavia with the 105 TDI engine. The manufacturers manual clearly states that VW 507.00 is only required if
a) servicing is on a flexible service interval
b) servicing is on a 10,000 mile interval but the engine has a diesel particle filter (not applicable to my car)
If not then then VW505 01 specification is required
The engine was factory filled with 507.00 oil but as it is on a 10,000 mile fixed service interval the main dealer advise that they will use 505.01 when the car is serviced. They also advise that is is in order to top up with 505.01 pending the first service.
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>>a) servicing is on a flexible service interval
This is what mine is on due my my mileage. Last oil change was 23,500 miles ago though so it can last more than the 20K they state as normal. Most of my travelling is 70 on the motorway for 600 miles a week - although soon to drop to 300 due to a new job thank goodness.
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In the end I have it booked in at a VW specialist for £180 which isnt too bad. Audi themselves only wanted £220 but they couldnt give me a courtesy car for the next 3 weeks and I dont fancy walking 30 miles to work after dropping it off!
£180 !!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in the wrong job.
The last time I had my Passat "PD" oil changed I asked the garage (recommended on this site), if I could supply the oil and filter and they were okay with this, (after I found-out they also did not know about "PD" specific oil). I got a genuine VW filter from the local dealer (cheaper than Halfords), and Morris PD oil from a factor. The parts cost me about £30 and the garage charged me £20 +VAT.
I would have done it myself, but after once doing this........ never again (with old engine oil from a diesel car.............terrible stuff). £20 was a bargain.
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Is £180 a bit steep then?
My last service was over £600 but included the cambelt so didnt think £180 was too bad. They are doing the oil, fuel and air filter and supposed to be flushing the engine and injectors and adding the expensive oil! I have just bought a litre from Halfords as my low oil light has come on - yes 4 days before its all being drained out:-( and that cost me £16.99. Only put 200ml in though to keep the light happy!
I service my MGTF myself and my wifes 214 but my Audi looks a bit more complicated - although in practice it probably isnt!
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You don't need 507 on a 2002 car (although it will do) as the car pre-dates the oil spec, but you do need the correct PD oil spec from the time or higher (including 507)
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It gets more confusing then! Didnt 507 00 replace the original spec oil? You cant buy the older stuff in Halfords now - its only 507 00.
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Mate,.... I recently (well 6 months ago) serviced my wife tdi... I got all the parts from German Swedish and French, including the correct PD..... If my minds serves me correctly the oil was about £40.... and the filter minimal.... (compared to the full cambelt, Aux belts, Aux tensioner and cam belt idler i bought at the sametime)
fyi: changing the oil on a audi is very easy......
H
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I've just bought a litre of 507.00 oil from my local VW dealer for £13.99 inc vat, also the oil change can be done at one of the VW Express Service centres while-you-wait (jobs that take less than an hour) and you don't need to book it in, they advertise that you should be able to just drive up and get it done(?).
£180 isn't too bad if like you say you're having all of the filters changed as well as the correct oil, but if you have the time and inclination then it's nearly always cheaper to do it yourself (and you know that the correct oil has definitely been used!).
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The car's handbook will undoubtedly give information regarding service intervals and which oil is recommended. This should be your "bible" on the subject. Does your preferred oil comply with the car manufacturer's advice?
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My handbook says
Diesel: Vw505.00/VW505.01/Vw507.00/Vw506.01
Diesel injector pump: Vw505.01/Vw507.00/Vw506.01
Diesel injector pump motor: 118kw vw506.01/Vw507.00
Diesel engine with DPF: vw507.00
no wonder people are confused.
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Even vw garages have been known to screw up on oil used. i can get a vw filter from volkswagen for £5 and costco sell castrol edge 5w 30 , 506 01 for £11 for 3 litres(£3.70/litre). At that price ill change the oil myself and have piece of mind its got the right oil in it and save a packet
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"Luckily I know different and I want longlife oil thats 507 00 spec"
If you change the oil at 10k and I would not of thought it is good practice to exceed that mileage without an oil change then what is so special about 507 00 oil ? .VW are like any other francise they will have big vats of oil probably one for diesel engines and one for petrol if you are lucky they will tell you they have filled it with yaks milk if it keeps the punter happy.
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Mine is on longlife so around 20K changes! It was the garages suggesting that any oil will do for 10K changes which is still wrong!
These engines must be pretty hardy though as you rarely hear of failures and there must be 1000s running around on wrong oil
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The reason I querie it is that my BIL's passat has over 500k on the clock run from Hamburg to Dresden and back on a very regular basis has never seen the inside of a VW agents only when it was collected from new it runs on a mixture of homemade fuel and bought fuel and gets the cheapest oil possible better things to spend money on than spoiling a car is his theory.
Edited by Andy Bairsto on 09/09/2008 at 12:53
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It's probably a pre-PD engine, which will run on any reasonable motor oil.
The PDs have a highly stressed camshaft and follower system; paradoxically the engine valves are more highly stressed than the roller-follower unit injector cams due to space limitations making them too narrow.
Run a PD on a non approved oil at your own risk. It's senseless, an approved 505.01 oil which can be run to 10k miles/1 year costs little more than a good standard semi-synth oil. The PD engines (especially the 1.9s) are far too good to wreck.
659.
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