5W-40 synthetic is recommeded in the owners manual. 5W-30 synthetic is recommended if 5W-40 is not available. I use Mobil 1 5W-30. I think Amsoil makes a 5W-40 that meets the VW specs. They are safe cars. They did very well in the IIHS and government crash tests for frontal and offset frontal crashes. Recently, the Beetle, which is on the same chassis, did not fare as well in side impact tests. That test may have been a small car vs. SUV side impact test - the results should be on the IIHS website.