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    Cheap oil is it worth the couple dollar savings

    I usually buy name brand oil, but since the bad economy hit I need to save here and there. I am thinking of switching to off brand motor oil. My only concern is, in the long run can this lead to engine failure.
    Does any one have any experience with store brand oils?

    According to the bottle the none name brand oil also meets the American Petroleum Institute Standers so it should perform as well.
    The American Petroleum Institute (API) is the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry. Our more than 600 corporate members, from the largest major oil company to the smallest of independents, come from all segments of the industry.

    #2
    I put crappy oil in my boosted motor. If i rebuilt my car and only used a type of oil i wouldn't switch though. If you used synthetic i wouldnt switch.
    Cincinnati, ohio Bengals for life
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      #3
      Typically, what name brand oil do you currently use? Is it synthetic, semi, or mineral? How often do you change your oil? What are your mean trip lengths and are they characterized by mostly high speed highway or slower speed city, start-stop. Do you "push" your car or tend to drive it conservatively?

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        #4
        In my opinion, no, it isn't worth the minimal saving. Will the cheap stuff do the same job as a name brand? Sure, but you're giving up some protection that way. I guarantee Castrol or Valvoline will do more for your engine in the long run than Kendall will. It's in the additives they use. Name brand oils have additive packages that are designed to provide more protection over the 'store' brand. Just like gasoline: the cheap stuff will still make your car run, but there's a good (okay, and a few not so good) reason why it costs more. The cheap stuff does the job, the less-cheap stuff does it better. Besides, you really aren't saving that much. Advance Auto has Kendall for $2.99 on their website, Castrol and Valvoline are $4.29, saving $1.30/qt. If you use a full 4 for an oil change like I did when I had my BG that's $5.20 per oil change. How often do you change your oil? Even if you do it every 3 months, that's about $21 saving over the course of a year. To me, it's worth it to spend that extra amount and know I'm getting a good product. Especially given the driving conditions where your are. Traffic is murder on an engine, and a better quality oil will do better in those conditions. My advice is to pick one brand of oil (I used Castrol GTX dino oil in my BG, and she seemed to like it fine) and stick with it. If you're trying to save a little, stretch your oil change interval a bit. Even under nasty driving conditions you should be able to stretch it to 5-6000 miles with no untoward effects. Unless you do a lot of towing with your car (I noticed the trailer), you shouldn't have any problems going a bit further. And if you use synthetic, the answer's still no, it isn't worth it. Bite the bullet and spend the little extra to get a superior product. You'll be better off in the long run.
        1995 626: daily beater, mostly stock. Future NASA racer?

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          #5
          in my n/a's, i run cheap crap. cept my 6 which gets cheaper synthetic. lol.

          probe gets whatever is cheapest, usually store brand
          mazda6 get schaeffers full syn
          probe gt, and 626gt both get full turbo formulated amsoil full syn.
          kia sportage gets whatever kia puts in it, cause i get all oil changes done at kia dealership. lol
          ~PaTricK~


          -Current car's-
          ~ 92 Probe GT Turbo, 90 FE3 Turbo 626GT hatch, 97 KL mtx 626, 05 Mazda6, 09 Kia Sportage V6~
          What are you driving?

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            #6
            my honda gets cheap crap, mainly highway light driving its an auto
            the 323 only gets mobil1 sytnthetic because i beat on it constantly
            my mx3 with my old bp still gets mobil1 only but we pushed the change interval out further since the girlfriend never goes past 1/4 throttle and 4K RPMs
            "Discontent is the first necessity of progress."
            -Thomas A. Edison

            "There is a fine line between ballin' on a budget, and dreamin' on an empty wallet."


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            172.60HP & 156.93 TQ with only headers and short ram intake. back under the knife for a BPT swap.
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              #7
              All mobil all the time. For the nominal difference in price Id rather be assured that the oil isn't going to fail or sludge my engine up.
              -Steve

              94' Protege < Worklog<SOLD!
              VF10 powered!
              262 Whp & 257 Wtq
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                #8
                I also noticed that the oil on the market today isn't the same as when the vehicle was manufactured. The owners manual says to use API SG but it cannot be bought today. Instead it has been replaced with SM.

                The American Petroleum Institute (API) is the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry. Our more than 600 corporate members, from the largest major oil company to the smallest of independents, come from all segments of the industry.


                The reason why I ask is it worth the savings is because I do just about everything on my families four vehicles. What I was thinking was that if the off brand oil (I am thinking of WalMart Supper Tech) meets all the latest API requirements then it must have all the similar additives as name brand oil.

