Hello everyone. I realize that this thread has the potential to get off topic and that is not my plan here. I am curious about the use of Amsoil products. Do you use them? Why or why not? Here is my story. I have been an Amsoil dealer for twenty years now. I am a lifetime member back when you could pay $200 for a lifetime and not have to pay yearly dues. I believe that Amsoil offers high quality products. Notice that I did not say they were/are the best that money can buy. I feel that Amsoil while being a high end and high quality product is not the only game in town. It was twenty years a go but not now. The competition has caught up and offers similar products. For example Mobile 1 15k oil changes and several companies offering 15k oil filters. I am not trying to get into an Amsoil vs. Mobil One vs. (insert oil here) debate. The point is that several companies offer similar or competitive oils and filters now. They did not really exist twenty years a go.
I personally feel that Amsoil offers great products, I however do not use them personally. The reason why is cost and availability for my own personal use. Here is a real world example for our car. We shop at Wally's World for most things such as food, clothes, meds, toothpaste, etc. It makes since to get my oil and filter while we are at the store. I can get a Mobile One Ep oil change with a 15k mile Fram filter for under $40. With Amsoil that same oil change would cost me as a dealer:
$40.80 for the oil
$11.35 for the filter
$9.10 shipping
$60.25 total
Now sure the oil will go further than the filter. My car takes a filter from their 15000 mile line so I have a 15000 mile oil change. Sure I could pay more money for an oil analysis and push the oil further but that costs more money. It is cheaper to just change it for less that $40 from Wally's World. I am not going to get into the debate over Amsoil being better or worse than Mobil One. In the real world....I am not sure you would ever know the difference. In the controlled environment of a lab....maybe so. Amsoil just like many other motor oil brands does not make the chemicals that go into the soup which ends up being bottled as motor oil. They do not make their oil filters. Twenty years a go they were made to Amsoil spec by Hastings. Now they are made by Wix. Amsoil use to sell an oil wetted foam air filter element and then they went to a dry element that you simply used a vacuum or very low pressure air to clean...no oil used. Amsoil's business model is MLM or Multi Level Marketing. Thus those that are dealers have their own business and that is how they make income. That business model is why you do not see Amsoil sold in Wally's World, Advance, AutoZone, etc. They would put their independent dealers out of business if they did that. Instead a dealer can sign up a mom and pop auto store which can carry and sell the products.
Amsoil has done a good job taking an "old school" method of selling such as MLM and tried to adapt to modern ways or doing business. They added catalog sales in the 90s and now anyone can buy Amsoil online and have it shipped to your door.....if you are willing to pay (in my view) the high shipping fees. Back when I became a dealer, one could go right to a warehouse and buy xyz Amsoil products at dealer cost right from an Amsoil store. You could walk in the "store" with cash and get what you wanted and no shipping fees. You can not do that anymore. Now one must order online or by phone and pay with a credit/debit card in advance. Then you can still pick up your order with no shipping. The point that I am making is that I use to be able to go visit my dad who lived 2 miles from a warehouse and just walk in, get a single oil change, pay cash, and go on my way......like WalMart. Those days are gone. It is for the above reasons why I do not personally use Amsoil. It is a wonderful product, but the high shipping, lack of walk in sales that you could once do with cash, and the fact that Amsoil now has competitors offering similar product lines.....well it keeps me going back to get similar items from Wally's World at cheaper prices and is more convenient.
Do You Use Amsoil? Why or Why Not?
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I am quite sure that Amsoil has a good product. I don't care for the price and availability.
Every vehicle that I've ever owned (with the exception of the STS) has done just fine on plain old locally available conventional oil. I've always used whatever is on sale, I change it twice a year regardless of mileage, and I haven't had an internal engine problem despite having well over 200,000 miles on a few past vehicles. So the only thing I would have accomplished by using Amsoil all those years is to lighten my wallet.
The STS is the only vehicle that requires a synthetic, and I can find a brand name synthetic at the local farm store that meets the specs for far less than I could buy Amsoil.
