Castrol diesel oil is £15 ish at Tesco garages and is good for Skodas it a big bottle 4 litres

Edited 15 December, 200817 yr by Banana-Man

Castrol diesel oil is £15 ish at Tesco garages and is good for Skodas it a big bottle 5 litres

That's an incredible price if the oil in question actually correctly conforms to the VW Specs listed above.

When I was searching the Halfords own brand seemed the cheapest option at just over £40.

That's an incredible price if the oil in question actually correctly conforms to the VW Specs listed above.

When I was searching the Halfords own brand seemed the cheapest option at just over £40.

I have a Petrol VRS and all I am worried about is:

1. the car actually has oil in it and the red or orange light is not on

2. that my brother-in-law who is a Skoda Mechanic and professionally maintains my car says semi-synthetic 10 40w oil is good, that's OK with me - this is what Skoda said I should use when doing a 10k mile oil and filter service as well - they didn't give all the blah, blah, blah either over the phone - the were straight to be honest

All the specs stuff WTF is that. - it's not a £10million formula 1 car - it's a £4000 if that car. You put the cheapest petrol in at Tescos and it goes just the same as the shell High Octane stuff that's much dearer.. I was putting neat vegetable oil in my wifes Peugeot 406 as fuel until they put the price of it up above the price of diesel.

Oil is oil?

Petrol is Petrol?

Specs 501 & 502.76 blah blah blah is just being anal - the car manufacturers are probably pushing certain oils for companies so they can get it cheaper in new cars and get it on their stock list anyway - that's the cynic in my maybe. science baffles people!

10 40w is the viscosity which is what matters - don't let the adverts tell you about all these fancy science words to scare you into a different brand of oil because it has pepto-peptides and it won't wreck your engine the second you turn the key. I bet most oil for cars come from the same refinery and tankered off and bottled/branded/priced to what ever. You are not going to sit there with your chemistry kit working out what atomic particles your oil has in it? Is anyone?

Anyway - go down you local Tesco Garage and take a squizz for yourself. I am happy to put Castrol in my VRS at £14.98 for 4 litres a pop - I saw the same oil exately in a BP garage in Bordon in Hampshire last weekend for £36.99 - I even told the manager - he just shrugged his managerial shoulders and said jog on mate. I paid £10.50 for a litre of oil to get me back to Portsmouth as orange light came on.

Edited 15 December, 200817 yr by Banana-Man

It's all very confusing, I use GM 5/30 fully synth in mine, I get it for £22 for 5 litres trade, I've had no problems with it yet and iirc it's Mobil 1 rebranded anyway, mines a non dpf 1.9, but this oil is used in the whole VXR range which do have dpf's, and a mate who has a dpf Superb has just had to have his dpf done @ 75k has been using the proper dealer service oils.

Unless things have changed recently, the GM oil is not a Mobil 1 re-brand. It will certainly be a re-brand from one of the oil majors but not ExxonMobil, (AFAIK).

As other folk have pointed out - if the correct VW spec isn't shown on the container label then it ain't what you need. Viscosity is only one factor to consider.

I have a few 1 litre bottles of Esso 505.01 looking for a good home if anyone wants to make me a reasonable(ish) offer. Bought it for the old Furby vRS and never used it. You can only buy the Esso 505.01 from Esso Distributors; they don't retail it - for reasons that doubtless make sense to someone.

There is SO much wrong with this post I can't even begin.

If your mechanic says 10/40 is okay, he is NOT a professional at his job as he is quoting the wrong oil. I assume he's familiar with the oil and sludge/dead engine issues in the 1.8T stemming from oil, flushing and interval issues?

Because you put some vegoil in your 406, does not mean that it's good practice. It means you got away with it. I recenlty had a copletely seized and totaled TDi from the same reason, wrong oil, wrong changes, running on vegoil and oil polymerisation (all that chemistry stuff) caused total engine failure. Another guy on the phone a couple weeks ago seized his HP pump and snapped the cambet after using vegoil in his HDI.

Rule #1 because something bad didn't happen to you, does not mean that it cannot happen.

Rule #2 because you don't believe, reseach or practice something does not mean it is not true.

