After my long 16K road trip this Summer in the Jetta TDi, I needed to get my oil changed. I took it down to Village - had to wait a week to get an appointment. I get there and they tell me that it'll take a few hours because there are some recalls they need to service (and they couldn't tell me this when I made the appointment?!?). Fortunately they were faster than expected and 90 minutes later and $71 poorer, I left feeling like maybe Village's service wasn't all that bad.

But... I just had to fill the tank after 367 miles. I put in 14.829 gallons of diesel. That means I only got 24.78mpg. I know, most of you would think "Wow... Great mileage" but in the TDi, that means something is up. Over the prior 16K, I was averaging around 40mpg.

So I checked the oil - the level was fine but it smelled a little strong. I then pulled out my receipt for the oil change and noticed that I was billed for 5 quarts of Kendall 5W40 Synthetic. The 2003 and earlier TDi can use the Kendal 5W40 but the "pumpe-duese" engine in my 2004 TDi requires a more stringent VW spec 505.01 that the Kendall doesn't meet. According the owners manual and some folks at VWvortex.com and elsewhere, using the lesser oil WILL cause cam damage.

This sucks... I'm not sure what Village is going to be able to do to remedy the situation. Sure, they can change the oil again and put in the right oil - but they likely just screwed up my engine - a TDi with only 32K miles on it. I wanted this car to last 10 years or more. That engine should have been able to go 300K miles. I'm beyond pissed. Worse, tomorrow is Saturday and Village's service department doesn't work on Saturday. So I'm going to have to go bitch to the sales manager.

If anyone has any advice for me, call my cell phone at 314-1792. I'm teaching a yoga class until about noon and then will be heading over to Village.

I know I was warned that VW service shops have trouble with TDi's. I took it to Al Johnson for my first 20K service. They forgot to adjust the tire pressures after rotating the tires and left the fuel-filter hoses loose from the retension bracket but they did manage to put the right oil in.

VW-AG has several levels of oil certification. Up to 2003, the 505.00 level was the highest and is spec'd for the TDi and GTi. It's is a 5W40 Synthetic with some other qualities. When VW introduced the Pumpe-Deuse Diesel in the Passat and later the Jetta, they advanced the spec to 505.01 because the cams and other internals needed to function at tighter tolerances. 505.01 is also a 5W40 Synthetic but with lower overall wear and breakdown. I don't know much more than that about the specs. I'm not chemical or mechanical engineer, so I couldn't say what the differences mean. But I do know that VW is adamant that using a non-505.01 spec'd oil in the PD is bad-bad-bad. And given that the Kendall 5W40, which is 505.00 spec'd and sold by Village VW for use in engines that can take it... I'm sure Kendall has tried to get it 505.01 spec'd and failed. So I feel certain the oil is crap-ola for my PD.

The new TDi's aren't your old diesels. They are finely machined machines that utilize advances in oil technology much more so than gasoline engines. Diesels, by design, end up with soot from the fuel getting into the oil. The oil has to be able to handle this and still function properly.

In Europe, VW and Audi have advanced to the 506.01 spec oil if the driver can stick to low or sulphur-free fuel. The advantage is that the oil change interval jumps from every 10K to 30K. $70 or even $200 for an oil change isn't all that bad if it happens only every 30K.

You can buy 505.01 spec'd oil from other suppliers but it still costs about $8/liter. That means you have $40 in the oil... At that point, I'd rather just take it to the dealer and spend the extra $30 to have them get their hands dirty.

As far as the costs of repairs and such, when the car was running right I was getting around 40 miles to a gallon of fuel that costs 30 cents cheaper. Every time gas prices go up, my investment makes more and more sense.

And as far as the recalls, they only affected the heated seats. VW has been having a problem with the switch not cutting off properly and seats catching on fire. Not a good thing when you are driving in traffic. Somehow I doubt this recall would affect the fuel mileage!

Thanks for the questions...

I went by the dealer on Saturday. Joy 102 was there saving souls while the VW folks were trying to put them in Bugs. I spoke with my salesman and he copied my receipt and told me he'd jump on the service manager first thing Monday. He said that even if the oil wasn't a problem, I should bring it in because of the mileage change. It'll be interesting to see what develops. I just wish I was watching someone else go through it and not me....

Places that sell to the big truckers will have the freshest diesel because they do the most volume, so I'd go there rather than a mom and pop station because their fuel has likely been sitting there a while.

I almost always buy from the BP on Alabama Highway in Ringgold, because they do the volume and they're usually cheapest. It's $2.70/gal right now. I'm getting 45-48mpg in my Jetta to and from work.