Liqui Moly Top Tec 4300 5W-30

[Darwin1138]

Liqui Moly Top Tec 4300 5W-30

I will start by disclosing my disdain for anything Liqui Moly because of all of the snake oil/unicorn tears products that they throw around.

Yesterday I came across a local source for this oil that it is about 5% cheaper than Castrol Edge EP 5w-30 and I thought maybe I could give it a chance. On closer inspection of the bottle and on their website, they only recommend the oil for use in cars that demand certain specs (ACEA A5/B5 and PSA B71 2290) but they don't have any official approval for those specs, so I thought that before buying anything I will ask to my oil brothers what are their opinions on this oil?

Is it better than Castrol Edge? Is Liqui moly a reputable brand when it comes to motor oils? Could the oil be any run of the mill oil with their logo on it? (Like royal purple/Synpower)

 

[Falcon_LS]

Liqui Moly is a highly reputable German blender with independent bodies, like the German TUV, to back up their claims as far as their additives are concerned. They are up there with the top suppliers in Europe and all their products are made in Germany. If you want snake oil/unicorn tears, you'll need to look elsewhere.

The Top Tec line is all Low SAPS. The 4300 is primarily for applications calling for ACEA C2 approval. Their recommendations are not manufacturer endorsed, but the oil meets the standards it is recommended for - the same way many other blenders play the word game of "meets or exceeds the requirements of...".

 

[Trav]

If you are comparing it to this, it fails miserably.

http://www.castrol.com/de_de/germany/products/cars/engine-oils/castrol-edge/product-range.html

If comparing to this its just as good or even better.

http://www.amazon.com/Castrol-03087-3PK-Extended-Performance-Synthetic/dp/B00JGQM3E0

See what going on here? LM is a German company and labels the product correctly, the 4300 is a synthetic technology oil AKA group III as is the US Edge which is deceivingly (IMHO) labeled full synthetic.

The German Edge is labeled correctly and is a full synthetic group IV and V oil with a better add pack. It is related to the US version in name only, the German version of Edge oils is superior to almost everything else on the market regardless of brand.
The 4300 is usually sold as a CNG/LPG engine oil for cars like the Fiat Multipla.

Gotta hide before the fan boys and the group III is true synthetic gang come out.LOL

 

[pbm]

Liqui Moly seems to make a different 5w30 for every car manufacturer.
Their 0w30 Longlife Plus seems to be PAO syn. and is priced accordingly.
I would guess it to be a very good oil.

 

[Fraser434]

The irony, from the VOA's I've seen Liqui Moly 4300 doesn't have any moly in it.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: Darwin1138
Liqui Moly Top Tec 4300 5W-30

I will start by disclosing my disdain for anything Liqui Moly because of all of the snake oil/unicorn tears products that they throw around.

Yesterday I came across a local source for this oil that it is about 5% cheaper than Castrol Edge EP 5w-30 and I thought maybe I could give it a chance. On closer inspection of the bottle and on their website, they only recommend the oil for use in cars that demand certain specs (ACEA A5/B5 and PSA B71 2290) but they don't have any official approval for those specs, so I thought that before buying anything I will ask to my oil brothers what are their opinions on this oil?

Is it better than Castrol Edge? Is Liqui moly a reputable brand when it comes to motor oils? Could the oil be any run of the mill oil with their logo on it? (Like royal purple/Synpower)

If you need Low-SAPS oil, get Mobil1 5W30 ESP.

 

[Fraser434]

Originally Posted By: edyvw

If you need Low-SAPS oil, get Mobil1 5W30 ESP.


Agreed, and includes moly and boron in the AP for M1 ESP. Not many low SAPS oils have these.

 

[Darwin1138]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
Liqui Moly is a highly reputable German blender with independent bodies, like the German TUV, to back up their claims as far as their additives are concerned.

Well that is one of my main complaints here, the TUV certification really doesn't say anything, as far as we know they could be TUV certified in the quality of their packaging or any other random aspect of the product and they will proudly display the TUV logo and benefit from the halo of credibility of said logo, to me, that is just a way of misleading the consumer. For example, I have seen homoeopathic remedies bearing the TUV certification, but that doesn't mean that they will be effective in curing anything, right?

If they pay for the TUV certification why not pay for the manufacturer approval?

Originally Posted By: pbm
Liqui Moly seems to make a different 5w30 for every car manufacturer.

I noticed that too, maybe is just the way the market is evolving into, but nevertheless it reminded me of this.

Originally Posted By: Trav
If you are comparing it to this, it fails miserably.

http://www.castrol.com/de_de/germany/products/cars/engine-oils/castrol-edge/product-range.html

If comparing to this its just as good or even better.

http://www.amazon.com/Castrol-03087-3PK-Extended-Performance-Synthetic/dp/B00JGQM3E0

Interesting, not really trusting the company yet but now I won't dismiss it so fast.

