Can I fill my car with any oil or is it car specific?

I would've been in pretty much the same state. I'm amazed that people doing this on their driveways don't just use one of these. Absolutely the easiest way to do things - fill it up, put the stopper in, drive to the nearest tip and empty it. No mess at all.

They actually managed to drain it out the car without mishap, what went wrong was their attempt to pour it from the drain pan into the empty bottle to take it to the tip for recycling - lent the drain pan on the funnel while pouring it, funnel & bottle unsurprisingly moved, oil all over drive.

When they told me about it I tried not to laugh. I may not have entirely succeeded.

Want a bet? If it’s a diesel then they will 100% check the oil level.

Also OP, most VAG cars can be on one of two servicing regimes, long life and annual. The annual is yearly/10K miles and the long life is every 2 years/(approx) 20k miles. I hate long service intervals and always service my own cars ahead of schedule.

As for oil type (I know you don’t need it now) you can visit the Castrol website which is quite good:

https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home/car-engine-oil-and-fluids/motor-oil-and-fluids-finder.html

You absolutely do need to use the correct oil for your car. As for oil consumption, most manufacturers consider anything less than 1litre/1000miles acceptable so it’s not uncommon to have to top up between services, there might be a litre between max and min on the dipstick. As a PP mentioned though many cars won’t use a drop.

OK, fair enough, but you have to be a real klutz to do that, as well as not thinking the job through before starting ;)

Yeah, I get that. Thing is...it's a case of asking yourself, "How scary is this really?". And, when you get down to it...not that much, and it doesn't need a lot in terms of skill or knowledge.

Really, though, it came out of there not being a man in the house (yes, it's dumb and more than a little sexist) to do it and not having a lot of money at the time, so...turns out I was the braver of the two of us.

I mean, I haven't yet gone as far as changing brake pads/discs - I know it's a relatively simple job, and vastly cheaper to do it myself than to get a garage to do it, but the consequences of screwing that up can be rather more serious both to me and to others.

I'd disagree with "the least potential for catastrophic error" - if you expand "catastrophic" to include damage to things other than the car: I know someone who changed their oil themselves and ended up ruining their monoblock driveway by spilling oil all over it.

But if maintaining a full service history is important to you, you should service it at the earliest of:

• The required time interval (probably 12 months)
• The required mileage interval (based on what you've said here, probably 10,000 miles)

If you've done 10k miles in 10 months, then if you wait until the anniversary of your service in another 2 months, you'll have done 12k miles - so 2k more than you should. The chances of actual harm as a result of this are almost zero, but it will mean your car hasn't been serviced as per the schedule - so if bought on PCP for example, could mean a penalty when you hand the car back.

Some of us aren't quite as brave as others @ntmdino .
I feel your pain OP.
I was widowed, relatively recently, and the bloody car has caused me more stress than anything else.
Like yours, OP, there's nothing wrong with mine but I can tie myself up in knots worrying about this sort of stuff.

ideally your oil and oil filter should be changed at least 12 monthly.

For a slightly different perspective, an oil change is probably 15-20 minutes' work even if you're doing it for the first time. Maybe 30 minutes of research first (finding the right oil, watching a couple of videos on how to do it), £40 in tools (ramps, a catch can and a handy gadget to help you remove the oil filter) and then you can do it forever more on any car you have, without getting spendy at the garage.

Short of changing the wiper blades, it's probably one of the easiest jobs to do on most cars with the least potential for catastrophic error.

I'm no mechanic, but I'm amazed that more people in general don't do it themselves.

Yeah it's fine
Mine has been telling me it needs a service for 6 months as it flags it up on a year since the last one (I work for a garage)

@hsffdd it will be ok.

That light is timed to go on based on time/distance. It's not a diagnostic message.

If you're worried about your oil, you can check it with the dipstick. But it should be fine. If it does get to a critical state, the car will show you a red warning light.

Red warning lights mean stop driving. The car will either not move or severely restrict itself by going into limp mode. Amber warning lights mean look into this but it's ok to drive.

Service lights can be amber or white but again, it's just programmed to come on to let you know to book one. Don't panic.

You have a service booked, you seem to know nothing about cars so please leave this alone. If you're concerned, phone the garage and ask if they have a sooner slot for the service.

Its fine, its approximate. The light will be reset at the service, its just a reminder.

Oh, and the oil light and the engine light are different things. The oil light looks like an oil can and the engine light looks like a mysterious flying submarine 😆

No need to worry about that, it's a rough guide. If you're booked in for a service soon, that's OK. I think you should learn how to check your own oil levels with the dipstick though. It's not difficult!

You do not say whether your car is petrol or diesel.
Car Engine Oil Finder | 5w30, 10w40 and More | Halfords UK

This will let you find the correct oil
Please do not bung anything in it
If you really cannot cope with this then ring your garage.

Likely to be 10W-40 with the age of your car based on mileage

Ladies please we all should be able to do basic car care- top up oil, screen wash, check tyres for tread, know where your jack and locking wheel nut is, change a tyre in an emergency. It is easy to learn and not rocket science and it is all about your safety.
While I am on my soapbox- sorry- please also keep an emergency kit in your car in case you get stranded

Emergency Breakdown Kit, 76 in 1 Multifunctional Roadside Assistance Car Breakdown Kit with Jumper Cables, Tow Rope, Triangle, Flashlight, Safety Hammer, etc : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

They should do an oil change as part of your service.

If you have it booked in then it will be fine even if you go over 100 miles ,the garage will check which oil to put in.

The simplest way to find out is to go to the Halfords website, search for engine oil and give it your car's registration number - it'll tell you exactly what you need. Don't buy anything else, the viscosity is hugely important to the continued health of the engine.

For older or less common cars it can be a bit hit-or-miss, but for more commonly-seen models like yours it should be bang-on.

It's not just about the oil level, though, but rather how dirty the oil is - the more impurities and crud it's picked up, the less effective it's going to be (and the more it's going to be redistributing that crud around the engine, in places it really shouldn't be).

I tend to replace the oil and filter in mine every 5k miles or so, but that's mainly because I've got a 20+ year old MG, and it needs to be babied if it's going to make it another year...every year.

God, there is some duff advice on here!

OP, your car has done 38000 miles so its very unlikely to have an oil leak. It was serviced a year ago when the oil would have been changed for fresh clean oil.

Its now due a service where it will be checked and changed.

(The reason the oil is changed at a service is that as the engine wears, minute particles of metal get into the oil and make it dirty. The oil is drained from the sump at the service and refilled with the correct oil to the correct level.)

You SHOULD as a matter of course check the oil via the dipstick every month or so, there are markers on the stick for high and low and the oil level should be somewhere in between. Check when the engine is cold and the car on a level surface.

Check your windscreen washer level at the same time, along with tyre pressures and you are all set.

The handbook in your glove box will tell you all this and the correct tyre pressures for normal and heavy load.

I would always aim for annual oil + filter change, or every 10,000 miles, whatever comes first. It’s relatively cheap maintenance and better to treat your engine nicely. Follow the car manufacturer specification for the oil.