All oil is not equal. Of course your car is yours to do with as you will and I'm sure it will be probably fine. A bit like drinking water from an unknown source, I'll probably be fine but it's not good practice and a few people get sick from it every day.

Similarly people on here say cambelt change intervals are money making exercises for the dealers. Similarly this board has lots of posts from those that had a cambelt snap.

Pays money, takes choice.

Good luck though, IMHO of course, Greg.

I have a Petrol VRS and all I am worried about is:

1. the car actually has oil in it and the red or orange light is not on

2. that my brother-in-law who is a Skoda Mechanic and professionally maintains my car says semi-synthetic 10 40w oil is good, that's OK with me - this is what Skoda said I should use when doing a 10k mile oil and filter service as well - they didn't give all the blah, blah, blah either over the phone - the were straight to be honest

All the specs stuff WTF is that. - it's not a £10million formula 1 car - it's a £4000 if that car. You put the cheapest petrol in at Tescos and it goes just the same as the shell High Octane stuff that's much dearer.. I was putting neat vegetable oil in my wifes Peugeot 406 as fuel until they put the price of it up above the price of diesel.

Oil is oil?

Petrol is Petrol?

Specs 501 & 502.76 blah blah blah is just being anal

10 40w is the viscosity which is what matters - don't let the adverts tell you about all these fancy science words to scare you into a different brand of oil because it has pepto-peptides and it won't wreck your engine the second you turn the key. I bet most oil for cars come from the same refinery and tankered off and bottled/branded/priced to what ever.

I have a Petrol VRS and all I am worried about is:

1. the car actually has oil in it and the red or orange light is not on

2. that my brother-in-law who is a Skoda Mechanic and professionally maintains my car says semi-synthetic 10 40w oil is good, that's OK with me - this is what Skoda said I should use when doing a 10k mile oil and filter service as well - they didn't give all the blah, blah, blah either over the phone - the were straight to be honest

All the specs stuff WTF is that. - it's not a £10million formula 1 car - it's a £4000 if that car. You put the cheapest petrol in at Tescos and it goes just the same as the shell High Octane stuff that's much dearer.. I was putting neat vegetable oil in my wifes Peugeot 406 as fuel until they put the price of it up above the price of diesel.

Oil is oil?

Petrol is Petrol?

Specs 501 & 502.76 blah blah blah is just being anal - the car manufacturers are probably pushing certain oils for companies so they can get it cheaper in new cars and get it on their stock list anyway - that's the cynic in my maybe. science baffles people!

10 40w is the viscosity which is what matters - don't let the adverts tell you about all these fancy science words to scare you into a different brand of oil because it has pepto-peptides and it won't wreck your engine the second you turn the key. I bet most oil for cars come from the same refinery and tankered off and bottled/branded/priced to what ever. You are not going to sit there with your chemistry kit working out what atomic particles your oil has in it? Is anyone?

Anyway - go down you local Tesco Garage and take a squizz for yourself. I am happy to put Castrol in my VRS at £14.98 for 4 litres a pop - I saw the same oil exately in a BP garage in Bordon in Hampshire last weekend for £36.99 - I even told the manager - he just shrugged his managerial shoulders and said jog on mate. I paid £10.50 for a litre of oil to get me back to Portsmouth as orange light came on.

:feedtrol:

There is SO much wrong with this post I can't even begin.

If your mechanic says 10/40 is okay, he is NOT a professional at his job as he is quoting the wrong oil. I assume he's familiar with the oil and sludge/dead engine issues in the 1.8T stemming from oil, flushing and interval issues?

Because you put some vegoil in your 406, does not mean that it's good practice. It means you got away with it. I recenlty had a copletely seized and totaled TDi from the same reason, wrong oil, wrong changes, running on vegoil and oil polymerisation (all that chemistry stuff) caused total engine failure. Another guy on the phone a couple weeks ago seized his HP pump and snapped the cambet after using vegoil in his HDI.

Rule #1 because something bad didn't happen to you, does not mean that it cannot happen.

Rule #2 because you don't believe, reseach or practice something does not mean it is not true.

