Manufacturer specific oils
Discussion
Just been into my local Halfrauds store for some oil - last time it was dead easy, I wanted 5w30 fully synthetic, so thats what I bought. Now there are 5 different 5w30 fully syth oils, ranging from £29-43 for 5 litres. Each one was for a different make of car.... long gone are knowing what you want and buying it, it seems.
How many people actually bother buying the oil for their car, or do you just buy the cheapest as long as it meets the specs for your car? I can almost see the point of something in warranty, or just out of it, but for a 10 year old car surely it doesnt matter that much? In the end I bought the cheapest despite it being for a different make of car. Seems to meet all the specs and at £10 cheaper cant see the reason for paying more.
How many people actually bother buying the oil for their car, or do you just buy the cheapest as long as it meets the specs for your car? I can almost see the point of something in warranty, or just out of it, but for a 10 year old car surely it doesnt matter that much? In the end I bought the cheapest despite it being for a different make of car. Seems to meet all the specs and at £10 cheaper cant see the reason for paying more.
Condi said:
Just been into my local Halfrauds store for some oil - last time it was dead easy, I wanted 5w30 fully synthetic, so thats what I bought. Now there are 5 different 5w30 fully syth oils, ranging from £29-43 for 5 litres. Each one was for a different make of car.... long gone are knowing what you want and buying it, it seems.
How many people actually bother buying the oil for their car, or do you just buy the cheapest as long as it meets the specs for your car? I can almost see the point of something in warranty, or just out of it, but for a 10 year old car surely it doesnt matter that much? In the end I bought the cheapest despite it being for a different make of car. Seems to meet all the specs and at £10 cheaper cant see the reason for paying more.
It's about meeting the right standards, all of Halfords oils clearly state what standards they meet. Buy the one that meets the standards for your car.How many people actually bother buying the oil for their car, or do you just buy the cheapest as long as it meets the specs for your car? I can almost see the point of something in warranty, or just out of it, but for a 10 year old car surely it doesnt matter that much? In the end I bought the cheapest despite it being for a different make of car. Seems to meet all the specs and at £10 cheaper cant see the reason for paying more.
300bhp/ton said:
It's about meeting the right standards, all of Halfords oils clearly state what standards they meet. Buy the one that meets the standards for your car.
Okay, but oil technology has come a long way in 10 years, and by not offering a 'basic' 5w30 oil they are making (most) consumers buy a product which vastly exceeds the needs of their car because very few will look closely at the specs of all the oils and know what their car needs. Most people when presented with such a choice are going to buy the one which says 'Audi' on the front if they drive that make when the one which says 'Ford' and is £10 cheaper might well do the job for them. Seems a marketing ploy which rips off probably 80% of customers. If your car is new enough to need specific oil then chances are you'll get it done at a dealer. Your right. Its gone from "easy" to "frustratingly hard" and Halfrauds inst the best place as their information is either out of date, non existent or you have to ask a spotty yoof who believes if its not a supercar or Saxo VTS it doesnt exist (Personal experience).
I gave up long ago and began mail ordering from Opie oils. car specific recommendations and a truly excellent knowledgeable team mean i get what i want/need in good time and a reasonable (better than Halfrauds!) price.
I gave up long ago and began mail ordering from Opie oils. car specific recommendations and a truly excellent knowledgeable team mean i get what i want/need in good time and a reasonable (better than Halfrauds!) price.
Condi said:
300bhp/ton said:
It's about meeting the right standards, all of Halfords oils clearly state what standards they meet. Buy the one that meets the standards for your car.
Okay, but oil technology has come a long way in 10 years, and by not offering a 'basic' 5w30 oil they are making (most) consumers buy a product which vastly exceeds the needs of their car because very few will look closely at the specs of all the oils and know what their car needs. Most people when presented with such a choice are going to buy the one which says 'Audi' on the front if they drive that make when the one which says 'Ford' and is £10 cheaper might well do the job for them. Seems a marketing ploy which rips off probably 80% of customers. If your car is new enough to need specific oil then chances are you'll get it done at a dealer. RobM77 said:
Condi said:
300bhp/ton said:
It's about meeting the right standards, all of Halfords oils clearly state what standards they meet. Buy the one that meets the standards for your car.
