Novice oil question

[Trickyboy]

As you may or may not know i have a MK4 1.8T and the oil is just above the min level, as i bought it second hand recently im not sure what oil is in it. Do i need to change the oil completely as i'm under the impression it's not a good idea to mix oils? Or can i just top it up with a good grade? If so what grade? Thanks from the total novice!

[Conker]

No, don't top it up as you shouldn't mix oils unless it can't be avoided. If you don;t fancy doing it yourself you could always buy the oil of your choice and give it to the garage to use, then you can your own top-ups. My 1.8T hardly ever used a drop of oil though, so I would keep an eye out for excessive useage after the oil change.

[Mooby]

I would suggest doing an oil change as soon as possible when you buy a new motor anyway.  at least then you know it's been done, and what oils in it.

It's a simple procedure, just get some axle stands and a haynes manual - and a trolley jack would be an idea.  Means an intial outlay of about £40 or so on the tools, but I suspect you'll pay that much to get a garage to change the oil anyhoo.

[Trickyboy]

Thanks alot chaps. Any advice on type of oil?

[Mooby]

Thanks alot chaps. Any advice on type of oil?

I just used to get the Quantum Synta Silver stuff from the VW dealers.  I was already buying an oil filter and sump plug from them, so I just thought I might as well.  IIRC it generally cost about £30 all in, which isn't bad at all for 10 litres of oil (sump on the VR6 was around 5.5litres, so I'd need more than one and wanted some for top-up) and the other bits IMO.