# Motor oil **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [June 14, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278 "2015-06-14T21:35:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/21 "2015-06-19T19:38:00Z")
^ Ditto! Only one guy on each shift wore the coin changer and carried a roll of bills. All of the other guys (on day shift, perhaps as many as 6 of us) had to go to “the belt man” to make change. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/22 "2015-06-19T23:42:28Z")
Wow, @texases, I haven’t seen any of that stuff in years! Flash from the past! I’ll bet most “kids” under 30 can’t even identify or understand that stuff! ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/23 "2015-06-20T01:32:39Z")
I’m trying for the life of me to remember where the Cities Service station was. I think I’m getting it confused with the Pure station. I know where the Clark station was though. Not sure what kind of oil they sold there since we always went to the Shell station. ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/24 "2015-06-20T02:01:51Z")
When I was growing up, I decided that when I owned a car, I would only put Cities Service (now Citgo) petroleum products in the car. The reason was that Cities Service sponsored the “Band of America” led by Paul LaValle". The band was on NBC radio stations every Monday evening at 9:00 p.m. The broadcasts ran from 1948 to 1956. When Cities Service quit sponsoring the band, I vowed never to buy anything from Cities Service. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 5:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/25 "2015-06-20T05:15:11Z")
Good Lord, I think I still have an oil can spout! ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 7:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/26 "2015-06-20T07:17:26Z")
> **Good Lord, I think I still have an oil can spout!** I do. My youngest asked me what that was just a couple of weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 7:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/27 "2015-06-20T07:20:28Z")
What percentage of your customers used to ask for a dollars worth, or some whole dollar amount instead of the “fill ur up”. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 7:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/28 "2015-06-20T07:34:27Z")
> **What percentage of your customers used to ask for a dollars worth, or some whole dollar amount instead of the "fill ur up".** Many still buy gas that way. I’ve seen many people just put $10 or $20 in the tank instead of filling it up. The only difference now it’s mostly self serve. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 8:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/29 "2015-06-20T08:19:05Z")
I used to write a lot of $1 checks for gas. You’d get three gallons. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/30 "2015-06-20T14:20:50Z")
**What percentage of your customers used to ask for a dollars worth, or some whole dollar amount instead of the “fill ur up”.** Back in the '60s, when I was a teenager, I almost always bought gas $2 or $3 at a time. Of course, gas cost less than 30 cents per gallon back then. Then there was my nutty boss who–in the '90s–was buying gas for his Buick LeSabre $5 at a time. When I asked him why he did it that way, his response was, “so that they can’t cheat me”. Huh? It should be noted that my $2 gas purchases allowed me to drive for 3-4 days in our Plymouth Belvedere, whereas nutty Jerry’s $5 gas purchases had to be done daily. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/31 "2015-06-20T17:05:31Z")
I use a credit card and squeeze off that extra penny, just like Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/32 "2015-06-20T17:39:42Z")
And I also use a credit card so I can get the 3% discount. b ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/33 "2015-06-20T19:24:05Z")
I remember during the “gas wars” the attendant would fill the tank, wash the windshield, check the oil, and even give you a free drinking glass! I had a collection of those glasses. ---
**Author:** ![PvtPublic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/pvtpublic/32/13089_2.png) [@PvtPublic](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PvtPublic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/34 "2015-06-20T19:50:14Z")
Some where I still have a glass or 2 and a “wooden nickle”, from the Zayres in Oak Lawn IL. The wooden nickle was good for a free car wash. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/35 "2015-06-20T20:21:02Z")
> **I remember during the "gas wars" the attendant would fill the tank, wash the windshield, check the oil, and even give you a free drinking glass! I had a collection of those glasse** Back in the 70’s - L’Eggs Pantyhose was introduced and was given away at some gas stations with a free fill-up. One local gas station near me went a step further…they offered free installation. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/36 "2015-06-20T20:27:52Z")
**“I remember during the “gas wars” the attendant would fill the tank, wash the windshield, check the oil, and even give you a free drinking glass! I had a collection of those glasses.”** Yup! When I was in Ohio in the early '70s, one of the gas chains (Sohio??) was giving out a _Flintstones_ drinking glass with every fill-up. I had a small collection of those glasses until just a few years ago, when the last one broke. Because the glass was so thick, those glasses were really durable! However, the “best” gas station giveaways in NJ in the '60s were at one of the discount gas chains. In the winter, they gave out a small (2 lb?) sack of traction grit with each fill-up, and in the summer a fill-up got you a free roll of toilet paper. Not very elegant, but…very practical. ---
**Author:** ![kmccune](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/kmccune/32/1237_2.png) [@kmccune](https://community.cartalk.com/u/kmccune)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/37 "2015-06-21T16:06:13Z")
We had a local Cities service station,he also sold Quaker state oil and gave away comic books and thermometers,Never had a beef with citgo oil,the old citgo I believe had 3 round thingies and was green and white,now its a triangular multi colored thing(I liked when Chavez sent the low cost heating oil to New York) seems like citgo went to plastic bottles in a big way among the first,(anybody seen an Aluminum Esso can?.the hollows around here used have a lot of them in dumps,until I started scrapping{much heavier then a budwiser can] ---
**Author:** ![cwatkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@cwatkin](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cwatkin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/38 "2015-06-21T19:34:00Z")
I doubt changing to 5W30 from 5W20 would hurt anything. I would be more leery of 10W30 in something that calls for 5W30. I have one of the 3 cylinder Geo Metros that get 50+ mpg. The little engines run great if you take care of them and call for 5W30 from the factory. One common problem is burned valves using 10W30 or 10W40, especially in cold climates. People seem to get away with it fine in places like Phoenix though. The lifters are highly sensitive to thicker than specified oil and will overpump and burn valves like no tomorrow if you aren’t careful. Another problem was that people considered these “disposable” cars and didn’t change the oil and such. The lifters would plug up and burn the valves mighty quickly. I personally run a full synthetic 0W40 in my car. Oils like this were not in existence when the cars were designed but there is a forum and I consulted with some who rebuild these little engines before making the switch. They said I would have no problems besides maybe a tiny reduction in fuel economy. People give me a hard time for buying an oil specified for BMW, Mercedes, and the like for use in a Geo Metro! I actually buy several fills of it when it goes on sale. I think my last 3 purchases of this oil were like $19.99 for 5 quarts with a cheap filter included so this isn’t expensive oil to me. I use an oversized filter on my car but the spec filters for them coincidentally are the same ones that my riding mower takes. I put the good ones on my car and use the cheap ones on the mower. As for the aluminum Esso cans, they might be worth something to a collector. You never know but scrap can also be worthwhile if you get a lot of cans. I was given a bunch of junk which happened to include a lot of AC coils not long ago and basically got paid $330 for hauling it to the scrap yard. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/39 "2015-06-21T20:07:49Z")
“and in the summer a fill-up got you a free roll of toilet paper. Not very elegant, but…very practical.” Because you can use the toilet paper as an oil filter cartridge . . . ?! Didn’t we talk about that a few months ago? 😁 ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278/40 "2015-06-21T22:33:39Z")
Multiple comments. I stopped to get a couple quarts of BMW oil last summer and it was like $8.50 a quart. The cans I remember were metal tops and bottoms but the rest of it was cardboard. You could burn them but not recycle them. The Holiday stations around here used to give out plates and cups and so on, but most of the place just gave stamps. Some green stamps and some gold stamps. You pasted them in a book and then went down to the local green or gold stamp store and redeemed them for merchandise. The had a neat Tonka truck that I really wanted but it was too many books of stamps. [Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278.md?page=1) [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-oil/90278.md?page=3)