Oil recommendation for a 2002 VW Jetta 1.8T

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Technically you should follow the VW specs (504/507? 505.2? I forget). If you ask this question on VWVORTEX they will tell you to pick a VW cert oil and not "take chances". There is an offical list around here somewhere. It includes Pentosyn, Motul, Total, Castrol, M1 and a few others. Many of the oils are tough to find locally (except the M1 and Syntec).

But I have your exact car and am on my 4th OCI using RP 5W40. The car really seems to like this oil and the UOAs (I posted one a while back) are good. Royal Purple does not have the VW cert but the specs are right in there. At 5K the TBN was low but still fine. I tend to change at 5K and have not tried the 10-12K OCIs some folks run.

*edit - Ah - here it is: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1631685#Post1631685

VW does say synth and their pref is 0-5W40 with 5W30 as an alternative if you can't find xW40.

I've run M1 in this grade as well and it was fine. I wouldn't hesitate to run GC. Anything on the VW list is good oil. Most dealers seem to use Castrol Syntec 5W40 FYI.

Ken
 
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You are supposed to run a VW approved oil, however, I have found that so long as a good synthetic is in there, you will be fine.
 
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