thanks for the advice Guy, I'll be switching fully synth then. Only had a 40k service 4000 miles ago and oil is looking a bit mucky already. Might just do an oil & filter change for now. What do you reckon?

There are plenty to choose from but I would go for Fuchs as they did the origanl factory fill, however you can use Castrol, Mobil and a few other as long as the code matches the one given in the hand book.

Cheers

Guy.

Mine is on the Castrol longlife stuff, but a tenner a litre is ']expensive stuff

That is the price you pay for having a decent car!

hey Oilman' date=' I take it you are the same person who posts on the MX5 forum as well :D:D:D:D[/quote']

Yep that is us. we get around you know.

There are plenty to choose from but I would go for Fuchs as they did the original factory fill.

Really? Here is a quote from an article by the editor of Petroleum Magazine reprinted in Frontiers in April 2002:

'Over the last nine months Castrol has been supplying the VAG group - VW, Audi, SEAT and Skoda - with service fill oil, for all makes and models, that meets the car manufacturer's specifications for extended service intervals and increased fuel efficiency.'

The article goes on to discuss the development of VW 503 00, 506 00 and 506 01 oils by Castrol for VAG. When I bought my car in 2002, Castrol SLX Longlife II was the only oil stocked and used by the dealer. Furthermore, I believe that Shell Helix Ultra X was the only other such oil available at that time through VAG dealers. Current official advice from VW dealers to their customers about LongLife servicing only mentions Castrol SLX Longlife II, while some if not all Skoda dealers now stock Quantum oil - and maybe others - which also meet the specs for LongLife service intervals and should therefore be entirely suitable.

Update: See my post below. I have since checked and the Quantum oil stocked by my dealer is NOT a LongLife oil - it is a VW 500 00 multigrade oil for non-PD diesel engines. A VAG-branded multigrade high lubricity oil suitable for PD engines on fixed service intervals, and for normal diesel engines, was also available.

Really? Here is a quote from an article by the editor of Petroleum Magazine reprinted in Frontiers in April 2002:

'Over the last nine months Castrol has been supplying the VAG group - VW' date=' Audi, SEAT and Skoda - with service fill oil, for all makes and models, that meets the car manufacturer's specifications for extended service intervals and increased fuel efficiency.'

The article goes on to discuss the development of VW 503 00, 506 00 and 506 01 oils by Castrol for VAG. When I bought my car in 2002, Castrol SLX Longlife II was the only oil stocked and used by the dealer. Furthermore, I believe that Shell Helix Ultra X was the only other such oil available at that time through VAG dealers. Current official advice from VW dealers to their customers about LongLife servicing only mentions Castrol SLX Longlife II, while some if not all Skoda dealers now stock Quantum oil - and maybe others - which also meet the specs for LongLife service intervals and should therefore be entirely suitable. All this makes me wonder if this thread is little more than a sales pitch for Fuchs oil.....[/quote']

I can understand your point of view, however Castrol do not fill the car with engine oil, they apply other lubricants in the car and your quote states "service fill" and this is not the same as factory fill, I know this because I have blown up diagrams to show what oil by what manufacturer goes where, unfortunatly I am not allowed to post them publicly.

You mention oils available through VAG dealers and that is true, however the dealer is a far cry from the manufacturing, dealers in each country can use what they want, so they tend to strike a deal with a company and use their oil as "service fill", you have quantum which is available through VW as an economy oil, or you can have Castrol through a dealer at not so economy prices, have a look for your self.

When I mentioned my choice would be Fuchs, well it would still be and that is my opinion, you can use any oil that meets the VW spec if you wish, Fuchs was my personal opinion based on the facts that I know.

The work done by Castrol to develop these oils was done with the intent to supply the dealer ships post manufacture as Fuchs is not widely available.

Oh and Fuchs supply over 15,000,000 liters of oil a year for factory fill for VAG, so at time of birth, this was the oil in your car.

Cheers

Guy.

Thank you for that reply, Guy. I accept that there is a difference between factory and service fill and that Fuchs supply oil for the former. I have no commercial interest in - nor axe to grind - for Castrol (owned by BP, I believe!) but know that Castrol was one of 4 major lubricant companies asked by VW to develop an oil which would meet specs VW 503 00 and 506 00 and was the first to do so.