Okay, but oil technology has come a long way in 10 years, and by not offering a 'basic' 5w30 oil they are making (most) consumers buy a product which vastly exceeds the needs of their car because very few will look closely at the specs of all the oils and know what their car needs. Most people when presented with such a choice are going to buy the one which says 'Audi' on the front if they drive that make when the one which says 'Ford' and is £10 cheaper might well do the job for them. Seems a marketing ploy which rips off probably 80% of customers. If your car is new enough to need specific oil then chances are you'll get it done at a dealer. Condi said:
Okay, but oil technology has come a long way in 10 years, and by not offering a 'basic' 5w30 oil they are making (most) consumers buy a product which vastly exceeds the needs of their car because very few will look closely at the specs of all the oils and know what their car needs. Most people when presented with such a choice are going to buy the one which says 'Audi' on the front if they drive that make when the one which says 'Ford' and is £10 cheaper might well do the job for them. Seems a marketing ploy which rips off probably 80% of customers. If your car is new enough to need specific oil then chances are you'll get it done at a dealer.
If you are happy with the most basic oil, just buy the cheapest and don't worry about it. 
I think it's all snake oil 
Car needs 5W30? Put 5W30 in it. Doesn't matter if it's Ford 5W50 or Audi 5W30. I prefer to use expensive mangeto-synthetic oils in my snotter but as most people struggle to put the right grade in or even change their oil at all I wouldn't worry too much.
There may be a few exceptions, e.g. wankel (snigger) engines need mineral, synthetic is actually bad for them, or so I'm told.
Car needs 5W30? Put 5W30 in it. Doesn't matter if it's Ford 5W50 or Audi 5W30. I prefer to use expensive mangeto-synthetic oils in my snotter but as most people struggle to put the right grade in or even change their oil at all I wouldn't worry too much.
There may be a few exceptions, e.g. wankel (snigger) engines need mineral, synthetic is actually bad for them, or so I'm told.
knowing you need 5w30 fully synthetic oil isn't enough to get you the right oil
you could use A1 in a new diesel that strictly requires C3, if you used it for 2 oil changes you'd probably find you've added a lot of wear to your engine and maybe killed a DPF which will cost over £1k to replace
manufacture approvals are not really there for marketing, they are to make it easier to find the right oil for your car.
you could use A1 in a new diesel that strictly requires C3, if you used it for 2 oil changes you'd probably find you've added a lot of wear to your engine and maybe killed a DPF which will cost over £1k to replace
manufacture approvals are not really there for marketing, they are to make it easier to find the right oil for your car.
ging84 said:
knowing you need 5w30 fully synthetic oil isn't enough to get you the right oil
you could use A1 in a new diesel that strictly requires C3, if you used it for 2 oil changes you'd probably find you've added a lot of wear to your engine and maybe killed a DPF which will cost over £1k to replace
manufacture approvals are not really there for marketing, they are to make it easier to find the right oil for your car.
This. If you use the wrong oil it can and will block the DPF or poison the cat on a petrol car. And with Euro 6 emissions just around the corner this will only get more and more relevant. you could use A1 in a new diesel that strictly requires C3, if you used it for 2 oil changes you'd probably find you've added a lot of wear to your engine and maybe killed a DPF which will cost over £1k to replace
manufacture approvals are not really there for marketing, they are to make it easier to find the right oil for your car.
The Halfords website where you can ask a specific enquiry relating to your car is the best option if you want to use Halfords (no I don't work for them).
scarble said:
I think it's all snake oil
Car needs 5W30? Put 5W30 in it. Doesn't matter if it's Ford 5W50 or Audi 5W30. I prefer to use expensive mangeto-synthetic oils in my snotter but as most people struggle to put the right grade in or even change their oil at all I wouldn't worry too much.
There may be a few exceptions, e.g. wankel (snigger) engines need mineral, synthetic is actually bad for them, or so I'm told.
I agree. I run a Merc and people agonise over this so much - then it turns out that for years the dealers didn't use low ash oils in dpf equipped cars and they also never use the fleece filters that are supposed to be used for long life servicing.Car needs 5W30? Put 5W30 in it. Doesn't matter if it's Ford 5W50 or Audi 5W30. I prefer to use expensive mangeto-synthetic oils in my snotter but as most people struggle to put the right grade in or even change their oil at all I wouldn't worry too much.
There may be a few exceptions, e.g. wankel (snigger) engines need mineral, synthetic is actually bad for them, or so I'm told.
