I've read on here the merits of full synthetic oil over conventional ie. good in high heat or extreme cold, and increased OCI. Ok, if someone decided to make the jump from conventional to synthetic, why would they stop at semi? As an example: Valvoline 5 qt jug of conventional on AZ's web site is $18.99, their semi-syn is $23.99, and their full-syn is $28.99. (These are just comparison prices. You can probably get lower by shopping.) Let's say you do two OC's a year. You would save a whopping $10 by using semi instead of full! I'm certainly not rich by any means, but if $10 more, over a year's time, is going to adversely affect my life, I probably have more things to worry about than my oil. Again, what's the point of semi-synthetic? With the high grade of conventionals, these days, I don't think semi's pour ability is going to be that much better. Certainly, I don't think you would extend the OCI more because of Semi. Seems like all marketing hype to me.
Semi-synthetic: What's the point?
- Thread starter mikiee
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Some of the quite decent HM oils are also semi-syns.
But, like Honey Nut Cheerios, the semi-syns you think of are (IMO) little more than shelf-flankers to steal competitor space in places like walmart.
Or there are consumers who are conditioned to buy "a little bit better"... these guys also get 89 octane, "just because".
Another good excuse is a syn blend plus decent filter like a napa gold comes in right about the price of a quick lube change. Then you could sleep soundly knowing you did it right.
But, like Honey Nut Cheerios, the semi-syns you think of are (IMO) little more than shelf-flankers to steal competitor space in places like walmart.
Or there are consumers who are conditioned to buy "a little bit better"... these guys also get 89 octane, "just because".
Another good excuse is a syn blend plus decent filter like a napa gold comes in right about the price of a quick lube change. Then you could sleep soundly knowing you did it right.
Eh...most "conventionals" are going to have to have some group III fluids in them to meet GF-5. So, they are really "semi-synthetic" and not "conventional". Those labels are overused nowadays anyways.
Originally Posted By: mikiee
I've read on here the merits of full synthetic oil over conventional ie. good in high heat or extreme cold, and increased OCI. Ok, if someone decided to make the jump from conventional to synthetic, why would they stop at semi? As an example: Valvoline 5 qt jug of conventional on AZ's web site is $18.99, their semi-syn is $23.99, and their full-syn is $28.99. (These are just comparison prices. You can probably get lower by shopping.) Let's say you do two OC's a year. You would save a whopping $10 by using semi instead of full! I'm certainly not rich by any means, but if $10 more, over a year's time, is going to adversely affect my life, I probably have more things to worry about than my oil. Again, what's the point of semi-synthetic? With the high grade of conventionals, these days, I don't think semi's pour ability is going to be that much better. Certainly, I don't think you would extend the OCI more because of Semi. Seems like all marketing hype to me.
Mobil Clean 5000 is conventional. Mobil Clean 7500 is semi-synthetic. Seems that XOM believes you can go 50% longer on a blend
I've read on here the merits of full synthetic oil over conventional ie. good in high heat or extreme cold, and increased OCI. Ok, if someone decided to make the jump from conventional to synthetic, why would they stop at semi? As an example: Valvoline 5 qt jug of conventional on AZ's web site is $18.99, their semi-syn is $23.99, and their full-syn is $28.99. (These are just comparison prices. You can probably get lower by shopping.) Let's say you do two OC's a year. You would save a whopping $10 by using semi instead of full! I'm certainly not rich by any means, but if $10 more, over a year's time, is going to adversely affect my life, I probably have more things to worry about than my oil. Again, what's the point of semi-synthetic? With the high grade of conventionals, these days, I don't think semi's pour ability is going to be that much better. Certainly, I don't think you would extend the OCI more because of Semi. Seems like all marketing hype to me.
Mobil Clean 5000 is conventional. Mobil Clean 7500 is semi-synthetic. Seems that XOM believes you can go 50% longer on a blend
Originally Posted By: sangyup81
Mobil Clean 5000 is conventional. Mobil Clean 7500 is semi-synthetic. Seems that XOM believes you can go 50% longer on a blend
And XOM believes you can go a lot further than 5000 miles with Mobil Clean 5000.
