wemay
Site Donor 2023
Wife's lease is up in 7 months and we've started researching vehicles. Any info on this engines reliability would be great. If not mistaken, it uses VW 502 oil spec?
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VW 2.5L, oil requirements, reliability?
- Thread starter wemay
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The engine itself is very reliable. It is typically other parts of a VW that give owners problems.
Yes, VW 502.00 oil is recommended.
Yes, VW 502.00 oil is recommended.
wemay
Site Donor 2023
Thanks QP
It's one of VW's workhorse motors. Pretty solid, though not super high-tech (maybe that's a good thing).
VW 502 is the spec, which gives you lots of good options.
VW 502 is the spec, which gives you lots of good options.
wemay
Site Donor 2023
Yes, low tech reliability is a very good thing. Is that spec strictly a synthetic?
Pretty much. I'm not aware of any VW 502.00 approved oils that are mineral. At least not in the US...
wemay
Site Donor 2023
Ok, thanks again. Yes, Just did some research and there are quite a few choices out there. It shouldn't be a problem locating if that's the car we choose. (Beetle)
JHZR2
Staff member
Yeah,the 2.5 is a decent engine, though a little low on MPGs. Good power/torque for a runabout, though not a sports car plant.
Oh yeah... 502.00 oils are now readily available, and fairly inexpensive too ($25/5qt jug at Walmart).
Who says it not a sports car plant? Just yesterday I blew the doors off a parked 911S w/my Golf! Plenty fast enough, very torquey motor. Very reliable. I use GC or soon to be Belgium Castrol 0w30 in mine. Lots of people also use Mobil 0w-40 as well.
wemay
Site Donor 2023
What viscosity is required for warranty purposes?
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: sparky123
Who says it not a sports car plant? Just yesterday I blew the doors off a parked 911S w/my Golf! Plenty fast enough, very torquey motor. Very reliable. I use GC or soon to be Belgium Castrol 0w30 in mine. Lots of people also use Mobil 0w-40 as well.
It is indeed plenty fast enough. I'd have preferred they trade 20hp/to for 2 MPGs though, IMO.
It is a good engine, though lots of folks don't like it for what are to me, silly reasons.. We've been quite happy with ours. I do wish our car had a sixth gear with a nice deep od.
Who says it not a sports car plant? Just yesterday I blew the doors off a parked 911S w/my Golf! Plenty fast enough, very torquey motor. Very reliable. I use GC or soon to be Belgium Castrol 0w30 in mine. Lots of people also use Mobil 0w-40 as well.
It is indeed plenty fast enough. I'd have preferred they trade 20hp/to for 2 MPGs though, IMO.
It is a good engine, though lots of folks don't like it for what are to me, silly reasons.. We've been quite happy with ours. I do wish our car had a sixth gear with a nice deep od.
Originally Posted By: wemay
What viscosity is required for warranty purposes?
The 502 spec is usually met with a 5w40 or 0w40 oil, and some heavy 0w30 oils also work.
You can get Mobil 1 0w40 at Walmart cheaply every day
Sometimes Advance or Autozone will have a buy 5qt Castrol Synthetic (you can use their 0w40, 5w40, or European formula 0w30) and get a filter free, and that sometimes is a better deal because some VW engines have more expensive filters than ones used on American and Japanese cars.
I am using the Castrol 0w40 in my car, it seems to work well.
What viscosity is required for warranty purposes?
The 502 spec is usually met with a 5w40 or 0w40 oil, and some heavy 0w30 oils also work.
You can get Mobil 1 0w40 at Walmart cheaply every day
Sometimes Advance or Autozone will have a buy 5qt Castrol Synthetic (you can use their 0w40, 5w40, or European formula 0w30) and get a filter free, and that sometimes is a better deal because some VW engines have more expensive filters than ones used on American and Japanese cars.
I am using the Castrol 0w40 in my car, it seems to work well.
wemay
Site Donor 2023
Thanks for all the great feedback.
Originally Posted By: sparky123
I wish I had a way to disengage the 6th gear (in Drive) around town in my '12 Golf Auto! 1-5 spds. around town would be perfect. On the highway once you're in 6th gear it cruises along effortlessly around 2,200 rpm @ 65mph.
I thought all VWs from that time had tiptronic paddle shifters, or something similar on the transmission gear stick which would enable your goal of not using 6th in the city. I had that on a VW Jetta that was from 2002, and my dad drove a 2000 Passat that had the same feature.
I wish I had a way to disengage the 6th gear (in Drive) around town in my '12 Golf Auto! 1-5 spds. around town would be perfect. On the highway once you're in 6th gear it cruises along effortlessly around 2,200 rpm @ 65mph.
I thought all VWs from that time had tiptronic paddle shifters, or something similar on the transmission gear stick which would enable your goal of not using 6th in the city. I had that on a VW Jetta that was from 2002, and my dad drove a 2000 Passat that had the same feature.
My Golf has the Tiptronic Auto but you have to manually change gears in this mode. (No paddle shifters.) I wish in the "Drive" mode you could somehow disengage the 6th gear. The engine has plenty of torque at low rpms BUT I would prefer to be in 5th gear @ 30-35mph rather than in 6th gear somewhat lugging the engine. It would be perfect around town then, IMO.
I hope VW has solved the oil consumption problem on their 4 cyl motors made in the early 2000's. I had a 2000 VW Jetta 5 speed that used a quart of oil every 900 miles when almost new, and VW considered that NORMAL.
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