I am limited in my selection of oils to whatever I can smuggle into Mexico via Amazon, for now I will pass on this oil but it will be on my pinch hitter list, in case I am not able to import anymore the Edge EP or the M1 ESP as Fraser434 and edyvw suggested.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Originally Posted By: Fraser434
The irony, from the VOA's I've seen Liqui Moly 4300 doesn't have any moly in it.


The company's name derived from their very first product - MoS2. The name does not stipulate moly is and should be in all their oils, nor do they make such a claim.

Originally Posted By: Darwin1138
Well that is one of my main complaints here, the TUV certification really doesn't say anything, as far as we know they could be TUV certified in the quality of their packaging or any other random aspect of the product and they will proudly display the TUV logo and benefit from the halo of credibility of said logo, to me, that is just a way of misleading the consumer. For example, I have seen homoeopathic remedies bearing the TUV certification, but that doesn't mean that they will be effective in curing anything, right?

If they pay for the TUV certification why not pay for the manufacturer approval?


Maybe because it costs a couple of times more? Would you be prepared to pay more for this oil if it had manufacturer approvals? Most people here would go to Walmart and "pick the cheapest oil meeting spec".

We're talking about the Germans here - the consequences of fake advertising is severe. With all due respect, Germany isn't like North America or the Middle East or some third world country, where companies can get away with things like advertising a Group III as synthetic, or as you put it, putting TUV certification labels for their packaging and not the product contained in them. That's not how they operate in Des Deutschen Vaterland.

Liqui Moly is rather transparent, as many here who have contacted them will know. They have a name and a reputation to live up to, and will not risk damaging their reputation by pulling cheap stunts like TUV certification for their packaging labels. They're also one of the few companies, where management is dedicated to their employees and not some corporate CEO.

 

[volodymyr]

Liqui Moly is a reputable company and here it is considered a quality product.

Personally I find their product line too broad and too focused on a low SAPS oils.

Another confusing thing is that the german and swiss version of their web-sites (http://www.liqui-moly.ch/liquimoly/web_ch.nsf/id/pa_oelwegweiser.html) seem to be recommending Top Tec 4200 5W-30 for any car: out of curiosity I searched oil for all cars I have owned in past 6 years (4 cars, different engines) and for all of them Liqui Moly suggests the same oil.

Like many of you I watched the youtube video when they show the owner of Liqui Moly who does not use automation so that they can keep the working places for people. On the other hand, if they do not use automation I assume they cannot optimize their working processes and keep the lower prices. This causes their products to be costly (here it is 50% more expensive than Castrol Edge or Valvoline SynPower) as well as their products to be in a niche segment.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Originally Posted By: volodymyr
This causes their products to be costly (here it is 50% more expensive than Castrol Edge or Valvoline SynPower) as well as their products to be in a niche segment.


That's quite interesting. Over here, they're one of the well priced brands - by European standards of course. Their synthetics are about $9.06 a liter for PAO products like Synthoil High Tech vs. about $14.83 a liter for Mobil 1 or Castrol Edge.

 

[volodymyr]

Falcon_LS,

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS


That's quite interesting. Over here, they're one of the well priced brands - by European standards of course. Their synthetics are about $9.06 a liter for PAO products like Synthoil High Tech vs. about $14.83 a liter for Mobil 1 or Castrol Edge.



Here is an example from some local shop:

1. Liqui Moly SYNTHOIL LONGTIME PLUS 0W-30 Vollsynthetik 24,70 CHF (around 25$) per liter
2. Castrol EDGE Titanium FST 0W-30 Vollsynthetik 13,00 CHF (around 13.5$) per liter
3. Valvoline SynPower 5W–30 Motoröl Vollsynthetik 10,60 CHF (around 11$) per liter

 

[Falcon_LS]

Originally Posted By: volodymyr
Falcon_LS,

Here is an example from some local shop:

1. Liqui Moly SYNTHOIL LONGTIME PLUS 0W-30 Vollsynthetik 24,70 CHF (around 25$) per liter
2. Castrol EDGE Titanium FST 0W-30 Vollsynthetik 13,00 CHF (around 13.5$) per liter
3. Valvoline SynPower 5W–30 Motoröl Vollsynthetik 10,60 CHF (around 11$) per liter


That is phenominally high!

I used to run that very oil 2 years ago, and it's still priced at $9.06 a liter here.

 

[Trav]

Its cheaper in Germany, lousy pictures from my cell phone. Notice the TÜV on the 10w40, thats only because its the only oil that still has MoS2 in it, years ago in the 80's they pretty much all did.

 

[volodymyr]

Trav,

Are you shopping from https://www.autoteile-meile.de/Oele/Motoroel/c-Oil-1 ? They seem to have a decent prices for Liqui Moly in Germany.

 

[Trav]

Thanks for the link, i will check it out. They seem cheaper than the one i used before.

http://oelshop24.de/