If you look in the service book for a Merc, it lists just about every oil you could think of, in every viscosity, depending on the ambient temp. You could use practically anything and it would be OK. No-one is sure if oil marked MB229.xx is actually tested and approved by MB or just stated as conforming to the MB spec.
The only make I'm aware of where it's a bit of an issue is VAG - their approved oils have a chemical marker in them so they can tell which oil you've been using.
In the past I've tended to use whatever I had lying around in the garage 
for my previous diesel motors and never suffered any engine issues from doing so, but when planning to do the same for my PD130 Golf I was told that my engine would explode in a big ball of flames if I did not use "PD" specific oil in it. I couldn't be bothered arguing (unusual for me ) so I just bought some to shut him up but I do wonder if I'd just chucked in some bog standard 10-40 or 5-40 whether it would've exploded in a ball of flames like he reckoned. I suspect not..
for my previous diesel motors and never suffered any engine issues from doing so, but when planning to do the same for my PD130 Golf I was told that my engine would explode in a big ball of flames if I did not use "PD" specific oil in it. I couldn't be bothered arguing (unusual for me ) so I just bought some to shut him up but I do wonder if I'd just chucked in some bog standard 10-40 or 5-40 whether it would've exploded in a ball of flames like he reckoned. I suspect not.. VinceM said:
This. If you use the wrong oil it can and will block the DPF or poison the cat on a petrol car. And with Euro 6 emissions just around the corner this will only get more and more relevant.
I think that only applies to fancy three way cats Using the wrong oil might poison your cat or whatever but it doesn't matter if your car still gets through MOT emissions tests and the low additive oils might mean your engine wears faster or fuel economy is worse. Plus DPFs are easy to clear, if anyone has DPF trouble it's cos they drive like old peoples
Give it an Italian tune up :3
Deva Link said:
The only make I'm aware of where it's a bit of an issue is VAG - their approved oils have a chemical marker in them so they can tell which oil you've been using.
Sneaky gets.All that jazz said:
In the past I've tended to use whatever I had lying around in the garage for my previous diesel motors and never suffered any engine issues from doing so, but when planning to do the same for my PD130 Golf I was told that my engine would explode in a big ball of flames if I did not use "PD" specific oil in it.
Apart from the chemical marker making it possible for them to check you used the correct oil, there is something a bit different about PD engines - they have a very high loading on the injector cam and need a high shear strength oil. for my previous diesel motors and never suffered any engine issues from doing so, but when planning to do the same for my PD130 Golf I was told that my engine would explode in a big ball of flames if I did not use "PD" specific oil in it. I don't know how true it is, but VW is supposed to have worked with some oil manufacturers to get the oil right. But then over the years they've moved the specs themselves from 505.01 to 506.01.
Deva Link said:
No-one is sure if oil marked MB229.xx is actually tested and approved by MB or just stated as conforming to the MB spec.
I have no idea how it works with MB, but with BMW there isn't much of a spec as such, there are certain requirements they need to meet before they will accept it for testing, but the actual requirement is that they have been tested and approved by BMW, so BMW have an exhaustive list of all oils that are approved, if they are not on the list they ging84 said:
knowing you need 5w30 fully synthetic oil isn't enough to get you the right oil
you could use A1 in a new diesel that strictly requires C3, if you used it for 2 oil changes you'd probably find you've added a lot of wear to your engine and maybe killed a DPF which will cost over £1k to replace
manufacture approvals are not really there for marketing, they are to make it easier to find the right oil for your car.
As I said earlier though, oils have moved on so far that - for example - my car needs B3 or better, look around the shelf and you cant buy anything which is less than B4! Therefore everything, no matter what additional spec, meets the minimum spec for the car... you could use A1 in a new diesel that strictly requires C3, if you used it for 2 oil changes you'd probably find you've added a lot of wear to your engine and maybe killed a DPF which will cost over £1k to replace
manufacture approvals are not really there for marketing, they are to make it easier to find the right oil for your car.
I wouldnt care if they still produced the 'standard' 5w30, but by advertising oils for specific manufactures they are pushing people towards the expensive oils whereas a much cheaper one would in fact do. It might be different with new cars, for anything older than 7, 10 years, it really doesnt matter.
ajcj said:
Don't buy it from Halfords either! Find your local Unipart, they can tell you which is right from your reg number, and a lot cheaper in my experience.
I have a trade card, so its about as cheap as it comes. 5 litres of oil and a filter for just over £20 earlier. Unipart cant beat that no matter what they might say. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff