Polo GTI High Oil Usage - Discussion Thread

[Gambit]

Gavs - you can buy Castrol Edge in Australia but it's only 502.00, not the 504.00 they have in Europe. 502.00 is fine for top-ups.

This is what I used for my 5k self oil change.

[gavs]

Gavs - you can buy Castrol Edge in Australia but it's only 502.00, not the 504.00 they have in Europe. 502.00 is fine for top-ups.

Not for the GTI, the manual says top-ups only of 504 and 507. Edge Sport which is sold in Australia is different to Castrol EDGE 5W-30 which is a specific formulation by Castrol for VW and Audi which cannot be bought through any australian regular retailers, you might be lucky to find a specific importer here and there, but I'm still yet to find one and I've been looking at all the small motorsport related places local to me.

This, is what you get locally:


And it DOES NOT conform to required oil specs for the GTI, an issue if the dealership starts looking deeper into oil consumption warranty claims.....

This, is the proper Castrol EDGE 5W-30 made specific for VW and Audi 504.00 and 507.00 specs:


If anyone is going in for a warranty claim regarding oil especially, and has a sump full of oil that doesn't meet the required specs want's to risk it...... Well, they're braver than me.....

[Transporter]

Just a word of caution. I have noticed that there are oils on shelves that claim they meet VW502.00 specs and are semi synthetic at the best.
That's not a good news for the engine, if you keep your car long enough, using 502.00 and other oil rather than VW504.00/507.00 oils for frequent top ups or even as a complete fill, your engine could get sick when it gets older. But of course it only matters if you would be able to link the symptoms to the improper oil that was used. But hey, you can always blame something else when it comes to it.

The VW approved oils are available at all good parts stores now and the most you pay for 5L is $85 inc. GST, that is less than what would you pay for top of the range Castrol or Mobil1 oils. There is also Penrite in 1L bottle that I found in our local hardware store.

Anyhow, if anybody in Adelaide wants oil for top up, I have 100L of ELF Solaris LLX VW504.00/507.00 (Made in France) and other brands available, and it is $14/L, the same price that I charge on the service invoice.

[brad]

Not for the GTI, the manual says top-ups only of 504 and 507. This, is what you get locally:


And it DOES NOT conform to required oil specs for the GTI, an issue if the dealership starts looking deeper into oil consumption warranty claims.....

This, is the proper Castrol EDGE 5W-30 made specific for VW and Audi 504.00 and 507.00 specs:
If anyone is going in for a warranty claim regarding oil especially, and has a sump full of oil that doesn't meet the required specs want's to risk it...... Well, they're braver than me.....

Gavs
Would be interested to see a scan of the relevant page of the manual to see how the oil recomendations are evolving.

In my EA888 block 1.8TSI 502.00 is good to go. They even give the green light to lower spec oils with some caveats but as transporter says, long term & for the small premium you may as well use 504.00

Personally, I let the workshop use 504.00 & dump it after 10,000km & refill with 502.00 for the remaining 5,000km. No technical reason except I have a few bottles of Edge Sport on the shelf that I want to use up.

[RoknRob]

I'm pretty sure my manual, like Gavs', calls for 504/507 too.

If anybody is worried about whether they are getting the right oil or not, your VW dealer will sell you the right stuff - at a premium, of course, but at least with less hassle. 1L of VW Long Life III was $28, I think, and I was quoted $80 for 5 L. As I mentioned before, at my local dealer, the service woman behind the counter told the parts guy to sell me only 1L, as she would refill it for me (at their cost? At my cost? At no cost? Not sure yet...)

[Hooti3]

Well my car goes in for the oil consumption test tomorrow.

Should be interesting to see what happens after 1000kms.

[gavs]

Gavs
Would be interested to see a scan of the relevant page of the manual to see how the oil recomendations are evolving.

In my EA888 block 1.8TSI 502.00 is good to go. They even give the green light to lower spec oils with some caveats but as transporter says, long term & for the small premium you may as well use 504.00

Personally, I let the workshop use 504.00 & dump it after 10,000km & refill with 502.00 for the remaining 5,000km. No technical reason except I have a few bottles of Edge Sport on the shelf that I want to use up.

No worries, shoot me a PM as a reminder tomorrow, teh scanner has already been shut down here and can't be bothered waiting for 15 mins for it to fire up

[gavs]

Ok, straight from the manual, in reference to the GTI, unless someone at a different dealership can confirm or deny, but the 2 I have deat with have both said that in australia, ALL vehicles are on long-life service schedules so they MUST run the approved oil, being 504.00

[brad]

Gavs
NO passenger vehicle in Australia is on long life service schedule. We are all on fixed (15,000km/12months) service intervals.

Long Life service is actually a variable service interval. It means that the "Service now" indicator will come on anywhere between 15,000-30,000km or 12m-24m. read this - they are pretty keen on long life in the UK

Non-long Life is 12m/15,000km

So you are right - if you run your petrol engined car under the Long Life regime (which we don't do in Australia) then you have no choice but to use 504.00. but if you are on fixed service intervals (non-Long life) & for some reason want to save a few dollars or feel 502.00 is suitable for your driving style then you can drop back to 502.00.

in summary, as I keep on discovering, the service personnel in Australia still haven't grasped the finer points of VW servicing.

[gavs]

in summary, as I keep on discovering, the service personnel in Australia still haven't grasped the finer points of VW servicing.

I think that comment sums it all up TO confirm though, the GTi is a long-life service vehicle, as shown by the following 2 images out of the service schedule:






Now, to be truthfull, i cannot confirm 100% because I do not have the mandatory confirmation cross in the box on page 3 because I haven't had my first service yet, though, based on having the specified code in the book, I'm lead to believe that this particular GTi is a long-life service vehicle. Not that it bothers me, because I for one will most likely be chosing my own oil anyway