More marketing that is working it seems....
Mobil Clean 5000 is conventional. Mobil Clean 7500 is semi-synthetic. Seems that XOM believes you can go 50% longer on a blend
And XOM believes you can go a lot further than 5000 miles with Mobil Clean 5000.
More marketing that is working it seems....
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: sangyup81
Mobil Clean 5000 is conventional. Mobil Clean 7500 is semi-synthetic. Seems that XOM believes you can go 50% longer on a blend
And XOM believes you can go a lot further than 5000 miles with Mobil Clean 5000.
More marketing that is working it seems....
What makes you think it is working? Most people are still scared to go beyond 3,000. Jiffy Lube marketing > XOM marketing
Originally Posted By: sangyup81
Mobil Clean 5000 is conventional. Mobil Clean 7500 is semi-synthetic. Seems that XOM believes you can go 50% longer on a blend
And XOM believes you can go a lot further than 5000 miles with Mobil Clean 5000.
More marketing that is working it seems....
What makes you think it is working? Most people are still scared to go beyond 3,000. Jiffy Lube marketing > XOM marketing
You misspelled "iffy lube" 
Oil Co's have blended some real grp iv/v synthetic in the semi-syn - which would mean it has more synthetic than todays "Fully Synthetic". 
The quality is in the formulation and high specification list; the marketing monikers are essentially meaningless.
The quality is in the formulation and high specification list; the marketing monikers are essentially meaningless.Originally Posted By: sangyup81
What makes you think it is working? Most people are still scared to go beyond 3,000. Jiffy Lube marketing > XOM marketing
So do you have the ACTUAL data on the number of people who get their oil CHANGED every 3,000 miles or 3 months?
What percentage of owners in the US fleet?
I'd bet that its a LOT longer than 3000 miles. Very few people that I know get their oil changed that often. Even at Jiffy Lube when I'm there I hear all the time the "techs" telling the customer that they went over and reminding them of the 3k/3mo.
How come XOM is the only one who puts bogus numbers on their product but then in the fine print states you can go longer or should not go that far?
Marketing is why. Why read the fine print?
Bill
What makes you think it is working? Most people are still scared to go beyond 3,000. Jiffy Lube marketing > XOM marketing
So do you have the ACTUAL data on the number of people who get their oil CHANGED every 3,000 miles or 3 months?
What percentage of owners in the US fleet?
I'd bet that its a LOT longer than 3000 miles. Very few people that I know get their oil changed that often. Even at Jiffy Lube when I'm there I hear all the time the "techs" telling the customer that they went over and reminding them of the 3k/3mo.
How come XOM is the only one who puts bogus numbers on their product but then in the fine print states you can go longer or should not go that far?
Marketing is why. Why read the fine print?
Bill
Good, Better, Best.
Originally Posted By: Y_K
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
How come XOM is the only one who puts bogus numbers..
Wow, you have it that bad with XOM. All you passion has direction. Do you have any actual data on the bogus anecdotal evidence you provide?
Okay tell me the other oil companies that put numbers for mileage on their different levels of oil.
And PLEASE don't get silly with the PERSONAL insults.
Bill
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
How come XOM is the only one who puts bogus numbers..
Wow, you have it that bad with XOM. All you passion has direction. Do you have any actual data on the bogus anecdotal evidence you provide?
Okay tell me the other oil companies that put numbers for mileage on their different levels of oil.
And PLEASE don't get silly with the PERSONAL insults.
Bill
Bill you can get away with being so categorical because you can and did on a number of times exercised your power of an admin here for the sake of power alone on the basis of you personal beliefs and views.
As for oil Co that put different miles on different tiers Amsoil for one comes to mind. Every Co tries to use various reference points to their advantage as a marketing tool, e.g. nn% cleaner, x times wear protection, etc. They are awkward marketing claims for some and 'helpful' baselines for others.
