2020 VW 0W20??

Joined
Dec 10, 2009
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Location
Danbury, CT
OK guys, picked up a new 2020 volkswagen tiguan for the old lady. I was a little suprised when I saw it took 0W20 508 I think it was, that I cant find anywhere. I have 2 free services every 10,000 miles but after that I plan on doing it myself every 5 or 6K. So the question is can I use the old 502 rated 0W40 or should I just use a 0W20 and Change it more often? Id rather not have to order fancy oil online, it would be nice to be able to pick something up at the local walmart or auto parts store. Did they just change the oil weight because of fuel economy or are all of the tolerances different? Because the 2017 GLI 2.0 that we have still takes 0W40.
 
This has been discussed at length. The VW 508.00/509.00 oil is pretty good stuff. I would use the two free oil changes if the dealership is fairly close. The VW 508.00/509.00 oil contains a fluorescent dye and other markers. Could this be a way for VW to deny warranty coverage? They claim the dye is there for leak detection. Personally, I wouldn't use the 502.00 oils. VW dealers sell oil change kits at reasonable prices. I believe they did develop the oil to meet fuel mileage standards. I also believe the oil is designed to prevent poisoning of catalytic converters. I've bought from ECS Tuning.
My plan was initially similar to yours. I wanted to use a 5W30 oil and change more often. I did my first change at 5,000 miles and used a VW 504.00/507.00 5W30. At 10,000 the VW 508.00/509.00 went back in. My next change, at 20,000 miles will be VW 508.00/509.00.
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-volkswagen-audi-parts/oil-service-kit/g052577m2kt1/
https://www.rmeuropean.com/Make/Volkswagen/2018/Tiguan-SE-Sport-Utility-20L-L4.aspx?catalogID=010
 
Been discussed many times. Both VW and Audi now use this oil. It has a dye marker in it and if you have engine problems and the marker is absent, no warranty. I have a 2019 VW Passat that uses this oil. I buy it from the dealer but their are others on the market that have the 508 rating. I have no problems with this oil. On a February trip to Florida and back in February, we averaged over 42 mpg on the Passat. I am very pleased. I do change the oil and filter every 5000 miles .
 
My experience which has been arguably placebo...

0w20 vs 5w40 (I've used both)
On acceleration 0w20 is noisier but turbo spools quicker.
During cruising, 0w20 is just as quiet as 5w40.
MPG no different

I've been one to bring up this topic more than it's worth. If I continue to use 0w20, it will be for 5k mile oci with a dexos1 quality level motor oil. If i use 508, i may go 7.5 to 10k. Not worried about engine failure or issues requiring oil recipes. The EA888 has many years under its belt and the most common issues are intake valve deposits, water pump and thermostat leaks and oil consumption.
 
^^^^ This ^^^^ Use the VW 508, you'll need to get it from your dealer or you'll find it easy enough on line, just plan ahead.
 
Valvoline European Vehicle meets the specs and should be widely available now. Other 508 oils are late in coming, but Valvoline is out there and not that expensive. It meets the spec so it would be a perfectly suitable oil for your use.
 
Liqui Moly is probably available at local NAPA.

VW Genuine is ~7.50 QT at dealer

Ravenol is ~50 per 5 L is you catch one of Blauparts frequent sales...
 
I would use the oil it calls for with the 508 approval, you can order it online at FCP Euro and if you are into saving money, you can mail back the old oil once you buy a new kit and get your money back....it will fit in a large flat-rate box so $21 to ship it. This oil isn't cheap! Not sure what else is out there now that may be more economical but if you use FCP after you first kit purchase they are $21 if you do the 100% replacement guarantee.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-vw-oil-change-kit-mann-liqui-moly

I also see ECS Tuning has Pentosin "Pentospeed" 0W20 (what a great name) change kits for $92 and the VW change kits which are a bit cheaper at $60 so dealer kit may be the way to go or at least worth checking into.
 
