So my oil light came on last night when I was a fair few miles from home. Stopped off at Tesco (only place open at that time) and spent literally ages trying to find the right stuff.

Ended up with 5w30 fully synthetic, recommended for VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat plus a couple of others- is this likely to mess with my engine? 1.9 TDi PD 130... any input greatly appreciated.

If it's VW 505.01 compliant then you'll be fine. If it's not, you might not be...might be alright for a top up, but a lot of the camshaft wear issues on PD engines are put down to use of the wrong oil, so if it's not listed as 505.01 on the bottle then I'd seriously look into doing a full change with something that is compliant. Might cost you £50 or so now, but there's the potential to save you hundreds later on.

is your engine running with fixed servicing, or variable? I know that on the non PD unit affects the type of oil you buy (and I guess the same applies to the PD).

I carry a spare few litres of oil in the car, as my car likes to have a drink now and then.... (normally top it up with a few litres over a 30k service interval)

Just checked the service history and it's pretty ****, to be honest. I'm booking it in this coming week so I'm guessing I shouldn't be too worried about the oil for a few more days- it's the correct viscosity and appears to match every other recommended oil. :S

The service intervals are set to QG1, which I believe is variable... anyhoo, according to the service handbook it was last serviced at 106,000. My paperwork says 120,000. I'm slightly confused, so will just get it done by the garage near me for peace of mind. Also would be a good time to get the exhaust clamp sorted out!

is your engine running with fixed servicing, or variable? I know that on the non PD unit affects the type of oil you buy (and I guess the same applies to the PD).

I carry a spare few litres of oil in the car, as my car likes to have a drink now and then.... (normally top it up with a few litres over a 30k service interval)

Yours runs 30k between services on variable?

Wow!

I have just switched to variable at the last service and I am now doing 500 miles per week. I have done 16k since the last service with no countdown to service showing so I guess that means that it is going to do at least 18k between services, but I didn't realise that they would go 30k.

Yours runs 30k between services on variable?

Wow!

Dunno about the PD's but the 1.8T only goes up to 19k, which I thought was the upper limit for all cars

Yep, I seem to get 30k every time on my car (maybe because I have a 120 mile round trip to work), and I avoid doing any short/town trips. Plus I have to feed the car a few litres of oil between changes as it burns a bit, so I suppose that helps keep to fresh (assuming it monitors oil condition, rather than looking at mpg/other performance stats).

I'll see how I get on then. Have to admit I was expecting to see the Service due in xxxx Miles flash up soon.