Shop owner - which oils to use?

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alexautoinc

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Hello everyone, this is my first post here and I wanted some opinions on which oils are better to use in my shop. I work on mostly european and japanese vehicles and currently use these oils:

Total Quartz 9000 5w-40 synthetic for european cars.
Kendall 5w-30 for most 5w-30 synthetic japanese/domestic cars.
Idemitsu 0w-20 synthetic for newer japanese models.
Advance auto parts conventional for everything else.

Here are the options I have when it comes to ordering 55 gallon barrels and I wanted opinions on what would be the best choice for european cars. Price isn't that big of an issue as I want the best for my customers. Please list your top 3 from the list below.

Pentosin 5w-40
Pentosin 5w-30
Motul 5w-40 Xcess
Motul 5w-30 Xclean
Eneos 5w-30
Liqui Moly 5w-40 Leichtlauf HT
Liqui Moly 5w-30 Top Tec 4200
Liqui Moly 5w-30 Longtime High Tech
Sunoco 5w-40 euro.
Total Quartz 9000 5w-40.

Also, just an opinion on the other oils I am currently using would be appreciated, I am open to all advice.

Thank you!
 
I think the way most shops operate is a 55 Gallon drum of Pennzoil or Castrol 5W30 for cheap oil changes on beaters, and "Premium Synthetic" you gouge with Mobil 1 in the gallon jugs of the weight their car requires.
 
You will need to know the warranty approvals for the cars you service, such as vw, ford , etc, and which oils have those approvals.
 
Yup, figure out the approvals each manufacturer needs and get 1 oil that meets all the needs for European cars and 1 oil for all 5w30 cars and 1 oil for 0w20 cars.

I use Pentosin High Performance II 5w40 in my TDI. Here's a picture of the jug so you can see it's approvals.

2q33ncw.jpg
 
I don't think you can go wrong with any of those choices that you currently or plan to use. Can you get Mobil or Pennzoil Products too?

The Mobil 1 0w40 is great like mentioned.
 
Like Memphis 909 said.. What you are currently doing is really good
smile.gif
only change would be get the Pentosin 5w40 Nick mentioned which you have available or get the Mobil 1 0w40 if you can.
 
Originally Posted By: alexautoinc
Hello everyone, this is my first post here and I wanted some opinions on which oils are better to use in my shop. I work on mostly european and japanese vehicles and currently use these oils:

If you get a bunch of oil snobs, you'll need most of those, particularly the Eneos 5w-30 and Motul.
wink.gif
Honestly, though, vanilla Eneos 5w-30 is fairly cost effective as far as 5w-30 synthetics go.

If it were me, I'd be doing something like M1 0w-40 for its certifications, along with something for the low SAPS users, and options for 5w-30, 5w-20, and 0w-20 in synthetic, and conventional where appropriate. A dexos1 5w-30 wouldn't hurt, either.

You're not going to have to worry about "best." Ensure the oil is certified for the applications, and you're well ahead of the curve. However, if your customers like oil with German, French, and Japanese names, there's nothing wrong with serving that demand.
 
The mechanic I know just orders oil from NAPA as needed for each vehicle. Not sure on price, but it pays to be exact.
 
Amsoil 5w40 full saps is pretty affordable as well for a euro oil. My uncle stocks Amsoil at his repair shop and he moves quite a bit of product. Especially in cars that spec a syn oil or in European cars. Most of these people are paying $80-100 for syn oil changes at Valvoline or Jiffy Lube, so they are happy to get a full OE oil change for less money, usually $54.95 for 5qts of OE and a Wix filter, which is way better than the cheap filters jiffy lube installs. Additional quarts are $7 each. He puts 6k on the sticker just like the quick lives do for syn oils. He has found most customers return by 7.5k or so for a change. At this pricing he is cheaper than everyone except Walmart on syn oil changes.

Euro cars are the price per QT plus a Mann Filter and $15 labor to change it, plus making about $1 per qt on the oil

For customers that want conventional he uses either AAP house brand or Trop Artic syn-blend from orscheln bulk sales.

Trop artic is hard to beat for regular API applications in 5w20, 5w30, and 10w30
 
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I think part of it to consider is how much are going to advertise or market the oil to your customers based on Namebrand, versus just saying we have a "premium synthetic oil"

If you are going to market by name, then you have to latch onto whatever is popular and known in the market and to your customer.

Perhaps M1 and Amsoil to a lesser extent will have the most brand recognition as being premium "good stuff" among most of the regular US population.

So thinking along the same lines, you'll have to consider if motul or eneos, which are more boutique and less known, is going to resonate with your target core customers.
Will you need to educate them why it's not just better, but better than m1 or amsoil or if that is that too hard of a sell and they'll decline.
 
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As a small business owner you have several things to consider here. You must provide your customer with a competent service while providing your own business a solid profit in order to keep the doors open, bills paid and insurance current.

I would suggest choosing the products that meet the requirements of your customers vehicles and yet provides the highest profit margin for your company.

Do the same with all of your expendable items. Choosing to use a fancy named oil that costs you 30% more to purchase yet delivers no appreciable benefit to the customer helps nobody. Meet specification at the lowest cost. This will matter to you at the end of each month when you're trying to pay your bills.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak


If it were me, I'd be doing something like M1 0w-40 for its certifications, along with something for the low SAPS users, and options for 5w-30, 5w-20, and 0w-20 in synthetic, and conventional where appropriate. A dexos1 5w-30 wouldn't hurt, either.


Agreed. In order to manage your inventory carrying cost, a not insignificant number if you try to carry all these oils you mention, explore having a relationship with an autoparts vendor so that you can reach out for the boutique oils you may need. Then when the PorBMWBenzVW et al oil guys show up you call your supplier and have him run it over. Are you in the Atlanta area?
 
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The oil snobs are going to diy their oil or bring it in with them and just ask you to do labor only.
 
Originally Posted By: FowVay
As a small business owner you have several things to consider here. You must provide your customer with a competent service while providing your own business a solid profit in order to keep the doors open, bills paid and insurance current.

I would suggest choosing the products that meet the requirements of your customers vehicles and yet provides the highest profit margin for your company.

Do the same with all of your expendable items. Choosing to use a fancy named oil that costs you 30% more to purchase yet delivers no appreciable benefit to the customer helps nobody. Meet specification at the lowest cost. This will matter to you at the end of each month when you're trying to pay your bills.


I agree. Who are your customers and how do they relate to the Bitog mentality?? It's a business first. Will the majority understand the differences or care enough about something that will be used in minimal amounts and costs you a significant percentage more?? A specialty shop that caters to high end Euro vehicles may or may not benefit from a boutique oil if the take rate is significantly lower than the house oil and you typically get x percentage of minivans/compacts to go along with the Audis and Benzs.

There's an upscale shop near me that's equal parts survival as wanting to cater to the "motoring elite" and that equation will probably vary demographically as well as involve your reputation.
 
Thank you for all the replies, I am a well known BMW auto repair shop but like I said I do most european and japanese. Lots of my european customers that come over are picky regarding the motor oil that they use, most of the BMW M guys like the 10W-60 liqui moly but the others prefer "known brands". I do consider my monthly profit margins and the price differences for all the barrels are about $200-$300. I was considering trying the Sunoco 5w-40 euro as it meets bmw, mercedes, vw and porsche specs and is the most competitively priced.
 
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