store brand motor oil

[engineer20]

A lot of "store brand" motor oil has the starburst, except for meijer high mileage (not sure why)
but let's do a comparison of "store brand" oil
which is good and which is bad
and how have your experiences been with
both the synthetic and conventional and high mileage (if available)
of walmart supertech (blue bottle), meijer brand oil(red bottle?), advanced auto parts oil(black bottle), o'reilly's oil (black bottle), autozone orange bottle oil, or other store brand oils that I missed.

Are they even "legit" compared to name brands like Pennzoil or Castrol or Mobil, or are they "bad" and meet only the minimum requirements required for the starburst and go no further whereas the non store brands go beyond and are dexos approved or have other "further" approvals/qualifications/credentials?

Should I use a shorter OCI when using store brand oil, and is store brand synthetic group 3 or 4? is it a real synthetic or a highly refined group 3? shoudl I stay away from store brand oil, or are they good?

what about store brand oil filters like the walmart filter? maijer doesn't make it's filter, but meijer has purolator pureones for 5 bucks, and walmart and meijer both have the puro classic for only 3 bucks (walmart lacsk the pureone, but the classic is 2 cents cheaper than the meijer puro classic), and o'reilly's has a microgard filter, and autozone has the STP filters, and I think advanced auto has mann filters. Are store brand filters "cheap" and something to avoid or are they ok?

if i'm doing a 3k OCI, is a store brand conventional and store brand filter enough?

or should I get mobil super/clean 5000 since it's also so cheap and is priced similarly, if not cheaper, than store brand oil?

 

[engineer20]

Also, I noticed pennzoil platinum has rebates at meiijer, and castrol is on sale right not at autozone, and valvoline, and pennzoil and other brand names are often on sale, and mobil 1 is often on sale at o'reilly's (5.99 for a 1 quart container, compared to walmart's 7.74 for 1 quart, and meijer at 7.79)
though at 5 quarts, walart is 25.17 and meijer is 25.19, so if you're going for 5 quarts, go to the big box sotre, whereas for 1 quart, go to o'reilly's when it's on sale for 5.99

regardless, are store brand oils ever on sale or clearance or are they never because they consistently are cheaper than name brand oils when the name brand oils aren't on sale?
in other words, it's only brands like pennzoil that have sales, whereas store brand oil is never on sale since it's essentailly "always on sale" or "always cheaper than the rest"
or do store brand oils like supertech ever go on sale?

i don't think i'[ve ever seen store brand oil on sale or a store brand oil special.

Sometimes auto parts stores have oil change specials that include a filter or a filter essentially for free/cheaper

are purolator filters ever on sale? both the classic or pureone, and is 3.27 for the puro classic a good deal? for a 3k, i know classic is good enough, but should i upgrade to a purolator pureone if i'm doing a 5 k OCI?

also, i heard there were recent quality issues with purolator filters. what's up with that?

 

[engineer20]

also, i heard bad stories about pennzoil yellow bottle causing sludge
but browsing around, it seems like PYB helps clean sludge and is one of the best cleaning oils out there, is that true?

 

[Merkava_4]

The only store brand oil I'll use is SuperTech and only if it's made by Warren or Mobil.

 

[fdcg27]

Many of the questions you have about the relative qualities of these oils could be answered with a cruise through the PQIA site, where you'll find very good VOAs of most of the house brands you've asked about.
WPP is the major supplier to the house brand market, although there are exceptions. NAPA's house brand is made by Ashland, for example.
House brands do go on sale. Meijer is offering theirs buy one and get the second at 50% off this week, which would make two five quart jugs around $13.00 each. NAPA offers their house brand syn for ~$3.50/qt a couple of times each year.
Their are VOAs of the NAPA syn here and it's very similar to Synpower. A member has just posted a VOA of Meijer's house brand syn and it looks just fine, with unusually strong virgin TBN for a low-tier syn.
Since you live in Michigan, you could just drop by a Meijer location and get a couple of jugs of their syn, which would be fine for a 5K run and probably much longer.
Most of the house brand oil filters appear to be well made.
I'd avoid Purolator oil filters at the moment since they appear to experience a significant rate of media failure. NAPA and Carquest both offer Wix filters with house brand labeling at reasonable prices and either would be a good choice. For a 5K oil change, a Fram orange can would also be just fine.
Bottom line, just select an oil and a filter and use them.
Your engine won't know the difference.

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
also, i heard bad stories about pennzoil yellow bottle causing sludge
I can't believe that old wives' tale is still around...it wasn't true then and it most certainly isn't true now.

As for filters, I believe you can't go wrong using OEM. Motorcraft for a Ford, ACD for a GM, Toyota/Denso for a Toyota, etc...

 

[wemay]

NAPA synthetic - dexos approved
Auto Zone synthetic - dexos approved
AAP synthetic - dexos approved
Super Tech synthetic - not dexos approved

I would use any of these

 

[eljefino]

Had some "True Value" oil that didn't pour in a thin, honey-like stream. Well, it did, but then transferred into a series of drops, unlike other oil I've had before or since. When I drained it, it did the same thing.

