The question that I have is the 10000 mile oil change. The dealer of the car stated that the 2010 Jetta TDI only needed an oil change every 10000 miles. What is your opinion of this suggestion? The second question: is there any difference between deisel engine oils i.e. valvoline vs mobile one.
Well you have the 10K change and the dealer recommends 10K, so you should do 10K? Is one of those numbers supposed to be different?
I’m not a fan of valvoline, but check the manual to see if it says synthetic (it will specify or not, probably will not specify conventional).
How much oil does your crankcase hold? 10 quarts?? That might work for 10K changes. But I would NEVER allow any car of mine to go 10K before I changed the oil…Sludging is almost guaranteed. They haven’t improved motor oil and ring seal THAT much…
You have a newer diesel which means that it shoud use the latest spec in diesel oil. Since it is also a turbo model, follow the EXACT oil quality requirements in your owner’s manual. There are many previous posts on long European oil change intervals, mostly driven by environmental policies of the countries there. There are only a few oils that meet the VW diesel spec. Make sure you have one of them!
If you want this car to last, use the diesel oil specified in the manual and change every 5000 miles instead of 10,000 miles. Your car has a very expensive engine and a few dollars more to change oil will ensure that the engine will last as long as the rest of the car.
We have many posts of European cars where engine or transmission failure spelled the end of the vehicle long before the rest of the car was ready for the graveyard!!!
Open that owners manual that came with the car. Make sure the oil meets the specs for that car. No cheating, you must use an oil that meets those specs The speces are VW 507.?? as I recall? Don’ let anyone tell you different! There ARE different between diesel oils and the spects for what you need are in that owner’s manual
I suspect that the dealer reiterated the change interval in the owner’s manual. Check to make sure. It won’t hurt the car to change more often than specified, but it will cost you more than you probably need to spend. Remember, too, that sever service, like lots of stop-and-go, short trips, dusty or extremely hot environment, will shorten the maximum mileage listed.
You need VW 507.00 spec oil for your warranty. Keep a record of of your oil changes what oil used and make sure to stick to VW’s maintenance schedule. The dealer will use a Castrol oil which does not meet the VW 507.00 spec. See tdiclub.com for more information.
As others have stated: use ONLY oil that meets the VW specification for your engine. Use of any other oil will void your warranty.
As to the 10K mile oil change interval; we have a 2002 TDI that has a 10K interval also. It has over 100K miles on it now with no engine problems at all. But, these are mostly highway miles. Oil changes are inexpensive in the grand scheme of things. The real reason the dealer is stating 10K miles, is that is the interval VW will cover under the 3 years/36000 miles free maintenance. You can certainly do an oil change at 5K miles on your own nickle if you choose.
Use the proper spec oil (in your manual). Make sure you meet the criteria for 10k oil changes as they may have a severe interval your driving conditions are more suited.
The most important thing regardless of oil change interval make sure to check your engine oil at a regular interval.
For example I know Mobil 1 ESP Formula works in your vehicle. I helped a relative change their oil. I use the left over bottle she left as topping oil for my cars.