All oil is not equal. Of course your car is yours to do with as you will and I'm sure it will be probably fine. A bit like drinking water from an unknown source, I'll probably be fine but it's not good practice and a few people get sick from it every day.

Similarly people on here say cambelt change intervals are money making exercises for the dealers. Similarly this board has lots of posts from those that had a cambelt snap.

Pays money, takes choice.

Good luck though, IMHO of course, Greg.

Marcus knows Skodas inside out. He is S** Hot! Sparshatts the Skoda main dealer in Fareham ring him at his garage for advice not the other way around.

If any of you guys know anything about motor oil at all - you would all know that all high performance oil is based on parrafin - The stability of paraffin molecules makes paraffinic base oils more resistant to the chemical changes that can take place in an engine than other types of base oils. That means less sludge, varnish and corrosive wear with a high quality paraffinic base motor oil. All oil has to pass the API & ACEA stringent standards anyway - so you will be guaranteed it is fit for purpose.

Most oils today are "Multigrades", which simply means that the oil falls into 2 viscosity grades (i.e. 10w-40 etc) Multigrades were first developed some 50 years ago to avoid the old routine of using a thinner oil in winter and a thicker oil in summer.

In a 10w-40 for example the 10w bit (W = winter, not weight or watt or anything else for that matter) simply means that the oil must have a certain maximum viscosity/flow at low temperature. The lower the "W" number the better the oils cold temperature/cold start performance.

The 40 in a 10w-40 simply means that the oil must fall within certain viscosity limits at 100 degC. This is a fixed limit and all oils that end in 40 must achieve these limits. Once again the lower the number the thinner the oil, a 30 oil is thinner than a 40 oil at 100 degC etc.

Cambelt changes are necessary you right - but they are a money making extravaganza for dealers. Changing a cambelt is not a long job or hard or expensive on parts. it's easy if you know how to do it, and have got the right tools etc it is just one of them jobs that can be fiddly and tight in engine bay. Cambelt and oil change intervals is not an exact science and they're estimates on when you should do this are exaggerated and there is some scaring you into this expense. I would hate my cambelt to snap I admit so I would change mine at least every 55K 60K just as a matter of caution. for the sake of £125 for the parts and bunging Marcus a drink of £50 to put it in.

As for the vegetable oil as fuel. Yes veg oil is thicker than diesel, we all know this. My cold Bananery heart bleeds for the customer with the wrecked TDi - . Pug 406 TD Not HDi are absolutely bullet proof, a very agricultural engine. Diesel engine were designed to run on Peanut oil and Vegetable oil. they were never forseen to run on Petroleum based oils. Petrol in a Pug 406 TD diesel engine is actually good for cleaning it out. Yes it pinks a bit but copes quite well. The best way to make Veg oil I have found is to get a 20 litre container - put a litre and a half of diesel or petrol in, as an accelerant then fill with Vegetable oil. They say mix it with Kerosene.

Rule #1 because something bad happened to others, does not mean that it can happen to me. Car engines break for numbers of reasons not just ignorance in an oil change or using vegetable oil. There is not a single car engine that is exactly the same as the next.

Rule #2 because you do believe, research or practice something does not mean it is true. This is how religion works but that another subject.

I am one of life's pessimists and cynics I am afraid

Right the important bit - I went back to the Tesco Garage in Havant, Hampshire and checked out the oil for you guys.

Castrol 10w 40 for Petrol engines - 4 litre - Specification VW 505.00 = £14.97

Castrol 10w 40 for Diesel engines - 4 litre - Specification VW 505.00 = £15.97

Marcus knows Skodas inside out. He is S** Hot! Sparshatts the Skoda main dealer in Fareham ring him at his garage for advice not the other way around.

Snipped

Mate

You get my award for funniest post I've read for ages. Keep up the good work.

FWIW Parafin is just one of the many fraction included in crude oil

If you're so happy, go to any high street motorists store and buy 5L of their cheapest synthetic oil and use if for the oil change on your car. When the next change needs doing have an oil quality test done and repeat.

Also FWIW, the TDI's are much more demanding on the oil spec because of the very high pressures generated by the PD injectors.

