I broke mine in as per the manual though it's first run was a variable speed run of over 200 miles. It used 1.5l of oil in the first 1500 miles and absolutely none thereafter.

One vital thing here though is if you check the oil and its below the mark put in any oil of the same viscosity thats better than running with low oil and then putting in the special PD oil.

Also note a friend of mine had a VW130PD he serviced it himself from new and used Castrol Turbo Diesel or Mobil for Diesels. He never used the VW "Special oil for PD engines" and has had it for 7 years now & I think hes up to min 120k.

Now Im not saying its wrong or right but this goes to show you its not really needed - unless of course he is highly lucky.

One vital thing here though is if you check the oil and its below the mark put in any oil of the same viscosity thats better than running with low oil and then putting in the special PD oil.

Also note a friend of mine had a VW130PD he serviced it himself from new and used Castrol Turbo Diesel or Mobil for Diesels. He never used the VW "Special oil for PD engines" and has had it for 7 years now & I think hes up to min 120k.

Now Im not saying its wrong or right but this goes to show you its not really needed - unless of course he is highly lucky.

These are fair points. If I remember rightly from the manual, you can top-up with up to 0.5l of any oil between services (might even be 1.0l) without affecting your warranty or risking damage, and also you can use ACEA B2 or B3 (I think) "if the approved oil is not available" - presumably for drivers of PD-engined cars in far-off places!

At the end of the day, it's up to the individual. If you use oil for turbo-diesel engines, chances are you'll probably be OK - the price difference between generic PD oil and generic turbo-diesel oil is pretty small these days, so it's really down to whether you're bothered about following the instructions and/or saving a few quid come service time...

I have not used anything really in nearly 4k, and those 4k have been a hard 4k in the life of the car

You get the amber oil light long before any damage is done anyway.

I'd say its pretty normal to check your fluid levels once a week, brake fluid, screen wash, oil & coolant level.

It takes all of a minute to do those checks. You should also be checking your spare wheel once a week and you should visably check all 4 tyres for flat/under inflated/damages/vandalised on every use of the car.

Brakes should be checked every 5k give or take - with discs all round its very simple to see if any part of the pad isnt in contact with the disc and just use a mirror and a torch to see the other side of the disc.

Simple checks anyone can do and these are all around safety & damage prevention and cost you nothing.

Woops!

I've slightly overfilled mine. it's right up to the top of the indentation way past the dotted lines. Obviously a tad over zealous with my pouring. It's says on the cap it could damage the cat.

Should i drain some of it out, or leave it seeing as i've only done 4k in it and the engne will probably use the excess anyway??