# amsoil up to spec



## rodhotter (Dec 24, 2003)

amsoil is not listed even though the 10-30 full synthetic is a 502 505 vw spec oil, its proly nearly the best real synthetic on the market and far superior to many of the wanna-be oils listed, the european 5-40 also meets vw specs, though i prefer the 10-30, after 170,000 chipped miles on my 01 wolfie, a tribute to vw engine build tolerances and amsoils superior lubrication, changer every 10,000 miles after initial vw factory oil drain and changover


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## GT17V (Aug 7, 2001)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (rodhotter)*


_Quote, originally posted by *rodhotter* »_amsoil is not listed even though the 10-30 full synthetic is a 502 505 vw spec oil, its proly nearly the best real synthetic on the market and far superior to many of the wanna-be oils listed, the european 5-40 also meets vw specs, though i prefer the 10-30, after 170,000 chipped miles on my 01 wolfie, a tribute to vw engine build tolerances and amsoils superior lubrication, changer every 10,000 miles after initial vw factory oil drain and changover

Technically no. What Amsoil does is reverse-engineer the additive package from existing VW-spec'd oils, to mimick its performance.
That being said, imo, the reformulated AFL (Euro formula 5w40) is a downgrade from the original AFL formulation.
DEO imo, is the better 5w40 than AFL.


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## nuskool (Jun 19, 2007)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (GT17V)*


_Quote, originally posted by *GT17V* »_
Technically no. What Amsoil does is reverse-engineer the additive package from existing VW-spec'd oils, to mimick its performance.
That being said, imo, the reformulated AFL (Euro formula 5w40) is a downgrade from the original AFL formulation.
DEO imo, is the better 5w40 than AFL.

And how do you know this?
I don't know, but my guess would be that VW publishes the required specs so that the oil companies know what it is they have to make. Otherwise it would be to much of a guessing game and too much testing that many companies wouldn't want to pay for. These approval tests are wickedly expensive. They can run in excess of 6 figures pretty easily.


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## GT17V (Aug 7, 2001)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (nuskool)*


_Quote, originally posted by *nuskool* »_
And how do you know this?
I don't know, but my guess would be that VW publishes the required specs so that the oil companies know what it is they have to make. Otherwise it would be to much of a guessing game and too much testing that many companies wouldn't want to pay for. These approval tests are wickedly expensive. They can run in excess of 6 figures pretty easily.

This topic has been extensively covered over at TDIclub.com where there are people that are religious to VW-bribed oils and those who are more adventurous and do their own thing with testing to back up. The forum includes people that hate Amsoil, people what are jobbers for Amsoil, and users of Amsoils.
Pretty much the word from amsoil is, they work with their additive supplier (Lubrizol) to reverse-engineer the properties of 502.00, 505.00 and 505.01 to develop an additive package that will meet those requirements.
Amsoil's wording is careful, they say "meets or exceeds" -- this in no why implies "certified" by VAG


_Modified by GT17V at 4:40 PM 5-28-2008_


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## nuskool (Jun 19, 2007)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (GT17V)*

Not that I'm doubting you,
But that doesn't make sense why VW wouldn't publish the requirements of the spec. That makes for some very difficult reverse engineering. More costly than I would think many manufacturers would be willing to pay for. Especially considering VW's share of the market really isn't that big in comparison to ford, chevy, honda chrysler, toyota.


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## guylover (Jan 8, 2008)

vw is required by law to post their spec performance so people can have choices in motor oil. also warrenty claims cannont be denied for wrong oil.. case in point i replaced a 1.8turbo because the biyatch put in regular instead of synthetic. its part of anti-trust legislation


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## nuskool (Jun 19, 2007)

*Re: (guylover)*


_Quote, originally posted by *guylover* »_vw is required by law to post their spec performance so people can have choices in motor oil. also warrenty claims cannont be denied for wrong oil.. case in point i replaced a 1.8turbo because the biyatch put in regular instead of synthetic. its part of anti-trust legislation 

Interesting. Does it say in the manual thart your supposed to use synthetic? I didn't think that was part of the 502.00 spec. I have to look but I thought there a number of dino oils on the list. I know the warranty on the 1.8 turbo was extended due to sludging problems, but I didn't know you had to use synth.
Did they try to hassle you about the warranty claim?
How do you know that specs are made public? I would agree that they should be, I just like to know sources. I'm an Amsoil dealer and it helps for me to know these things.


