Quaker State Experience

[Islander]

This is just for information purposes.

For the past 12 years or so, I have noted that a female commuter at our office who purchases used vehicles and keeps them until they have 300,000+ kilometers. (It seems she never has any major repairs.) The last two vehicles were a 4 cyl compact GM automobile and a mid size with a V6. She parks her vehicle outside at night and while she is at work. Low temps in Jan and Feb are in the -10C norm but can drop to -30C.

Today, due to curiosity I asked her what kind of oil she used in her vehicles and how often she changed it. Her response is that she uses Quaker State 5W30 in winter and 10W30 in warmer temps. She is referring to dino oil and she watches for sales normally resulting in purchasing at Walmart. (She has her brother do her oil changes.)

 

[Islander]

quote:

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Originally posted by Islander:
This is just for information purposes.

For the past 12 years or so, I have noted that a female commuter at our office who purchases used vehicles and keeps them until they have 300,000+ kilometers. (It seems she never has any major repairs.) The last two vehicles were a 4 cyl compact GM automobile and a mid size with a V6. She parks her vehicle outside at night and while she is at work. Low temps in Jan and Feb are in the -10C norm but can drop to -30C.

Today, due to curiosity I asked her what kind of oil she used in her vehicles and how often she changed it. Her response is that she uses Quaker State 5W30 in winter and 10W30 in warmer temps. She is referring to dino oil and she watches for sales normally resulting in purchasing at Walmart. (She has her brother do her oil changes.)

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Sorry, I forgot to mention that she has the oil in her vehicle changed every 5000Kms (Approx 3000 miles) which she accumulates every 3 to 4 months.

 

[medic]

This isn't very surpising. Most modern vehicles should be able to hit 200,000 miles without a problem, even if they are slightly neglected.

 

[HerkyJim]

Exactly. It makes little difference what kind of toothpaste you use, provided you brush frequently.

 

[jbas]

Good for her, and the "Q!" If every vehicle gets these miles, matter of factly, why continue BITOG? Quaker State, 2nd most popular oil in US over last decade, gets relatively less notice on here.

 

[jthorner]

Her regimen makes perfect sense. Any name brand modern dino will do the job very well with the much maligned 3 month/3,000 mile routine.

5W/30 winter, 10W/30 summer is also completely reasonable.

Bravo for her.

John

 

[medic]

quote:

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Originally posted by jbas:
Good for her, and the "Q!" If every vehicle gets these miles, matter of factly, why continue BITOG? Quaker State, 2nd most popular oil in US over last decade, gets relatively less notice on here.

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Quaker State does get much notice here because they are owned by the same company that owns Pennzoil, and their regular line of dino oils is inferior to Pennzoil. This may not be true with some of the newer designer oils (5w-40's, etc...)

edit: I forgot, I was told by a mechanic once that QS is too cheap to use real additives, so they use parafin wax as a friction modifier and it ends uo sludging up the inside of your motor

 

[427Z06]

30 years ago my extended family and friends we're getting 150K+ miles on family vehicles with 3K changes with name brand dino oils. I'm not surprised that the same can be done today.

 

[Don Stevens]

quote:

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Originally posted by medic:

Originally posted by jbas:
[qb]

edit: I forgot, I was told by a mechanic once that QS is too cheap to use real additives, so they use parafin wax as a friction modifier and it ends uo sludging up the inside of your motor

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C'mon....This site is for destroying myths like that.

Don

 

[medic]

quote:

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Originally posted by Don Stevens:

quote:

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Originally posted by medic:

Originally posted by jbas:
[qb]

edit: I forgot, I was told by a mechanic once that QS is too cheap to use real additives, so they use parafin wax as a friction modifier and it ends uo sludging up the inside of your motor

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C'mon....This site is for destroying myths like that.

Don

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That is exactly why I was rolling my eyes at the end of the post.

 

[Mike_dup1]

I know someone who is a nurse and travels a minimum of about 200 miles a day. She always geta new vehicles (mainly loaded Pontiac Bonneviles), keeps them for around 4 yrs, MD buys them and pays for maint. She is just the opposite of this other person. She uses Mobil 1, and changes around 10,000 miles. The Pontiac shop services her car and they recommende Mobil 1 to her many years ago and she has never had any car problems whatsoever.

So she is getting the same benefits using Mobil 1 and going 10g miles. A friend on mine bought her last Bonny with 197,000 miles on it. It was a SSE car, she always washed the car and kept it clean. One look at the car and you would think is had way less miles

I wonder who came out ahead on costs. the lady with QS every 3g or the lady with Mobil 1every 10g miles?

She is a nurse for a specialist and they travel to different clinics in various areas to hold office hours (she has 3 pass's with here). She is paid very well and often only works 3-4 days a week but she said travelling is the worst part. Some clinice are 300 rt miles distance. The MD drives a GMC Yukon 4x4 only he get new one every year.

 

[PandaBear]

Man, this world is not fair. (just kidding)

I am driving a corolla 100 rt everyday with 3 other passanger in my car, and will have to keep this car for at least 200k miles. Come to think of it, maybe 7k on a good dino like Chevron Supreme or Pensoil will be sufficient for low cost.

 

[jbas]

quote:

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quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by jbas:
Good for her, and the "Q!" If every vehicle gets these miles, matter of factly, why continue BITOG? Quaker State, 2nd most popular oil in US over last decade, gets relatively less notice on here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quaker State does get much notice here because they are owned by the same company that owns Pennzoil, and their regular line of dino oils is inferior to Pennzoil. This may not be true with some of the newer designer oils (5w-40's, etc...)

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Don't know how this post came "back," but gives me chance to respond to this nonsense post above: No, QS does NOT get relatively much notice on this board (relative to their sales). Barely noticed until new line just came out, and now QS back to relative obscurity.

 

[wavinwayne]

FWIW, even though I'm well-stocked with GC, M1 & some Havoline synthetic, I have more Quaker State dino & semi-syn. than all of the others put together. I have no clue if I'll ever use all that QS.

 

[chas3]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mike:

I wonder who came out ahead on costs. the lady with QS every 3g or the lady with Mobil 1every 10g miles?

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let's say you went to popular chain (iffy lube perhaps). a pennzoil (dino) change runs about $30 and the m1 is about $50 ($20 upcharge). so $90 for 3/3k pennzoil changes, $50 for 1/10k m1 change.

do the changes yourself, $2/qt pennzoil and for m1 $5/qt. say the filter is about $4 and assume a 5qt oil change. so $42 for pennzoil 3/3k changes and $29 for 1/10k m1 change.

some things to consider. try convincing the dealer that 10k is an acceptable oil change interval. if you extend the pennzoil changes to 5k its practically even (if you do the changes yourself). do you want to dispose of 15qt's of oil or 5 qt of oil? high fixed costs (labor, filter) make it hard to beat the longer interval.

 

[csandste]

I don't totally discount the GM engineer thread where he stated that extending changes with synthetic is more hype than fact. The truth probably lies somewhere in between, but I think the idea that M1 can double the safety range of a good dino like Pennzoil is a bit much.