                I am still debating this how to do my next oil changes.

                I have to see if any one has done an oil analysis on the forum.


                Learn what's going on in your engine with oil analysis. Our free kits are easy to use and we explain the results in plain English!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by MD323 View Post
                  my honda gets cheap crap, mainly highway light driving its an auto
                  the 323 only gets mobil1 sytnthetic because i beat on it constantly
                  my mx3 with my old bp still gets mobil1 only but we pushed the change interval out further since the girlfriend never goes past 1/4 throttle and 4K RPMs
                  Originally posted by 1Mazda323Fan View Post
                  In my opinion, no, it isn't worth the minimal saving. Will the cheap stuff do the same job as a name brand? Sure, but you're giving up some protection that way. I guarantee Castrol or Valvoline will do more for your engine in the long run than Kendall will. It's in the additives they use. Name brand oils have additive packages that are designed to provide more protection over the 'store' brand. Just like gasoline: the cheap stuff will still make your car run, but there's a good (okay, and a few not so good) reason why it costs more. The cheap stuff does the job, the less-cheap stuff does it better. Besides, you really aren't saving that much. Advance Auto has Kendall for $2.99 on their website, Castrol and Valvoline are $4.29, saving $1.30/qt. If you use a full 4 for an oil change like I did when I had my BG that's $5.20 per oil change. How often do you change your oil? Even if you do it every 3 months, that's about $21 saving over the course of a year. To me, it's worth it to spend that extra amount and know I'm getting a good product. Especially given the driving conditions where your are. Traffic is murder on an engine, and a better quality oil will do better in those conditions. My advice is to pick one brand of oil (I used Castrol GTX dino oil in my BG, and she seemed to like it fine) and stick with it. If you're trying to save a little, stretch your oil change interval a bit. Even under nasty driving conditions you should be able to stretch it to 5-6000 miles with no untoward effects. Unless you do a lot of towing with your car (I noticed the trailer), you shouldn't have any problems going a bit further. And if you use synthetic, the answer's still no, it isn't worth it. Bite the bullet and spend the little extra to get a superior product. You'll be better off in the long run.
                  I like your thinking.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    depends on the situation. from what i've gathered the API is just the bare minimum standard, but many of the premium brands oils will even meet API standards of tomorrow. For the average n/a BG i'd just run whatever's cheap. but if you have owned the car since new(ish), are boosted, or beat the **** out of it constantly, i'd get better.
                    sigpic

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by ivan15 View Post
                      I also noticed that the oil on the market today isn't the same as when the vehicle was manufactured. The owners manual says to use API SG but it cannot be bought today. Instead it has been replaced with SM.
                      that's because todays oil didn't exist when your car was made. modern oil is much better than stuff from 20 years ago.
                      sigpic

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                        #12
                        i have been running royal purple for a year now.. 10w30. have had good success with it . before the change i was adding the regular stuff to the tune of 1 litre per 1400km .. with the royal ive used 1 litre for top ups in 10,000km... and the beast lives anywhere from 2500 to 5500rpm range.. and in some really cold conditions...the only thing is the weird smell after a high rpm run...

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Being a truck driver I can tell you that napa and valvoline oils come from the same spot(I thibk it was napa brand. It was a chain store brand for sure). I truely think a lot of the price is because the high dollar oil companies spend millions in advertising so they have overhead costs unlike the stores. Yes store advertise but they have tons of different products not just 1 to advertise. I usually run castrol(fkn bp) gtx though till now. Mainly because I don't expect my motor to be in the car much longer and it burns 4-5qts between oil changes anyways lol. My father in law runs 20/50 chain store brand oil in his full size pickup. 275,000 miles later its still running mint.
                          1993 Protege LX-Midnight's shadow SOLD
                          1996 Honda CBR600-Wrecked. Damn Honda crippled me
                          2002 mazda MPV-family truckster SOLD
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                          Originally posted by jay
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                            #14
                            i just run castrol gtx in everything lol. unless i find synthetic that's on sale and i'll buy 6 jugs.
                            -Jack

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                              #15
                              I run whatever I have laying around in my pony (I just used some REALLY old 20W40 Wolf's Head diesel oil in it, lol! I got the stuff for $0.99 a quart on clearance at car quest.) I only use Mobile 1 full synthetic oil in my protege, and I'm thinking about switching to Redline for my next race, as I run it over 7000 RPM all the time.
                              My family has lots of bg's!
                              2003 Ford Escort ZX2: Project car/future daily driver. Built Ford Tough (With Mazda Stuff)
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