Only Synthetic in 5 years???

[BigJohn]

I have a close friend that is in the oil blending industry. He tells me the industry as a whole is rapidly moving in the direction of synthetic only.

He guesses in 5 years, there won't be any conventional (Dino) oil on the shelves, except maybe an odd 10w40 and 15w50.

He claims the cost of producing synthetic is becoming cheaper and more efficient, thus being more profitable for oil companies because they can charge more for synthetic. Profitability, he claims, is what is pushing this.

What ya think? Is the beloved Yellow Bottle soon to be unavailable and forgotten?

 

[demarpaint]

Quite possible.

 

[OVERKILL]

Any of the approved products are blends now anyways, so it isn't as big a leap as you might think it is. You need Group III or Group II+ to pass the current common approval regiment.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I use synthetic but there are still a lot of folks still running Dino. I can get close to the price of Dino with rebates but not quite to the same level. I think most Dino users are not making critical decisions on the attributes of both; they're just reaching for the cheapest oil on the rack. They aren't interested in applying for rebates. As long as they reach for the cheap bottle it will probably be there for them.

 

[rideahorse]

There are places where dino is better than syn. Syn is not that much better than dino. Its just marketing and more profitable for the blender. They are good at pulling the wool over the consumers eyes.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by rideahorse
There are places where dino is better than syn. Syn is not that much better than dino. Its just marketing and more profitable for the blender. They are good at pulling the wool over the consumers eyes.


There's no wool, the change is being made to meet the current performance specs, and it has been that way for a while now. Group III, or some select Group II+ products are necessary in order for an oil to meet API SN, let alone some of the OEM stuff.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by BigJohn
Is the beloved Yellow Bottle soon to be unavailable and forgotten?

AFAIK, the yellow bottle has had some synthetic components in it for quite some time now.

 

[1978elcamino]

So Im wondering if we will still see the house brand oils like travler, RK etc still be around at affordable prices in five years.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

What do you mean by "synthetic"?

Grp III?

 

[Pelican]

In the late 70s I felt like I was on a deserted island, NO ONE was using synthetic except me. Oh my how times have changed!

 

[ARCOgraphite]

What were you running? BTW, that was likely a High Group synthetic - not cleaned up paraffin oil being touted as synthetic these days.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by rideahorse
There are places where dino is better than syn. Syn is not that much better than dino. Its just marketing and more profitable for the blender. They are good at pulling the wool over the consumers eyes.


You clearly haven't learned much in the 4 years you've been on this site

 

[csandste]

Small price spread off the shelf. Huge price spread if you go to an oil change place.

Everything's a semi-syn anyway, and WalMart is selling SuperTech syn (and previous Magnatec) as a semi-syn just to get you to pay an extra ten bucks for a "full synthetic" change

Note that Valvoline's changing VWB to a semi-syn, even though it's identical to the conventional-- which was a semi-syn since SN standards arrived. Conoco Phillips has always done that because they had two rather than three price points. Remember not going to Firestone for oil changes because they dropped Kendall Semi-syn for Quaker conventional. Same basic oil type, different labels and advertising and I fell for it.

The industry is already dropping conventional in branding, I suspect they will have to find a better way to differentiate good-better and best grandes in the future. But Exxon-Mobil is actively pushing their Group II+ base stocks as a less expensive way to meet standards. Maybe because they're sitting on a lot of unneeded capacity.

I still think VWB is fine for a 5K OCI, but I'd never buy it off the shelf. But I will if the shop is charging me more than twice as much for a "true" synthetic.

 

[DoubleNickels]

Eventually every car made will specify synthetic oil. Then you will not miss conventional oil at all.

 

[Linctex]

Certain GDI engines (KIA) have less intake valve deposits with regular dino oil

 

[Lolvoguy]

I'm still running dino in the bmw below (originally it was run on syn) and have appreciated the properties it offers.
Will be sad when they go to only syn, as I kinda enjoy getting dino for my annual changes being cheaper than syn.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy
I'm still running dino in the bmw below (originally it was run on syn) and have appreciated the properties it offers.
Will be sad when they go to only syn, as I kinda enjoy getting dino for my annual changes being cheaper than syn.




Which brand are you running?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by DoubleNickels
Eventually every car made will specify synthetic oil. Then you will not miss conventional oil at all.
"Synthetic" is not a specification per se. It's more of a marketing term. However, an engine manufacturer will specify a performance level that may only be achieved with a synthetic-based product. A performance spec is not concerned with what the oil is made of. It's only concerned with how it performs in service.

 

[csandste]

Originally Posted by Linctex
Certain GDI engines (KIA) have less intake valve deposits with regular dino oil


Where did you get this info? Plan on going back to VWB with a 5K OCI when I get my Soul out to a mileage divisible by 5000. Having some reason to do so other than saving $20 an oil change would make me feel better.

 

[Malo83]

Originally Posted by Patman
Originally Posted by rideahorse
There are places where dino is better than syn. Syn is not that much better than dino. Its just marketing and more profitable for the blender. They are good at pulling the wool over the consumers eyes.


You clearly haven't learned much in the 4 years you've been on this site