Dealer used Havoline 5W-40 12month service, 2.0 TSI

[brad]

Dealer charge was $75 for 4.9L.

I think that's a bit rich. My dealer was charging me $75 for Valvoline 504.00 (fleet discount + some other loyalty discount they had).

Dealer prices for 504.00 will generally be $75-$95. I would expect any 502.00 to be in the region of $50-70 from the dealer.

For those of you that want some competitively priced Mobil1 502.00 (I don't believe they have any 504.00 approved oils yet)
gllubricants.com

[RSOK]

Thanks for the price.

In regards to service, you can always supply your own oil, and provided that it's 502 or 504 approved, I'm sure they'll still stamp the book.

Think I will do that in future, $75 for 502 spec from dealer or $75 for 504 spec supplied by me... no brainer really.

[RSOK]

[QUOTE=brad;641374]I think that's a bit rich. My dealer was charging me $75 for Valvoline 504.00 (fleet discount + some other loyalty discount they had).

Seems that way doesn't it, but I wasn't about to argue seeing as how it was my first dealer service experience and the overall customer service experience was quite good. I'll know to supply my own 504.00 oil at the 24 month service.

[Corey_R]

Yeah - last time I was at a Liqui-Moly stockist, I bought a 5L bottle for $80 and I intend to provide that to whoever does my service.

[Diesel_vert]

I would expect any 502.00 to be in the region of $50-70.

Prices can vary considerably more than that because it's an older spec. You can formulate a 502 oil that only meets the minimum test requirements (which IMO wouldn't be that good for its intended applications), or you can formulate a very good 502 oil that far exceeds these requirements (bolstered by other manufacturer specs).

The problem is that if you're looking for quality, the onus is on you to pick out an excellent 502 oil as opposed to an average 502 oil - which can be difficult to do objectively, especially when it comes to a murky subject like this.

However, with 504/507 oils, the tests are supposedly more stringent so the minimum requirements for a "pass" are much higher, which means that choosing an oil becomes easier for the enthusiast-minded consumer.

[brad]

I quite like that logic Mr Diesel Vert.

I just had an email back from GLlubricants.

Yes, the Mobil 1 ESP 5W30 meets these [VW504.00/507.00] specs. We are current out of stock for it, further stock is with the next shipment ETA Sydney port 5/4/2011.

based on his other prices it will be between $57-$62 for 5L

[Transporter]

They have to cater for the 3rd world countries (and the fleet) as well, so it has to be there that the engine can also use low specs oil (the same goes for the fuels).

I see it (and it has always been like that) in many other brands where there is 16V variable valve timing 4 cyl. engine and it can use 15W40 or even 20W50 oil.
Ten years ago they even specified that you could use SF oil in some car makes, it wasn't easy to get (obsolete) and the car manufacturers new that it would lead to the excessive sludging.

[RSOK]

UPDATE: got a call from Skoda Assist (Volkswagen Customer Service) in response to my email 3 weeks ago (they apologised for late response, said they're understaffed) saying that their Tech people would like a copy of the job sheet that the dealer gave me, showing the brand and type of oil used... they will then get back to me with a response on whether the 5W-40 Havoline oil was appropriate for the dealer to have used.

Will let you know once I get a response.

[kaanage]

My Golf just had its first service and the dealer used Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 - another case of using 502 rather than 504 spec oil

[RSOK]

UPDATE: got a call from Skoda Assist (VAG Aust) yesterday, advising me that they don't know 'exactly which Havoline 5W-40' the dealer used, as there's 'a few different Havoline oils around'. So they can't really tell me whether it was OK for the dealer to have used it for the service. They advised me to check with the dealer myself as to exactly which Havoline 5W-40 was used.

In other words, instead of VAG Aust contacting the dealer involved to have a chat with the Service guys and establish whether this dealer is using correct-spec oil to service VAG vehicles (which I thought would have been of concern to them), they've left it to the customer to do my own digging. Fairly inept and p!$$-weak if you ask me.

I told them not to worry, I've got this enquiry on record so any issues I have with my engine down the track I may just refer back to this little episode for a potential claim (fingers crossed that doesn't become necessary!!).