Type of engine oil to use - VW polo (petrol)

travel_freak

Hello,

Yesterday my car beeped at me and flashed up the oil lamp - a great feature I'm not used to having driven an ancient car before this one.

Having looked at the manual it's telling me to buy some VW engine oil and giving me a code for that.

In true moneysaving style I would prefer to get my oil from Tesco or Halfords - please can anyone say what sort of oil I need to buy, whether it is best to buy on the VW oil and, if not, which type/brand they might recommend over others?

Many thanks.

Regards,

daveyjp

How old is the car? Is it on variable servicing? You probably need VAG 507 spec and it comes in at about £14 a litre - Castrol or Mobil and you probably won't get it from Tesco. Some Halfords sell it.

Don't wait for the warning!!

Conor_3

daveyjp wrote: »

Don't wait for the warning!!

Sadly nowadays it's not that simple. For example, many HGVs no longer have a dipstick - they flash up a warning on the driver info display panel. I expect a lot of cars are going the same route.

harveybobbles

Use either 10-40 or 5-30 oil. Depends how old it is and if its on VS or not...

harveybobbles

Also, once a month when you're washing your car off. Spend a few moments checking the quality/tread of tryres, top the washer bottle up and check t'other levels too.

EvErY LiTtLe HeLpS

Wig

What car is it? engine and year?

How fast were you driving when it beeped?

Park car on the flat wait 5 mins - Use dipstick and check your oil level.

Too little - add some
Too much - take some out.

What to add, well any 10 - 40 or 15 - 40 should be good enough.

daveyjp

Use whatever is advised in teh handbook. If it's a new VW and you use the wrong oil (especially if it is on variable servicing) bye bye warranty, hello potentially expensive repairs. Variable servicing relies on the correct oil being used and as stated it isn't cheap.

vansboy

The info given here is pretty much correct.

VW do have their own specification numbers, in addition to what you usually see on the container.

Usually 10w40 semi synthetic, is a good choice. Then look for a long list of numbers on the back, something like SAE API SG SF SH SG VW 500/5.

SImply speaking, the further through the alphabet the S letters are & the higher 500 numbers for VW the better the oils specification.

Do check what your handbook says. If you can't find the book, call your VW dealer, or Halfords have an easy to understand, set of booklets, on their oil display.

VB

tomstickland

In true moneysaving style I would prefer to get my oil from Tesco or Halfords

You mean motor factors.

travel_freak

Hello everyone,

Many thanks for the replies. Here are some answers to the questions:

Car is 04 registration

Engine is 1.4

Warranty has expired.

I've recently bought the car and it had two of its three services even though it only now has about 6,000 miles on it.

So I don't think the variable servicing point applies?!?

I was just a bit surprised to see it asking for oil because my last old car (which I had for around 10 years) never had a drop of oil put in it - I think I only once put oil in and did a couple of oil changes in that whole time. (So there's something to be said for older cars!)

Since I've had the Polo I have done a couple of long motorway journeys so have put on it about 600-800 miles which may be why it is asking for oil, especially if this was low when I bought it.

Tesco sell this one: "Supergrade 10w/40 a high performance multigrade for all petrolmodels" - it's only around £8 for 4 litres. Would this be okay?

I also asked in Halfords and they recommended a Castrol oil 5/30 I think it was, but that's around £14 a litre.

I rang the local VW service people and the guy there sayd any 10w/40 would be okay.

Any more thoughts on which one?

Thanks again.

Regards

adouglasmhor

Go into a local motor factors or look up yell.com and ring them and ask!
Halfords are extortionate.