I have just picked up an official SkodaUK leaflet from my local Skoda dealer entitled Variable Servicing and Long-Life Oil. That leaflet recommends Castrol SLX LongLife II engine oil for Skoda variable servicing and, no surprise, my dealer stocks it for cars which need a VW 503 00, 506 00 or 506 01 oil for variable servicing. The other 2 oils stocked were a VW/Audi/SEAT/Skoda branded high lubricity engine oil meeting specs 505 01 and 505 00; and Quantum SJ Multigrade which is a 501 00/505 00 (01/97) oil. Both are recommended for diesel-engined cars on fixed service intervals (QG0,QG2) - but the latter is not suitable for the PD engine and is 'only' a multigrade oil.

I did some further digging and found this article which mentions that VW has approved 58 oils meeting specs 503 00 and 506 00 together; 23 meeting 503 01; and 10 meeting 506 01. So it looks like Fuchs and Castrol are but 2 names in the big pond of service fill oil suppliers. As to why Fuchs was chosen to supply oil to VW's engine production plant(s), perhaps the facts that Fuchs has a history stretching back to its formation in Mannheim Germany in 1931, and is the world's largest independent supplier of industrial and specialty oils, had some bearing on that. I live and learn.

i have a dilema then,my chipped octaviva vrs is runnign in or around the 200+bhp mark and is full of mobil1 fully synthetic,i have my 40k service soming soon(37500 to be exact)will/can the dealer provide and use this oil or an i wasting my time taking it to a dealer to be done?

main reason for using a dealer is the first cambelt check on the car,and a few niggles i wan them to look at

or would runniing skoda's choise of oil in it be satisfactory???

Denis,

I agree with what you have said in that post. Ultimatly there are so many to choose from. Where I have an advantage is by being able to determine the different qualities of the oils, we do this by having them chemically tested.

The VW specs are there to be passed, Oil manufacturers pay to have their oil approved, it is similar to the tests that regulate say drinks. Bear with me here, Tescos own brand Coke Cola passes all the tests for human consumption, however is still made to a cost and therefor inferior to the well known brand CokeCola yet they both pass the same tests, this quality issue combined with marketing makes the oil world a merky one.

So its best to stick to a top brand name, Castrol Total Fuchs etc. Then the final decision is what is the best value for money from these top brands and in my opinion, because I sell all these brands is the Fuchs for VAG engines.

Cheers

Guy.

i have a dilema then' date='my chipped octaviva vrs is runnign in or around the 200+bhp mark and is full of mobil1 fully synthetic,i have my 40k service soming soon(37500 to be exact)will/can the dealer provide and use this oil or an i wasting my time taking it to a dealer to be done?

main reason for using a dealer is the first cambelt check on the car,and a few niggles i wan them to look at

or would runniing skoda's choise of oil in it be satisfactory???[/quote']

This is down to value for money in my opinion. You can go to the dealer and have him put in what they use, they will either charge you for this(arm and a legg) or if they dont charge they will use their cheap oil. All of these oils will pass the WV specs however passing is not the same as exceeding. You can buy fuchs which is a top quality oil and at a good price, you can then take it to your dealer and they will put it in for you.

Cheers

Guy.

OK, so am I right in thinking that Castrol SLX Loglife II is fully synthetic. Am I also right in assuming that the Octy vRS comes with this oil in if it is on the variable service program. The reason for asking is that my car is 3 months old and has been chipped and is not due for a service yet, am I ok with the oil thats in it or do I need to change quick :confused:

Cheers

This is down to value for money in my opinion. You can go to the dealer and have him put in what they use' date=' they will either charge you for this(arm and a legg) or if they dont charge they will use their cheap oil. All of these oils will pass the WV specs however passing is not the same as exceeding. You can buy fuchs which is a top quality oil and at a good price, you can then take it to your dealer and they will put it in for you.

Cheers

Guy.[/quote']

cheers for the reply mate.

only one thing to do then,speak to the dealership.they recomend jabbasport and are chip friendly etc,so i think i may be onto a good thing

OK' date=' so am I right in thinking that Castrol SLX Loglife II is fully synthetic. Am I also right in assuming that the Octy vRS comes with this oil in if it is on the variable service program. The reason for asking is that my car is 3 months old and has been chipped and is not due for a service yet, am I ok with the oil thats in it or do I need to change quick :confused:

Cheers[/quote']

All oils that have the 0w rating contain a quantity of PAO synthetic, they have to contain this synthetic to pass the 0w tests. So in a nutt shell it is a synthetic.

