I left a message for the service director, and he and the parts managercalled me back. He said that they use the Audi Castrol for any work that is performed underan Audi service plan. This includes the 5000 mile service. I told him that both my service advisor and a parts manager told me that Pennzoil synthetic 5W30 was used, and asked him what was put in my car. Hereplied Castrol was, and apologized for the confusion, stating that my service advisor should have know this since he has been working there a long time.

Needless to say, this does not inspire confidence. During my next service I am going to watch them pour it into the engine. I know some on this forum think it is not a concern as long as the oil is a high quality synthetic, but I'm **** about things like this and if Audi says the oil must meet the VW 502 standard, that is all that is going into my car. I did not pay $590 for the service plan for them to substitute a lower cost oil.

 

I recently had exactly the same thing happen on the 15000 mile service on my A3. There is no part number next to the oil, only 20F Oil W/Filter $ 17.20, which seems too cheap for synthetic. I called the dealer on it and he said, we use Pennzoil 5W-30 synthetic and it meets the Audi requirements. I called Audi directly and they claim not to recommend one oil over another, as long as it meets the VW reqs, but she (Audi tech help) immediately mentioned Castrol 5W-40, when I played dumb and said, "But what should I buy?"

 

Your oil cap also has the Castrol logo on it.

 

The problem is that Pennzoil Platinum 5W30 is not on the list of VW/Audi approved oils. The dealers are using it becuase it is cheaper and more readily available than the Castrol 5W40. Next time I bring my car to the dealer I am going to watch them pour the oil into the engine. I bought the $590 Audi service plan, and they are not going to substitute a less expensive oil.

I don't understand why this is even an issue. One of the reasons I bought an Audi (versus a VW) was that I did not want to deal with an incompetent service department.

 

I'm well aware of that - just seeing what Audi tech support would say. I'm more worried about the dealer using oil not meeting the spec.