The following oils meet all three specifications and are thus suitable for use in LongLife Service petrol engines (VW 503 00), diesel engines except ATD (VW 506 00), and diesel engines ATD (VW 506 01):

Aral SuperTronic LongLife II SAE 0W-30

BP Visco 7000 Longlife II SAE 0W-30

Castrol SLX LongLife II 0W-30 (Available from VAG Dealers and Halfords)

Castrol LongLife 2 TOPUP 0W-30

Shell Helix Ultra X 0W-30

Veedol SYNTRON LongLife II + 506 01

The choice is much wider if an oil meeting specifications VW 503 00 and VW 506 00 is used. The following oils meet those VW specifications:

Agip 7005 SAE 0W-30

Aral SuperTronic 2 SAE 0W-30

Boost Oil Alpine 0W-30

DEA Ultec Syn-T Marathon SAE 0W-30

Elf Evolution SAE 0W-30

Esso Ultron (Long Drain) 0W-30

Fuchs TITAN Supersyn SL PCX SAE 0W-30

TITAN Supersyn LONGLIFE PLUS SAE 0W-30

Havoline Synthetic 0W-30

Mobil SHC Formula V 0W-30

MOTUL 8100 E-tech 0W-30

OMV full syn extra SAE 0W-30

Sunoco Synturo Brilliant 0W-30

Total Quartz 9000 0W-30

NB: The later spec VW 504 00 is backwardly compatible with VW 503 00, and VW 507 00 is backwardly compatible with VW 506 00 and VW 506 01. See the thread below for a list of oils meeting those later specs.

See what I mean about the blah, blah blah. the info is just a bit mind numbing - you need to be an oil scientist to put oil in your car

See what I mean about the blah, blah blah. the info is just a bit mind numbing - you need to be an oil scientist to put oil in your car

I suppose you do if reading the owners manual & reading the label on the bottle is what oil scientists do - sounds like money for old rope to me.

Don't they have customer service in the UK anymore? I just ring up car accessory/spare parts place and ask them what oils do they have in stock to suit my car (and tell them the VAG specification it has to meet.) The counter-jockey rattles of a few brands/types and then I go to the manufacturers website & check that they have the VAg type approval or I send an email to the technical department of the oil company. It's not that onerous.

For those that find it too hard - the dealerships will take away your confusion for the right money.

Don't they have customer service in the UK anymore? I just ring up car accessory/spare parts place and ask them what oils do they have in stock to suit my car (and tell them the VAG specification it has to meet.)

For those that find it too hard - the dealerships will take away your confusion for the right money.

I called Sparshatts in Fareham and said what oil does my VRS have and filter etc. I gave my Reg CE02 ... and he said 6K or 12K mile service? I said 6K - he just said use 10w 40 after a bit of tapping on his computer. Marcus my mechanic said the same. nothing was said at all about specs or anything. I am an easy guy to please - I am not troubled by petty details like a spec numbers on a label in the small print - the oil was semi-synthetic Castrol for a petrol engine and had 10w 40 on in and was £15 for 4 litres and the filter was £3 odd from Tims VW and is genuine.

Where am I going wrong everyone? I will not let a dealership do any work for me - even if it is the last resort (I don't ever get to the last resort) I took a Volvo in Cambridge Volvo many moons ago, only to be sat for 3 hours while the mechanic sat and ate his lunch over my engine, while it was on a code reader at £25 + VAT then to be told a small £1 +VAT gasket near the airflow meter was required. and to fit it was £112 + VAT. Never again. I am wiser and uglier these days. If it can't be fixed - I know it can be bodged for sure!

Servicing is easy stuff anyway

I called Sparshatts in Fareham and said what oil does my VRS have and filter etc. I gave my Reg CE02 ... and he said 6K or 12K mile service? I said 6K - he just said use 10w 40 after a bit of tapping on his computer. Marcus my mechanic said the same. nothing was said at all about specs or anything. I am an easy guy to please - I am not troubled by petty details like a spec numbers on a label in the small print - the oil was semi-synthetic Castrol for a petrol engine and had 10w 40 on in and was £15 for 4 litres and the filter was £3 odd from Tims VW and is genuine.

