what your favorite motor oil and why.
htmi
I don’t care as long as it is 5W30 and it softens hands while I do dishes.
Whatever is on sale and meets my vehicles’ requirements when I need to purchase it. I am seldom brand loyal.
I always by PenzOil 10-30W with the most recent SAE # available, but I really have no idea why. I guess I just started using that brand years ago with my first car, and my theory I guess is that while all the major brands are perfectly fine to use, it is best to stick with the same brand once you decide.
Oil is really expensive these day. To mitigate the expense, I buy it by the case when it is on sale. I can usually get it for 30-40% off the normal price when it is on sale.
I use whatever meets the specifications for the engine.
Lately I have grabbed the store brand whenever I saw it on sale at any of the McParts stores. I bought several gallons of 10-30 synthetic at a great price in Advance a few weeks ago for use in late models that my friends drive. For my trucks Plain 10-40 or 10-30 suit me.
Whatever is on sale at Blain’s Farm & Fleet. Today I think I like Chevron 5W30 at 1.99 a quart.
I remember a test of motor oils some years back done by Consumer Reports. The same brand of oil of the same viscosity was different in different parts of the nation. It wouldn’t surprise me if a particular refinery sends out the same oil under different labels. Several years ago, I bought a case of Wolf’s Head motor oil. When I examined the bottle, it was made by Quaker State. I really liked the names different brands had for their oils: Gulf Single G (Single G was a great harness racing horse); Phillips 66 TropArtic; Shell Fire and Ice; Standard SuperPermalube etc.
Motorcraft 5W20 for my late model Ford products, Mobil1 5W30 for my wife’s car, Chevron Delo 15W40 for my older Chevy pickup (gas engine). Because for the newer cars these oils are recommended by the manufacturer or have proven to exceed manufacturer requirements. Delo for my old Chevy because it contains compounds that lubricate better in the older “slipper” type cams than the newer oils.
I don’t recall the last time I noticed the price of motor oil. Motor oil is cheap. Now bourbon and gin, that stuff’s getting expensive.
Ashland Oil who makes Valvoline is one of the major suppliers to many auto store brand oils. CarQuest being one of them.
Tester
I don’t recall the last time I noticed the price of motor oil. Motor oil is cheap. Now bourbon and gin, that stuff’s getting expensive.
+1
That, and besides even the cheapest brands tasting better than the most expensive brand of motor oil, looking for brand names of Bourbon and Gin is often actually worth it.
I buy my oil at BJs or Costco. Whatever is on sale.
Come to think of it, that is also where I sometimes buy my Bourbon and Gin…
I use whatever is on sale. Lot’s of marketing hype for selling motor oils and I think most of it is just that hype.
I also tend to buy whatever is cheap, often Valvoline or Mobil. My father was very brand loyal to Mobil when I was a kid. I never had much of a brand loyalty, but find myself using Valvoline more often than anything else. Last time I bought oil, it was Castrol GTX because it was pretty cheap and my three year old son wanted the toy car that was shrink wrapped to the 5+ quart jug.
Any brand that meets or exceeds the spec my car calls for. Currently I have a gallon jug of store brand synthetic 5W30 in my garage. It was on sale a few months ago.
My favorite brand is “Lowest Price” as long as it meets the specs.
SuperTech. 'Cause it’s cheap! And 'cause I’M cheap!
Any oil badged with the ASE and API seals on the bottle is perfectly good oil as long as it’s bee bought from a legitimate company (and not a a flea market). It should always be the spec and type specified by the owner’s manual. Of course, I DO change my oil and filter regularly…perhaps more than I really need to.
Mobil-1 Extended Performance because I believe (many do not and that is their right) it will extend the life of my motor. It is my money so I do what I believe which is what I think everyone should do, right or wrong. (In fact, politically that is my definition of the liberty we boast about.) After oil testing, I change the stuff around every 8,000 miles, the testing indicated my driving pattern that oil would be good for at least 10,000 miles. So, I leave a margin. 185,000 miles so far.
Amen, Irlandes. I may have a different perspective on the oil, but I’ll happily stand up and fight for your right to differ!
Back in 1955, my dad bought the newest car he had ever owned–a 1954 Buick. His mechanic convinced him that MacMillan “Ring Free” oil was the best oil available. When the car had about 80,000 miles with no problems, the mechanic retired and the shop was closed. Nobody else in the area handled MacMillan oil, so he switched to Quaker State. I bought the car from my dad when it was 9 years old and ran it to 160,000 miles. Neither the cylinder heads nor the oil pan were ever removed from the engine and I saw it on the streets two years after I sold it. The old Buick didn’t care what brand of oil was in its crankcase.