Originally Posted By: shpankey
So I got to Pep Boys. I'm over looking at the GC, mostly because they had some of the older bottles (with the lug nut top) and I'm checking for the M05010 on them thinking to score some green stuff, and a clerk comes up and starts on a mini-rant against Castrol all the while pitching me on M1. I say it's a great oil, I run it on 2 vehicles I'm just checking out the German Castrol. I say: I really only like the GC. His eyes widen and he starts in. Sir all Castrol is actually mixed and made in the U.S.. So I say: Notice how it says "Made in Germany" on the back. That's the kind I'm looking for.
So, being polite, I ask: I noticed these older bottles and was wondering the difference in them and he says: These bottles are Euro Formula [the older bottles have it in larger font] and I point out to him the newer bottles say the same thing on the front. He's seemingly feeling (I don't know why) like I have challenged his oil knowledge, lol. I continue: German Castrol is Made in Germany and it only comes in 0w30 and can only be had at just a few places, this being one of them.
Now he gets crazy. He says: 0w30 is the THINNEST viscosity oil there is. It's extremely thin. It's a 0 weight oil (he says this) that's what the 0w stands for. I very politely (and I knew better, but I thought there was a chance) tell him that actually, that is sometimes called the "winter rating" and that it just means that at 0 degrees celsius or 32 degrees farrenheight, it pours like a 0 weight due to viscosity improvers but that it's actually a very thick 30 weight viscosity at operating temp and that in the cold, it flows like a 0 weight.
Wow. I shouldn't have said that. He boldly and loudly says NO! It's a 0 weight and is EXTREMELY thin. You do NOT want to run this. If you want a thick oil, run a 10w30. He says that it is a 10 weight 30 oil and it's extremely thick. A 0 weight 30 oil is very VERY thin! Again I rebutt, sir I'm not trying to argue with you, and I only tell you this just so you don't misinform customers, but these are multi-viscosity oils. The first number is considered a winter rating, but it just means at very cold temps it pours like a 0 weight but at operating temp, it's in the range of a 30 weight. German Castrol is actually a very thick viscosity at operating temperature, almost a 40 weight. And I went on to tell him that the broader the difference between the numbers, generally requires more viscosity improvers, which are more likely to shear. So there's a balance there.
Now I've done it. I seen it in his eyes. I shouldn't have even argued this far, but as I said, I thought there was a chance. Now I got his oil resume. I worked here 5 years, before here I worked at Jiffy Lube, so you know I know this stuff. And before there I worked at this other oil store for 5, and I worked at this other place and this other place and this other place and I'm as expert as they come (I kid you not, he said that). Everyone in this whole store relies on me to educate them about oil and I'm considered the oil guru! He's very emphatic now... He says: I "PROMISE" you, you are WRONG! I know this stuff, I've been doing it for decades (kid was in his twenties, lol). What I'm telling you is a FACT! TRUST me! And this actually continued as he kept trying to sell me of his expertness. Then, he pauses, looks over to me as if, I will say "Ok, I guess you ARE right". I pause and kindly say, well, it's not worth arguing over (nothing I say will change his view). And he picks back up with his resume and on and on and on and ON he goes.
I say well, thank you, trying to get him to leave me alone and he's mad that I'm buying the GC. He says: You do NOT want this oil. You are making a mistake. This stuff is crazy thin. Don't ever run a 0w oil, it's too thin!
I say well, thanks for the help, grab my two bottles of GC and take it to the front to buy it, as he shakes his head.
Has anyone ran into this kind of stuff before?
That is a funny story. So the bottles with the cap that looks like a nut is the green GC? They had at least 5 of those left at the pep boys by me, they had a contest on them that expired 07/31/2007
No opinions given, or "recommendations" unless of course I _ask_ for their assistance/help with an issue.
