Oil finder web site page accuracy.

[skyship]

I have just had a reply from an engine oil company that I asked why a particular fairly cheap diesel car oil did not appear on their recommended list when the details of my Volvo were entered. The reply from Liqui Moly follows:

Hello Mr xxxx,

This oil is approved for your Volvo and can be used very well and cover all the claimed specs. The product isn`t shown on the website because there are always just 4 or 5 products listed becuase to much products would upset our customers.
We hope we could help you with our informations. Should you have further questions regarding our products we would be very pleased to get contacted from you again.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Best Regards


Obviously the oil that was missing was the cheapest one of 5 that meet spec for my 1.9TD, what a surprise!!
I then checked the Castrol and Mobil 1 oil finder guides and guess what, they also fail to recommend their cheaper conventional or part synthetic engine oils!!
I even passed by a local equivalent of a quick lube place that uses Castrol oils and asked them how much they wanted to change my oil and filter. The quote did include two different oil and filter choices, BUT guess what again, they managed only to quote for Castrol Edge 5/40 fully synthetic or Magnetec 5/40 HC synthetic, which is nearly as expensive. I asked if they could use Magnetec 10/40 or GTX 10/40 which are both OK for my car and the chap showed me their version of the oil finder site that managed to do an even neater job than the main Castrol one of not listing cheaper oil options.
It seems like you have to count your fingers on a regular basis when getting an oil service done for a diesel car in my local German town!

 

[bigjl]

I doubt it is a conspiracy.

The UK site gives best option and next best. But it won't really apply to most more modern vehicles as they tend not to meet the specs of the older oils.

And I wouldn't put GTX in any of my vehicles if they are fitted with a turbo and EGR.

I think you have the opinion they may be trying to sell you the most expensive product, but have you not though they are just trying to sell you the best product instead?

 

[skyship]

You expect the best oils to be listed first, but they imply by using the term oil finder that they will display all their oils that meet the required specs to be used for a particular engine and it sure seems they are cherry picking the most expensive to display.
The UOA results of GTX are only fractionally worse than Edge and are better than some major brand full synthetics if the OCI is not pushed too hard, although I have only read results for the 5/30 and not the 10/40 that meets the required Volvo specs.


Originally Posted By: bigjl
I doubt it is a conspiracy.

The UK site gives best option and next best. But it won't really apply to most more modern vehicles as they tend not to meet the specs of the older oils.

And I wouldn't put GTX in any of my vehicles if they are fitted with a turbo and EGR.

I think you have the opinion they may be trying to sell you the most expensive product, but have you not though they are just trying to sell you the best product instead?

 

[bigjl]

I very much doubt GTX would stand up to the kind of use a lot of cars are put to in many parts of the UK.

Lots of low speed urban use then short hard bursts down dual carriageways or motorways. With lots of congestion and slow running and long periods of ticking over.

I would not have confidence in anything less than a good quality semi synthetic as a minimum to deal with traffic conditions in the UK.

If conditions were perfect, clear roads, little or no traffic, engine running at a nice steady temperature then yes maybe something like GTX would suffice.

But the decisions made when designing things like what results to show on an oil finder search have to consider that most of those checking have no knowledge of what constitutes a good or a bad oil, they have no concept of what is severe service and what isn't.

So the default position will always be towards the higher end of the performance spectrum to ensure that an oil isn't recommended that may meet the minimum specs but only in the best conditions.

And also they have to consider the oil being run at least to the maximum manufacturers interval.

I wouldn't run mineral oil for 10k miles, but would a semi synth or full synth.

These are the reasons why I think these oil finder search engines tend to recommend the better oils, the price difference is negligible.

And they are not meant for those who know about oil to use IMOH.

 

[skyship]

There is very little difference in engine protection terms between a full synthetic and a dino oil that is of the same viscosity and made by a good company. It is more a matter of add pack quality than actual base stock type.
I have yet to see a bad UOA comparison between a full synthetic and a dino oil from the same company where the oil was changed more frequently than it would have been with a full expensive.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, but at present because I am using a 5/40 Synthoil and there is only a 5/30 GTX, I will test a LM 5/40 dino instead, although the diesel high tech is listed as part synthetic by the Germans.