Non TDI but puzzled-help appreciated

Sorry for posting this here but I can't get a clear answer even from the dealers service departments. Maybe someone can shed some light on this.
I have my TDI and I have a Dodge Caravan.
I buy syntetic oil in the states (for the dodge) for pretty much the same price I would buy dino oil here in Canada. The synthetic oil I pour down the crank case in my dodge is some Castrol Synthetic. Now, I wanted to get confirmation from the dealer about the OCI with this new synthetic oil. All they would tell me is that it's not necessary to use synthetic oil in these cars. I asked then - OK - when you change synthetic oils in the service bay areas - what OCI do you go by. Guess what the reply was - "Synthetic oil is not necessary for these cars". But they still do it?!?!?!
So I called another dealer - same runaround.
I'm OK with leaving the 505.01 oil in the TDI for 16K, but I'm worried about leaving it for 10K in the gasser.
Can someone advise or recommend?
Thank you,
CalibreTDI

CalibreTDI said:

I'm OK with leaving the 505.01 oil in the TDI for 16K, but I'm worried about leaving it for 10K in the gasser.
Can someone advise or recommend?
Thank you,
CalibreTDI

Click to expand...

Oil change intervals are a very driver specific thing. It depends on the kind of driving you are doing. I have owned many a gasser (mostly turbo Saabs) where I kept synth in the crankcase, and depending on the driving I was doing, I would change it at 6k, or as long as 10k - but never more than that.

The 10k intervals were accompanied by mainly highway driving, and rigorously checking the oil level and quality at every gas fill.

If you wanted to get super specific, you could start extending your interval past 5k and get an oil analysis done every 1000k or so to tell for sure.

what is oci?

Oil change interval

When I had my Gasser, I used Castrol Syntec 5W30 with an Oil Change Interval of 5000km. It was a custom Turbo work-up and I was a spirited driver

Anyway, I got my parents to swap over to Full Synthetic Oils for their Oil Changes (even in my Mom's 2007 Grand Caravan) and they do changes every 6000km or so.

On my TDI I get it done at the Dealer (Yorkdale VW) every 8000km as it is cheaper there than any of the 3rd party Chain Stores.

MrVermin
This is one man's opinion and not to be misconstrued as gospel

mrvermin, why 8k and not 16k like in the manual? just based on your driving style?

I use Mobile 1 Delvac and change every 10,000 Kilometers. I know Im 8000 short of what the manual recomends, but 10,000 is a nice even number and its easy to remember and perhaps Im a bit hard on her with my driving styles. next oil change is 200,000 and Im going to do an oil analysis and see what is going on in there. Considering i blew up my last 2 engines at this point in their life I think its prudent to see what is going on inside. Both were GM, 92 lemans and a 95 saturn that would burn 4 litres of oil from when i owned it at 40,000 K. YOu can rest assured I will never drive a GM again.

Gaggu P said:

mrvermin, why 8k and not 16k like in the manual? just based on your driving style?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I guage it mostly on my driving style and other conditions. If I drive more highway than city I extend that figure.

MrVermin