As for oil Co that put different miles on different tiers Amsoil for one comes to mind. Every Co tries to use various reference points to their advantage as a marketing tool, e.g. nn% cleaner, x times wear protection, etc. They are awkward marketing claims for some and 'helpful' baselines for others.
Really. Where is the Amsoil 7500? Must have missed the Amsoil 5000 oil?
Nice try. You know what, reread my post above and post something other than the insults (which you did again and have done before)
No where does any other company call their oil 5000 but you must follow MFG recommendations if they are lower or if the MFG has an OLM never mind the 5000 miles.
Bill
PS: Call another member bogus and see what happens. So don't play that card with me.
Nice try. You know what, reread my post above and post something other than the insults (which you did again and have done before)
No where does any other company call their oil 5000 but you must follow MFG recommendations if they are lower or if the MFG has an OLM never mind the 5000 miles.
Bill
PS: Call another member bogus and see what happens. So don't play that card with me.
Look at Rotella T5 10w30 Semi-Syn. It's a valid product, not marketing.
Not a fan of semi-synthetic. You can mix your own for less than you can buy one.
Some semi-syn. oils are 'barely'. As low as 10% synthetic added.
Hardly worth it.
Some semi-syn. oils are 'barely'. As low as 10% synthetic added.
Hardly worth it.
Also folks from the Pennzoil Q&A here is the answer on how much syn is in their "blend";
Pennzoil Gold™ is our synthetic blend that contains large amounts of synthetic base stock in all of its formulations, in fact we call out a minimum of 40% synthetic base stock in our SAE 10w30 and 50% in our SAE 5W-20 and 5w30 formulations.
So that is from the "horse's mouth"...
Bill
Pennzoil Gold™ is our synthetic blend that contains large amounts of synthetic base stock in all of its formulations, in fact we call out a minimum of 40% synthetic base stock in our SAE 10w30 and 50% in our SAE 5W-20 and 5w30 formulations.
So that is from the "horse's mouth"...
Bill
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: sangyup81
What makes you think it is working? Most people are still scared to go beyond 3,000. Jiffy Lube marketing > XOM marketing
So do you have the ACTUAL data on the number of people who get their oil CHANGED every 3,000 miles or 3 months?
What percentage of owners in the US fleet?
I'd bet that its a LOT longer than 3000 miles. Very few people that I know get their oil changed that often. Even at Jiffy Lube when I'm there I hear all the time the "techs" telling the customer that they went over and reminding them of the 3k/3mo.
How come XOM is the only one who puts bogus numbers on their product but then in the fine print states you can go longer or should not go that far?
Marketing is why. Why read the fine print?
Bill
OK Bill point taken. XOM doesn't actually believe what they market. Should have said XOM wants us to think or something along those lines
As for the data, are you asking how many believe in the 3000 mile OCI or how long the average OCI is? I've seen the average but of course it'll average higher than 3000 when you factor in BMW, Mini, MB owners as well as any that spec higher than 3000 for severe service. Last I checked, it was still under 5,000 though not by much.
Originally Posted By: sangyup81
What makes you think it is working? Most people are still scared to go beyond 3,000. Jiffy Lube marketing > XOM marketing
So do you have the ACTUAL data on the number of people who get their oil CHANGED every 3,000 miles or 3 months?
What percentage of owners in the US fleet?
I'd bet that its a LOT longer than 3000 miles. Very few people that I know get their oil changed that often. Even at Jiffy Lube when I'm there I hear all the time the "techs" telling the customer that they went over and reminding them of the 3k/3mo.
How come XOM is the only one who puts bogus numbers on their product but then in the fine print states you can go longer or should not go that far?
Marketing is why. Why read the fine print?
Bill
OK Bill point taken. XOM doesn't actually believe what they market. Should have said XOM wants us to think or something along those lines
As for the data, are you asking how many believe in the 3000 mile OCI or how long the average OCI is? I've seen the average but of course it'll average higher than 3000 when you factor in BMW, Mini, MB owners as well as any that spec higher than 3000 for severe service. Last I checked, it was still under 5,000 though not by much.
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