I do apologise for emailing you with my woes, but why do I always seem to have battles with car servicing people? Firstly, I had a letter from VW saying that that the DSG gearbox on my Golf Estate was filled with synthetic oil, and that the oil can lead to internal short circuit leading to blowing a fuse in the gearbox which results in the clutches opening, with loss of drive. They advise that I take the car in for an oil change to mineral oil. I just wondered if you had any views on this; it seems to me that what can happen with a synthetic oil could also happen with a mineral oil. Surely the fault is having wiring anywhere near the transmission fluids?

Secondly, the car is now coming up to its third birthday and I must make sure that all is well before its warranty runs out. I suspect that the air conditioning is a bit under par, so I will ask them to pump it up – and I believe this should be covered (Sadly, I feel it probably is not! Doc). It actually goes in for its three-year service next week and, when the servicing options were set up, I opted for annual servicing instead of the long life service regime. The alternative implied use of a long life oil, which would be thus expected to last three years with my annual mileage, and I considered that an annual oil change was essential. I may be getting my knickers in a twist, but when I told the VW lassie that the car required ordinary oil (not long life oil), she replied that long life oil was standard. What’s this all about?
Jim D

Regarding the DSG transmission notification, the recall replaces the synthetic oil with mineral oil that does not create the problem, which generally only seems to have happened mostly in fairly extreme temperature conditions, and failures in the UK have been rare. You do need to put the car in for this job to be done Jim. Regarding the engine oil for your forthcoming service, I’m guessing that, because they talk most people into the long life service regime, they don’t bother to stock a standard oil any longer, or possibly the two once distinct grades have been merged, as I know they have by some oil manufacturers. But I’m advised that the long life oil is better for fuel economy and generally has a stronger additive package, so what you’re really doing is using an oil that’s more than adequate for the job when changed every 12 months.
Doc Diesel