Kateri McCray, first off synthetic oil is better when it comes to longevity and ability to handle extreme high temperatures without breaking down. It is more stable at higher temperature since it is "manmade". the higher cost can be adjusted because you can last 10,000, 15,000, even up to 20,000 miles between oil changes for some brands of synthetic.. all this is hypothetical and a bit of personal preference. the best thing to do is to follow your Volkswagen's owners manual. You can find a great list of Volkswagen approved oils [http://www.my-gti.com/2543|on here] and since Volkswagen uses oil standard 502 00 you can also check [http://www.carworklog.com/stuff/Oilchart.pdf|this TB] Hope this helps, good luck.