This morning the oil light was flashing - bonnet frozen so traveled a few miles to warm things up. checked the oil and it only just showed on the dip stick - so stopped at first garage,

They had no 5/40 (505-01) oil - so bought the closest - Castrol Magnatec 10/40. Put a litre of that in,

Then got some proper 505-01 a few miles up the road. Car runs really smooth now (silly me); it was really starting badly (not suprisingly).

I have a service due in 2000 miles - will this oil mix be OK do you think, until then?

I kind of figured any oil is better than no oil?

Just get it serviced when you can.

One litre of non 505.01 should be OK - there's something in the manual about it. As long as the oil you put in meets whatever minimum spec is in the manual (A3/B3, I think), then it's OK in theory. I'd still be inclined to get a full sump of the proper stuff at the next available opportunity, though - it's up to you and how quickly you'll rack up those 2000 miles before the next service I suppose...

When you take your car for a service, Get the garage to put a litre top up bottle in your boot,

Top-up bottle is £10.58 from the dealer, Or £14 off a garage forecourt.

One litre of non 505.01 should be OK - there's something in the manual about it. As long as the oil you put in meets whatever minimum spec is in the manual (A3/B3, I think), then it's OK in theory. I'd still be inclined to get a full sump of the proper stuff at the next available opportunity, though - it's up to you and how quickly you'll rack up those 2000 miles before the next service I suppose...

Thanks for your message.

the service would be in around 3 weeks - but I may bring it forwards a week, and get it done a little early.

When you take your car for a service, Get the garage to put a litre top up bottle in your boot,

Top-up bottle is £10.58 from the dealer, Or £14 off a garage forecourt.

Or £19.99 in the M&S service station on the A303!

When you get your car serviced, a 5 Litre bottle of Synta (or whatever oil they use) is included in the price, ask them to use use a 5 Litre bottle and give you the remaining contents left over in that bottle. That way you don't have to pay extra for a top up bottle.

I presume Skoda dealers are all independent like Volkswagen dealers so ring up nearby dealers and get quotes. To give you an example Abridge Loughton wanted £270 for a 50k service where as Alan Day City wanted £240!

Edited 4 January, 201016 yr by nick_uk

hello DJthompson

one other thing to consider is how did you lose the oil , it may have been burned in the engine or it may have leaked out. neither is terribly desirable but i have had two instances on my octavia rs of leaks , both from an inadequately tight oil filter cover ( dealer serviced car ! ) the filter is just below the front passenger side mounting bracket for the engine cover - might be worth having a look at that.

Also worth checking coolant, if the coolant is low or empty the car will burn oil alot quicker.

hello DJthompson

one other thing to consider is how did you lose the oil , it may have been burned in the engine or it may have leaked out. neither is terribly desirable but i have had two instances on my octavia rs of leaks , both from an inadequately tight oil filter cover ( dealer serviced car ! ) the filter is just below the front passenger side mounting bracket for the engine cover - might be worth having a look at that.

Thanks, I'll check that. TBH I tend to top up with 500ml around about now a couple of thousand before the 10k service, and I haven't done. But the engines burnt a bit more than usual.

Coolant level is spot on.

Cheers, D