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Engine oils---confused?

Posted by Tony gould on November 16, 2007, 9:55 am
Tony Gould

Hi All
How do you get on with engine oils,what i mean is the number of differing grades for the same vehicle depending on who,s spec list you look at,and when you try covering the whole range of vehicles you need to stock more lines than Rail track.
Just look at Unipart latest guide,talk about confusing.I want to consolidate my oils to one supplier but not sure who to go with.
Any guidance most welcome
Thanks
Tony

Re: Engine oils---confused?

Posted by thomas stvenson on November 16, 2007, 10:42 am, in reply to "Engine oils---confused?"
Thomas Stevenson

HI tony I youse vauxhall oil and prolong oil treatment. the oil is bulk for the prolong and engine warranty from prolong

Re: Engine oils---confused?

Posted by Paul Howd on November 16, 2007, 10:43 am, in reply to "Engine oils---confused?"

I dare say somebody will come along later to tell me how wrong I am. But I am afraid I am a bit of an old cynic.

For the most part I suspect that all these diferent oils are a bit like all these diferent washing powders!

Its all pretty much the same stuff but in diferent coloured boxes!

Sainsburys "White Box" washing powder costs a third of the "Branded" ones and does just the same job.

There are a few cars out there that claim special needs (VW PD, Jaguar "Nicasil" and so on) that I do not feel inclined to experiment on. but for the most part I find that "Zetec" grade (5W-30 semi synth) is fine for most vehicles unless they are really knackererd and burning it. (and thats a diferent problem)

Mind, I tend to deal with older vehicles and customers who would collapse with a heart attack if I charged them £40 for a sump full of oil. In any case I have been doing this ever since one could buy the 5W-30 in big drums and have never had any problems or comeback. Indeed I have actually had people asking me what I have done to their cars cos they have never run so well before (EG people with Rover K series who had been used to using something thicker)

Re: Engine oils---confused?

Posted by Russell Davey on November 16, 2007, 4:56 pm, in reply to "Re: Engine oils---confused?"
Russell Davey

"I dare say somebody will come along later to tell me how wrong I am"

Not at all, I`m in the same camp as you Paul.

We had a guy in the other day with a 97 Impreza(140K on clock) who insisted we used 10/50 as he found the engine would run a couple of degrees cooler

So off he went to halfords to pay £50 for a gallon. Its all down to marketing a product.

We have three barrels of oil, Std 15/40, Semi synt 10/40 and Zetec 5/30. That lot will cover over 95% of motors that come through our place.

Only a PD or the 3.0 Isuzu`s will get any different for now.

Re: Engine oils---confused?

Posted by dave mc gee on November 16, 2007, 5:21 pm, in reply to "Re: Engine oils---confused?"

Hi lads,
I stock only Castrol products which i think are the best on the market,althougt they are a little bit more expensive than other brands,i stock four different grades,VW,FORD,BMW/MERC, and then magnatec 5W40.The 5W40 is the best oil for any diesel with a particle filter and will also supersedes 10W40 semi synthetic.
The reason i use castrol is for there brilliant customer care and lubricant helpline,which is available to anybody(not just their customers)
I also feel that with a branded product like Castrol customers dont mind paying a little extra for a quality oil.

Oil talk to yoy later !!!

Dave.

P.S.i am not an employee of Castrol

Re: Engine oils---confused?

Posted by andyhyoung on November 16, 2007, 7:42 pm, in reply to "Engine oils---confused?"
Andrew Young

Even more confusion I see that M/benz have introduced Low Ash Oil to their new models .This is Mobil 1 M 5w/40 with esp.(emission system protection).What next??

Re: Engine oils---confused?

Posted by Joe McGeoghan on November 17, 2007, 10:14 am, in reply to "Engine oils---confused?"
Joe McGeoghan

I use the Quantum range.

They seem to have a product to cover most of our needs.

Readily available as sensible cost from VAG dealer.

Joe

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