Okay, I'm beginning to understand some of the issues with various oils but now I'm to the point in my search where the question of "What is VW cert and why do I care?" is entering my consciousness.
I know VW uses these certifications to qualify a car for warrantee service should an oil related failure occur. But does anyone here know what they are testing? What specific qualities does an oil have to have (or NOT have) to become VW certified? It's easy to find a list of certified oils but I am trying to find out if there is anything in there I should care about??
By example Royal Purple is API and ACEA certified but not VW. VW certs obliquely refer to things like 'for direct injected engines'. Is ACEA A3 enough of a spec or is VW 502/505 more specific to these engines?
I've had people at companies whose oils are not certified say things like 'It's the origin of the base stock' and 'you have to pay a lot of money to get their cert' and such.
I would expect these to be purely performance based tests - things like wear, emissions, cooling, flow rates etc. so any oil making these standards could be certified (regardless of chemistry) AND I would think becoming certified would more than pay for itself.
Maybe I'm just reading too much marketing but the thing I can't shake is the (not too subtly hidden) message that 'there are things in our oil that we feel make it better than VW 502/505 but they also put it outside the VW spec. We feel these things are more important to your engine and will not remove them just to meet this spec' (you know the companies I'm talking about - there are three specifically ;-).
This, of course is in conflict with the VW message of 'there are magical components in 502/505 certified oils and your car will explode without them'.
I suspect there are non certified oils out there that meet some or most of these specs. but understanding what these specs. address is a step toward knowing.
For background, the car is a 2002 VW Jetta 1.8T with 122K so I don't think warrantee is an issue. More the question is "Is there anything I should be aware of that an oil meeting these certs does (or does not?) do?"
I know there are people who will just say 'use oil x or oil y and you'll be fine' and those who will say 'the list of VW certified oils is extensive (it is) just pick one of those and move on'. I get both answers but this is more just to help me understand what the VW specs are based on.
Sorry for the rambling. I do appreciate the feedback.
Ken
I know VW uses these certifications to qualify a car for warrantee service should an oil related failure occur. But does anyone here know what they are testing? What specific qualities does an oil have to have (or NOT have) to become VW certified? It's easy to find a list of certified oils but I am trying to find out if there is anything in there I should care about??
By example Royal Purple is API and ACEA certified but not VW. VW certs obliquely refer to things like 'for direct injected engines'. Is ACEA A3 enough of a spec or is VW 502/505 more specific to these engines?
I've had people at companies whose oils are not certified say things like 'It's the origin of the base stock' and 'you have to pay a lot of money to get their cert' and such.
I would expect these to be purely performance based tests - things like wear, emissions, cooling, flow rates etc. so any oil making these standards could be certified (regardless of chemistry) AND I would think becoming certified would more than pay for itself.
Maybe I'm just reading too much marketing but the thing I can't shake is the (not too subtly hidden) message that 'there are things in our oil that we feel make it better than VW 502/505 but they also put it outside the VW spec. We feel these things are more important to your engine and will not remove them just to meet this spec' (you know the companies I'm talking about - there are three specifically ;-).
This, of course is in conflict with the VW message of 'there are magical components in 502/505 certified oils and your car will explode without them'.
I suspect there are non certified oils out there that meet some or most of these specs. but understanding what these specs. address is a step toward knowing.
For background, the car is a 2002 VW Jetta 1.8T with 122K so I don't think warrantee is an issue. More the question is "Is there anything I should be aware of that an oil meeting these certs does (or does not?) do?"
I know there are people who will just say 'use oil x or oil y and you'll be fine' and those who will say 'the list of VW certified oils is extensive (it is) just pick one of those and move on'. I get both answers but this is more just to help me understand what the VW specs are based on.
Sorry for the rambling. I do appreciate the feedback.
Ken