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## guylover (Jan 8, 2008)

no i mean i was the mechanic at a dealership that replaced a 1.8t motor some dumb chick brought in that had taken to jiffy lube and was told it was cool to use their oil... we STILL after learning all that honored the warranty and i got paid crappy for a 2.5 day job


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## GT17V (Aug 7, 2001)

it's not anti-trust.
This is actually Magnuson-Moss Act, 100%.
All 502.00 oils are synthetic (Group III or higher base stocks).
The short summary is VW cannot demand that you use the OEM VW oil that meets VW502.00.
You can use other oils that meet the VW502.00 specification.


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## torque46 (Mar 20, 2008)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (GT17V)*

Every oil will say 'meets or exceeds' if they are quoting a VW, MB, or other manufacturers spec. Most oil containers on the VW list just says the ASE rating 5w-30 / SJ. I used AMSoil for 165k trouble free miles in my 1.8t and don't burn a drop in the 5k between oil changes. I understand that the oil manufacturers have to pay VW to get their name on the recommended list.


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## shipo (Jan 3, 2006)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (torque46)*


_Quote, originally posted by *torque46* »_I understand that the oil manufacturers have to pay VW to get their name on the recommended list.

Uhhh, well it is my understanding that oil manufacturers need to pay to have their oil certified that it meets the various VW oil specs, and once done, they can be added to the list.


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## Mile High Assassin (Aug 28, 2002)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (shipo)*

Amsoil is essentially saying that their European Car Formula (505.01) meets VAGs requirements. If there is a problem and their oil caused it, they will pay the repair bill. Yes there is some fine print, basically you need to have an oil test sent to Amsoil, etc.
I don't think it will be an issue. I have ran Amsoil 505.01 in my 2005 PD and had it analyzed and it looked as good as any other 505.01 I ran. Better than some.


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## tjl (Mar 24, 2001)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (Mile High Assassin)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Mile High Assassin* »_Amsoil is essentially saying that their European Car Formula (505.01) meets VAGs requirements. If there is a problem and their oil caused it, they will pay the repair bill. Yes there is some fine print, basically you need to have an oil test sent to Amsoil, etc.

However, it could be a problem if Amsoil and VW take a long time throwing lawyers at each other, while your car is broken and unusable.


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## nuskool (Jun 19, 2007)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (tjl)*

Likely not to take long as fixing the problem is usually cheaper than a legal battle.
But isn't it interesting that no one has yet to find where it would be covered in the MM act (you know section xx, subsection xx paragraph xx or whatever) that VW can or cannot deny warranty based on the fact that a particular brand is not on their list? (this includes me. I lack time to find the right answer, but I really want to know)
I've seen arguments both ways on this issue and both ways make sense, so what is the real answer? I'd really like to know.


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## Mile High Assassin (Aug 28, 2002)

*Re: amsoil up to spec (tjl)*


_Quote, originally posted by *tjl* »_
However, it could be a problem if Amsoil and VW take a long time throwing lawyers at each other, while your car is broken and unusable.

I really don't think it would ever be an issue. 
I honestly think if VAG had lawyers coming at them, they would balk on something like this. I have seen them balk at far less. I had a friend that had an issue with his tranny. He used a non-VAG approved tranny fluid. VAG blamed the fluid for the grinding, the company sent a letter saying their fluid meets the requirements, State AG got involved and VW decided to honor the warranty claim.
The claim will be cheaper than using their attorneys. Sure they have attorneys on retainers, but they still pay.


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