Er
hello - welcome to the
real world of business!
That is what happens in the commercial world, doncha know!
No, Castrol get business from VAG owning Joe Public on the sole grounds that Castrol produce a wide range of lubricants, some of which were soley developed for VAG product requirements. Castrol also get business from the general public on the grounds that Castrol is deemed to be a high quality, highly dependable product, and a product which is regularly tested to extremes, and continuously developed, on a global scale in global and domestic forms of motorsport and aviation (Formua 1, WRC, BTCC, MotoGP, WSB, BSB, RedBull AirRace). And yes, they use marketing to their advantage, just like any organisation would!
No - individual franchises are free to choose their suppliers of bulk oils from whoever they like.
The Castrol "stuff", which has the appropriate VW approvals, is very good, and I would go as far to say superior than others, because Castrol was the sole technical lubricants partner to VAG. If Castrol can't make the perfect oil to meet the VAG standard which was jointly developed between VAG and Castrol, then nobody can!
Erm, I'm afraid you are very misguided. Firstly, the VAG PD TDI engines have an extremely strict and demanding requirement from their engine oil. The use of a non-PD approved oil WILL cause engine damage to the camshafts and unit injectors. Secondly, any engine damage or failure from issues relating lubrication during the warranty period, VAG will insist on an oil sample to be submitted for detailed analysis. Any oil found not to meet the required VW oil standard WILL have the warranty claim REJECTED. There is independent documentary evidence to this effect available in the public domain.
In most respects, you are very, very wrong. Go and read the sticky thread, in full, on oil labeling
https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...ead.php?t=1482. This was started by "oilman" who is a trader - he refused to answer any of my comments in the last post of the thread. There are basically two types of tests - the "generic" specifications for all makes, such as the API and ACEA standards, which can be carried out in any accredited laboratory (which could even be the oil companies own lab). There are then the manufacturer specific or OEM approvals - in most cases (VAG definately) these tests can ONLY be carried out by the manufactures own lab.
No - Mobil do NOT have any current VAG LongLife approval (there is a very new Mobil ESP oil which they claim has the latest 504.00, 507.00 standards). The "standard" Mobil 1 you get from ********* or elsewhere has a number of un-proved and un-tested claims. I'll give the full detail of true and fake approvals for you: Mobil 1 does have a viscosity of 0W40 as tested by the SAE, it does have the API performance classification of SL/CF, it does have the performance quality classifications of ACEA A3, B3, B4. These are all generic standards. Then there are the fake, untested and unproven manufacturer OEM standards - it claims to "meet" the VW standards 502.00, 505.00, 503.01 - this is a fake and false claim, because VW (the ONLY people who can grant these standards) have NEVER approved any Mobil oil to these standards. Then there is the General Motors/Vauxhall/Opel longlife standards LL-A-025, LL-B-025 - again, never been tested, approved or certified by GM, the same with the claim of the BMW longlife-01 standard, the Porsche OEM approval and the SAAB oem approval - all fake and NOT certified.
But hey - if you wanna ruin you nice Audi engine, then fine - just don't tell others on this forum to do so!
Again, you are very wrong and very misguided.
Rgds
