Economical 5w-30 Recommendations

[SC Maintenance]

Unless your already going to walmart - just go online and get a jug of supertech or QSFS, or I think the Quaker state ultimate whatever is actually cheaper than the regular. I like quaker state because they have the foil anti tamper seal, not just the little plastic ring on the lid. Add some Toilet Paper or paper towels or whatever you normally buy anyway to get to $35 for free shipping and wait for it to arrive at your house, save your gas and your time. They also sell supertech or Fram oil filters if you need.

 

[TiGeo]

Supertech is your huckleberry.

 

[michaelluscher]

Hoard some Castrol Edge EP from your local Advance Auto?

 

[I<3oil]

Amsoil SS

 

[lawrencerd]

I just purchased two jugs of the quaker state full synthetic dexos high mileage in 5w-30 for $18.82 through walmart.com

Cheaper than house brand equivalents right now and you get a Shell product.

Or the valvoline maxlife garage box, 2x OCI worth of oil for ~$43. the QS has the dexos spec & is fully synthetic for close to the same price so I picked that up this time.

 

[mattwithcats]

NAPA 5W-30 Full Synthetic is D1G3, rebranded Valvoline…

 

[mattwithcats]

Super Tech Full Synthetic SAE 5W-30 Motor Oil, 12 Quart Bag (3 gallons)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/389882816

Valvoline Advanced Full Synthetic 5W-30 Motor Oil, 12 QT
https://www.walmart.com/ip/1325954242

 

[Oldwolf]

Why do we recommend more expensive oils on newer cars and then once the car ages think it's okay to go with a cheaper oil? Why not use the cheaper oil when the car is new? If expensive oils are really so great you would think an older engine would benefit as much as a newer one.

 

[silversport]

if it meets a spec is it truly "cheaper oil"???...I follow the sales for certain oils or blowout sales for oils while making sure it still meets the spec you want/need...recently purchased Quaker State Full Synthetic 5W-30 5 quart jugs for $15.00 during a sale...Mobil Synthetic (not Mobil 1) came up for sale for a similar price...both meet Dexos 1 Gen 3 even though not required for my 2005 GMC Yukon Denali 6.0 V8 but that works...

Good luck with your choice

Bill

 

[cptbarkey]

Why do we recommend more expensive oils on newer cars and then once the car ages think it's okay to go with a cheaper oil? Why not use the cheaper oil when the car is new? If expensive oils are really so great you would think an older engine would benefit as much as a newer one.

The answers here generally fit the OPs parameters, as does other threads where more expensive oils are recommended. Your observation is correct, cheap Supertech is perfectly fine for a brand new vehicle. While not new, my Lexus turned 70k miles and finished a 500 mile trip towing at max 6500lbs and performed as expected (quite comfortably) while circulating 8 quarts of ST 0w20.

 

[PontiacHO]

https://www.autozone.com/motor-oil-and-transmission-fluid/engine-oil/p/quaker-state-advanced-durability-conventional-engine-oil-5w-30-5-quart/427017_0_0?cmpid=LIA:US:EN:AD:NL:1000000:OIL:19488533504&&CATARGETID=120054150001289500&CADevice=t&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADkcoVvMCtQ1I-6pc2_kNHbIAYxP-&gclid=Cj0KCQiAy9msBhD0ARIsANbk0A_4qEP5U9b3VGbZiS0Amco35Cu_8AzB7f62oqaaSGGXaraK2vJpvNMaAvyaEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[RyanY]

Supertech MP or Fram filter (silicone ADBV, and leave it on for two years). And use whatever major brand or store brand oil meets spec and is on sale, preferably with an additional rebate. If you can wait till March or April, Pennzoil and M1 usually start their annual rebate programs. Watch the BITOG rebates/sales/discounts thread for this.

 

[gfh77665]

Why target cheap oils?
With once / year changes, oil price is almost irrelevent.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

I'll throw out the Havoline 6qt boxes at WalMart, even though they've crept up in price a little.

Or the Valvoline Garage Boxes that can be had very fair if you buy 3 or 4 of them at a time.

If you call a 50% increase crept up. 2 years ago I was buying it for under $20 a box. Kirkland brand beats them hands down!

 

[ATex7239]

Why do we recommend more expensive oils on newer cars and then once the car ages think it's okay to go with a cheaper oil? Why not use the cheaper oil when the car is new? If expensive oils are really so great you would think an older engine would benefit as much as a newer one.

One reason is oil requirements and specifications generally get better over time. For instance our almost 10 year old Hyundai was spec’ed for SN and now even the cheapest oil on the shelf is SP rated. Why spend more on premium oil when the economy stuff is arguably better across the board than the oil at the time it was manufactured? Also people don’t want to sink money into beaters which is usually what we are talking about here.

 

[lawrencerd]

Why do we recommend more expensive oils on newer cars and then once the car ages think it's okay to go with a cheaper oil? Why not use the cheaper oil when the car is new? If expensive oils are really so great you would think an older engine would benefit as much as a newer one.

I somewhat agree with you but this OP has also stated that they are doing annual OCIs and only a few thousand miles a year.

So there is no need for anything extended drain and as others have said, the commonly available oils are meeting specs that are more stringent than required by the 2008 truck.

That said my recs were qs and Valvoline which I would gladly use in a newer vehicle if they meet spec.

 

[shurguywutt]

Thanks for the recommendations gents, I ended up getting 2 jugs of Pennzoil Yellow 5w30 from Ace Hardware because I had a gift card. The outgoing oil was a bit dark with less than 3k on it (Kirkland 5w30). I did have a couple oz. of Marvel Mystery Oil in it so who knows if that made it darker.

 

[ChrisD46]

I have an 08 GMC Sierra 5.3 that gets less than a few thousand miles a year and I was trying to find a good economical oil/oil deal for the yearly change. What's the word?

I like Quaker State Full Synthetic for $21 per jug at WM as a high quality , lower cost oil .