A word of caution regarding Valvoline Maxlife ATF

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Originally Posted by ka9mnx
I've never trusted or used "Multi Vehicle" anything...


I actually think we need more of it. Read my Castrol post (not normally my first choice, but got MV ATF right) …
Any reason they can't be Mercon LV or Dexron VI both ?
 
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
I've never trusted or used "Multi Vehicle" anything...

Including motor oil? brake fluid? washer fluid?

Call me crazy but I still don't get why the need for every OEM to have their own version of trans fluid. There's just only so many different ways to do things.

I get it, if you're doing a fluid change every 50k, it's small beans compared to depreciation. Still. I'm no fan (and so far, I've avoided such vehicles needing "fancy" trans oil so I think I'm allowed that opinion).
 
Yeah, part of my point right there … you get Dex VI and Mercon LV in a single ATF and that covers a huge chunk of vehicles on the road. Harmonizing agencies should drive this …
 
Multi Vehicle stuff?
Why is there a bazillion different oil filters?
The writing in the oil filter catalogs is getting too small anyways...
 
Originally Posted by dnewton3

How you all turned this into fear-mongering, product bashing and such, well, is just typical BITOG hyper-sensitive garbage. Rather than deal with facts and proper scrutiny, the world of conjecture and side-show topics just can't be controlled. Don't pollute my thread with your heresy and put words into my mount I never said. Some of you need to grow up.

Fwiw, ty for the post. It got me investigating Valvoline's warranty program. One of the reason I like Chevron products is they have a blanket warranty. Similarly, I am satisfied that ML is covered by Valv's umbrella warranty on lubricant's. That said, I am interested in what more you find out so please update this thread if/when you hear from Valvoline.

Lastly, as a Mod you of all people should be least surprised in the direction the thread took since bunny trail topics, rabbit holes and the minutia of oil/lubricants is literally what we do here....
 
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Originally Posted by dnewton3
How you all turned this into fear-mongering, product bashing and such, well, is just typical BITOG hyper-sensitive garbage. Rather than deal with facts and proper scrutiny, the world of conjecture and side-show topics just can't be controlled. Don't pollute my thread with your heresy and put words into my mount I never said. Some of you need to grow up.

"My" thread ? So does each person now "own" threads that they start and get to dictate the discussion ?
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by dnewton3
How you all turned this into fear-mongering, product bashing and such, well, is just typical BITOG hyper-sensitive garbage. Rather than deal with facts and proper scrutiny, the world of conjecture and side-show topics just can't be controlled. Don't pollute my thread with your heresy and put words into my mount I never said. Some of you need to grow up.

"My" thread ? So does each person now "own" threads that they start and get to dictate the discussion ?


After reading this I'm glad I only own transmissions that take manual transmission lube.

No ATF no problems
 
Originally Posted by 4WD
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
I've never trusted or used "Multi Vehicle" anything...


I actually think we need more of it. Read my Castrol post (not normally my first choice, but got MV ATF right) …
Any reason they can't be Mercon LV or Dexron VI both ?



Some ATF's are besides Castrol SuperTech comes to mind.
 
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by 4WD
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
I've never trusted or used "Multi Vehicle" anything...


I actually think we need more of it. Read my Castrol post (not normally my first choice, but got MV ATF right) …
Any reason they can't be Mercon LV or Dexron VI both ?



Some ATF's are besides Castrol SuperTech comes to mind.


I looked that ST (dual approval) ATF up online … very handy for me … Thanks !
 
There is a separate forum for ATF posts.

If you can't even put your posts in the right forum, should you be a moderator?
 
You're welcome. I've used it in my Silverado and I can't tell the difference with ST DEX VI, Castrol DEX VI, and Valvoline Maxlife ATF.
 
Originally Posted by brages
There is a separate forum for ATF posts.

If you can't even put your posts in the right forum, should you be a moderator?



Would warranty concerns not be under automotive?
 
I just got off the phone with Valvoline product support. Wow - they were clear as mud ... (I took notes, but the quotes may not be 100% correct because he talked faster than I could write, but I assure you they are as accurate as needed for this conversation to convey the proper intent of the conversation.)


I explained how this got started; how I inquired about the warranty and was told there is none in an email. And then the rep told me "That's right; there is no warranty coverage." I then asked why there was a written Valvoline title'd document available via Napaonline that specifically states "Valvoline Limited Lubricants Warranty"? He said "I don't know. If you have a problem, we'll take a sample of the fluid and if it's bad, we'll cover the cost of the problem, no problem[. But we don't have a warranty." Then we got into debate of his claim there's no warranty, but he is aware of and acknowledges the existence of the "Limited Lubricants Warranty" (which, by the way, covers "all Valvoline lubricants". How can he balance a claim that there's no warranty, but then admit that the document exists, via third party? Then he started to blame Napa, saying it was "probably Napa lawyers wrote that up to sell more of our stuff." Ummmmm - don't ya think that Valvoline might be interested that someone is putting legal words in their mouth and using their official emblem in warranty statements????? Nah - that's no big deal. Then he went on to say that if you have an old car, they won't warrant it either. (didn't say how old is "old", but at this point I was getting tired of his circular talk). He said "We'll fix it if the lube was at fault, but not if it's and old car".

