M1 AFE 0W-30 back in Canada after nine years.

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I couldn't believe I saw it, but there it was in it's own liter bottles on the shelves of my local CDN Tire.
Price $12.49/L.

It's never made sense why they chose not to market it in the Great White North with it's class leading MRV spec'.
 
Has anyone ever questioned Mobil why AFE, that would appear tailor made for you guys, wasn't sold up there?
 
The reason I was given years ago was that no manufacturer spec's a 0W-30 grade therefore there wouldn't be sufficient demand for it. Of course that argument should also apply to the States when they reinvented both their 0W-20 and 0W-30 grades as AFE with a different marketing spin and getting away entirely from the superior extreme cold start spec's of the oil.

Anyway it should be welcome news to our Cdn friends primarily out West that do see extremely cold winter conditions.
 
Whoa. Considering what a 5-quart jug of it sells for here in Walmart, that is astounding.

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
I couldn't believe I saw it, but there it was in it's own liter bottles on the shelves of my local CDN Tire.
Price $12.49/L.
 
Ours too... 4.4 l jugs... at, gasp, $ 49.99 CDN per jug. Should be on sale soon...

Sure would be nice to have some USA prices here... but I understand Euro and Aus. prices are even higher...
 
Originally Posted By: geeman789
Walmart has 5w30 M1 for $ 28.88 CDN per 4.4 l jug... Makes you wonder of the exotic 0w is worth it...?

Usually up here, I've seen other varieties of AFE priced the same as the vanilla, so give it time.
 
Many years ago, XD-3 0w-30 was available and seemed to be probably the most outstanding oil sold in Canada. I forget the username, but a guy was running it in his fleet of Silouttes or pontiac equivalent for 10s of thousands of km. Not available in the US. It is not like AFE is the only goto oil for cold weather.
 
So M1 AFE is available in every Walmart in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and SoCal, at roughly the same price for a jug of five quarts as you'd pay for a couple of liters but not for nearly a decade in a much colder area?
Who made the decision on this really lame marketing?
XOM or Canadian retailers?
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Not available in the US. It is not like AFE is the only goto oil for cold weather.

No, but XD-3 (now Mobil Delvac Elite 222 0w-30) has significantly higher HTHS, and isn't SN/GF-5 like the AFE or similar oils.

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
XOM or Canadian retailers?

I suspect it would be Imperial Oil's fault, since I never saw it on any of their sell sheets, ever.
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
The reason I was given years ago was that no manufacturer spec's a 0W-30 grade therefore there wouldn't be sufficient demand for it. Of course that argument should also apply to the States when they reinvented both their 0W-20 and 0W-30 grades as AFE with a different marketing spin and getting away entirely from the superior extreme cold start spec's of the oil.

Anyway it should be welcome news to our Cdn friends primarily out West that do see extremely cold winter conditions.

One thing that bothers me is that GM has put in their owner's manuals "In extreme cold a synthetic 5w30 or 0w30 is preferable" back in the 1990s, and did that all the way until Dexos was specified.

So, no, they don't require 0w30, but they recommend it highly. Given the number of GM cars up there, I would think there would be enough demand.
 
Okay, but you have Walmart in Canada.
Why weren't they smart enough to offer the oil there?
It's not as though any entity could resist their demands.
 
Local Walmart sells M1 in only 5w20/30 , and 5w40 TDT. Nothing exotic...

Probably because 98 % of people buy ONLY what is spec'd for their car...
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Whoa. Considering what a 5-quart jug of it sells for here in Walmart, that is astounding.

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
I couldn't believe I saw it, but there it was in it's own liter bottles on the shelves of my local CDN Tire.
Price $12.49/L.

That's the same list price for M1 0W-20 and M1 0W-40, but they frequently go on sale for 20%-40% off or more.
A week ago my local CDN Tire had an in store special on M1 0W-20 in a 4.4L jug for $29.49 ($4.66/L).

Anyway, being new, I don't think the 0W-30 is going on any major sale for a while.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Okay, but you have Walmart in Canada.
Why weren't they smart enough to offer the oil there?

We do, but they push, as ever, what sells. The selection on EP is limited (some places have none). The AFE they do sell was the 0w-20. Heck, Walmarts up here don't sell PU, and haven't for ages.

I suspect Imperial Oil wasn't pushing that aggressively; their distributors didn't even have it. On the other hand, Wakefield markets aggressively, and Walmarts in Canada carry almost every Castrol motor oil product that is conceivably available in this country.

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Anyway, being new, I don't think the 0W-30 is going on any major sale for a while.

It'll probably wait until when/if Walmart gets it with their semi-permanent M1 rollback and the Canadian Tire catalog people figure out there is more than 5w-20, 5w-30, and 10w-30 to advertise.

Now just watch, ladies and gentlemen, how backwards oil marketing is in Canada. Canadian Tire will price AFE as a premium product, contrary to Walmart Canada's practice with 0w-20 AFE, which they keep the same (after all, there is no regular M1 0w-30 or regular M1 0w-20 to compete with the AFE offerings). Instead of Canadian Tire trying to compete by lowering their price to the Walmart range, Walmart will think, "Hey, this is a good idea. AFE should be priced as a premium product." So, with more selection on our shelves and 0w-30 AFE now available, watch the price magically increase.
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12.49/L ... for Mobil1 ?!?
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No offense...but No Thanks. Mobil is decent oil but it offers no usable performance value for me to warrant paying that massive premium over the Shell/Motomaster F1 or Napa's sale for PP at $26.99/5L or even higher priced Rotella 0w30. I could change the oil twice as often and still be cheaper. There is not a chance that you would see anything resembling a return on investment that the AFE formulation brings either.
 
This thread got me thinking, why don't all manufacturers spec cars for 0W oils?

Aside from the fact that they may not want to promote synthetic, would there be any other reason? I don't see how 5W-30 could offer more protection than 0W-30 all year round.

Mobil 1s website specs my car for 0W-30, but Hyundai won't officially approve it, doesn't make sense.
 
Originally Posted By: Swift101
This thread got me thinking, why don't all manufacturers spec cars for 0W oils?

Aside from the fact that they may not want to promote synthetic, would there be any other reason? I don't see how 5W-30 could offer more protection than 0W-30 all year round.

Mobil 1s website specs my car for 0W-30, but Hyundai won't officially approve it, doesn't make sense.



Honda and Toyota are almost exclusively spec'ing 0w20 now.

The Europeans do not spec specific viscosities, but rather, develop their own spec. There are tons of 0wX oils in the BMW, MB, and VW lists.
 
Originally Posted By: Swift101
This thread got me thinking, why don't all manufacturers spec cars for 0W oils?

Aside from the fact that they may not want to promote synthetic, would there be any other reason? I don't see how 5W-30 could offer more protection than 0W-30 all year round.

Mobil 1s website specs my car for 0W-30, but Hyundai won't officially approve it, doesn't make sense.

Many people would prefer to change their 5w30 conventional oil whenever the quick lube tells them to, instead of having an OEM recommend long intervals with a synthetic oil. I have never seen 0w30 that wasn't at least a synthetic blend.

This may be due to attitudes related to oil changes that have existed for 40 years or more.
 
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