If it's out of warranty then go for it.

If I had the manual in front of me I'd check, but IIRC, for petrol engines, the onerous requirements are for those that choose variable service intervals. If you are on fixed servicing then there's a fair bit of leeway on what you can use. The problem is the way the manual is written, it puts the fear of God into most people.

10w40 is fine in a 1.8T vRS.

However if it has been run on variable the mixing of synth and semi synth causes issues with the oil pump pick up blocking as the detergents etc in the synth break down carbon etc (or so I was told).

It's all very confusing, I use GM 5/30 fully synth in mine, I get it for £22 for 5 litres trade, I've had no problems with it yet and iirc it's Mobil 1 rebranded anyway, mines a non dpf 1.9, but this oil is used in the whole VXR range which do have dpf's, and a mate who has a dpf Superb has just had to have his dpf done @ 75k has been using the proper dealer service oils.

Vauxhall dont run a PD engine, so I kinda find that whole statement a bit laughable to be honest. The whole reason the oil needs to be so good is so it remains stable under the pressure of the camshaft and injector. These run on a roller rocker and the injector generates up to 2050 bar in internal injector pressure so you can imagine how much force is reacting against the camshaft.

I called Sparshatts in Fareham and said what oil does my VRS have and filter etc. I gave my Reg CE02 ... and he said 6K or 12K mile service? I said 6K - he just said use 10w 40 after a bit of tapping on his computer. Marcus my mechanic said the same. nothing was said at all about specs or anything. I am an easy guy to please - I am not troubled by petty details like a spec numbers on a label in the small print - the oil was semi-synthetic Castrol for a petrol engine and had 10w 40 on in and was £15 for 4 litres and the filter was £3 odd from Tims VW and is genuine.

Where am I going wrong everyone?

I see from the info I have put in 'bold' that yours is an Octy I vRS; not an Octy II about which this thread was started.

These cars have differing oil requirements; the Octy II needing a higher spec.

Is this perhaps where some of the confusion about 'which oil?' has crept in?

I have a Petrol VRS and all I am worried about is:

Oil is oil?

Petrol is Petrol?

Specs 501 & 502.76 blah blah blah is just being anal - the car manufacturers are probably pushing certain oils for companies so they can get it cheaper in new cars and get it on their stock list anyway - that's the cynic in my maybe. science baffles people!

10 40w is the viscosity which is what matters - don't let the adverts tell you about all these fancy science words to scare you into a different brand of oil because it has pepto-peptides and it won't wreck your engine the second you turn the key. I bet most oil for cars come from the same refinery and tankered off and bottled/branded/priced to what ever. You are not going to sit there with your chemistry kit working out what atomic particles your oil has in it? Is anyone?

Anyway - go down you local Tesco Garage and take a squizz for yourself. I am happy to put Castrol in my VRS at £14.98 for 4 litres a pop - I saw the same oil exately in a BP garage in Bordon in Hampshire last weekend for £36.99 - I even told the manager - he just shrugged his managerial shoulders and said jog on mate. I paid £10.50 for a litre of oil to get me back to Portsmouth as orange light came on.

The thing that gets me is that in another post of yours, you list all the oils that are apparently recommended for your engine, and they all seem to be 0W-30. Which does make me wonder about you then using 10W-40.

Granted, Q15 in this excellent post: http://briskoda.net/maintenance-performance/16-important-oil-questions-answered/99433/#post1146722 does broadly agree with you, for fixed service intervals at least. (As indeed does some Skoda documentation).

That said, being on variable servicing, I am a bit anal about using something that's 507.00 compliant. And since Castrol Edge 5W-30 is, and I can pick up three one litre bottles for less than £12 at my local Costco, I'm happy and not going to use some weaselp!ss from Tescos to save literally a few pennies

If you want simple, plain advice - just use a VW 504.00/507.00 oil.

You don't need to look at viscosity, and it doesn't matter if your car is an Octy 1, 2 or 2.5, petrol or diesel, this one oil will suit them all.

There, that wasn't complicated at all, was it ?