Anyone HAPPILY running "store brand" oils?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
357
Location
MN, USA
After seeing some stout UOA's and lots of praises towards supertech, I've been bitten by curiosity. There aren't a lot of UOA's posted here for store branded oils like Advance Auto Parts, Napa, O'Reilly Auto Parts, AutoZone and so on.

Is there anyone here happily using "store brand" oils? Anyone with UOA's?
 
I have no UOA's but I did use Napa and Carquest brand 10W30 for a couple of years, and had no problems with either one. Both are very similar to Valvoline conventional and did fine over a reasonable OCI.
 
Probably the reason you do not see much use of the auto parts store brand is that they really are not that much of a deal when the name brands on sale are within spitting distance in terms of price.

That being said, my work site has maintained about 6-10 vehicles with nothing but Autozone or Advance Auto branded oil bought on jobbers rate. Never a oil related issue and some of those vehicles are pushing 250K on the mileage.
 
Running Napa Syn in my Cobalt...no issues whatsoever. Really likes this stuff. Held up great over a rough winter too. Also ran it in my Cavalier as well....


A great oil when it is on sale.
 
the only store oil i buy is napa. back when they had the sale i got two cases of napa syn. quality ashland product
if i knew for sure another store oil was made by a quality company like SOPUS or something i would buy it too. but so far napa is the only good house brand i know of.

i believe supertech and oriely oil is made by warren and thats just not a company im willing to buy from. especially when i get greats oils on sale like qs and ms for under 2 bucks or chevron supreme for 2.30 every day price, or considering im stocked to the brim with formula shell from target that was 1.80.
 
IMO....more people might use them if they could get an accurate PDS sheet on the oils. The only store bought oils that I've used have been NAPA Full Synthetic, Advance Auto Parts Full Synthetic and WM SuperTech Dino, Synthetic and TC-W3 as a UCL and fuel system lube.

I like them all, especially on sale or clearance, and have had good results with store bought oils that I can get technical data sheets on to see their composition.

Some I have brought back and avoided like Spectrum Oil sold by Sears and Kmart. Nobody knows who makes it and there is no PDS sheet on the oil.
 
Last edited:
I buy the O'Reilly's brand oil when it's on sale for my GF's VW Beetle. I think it was $9.99 for 5qts and a filter.

It's perfect for the Beetle, which has the oil-burning 2.0.
 
Originally Posted By: electrolover

i believe supertech and oriely oil is made by warren and thats just not a company im willing to buy from. especially when i get greats oils on sale like qs and ms for under 2 bucks or chevron supreme for 2.30 every day price, or considering im stocked to the brim with formula shell from target that was 1.80.


O'Reilly does not come from WPP. It comes from Omni Specialty Packaging.
 
In my TL, i used O'reilly synthetic 5W20 for the previous oil change with mobil 1 filter. It was on sale so i grab it. I was thinking : it's SM oil and synthetic, shouldn't be a problem for my car as long as i follow OLM"

I ran the oil 1000 miles pass OLM's 5000 miles since i did lots of local, for a total of 6000 miles.
I didn't do any UOA.

I have no problem with the oil, i wouldn't extend pass too much of 0% according to the olm though.
 
Originally Posted By: kemo
Originally Posted By: electrolover

i believe supertech and oriely oil is made by warren and thats just not a company im willing to buy from. especially when i get greats oils on sale like qs and ms for under 2 bucks or chevron supreme for 2.30 every day price, or considering im stocked to the brim with formula shell from target that was 1.80.


O'Reilly does not come from WPP. It comes from Omni Specialty Packaging.



thanks for the correction. my answer is still the same tho. big name quality oils are easy to come by at a good price so i would not purchase most house brands
 
I only use store brands now for make up oil. My current car needs a quart every 3 to 4k.

I used to use it for oil changes on an old hi mileage iron block b23 (in a volvo 740). it was next to indestructible and it didn't care what sort of oil it got as long as the grade was right and on the thicker side for the summers; it often got advance auto store brand; the trusty rusty thing eventually made it to 293k miles after running for 2 decades (the transmission went and it had a whole slew of minor issues that it was time for it to retire then).
 
Originally Posted By: electrolover


thanks for the correction. my answer is still the same tho. big name quality oils are easy to come by at a good price so i would not purchase most house brands


So if the name brand oils were not of a "good price" you would by the house brands?
 
i'm currently running NAPA 10-30 conventional in my '67 c-10 and on my 2nd fill of NAPA 10-30 synthetic in the wifey's Tahoe. i change the oil in my '67 once a year whether it needs it or not and currently have 5500 miles on this OC in the Tahoe.( to change soon). good oil, no problems, i buy it when it's on sale. the last i bought was 2.69 conventional and 3.12 for synthetic.
 
NAPA oil is made by Ashland. Someone was kind enough to do a VOA on the NAPA synthetic awhile back and it was very similar to Valvoline SynPower but not identical. I have used this NAPA oil to add to the Gallon of Synpower, when it came in Gallon Jugs, to get the sump filled with 5-6 quarts. IMO...very similar and did the job well.

Originally Posted By: 09rexwagon
Isn't NAPA oil made by Valvoline?
 
Advance Auto Full Synthetic, from what I have read on the rating page of the 5w30, is made by Warren/Unilube out of NC, Arkansas and TN. I have used this oil in mixed blends and also for top offs.
 
Originally Posted By: Hootbro
Originally Posted By: electrolover


thanks for the correction. my answer is still the same tho. big name quality oils are easy to come by at a good price so i would not purchase most house brands


So if the name brand oils were not of a "good price" you would by the house brands?


sure, my first choice would be napa
lol.gif


i would stock up today on supertech or orielly or autozone oil if it was super cheap, like under $1.

but why buy house brand from oriellys (for example) when they are selling Mobil Super with a filter for 12 bucks?
 
I found the NAPA synthetic to be excellent value at the old sale price, and it fared better than a past cult favorite, PP, in my application.

Don't expect it to be $3/qt soon or ever again, though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top