What type of oil do you put in VW Beetle?

Classic Beetle: Shell Rotella T 15W40. You can use any heavy-duty oil you like--other brands include Chevron Delo 400 and Castrol Tection Extra.

Note from long time classic beetle owner: I prefer Castrol GTX 20W50 in a classic Beetle.

(Note to long term classic beetle owner: I used to run the same stuff. Rotella is made for service in heavy-duty diesels, which run hot compared to a watercooled gas engine. Bug engines also run hot...so I have come to enjoy using heavy-duty oil. If you want to stick with a Castrol product, try Castrol Tection Extra. When you're running big rig oil, there's no "what viscosity do I use?" about it: ALL of it is 15W40.)

New Beetle: 5W20, Any name brand will do but I like Castrol. Synthetic is fine.

The new beetles from 1998 up use a special oil,and if you don't use the right one you are going to have problems with overheating.My oil is a 0-40 and it is more expensive but I don't have the overheating problem I had when they changed the oil and used the 5-30 synthetic.I got mine at Walmart it was 6.49 a quart.The 99 beetle takes 4 and a half quarts.