I like my oil to stick together.

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27

Most of the house brand oil filters appear to be well made.
I'd avoid Purolator oil filters at the moment since they appear to experience a significant rate of media failure.


Other than anecdotal reports that appear here, are there actual data to support either of these comments?

It would appear not...but I might have missed them.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
also, i heard bad stories about pennzoil yellow bottle causing sludge
but browsing around, it seems like PYB helps clean sludge and is one of the best cleaning oils out there, is that true?


That was a concern in the 70's and 80's. Pennzoil Yellow Bottle(PYB) is argurably the single best conventional motor on the market here in the U.S. today.

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
The only store brand oil I'll use is SuperTech and only if it's made by Warren or Mobil.


I will use any store brand oil if it's made by WPP. SuperTech(W*M), ProLine(PB's), PEAK(which is store brand to some) and even certain grades of AAP's oils are from WPP. And some from Citgo or other blenders. Any of them are quite good infact!

Engineer20, see the PQIA testing on motor oils. They will have the brands of oil to AVOID! And too, buy on sale/rebates, discontued. Sometimes I have gotten Full Synthetic Oils for le$$ than conventional(dino) oils.

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: engineer20
also, i heard bad stories about pennzoil yellow bottle causing sludge
but browsing around, it seems like PYB helps clean sludge and is one of the best cleaning oils out there, is that true?


Yes PYB causes sludge.. So does Quaker state. Fram filters kill engines too. I refuse to run either in my Jeep.

 

[WiskyBadger]

Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: engineer20
also, i heard bad stories about pennzoil yellow bottle causing sludge
but browsing around, it seems like PYB helps clean sludge and is one of the best cleaning oils out there, is that true?


Yes PYB causes sludge.. So does Quaker state. Fram filters kill engines too. I refuse to run either in my Jeep.

The funny thing about this is one of our fleet mechanics at the shop here tells me how PYB and Quaker State are garbage and cause sludge, but Shell is really good stuff.

 

[Stelth]

Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: engineer20
also, i heard bad stories about pennzoil yellow bottle causing sludge
but browsing around, it seems like PYB helps clean sludge and is one of the best cleaning oils out there, is that true?


Yes PYB causes sludge.. So does Quaker state. Fram filters kill engines too. I refuse to run either in my Jeep.


Yeah, Pennzoil and QS use that stupid paraffinic oil.

 

[engineer20]

What about cheap formula shell? How does that compare to Pennzoil? Formula shell is store brand cheap.

 

[dlundblad]

PYB is better no doubt, but folks here run Formula Shell for 5000+ miles with no issues.

 

[dave1251]

Formula Shell is good stuff.

 

[Bud_One]

There are a few members here using it with great results - don't let the low price fool you. It's a good SOPUS oil .
Nice boron and moly content.

Here's the VOA for it from PQIA

http://www.pqiamerica.com/ShellFormula.htm

 

[SilverC6]

There are very few "bad" motor oils.

You do need to stay out of convenient stores when you are buying motor oil though.

The Warren blended house brand oils that you mention all look alike when analyzed and are more than capable to get you 3-5000 miles down the road.

But the Mobil 5000 is a slam dunk at Walmart prices.

Just a little research on PQIA will keep you squared away.

Then you can be confident to buy whatever is on sale or take advantage of oil change deals (with filter) at the parts stores and know that you're still taking care of your auto.

Since you have found BITOG though, you are more than welcome to join the discussion.

Here, we all know it doesn't really matter, but it means everything to each of us.

 

[engineer20]

i used to go to quick lube places, and maybe I still will (i don't go to jiffy lube, there's a local chain called victory lane, and they do a quality conventional formula shell oil change for 35) and that's what I've been doing before I started changing oil myself, so I wondered about formula shell, but some O'reilly's offer formula shell for 3.99 a quart, and Costco has them in cases of 12 for cheap, as well as chevron supreme.

Is chevron supreme better than formula shell? And if formula shell is so "good" then why would anybody use PYB? i saw jiffy lube's standard oil change, which used to be PYB is now formula shell, and lots of oil change places, quick lubes, tire places, mechanics use formula shell as their standard oil change, whereas at jifffy lube (not that i would go there) charges a premium for pyb, and charges 99 for pennzoil platinum!

Chevron supremem is also available for 5.99, same price as havoline at o'reilly's, and is available in large cases at cosco.

Are formula shell and chevron supreme on par with store brand oils or better?

 

[engineer20]

speaking of quick lubes (before i joined BITOG and started changing oil myself, i went to these places, but began wanting to DIY to save money and also to save my car because they always overfilled, or something would go wrong, so i got fed up and so i began to DIY)

regardless, one quick lube place switched from formula shell to Gulf motor oil. Is Gulf any good? They offer a gulf synthetic oil change for 49 dollars, much cheaper than their mobil 1, amsoil, or royal purple offers, at victory lane.

Is gulf (it looks like an orange on the logo) any good? I know there are some gulf gas stations in the philadelphia area (i lived there for a brief period of time), but is gulf motor oil any good?

Is it on par with formula shell, or is it "store brand?"