It was surreal ... like being in a time warp where you circle repeatedly about the same point in time but seeing it from all different angles. How in the world he can agree that there is a written limited warranty, but then say they may or may not cover the claim is beyond me. This circular double-talk went on for like 5 minutes.

I inquired why I was not supplied this Valvoline Lubricants Limited Warranty during my email communications, and he didn't know; he has no idea who answers those emails. I suppose, the email person has no idea who answers the phone, either ...


Now, the Limited Lubricants Warranty CLEARLY states the following:
"If Valvoline lubricant is proven to be directly responsible for engine or equipment failure under these conditions, Valvoline will restore the equipment to normal performance." Nothing about how old the equipment is, etc. If the lube is bad (as determined by them), they will fix the equipment.

Soooooo ... two questions:
1) when I sent an email, why couldn't they have just sent the document?
2) why make such circular statements which contradict the written document?

This is what happens when uninformed/untrained folks answer the phone and emails. This is why I wanted to read their warranty in the first place. I actually have more faith in the document than the answers I got from the humans which work for Valvoline.


Now - think about some poor person (low wage job, older car, not familiar with automotive topics) who has a tranny failure, and calls or emails them. What are they going to be told? The first response is "We have no warranty." And that's that; the customer will walk away mad and absorb the cost with no knowledge if Valvoline truly should have covered the problem.
 
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Originally Posted by dnewton3
It was surreal ... like being in a time warp where you circle repeatedly about the same point in time but seeing it from all different angles. How in the world he can agree that there is a written limited warranty, but then say they may or may not cover the claim is beyond me. This circular double-talk went on for like 5 minutes.

Are you sure it was a dude you were talking to, and not my wife? This totally sounds like every conversation I've ever had with her.....
 
Originally Posted by quint
Originally Posted by dnewton3
It was surreal ... like being in a time warp where you circle repeatedly about the same point in time but seeing it from all different angles. How in the world he can agree that there is a written limited warranty, but then say they may or may not cover the claim is beyond me. This circular double-talk went on for like 5 minutes.

Are you sure it was a dude you were talking to, and not my wife? This totally sounds like every conversation I've ever had with her.....

lol.gif
 
My take on this is, even if a lubricant does have a warranty, could you imagine the hoops you'd have to jump through to get that warranty to cover anything that lubricant was used in?

It's just marketing fluff to me. It means nothing. I'm not pro vavoline or any name brand. I've just used Maxlife ATF a bunch of times in a bunch of different applications since ~2004 because it's readily available and it's always worked for me.
 
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Originally Posted by dnewton3
I want to express that I'm not trying to start a war of words, nor am I looking for legal advice.....



I believe I've bought my last bottle of any Valvoline product.


Dave.




the above quore has been shortened for brevity:

Redline dont offer a warranty on their gear lubes. Schaeffer dont offer a warranty on their gear lubes. Castrol dont offer a warranty on their gear lubes. That Valvoline dont offer a warranty on their gear lube is not at all unusual.

Consider this -
You use Maxlife MV ATF in a standard gearbox that is sitting behind a twin turbo 454 - the motor will smash the gearbox regardless of the fluid.
can the lube manufacturer afford to replace every component broken by every raccer that uses their oil?

That one sensationalist examples illustrates perfectly why oil conpanies dont warranty anything.
 
Originally Posted by JTK
My take on this is, even if a lubricant does have a warranty, could you imagine the hoops you'd have to jump through to get that warranty to cover anything that lubricant was used in?

It's just marketing fluff to me. It means nothing. I'm not pro vavoline or any name brand. I've just used Maxlife ATF a bunch of times in a bunch of different applications since ~2004 because it's readily available and it's always worked for me.

The issue I see is if the manufacturer was to deny coverage due to incorrect fluid used since it is not certified to meet certain specifications. Then would Valvoline step up and provide coverage since their product is "recommended" for use in that application? The way I'm reading it is no so if you are under any sort of warranty still a fluid that meets the manufacturers specification is the way to go.
 
Let's not forget that the only definitive answer I got in an email we "We don't have a warranty."
And the first thing out of the person's mouth on the phone was "We don't have a warranty."
And there's no warranty posted on the company website.

But .... apparently there is a written limited warranty. Only after you play the round-n-round game of circular stupidity will you sort of get an acknowledgement that there is a written warranty, maybe. But then they'll blame Napa for writing the document ... Yeah - as if I'm supposed to believe that Napa lawyers are stupid enough to create a fraudulent document implicating written warranty upon another company.

The bottom line is that Valvoline has a very poor customer service set-up; email and phone contacts are lacking good info. That surprises no one. (Reminds me of emailing and talking to Wix, but I digress). Typically that's why we would rely on good intel from a website. If you have a warranty, why not prominently post it? (And, by the way, it's required to be "conspicuously" posted or available for consumer consumption by law). And yet, there is no warranty on Valvoline's website I can find for this product.

Makes me wonder if they don't have a general mantra to obscure the written warranty as a tool to dissuade people from making claims?

And some wonder why I was offering a word of caution?



Here' my general impression: Good product. Bad customer service.
Pretty typical of many corporations today.
 
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