The variable program is when your car tells you it needs a service, could be tomorow could be anyhwhere in the next 15,000 miles, the fixed service is when it goes in every 10,000 miles or so regardless. If the car is three months old it should have the factory fill oil in which is fine and no need to change, but do find out what service program you are on.

Cheers

Guy.

All oils that have the 0w rating contain a quantity of PAO synthetic' date=' they have to contain this synthetic to pass the 0w tests. So in a nutt shell it is a synthetic.

The variable program is when your car tells you it needs a service, could be tomorow could be anyhwhere in the next 15,000 miles, the fixed service is when it goes in every 10,000 miles or so regardless. If the car is three months old it should have the factory fill oil in which is fine and no need to change, but do find out what service program you are on.

Cheers

Guy.[/quote']

Thanks Guy, I am on the variable service program, would it be worth changing the oil between services, say every 8000 miles?

Cheers

Adam

Thanks Guy' date=' I am on the variable service program, would it be worth changing the oil between services, say every 8000 miles?

Cheers

Adam[/quote']

Adam,

It is really down to personal choice and prefference, if you are driving the car hard it could be an idea, however why not move to fixed service for peice of mind.

Cheers

Guy

Adam' date='

It is really down to personal choice and prefference, if you are driving the car hard it could be an idea, however why not move to fixed service for peice of mind.

Cheers

Guy[/quote']

Guy

Got 3 years / 3 services thrown in on the deal when I bought the car as it's on the variable rate thingy, may just change it every 8k to be on the safe side.

Adam

Got 3 years / 3 services thrown in on the deal when I bought the car as it's on the variable rate thingy, may just change it every 8k to be on the safe side.

My car has had one service so far at 9263 miles/2 years and probably won't need another until 4 years. So it would only have needed one of those 3 free services. :(

I've heard some horror stories about Mobil 1 and turbocharged car...they were Impreza's so maybe that's not a problem with Skoda's. If you really want top protection and performance with chipped car you need to keep well on top of oil changes and use top oil e.g MOTUL yes very expensive but you get what you pay for and for a treasured modified Octavia I would use it.

Aaquil.

If you really want top protection and performance with chipped car you need to keep well on top of oil changes and use top oil e.g MOTUL yes very expensive but you get what you pay for and for a treasured modified Octavia I would use it.

Using the right VW spec oil is the most important thing. If you have inside knowledge on which brand of oil meeting that spec is best - eg Motul, Fuchs, BP, Castrol or whatever - then go for that too.

Using the right VW spec oil is the most important thing. If you have inside knowledge on which brand of oil meeting that spec is best - eg Motul, Fuchs, BP, Castrol or whatever - then go for that too.

Yes, I agree. The VW specs are the most important thing here, you start going outside of these specs and it could invalidate your warranty. In my opinion when it comes to VW specs stick with Fuchs, Castrol and Mobil. They key is not to be over charged for them.

Cheers

Guy.

Yes' date=' I agree. The VW specs are the most important thing here, you start going outside of these specs and it could invalidate your warranty. In my opinion when it comes to VW specs stick with Fuchs, Castrol and Mobil. They key is not to be over charged for them.

Cheers

Guy.[/quote']

Guy

You seem a nice man but you are in buisiness selling oils. You state that you "test" oils produced by major companies to establish their quality. Hmm, how advanced is your research centre, how many tecnical research staff staff do you have and how well qualified are they?

What process did you use to whittle down the large number of world oil companies to the small group you now sell?

Did you tell those companies that failed the test why?

Coming on to these forums as everyones friend and then selling your wares must be a lucrative buisiness. From what I read above it is like taking candy from a child.

My advice is to go for a top quality synthetic oil chosen carefully from the whole range of what is available out there.

Now then... have any of you though about savings and life insurance..no well as it happens I am the Moneyman and i could do you all a favour..i test all the insurance companies and will only sell you from the ones that give me the best margin..oops!

Coming on to these forums as everyones friend and then selling your wares must be a lucrative buisiness. From what I read above it is like taking candy from a child.

You could apply that to any of the businesses that post on Briskoda. They're all here to make money after all.

As far as i can tell, Guy has been completely open & honest about being a supplier, so there's no real problem, is there?

You're still free to buy oil from your dealer, Halfords, or even Asda if you like.

Hmmm...........as my car is approaching 2 years old , my next service will be my last at a Skoda main dealer , in my last 3 cars(which were all 2nd hand) I always used Mobil 1 and have never suffered any engine problems ...........so I have have a fair idea of which oil I shall be using in the future ........................to be quite honest , I would prefer it to be in my engine now !

My advice is to go for a top quality synthetic oil chosen carefully from the whole range of what is available out there.

Having offered that advice, how do we 'candy eating' 1.8T owners whose cars are on variable servicing decide carefully which of the 58 oils approved by VW as meeting spec VW503 00 is best for our cars? :confused:

That's supposed to be the point of a standard - if an oil meets it, it's OK to use. So why worry about which of the 58 to use? Use whichever fits your pocket, self-image, or whatever other criteria you choose to apply - they ALL meet the standard.

Personally I'm thankful that my car doesn't require exotic oil.

JM2PW

Guy

You seem a nice man but you are in buisiness selling oils. You state that you "test" oils produced by major companies to establish their quality. Hmm' date=' how advanced is your research centre, how many tecnical research staff staff do you have and how well qualified are they?

What process did you use to whittle down the large number of world oil companies to the small group you now sell?

[/quote']

I understand your concern here. Maybe I can clear this up for you. The facilties we use to have our oils tested I can assure you well equiped, the testing is done by R&D chemists for the oil industry some with over 40 years experience, that is what these guys do all day long, formulate oils and also test various oils, new and used. As they are chemists they are not into the sales side, all they do is give facts.

Did you tell those companies that failed the test why?

There is no failing of tests' date=' all the oils we have tested pass the specs required for public use, however just like tescos home brand coca cola, they come in various qualities, haveing them tested tells us which is of higher quality and which is not, due to a court case some years back, a hydrocracked mineral oil and be called a synthetc, which in the true sense of the word is not, unless you have them tested you cannot tell wich is true and wich is not.

Coming on to these forums as everyones friend and then selling your wares must be a lucrative buisiness. From what I read above it is like taking candy from a child.

My advice is to go for a top quality synthetic oil chosen carefully from the whole range of what is available out there.

Now then... have any of you though about savings and life insurance..no well as it happens I am the Moneyman and i could do you all a favour..i test all the insurance companies and will only sell you from the ones that give me the best margin..oops!

I do a lot or work on forums, mainly in an advisory capacity, I do nut openley push our products, if some one is interested than yes I will forward them prices etc and they are hard to beat for the quality, but there has never been any obligation to buy from me, and there never will be. My motivation to come onto this forum is the fact I have a Skoda.

If you are a money man and can help me get a better deal on savings and life insurance, hey I am all ears

Cheers

Guy.

"There is no failing of tests, all the oils we have tested pass the specs required for public use, however just like tescos home brand coca cola, they come in various qualities, haveing them tested tells us which is of higher quality and which is not"

The implication here is clear, any of the oils not in the current (small) list approved by oilman is not up to standard otherwise it would be sold by him.

Reality check here - some of the best impartialy rated oils - extensively used by race/rally teams - are not there! I see that oilman likes polarising the arguments by suggesting that our options are either

1/ Buy tested good value high performance oils from him.

OR

2/ Buy overpriced oil from a dealer or rubbish oil from a supermarket.

But try this version

1/ Buy tested (by the seller) good value (in sellers opinion) high performance oils (from a small range representing a tiny fraction of the quality oils out there) from oilman.

OR

2/ Select your oil from the whole range of oils available to you in the marketplace seeking advice from people who are less partial than distributors/sellers are ever likely to be.

"I do a lot or work on forums, mainly in an advisory capacity, I do nut openley push our products, if some one is interested than yes I will forward them prices etc and they are hard to beat for the quality, but there has never been any obligation to buy from me, and there never will be."

Yes but you puport to be an expert and have made a very convincing psudo objective analysis of the oil options for the readers, coming to the unsurprising conclusion that your firm have the answer to our prayers.

There is no need to force people. they go along with you voluntarily. You have comitted no offence or breached any rules.

That does not mean to say that what is going on here is right.

I mean would you consider it to be good form to have Ronald Macdonald on the beefburger of the year judging advisory panel !

Exactly.