Well it looks like I'll be ordering the 0W20! I figured it has been discussed many times already but for some reason when I was searching I couldnt really find much everything I found was contradicting. But thanks for steering me in the right direction. Would you guys recommend me doing a 5000 mi change just once in the beginning or is it not worth it?
 
Originally Posted by Realfine69
Well it looks like I'll be ordering the 0W20! I figured it has been discussed many times already but for some reason when I was searching I couldn't really find much everything I found was contradicting. But thanks for steering me in the right direction. Would you guys recommend me doing a 5000 mi change just once in the beginning or is it not worth it?


I don't personally change the first interval early on my cars and just go with the one I will be using and that matches with my tire rotations so for me, that's ~7.5K on my VWs (I don't have one that takes the 508 0W20 but it shouldn't matter).
 
Originally Posted by Realfine69
Well it looks like I'll be ordering the 0W20! I figured it has been discussed many times already but for some reason when I was searching I couldnt really find much everything I found was contradicting. But thanks for steering me in the right direction. Would you guys recommend me doing a 5000 mi change just once in the beginning or is it not worth it?


I'd do whatever VW recommends as long as the car is under warranty.
 
Originally Posted by Realfine69
...Would you guys recommend me doing a 5000 mi change just once in the beginning or is it not worth it?




That factory fill stuff is awful, i would never trust it to go even 20 miles....

Factory Fill 2019 VW Jetta 1.4t



Complete waste to do it early.
 
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I have read some of the other threads about 508 0w20, but other then some oil analysis, I wonder what the long term impact would be of using 0w20 in an engine(s) that was designed to run 5w30/40... Most of the engines in VWs lineup for MY19 and 20 were available in previous model years which spec'd 502/505 5w40 or 504/507 5w30. I doubt anything has changed in these engines, so VW saying only 0w20 and no no will void your warranty if not, I wonder how that's going to work out for them in the long term...
 
Originally Posted by Johan1
I have read some of the other threads about 508 0w20, but other then some oil analysis, I wonder what the long term impact would be of using 0w20 in an engine(s) that was designed to run 5w30/40... Most of the engines in VWs lineup for MY19 and 20 were available in previous model years which spec'd 502/505 5w40 or 504/507 5w30. I doubt anything has changed in these engines, so VW saying only 0w20 and no no will void your warranty if not, I wonder how that's going to work out for them in the long term...


From my understanding, the oil pump is a different part number in these cars - someone will correct me I'm sure if that is not accurate but yes, otherwise same engines as previous years that took 502/504 oils.
 
Originally Posted by Johan1
I have read some of the other threads about 508 0w20, but other then some oil analysis, I wonder what the long term impact would be of using 0w20 in an engine(s) that was designed to run 5w30/40... Most of the engines in VWs lineup for MY19 and 20 were available in previous model years which spec'd 502/505 5w40 or 504/507 5w30. I doubt anything has changed in these engines, so VW saying only 0w20 and no no will void your warranty if not, I wonder how that's going to work out for them in the long term...


From my understanding, the oil pump is a different part number in these cars - someone will correct me I'm sure if that is not accurate but yes, otherwise same engines as previous years that took 502/504 oils.


I have read numerous posts about the oil pump being different........
But what does that truly mean? I mean it still pumps oil, so how does the oil weight impact the new oil pump?
 
I have read numerous posts about the oil pump being different........
But what does that truly mean? I mean it still pumps oil, so how does the oil weight impact the new oil pump?
I wonder about that too. My salesman, who I know personally, mentioned my free oil changes and to make sure to use the 0w20 afterwards as he knows about my oil change fetish. He mentioned specifically the 0w20 because of the oil pump. With the Covid slow down I'm not even close to 3k miles yet in 6 months so I'll worry about the oil change sometime next year.
 
I've massaged this topic in my mind more times than I even care to count. Even experimenting with heavier oils at times. Last Friday I went in for my scheduled inspection for the Passat. As dbias says above, I too was instructed to only use a 0W-20 and nothing else. The Service Adviser even used the word "imperative". 🤔
 
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