I went in to my dealer to get an appointment for my first (5K) oil change. This was my first experience with the Andy, the lead service guy at Leith Audi in Cary, NC. I asked him if he would be using synthetic oil, and he said "No." Not suprised, but then I asked him what he thought of synthetic.<p>He said that the valves seat much better in standard oil, so I recommend switching only after about 15K on the car. He also said that once I switch, I could/should never go back (true?) <br>Opinions on his comments?<p>

Plus I don't think using synthetic would make any difference anyways. I am not sure about not ever going back to conventional oil though....

Wow, I'd never heard that before but I'm sure you'd get a different opinion from every service tech you talk to. BMWs are now shipped with synthetic from the factory and my guess is that Audi will eventually follow suit. As to regular oil seating better than synth? Who knows. I just had my 15k service and I had them put in synthetic. Regular oil won't hurt your engine for the first 15k but in the long run, synth is superior.<p>Mick<br>98 2.8qm

I'm sure it can't hurt to switch over to synthetic motor oil...<br>Every new car that leaves the Porsche plant has Mobil 1 in the engine and a case in the trunk...so starting with synthetic can't be bad...

I have used Mobil 1 in my '86 GTI since new - now has 205000 miles on it. Not one engine problem - valve train looks like new - oil temperature runs about 8-10 degrees cooler than<br>Kendall GT1 (Oil I used for break in when car new). I will switch my A4 to Mobil at first service.<br>

I (& 99.9% of techs I know) generally feel synthetic is fine asap (witness original factory fills in Porsche 911, Corvette, for ex.) on new engine (this does not apply to a rebuilt engine). However, there is some good anecdotal experience via this board and Bob Petruska's VW tech friend that valve seating on the Audi engine may be affected by switching too early. My Audi dealer service rep, a person I know from Porsche Club Drivers Ed, and who is a knowledgeable, trustworthy guy, said it's OK to switch any time. My friend/Porsche tech agrees, but says that given the anecdotal experience on these engines, it may be prudent to wait 'til 5k or so. At any rate, by 15k it certainly should be OK, and I know of no reason why you couldn't go back once you use synth. On my A4, I just did oil analysis on the factory fill oil at 4,200 miles; depending on what it shows, I will either go to Mobil 1 now, or wait until the 1st service. My oil consumption is negligible (~1 pint in 3,600 miles), so we believe the rings are pretty well seated now.<p>Based

new porsches are delivered with mobil 1 in the sump/tank because they get it free.<br>having synthetic delays the breaking in process but it's not really harmful.<p>i decided to switch to synthetic on my 1.8T after about 1K because i felt<br>that protecting the turbo was more important than a delayed breaking in.<br>with regular oil VW/Audi engines continue to loosen and develop more<br>power until 8-10K miles. this has been my previous experience.<p>the chief foreman at the dealership gave his blessing to this move..