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I use their gear oil because I do not think there is anything better. Oil and filters not so much--there are other options more readily available and at less cost. I plan my axle fluid changes, so unlike others, I have no issues ordering online and waiting for it, but since the nearest warehouse is in Dallas, even with ground shipping, it arrives nearly over night.
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Amsoil offers some excellent oil choices for Street/Race/Marine,etc.
I've also used their oils in the past. The reason I do not use them anymore is simple.I can buy my current choice of oil,which is Schaeffers online and with free shipping,plus at the same time being cheaper then what Amsoil offers.
Just me, 
I like their products, just too much trouble to get. I have to order online, seems local guys don't have what i need. Pay shipping on top of oil prices. Just not worth the trouble.
I like the HDD and the MCF but its easier and far less cost to use delo.
Amsoil offers no benefit to me or my vehicles, regardless of cost.
It is also difficult to find, and carries no real certifications.
I have used their oil but I realized that all oils avail at WM will take your car or truck over 200,000 miles without an oil related issue if you follow a recommended oil change schedule. The issue here at leased in Western Massachusetts is not the motor lasting it's the car or truck rusting out! If I lived in an area of the USA that rust was not an issue and I was looking to get more miles out of a car or truck than 200k I would consider running Amsoil again.
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As long as I don't drive a race car or push my daily driver like one, and can do my own oil changes with M1/PP + Fram Ultraguard for $20 or less, where's the need for a boutique quality, "uncertified" oil? If 90-99% of the cars on the road can survive just fine on other than Amsoil/Redline and other higher cost brands, I probably can too.
I was put off by an Amsoil dealer that told me I was stupid for using Red Line in my vehicles. He said it was only for racing and that I'd better be prepared to change it every 2 to 3 thousand miles to avoid damage by sludge. He never made any statements about how good Amsoil might be. Instead he went on a tirade about other oils especially Red Line.
I guess being stupid has worked okay for me. I get the oil at a good discount from the Fallbrook Oil Company. I'm doing fine with 10K intervals using Red Line. My V8 4Runner gets worked really hard with lots of off road and towing.
There are many good oils out there including Amsoil that will do 10K intervals as well.
Pour it in, drive 10-14K miles, drain out. It is nice to have extended drain options out there.
Some people like doing OCs; my time isn't worth $0.
No real reason to put the hate on it; use it... or not.
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I would consider using it if they published some real data on its composition, vis a vis PAO or ester content. There marketing seems like a bunch of smoke and mirrors, not to mention the multi-level distribution scheme.
I used Amsoil in my first car ('95 Maxima). Haven't used it since then. I have no issues whatsoever with Amsoil's quality, availability, or price. I just don't see how Amsoil has any clear and/or compelling advantages that some other brand can't match.
When I had my '96 M3, I often ran oils with BMW approvals, which Amsoil doesn't have. When I ran non-approved oil, it was either Motul 300V (got some for free) or RLI BioSyn (seemed uniquely promising for controlling fuel dilution among other things).
For my '11 RX-8, I still have a lot of engine warranty left, so I wanted to run what seems to be the most common dealership service fill (Castrol GTX 5w-20) just to minimize the chance of headaches or delays in the event of a warranty claim. I might never even switch to synthetics in this car.
I was considering them after my Castrol 0w20 ran out and it did.Behold, SOPUS sends me oil and blackstone kit to see how I like their 0w20 and while waiting for it, I go out and search for a get me by oil supply of 1 oci. Found a local rep for Amsoil and he just couldnt get that I used Pennzoil Synthetic and my car was gonna blow up lol. I had a 12 Hyundai with 200,000 miles and all worksheets and 3 uoas to confirm and all but one oci ALL Sopus! (Thank you Shell/ Pennzoil ) After he made an idiot of himself,didnt accept my credit card and lectured me about not using the best oil in the world spiel and that I could double or triple my oci gimmick I was a bit heated. Like I told this bozo,I'm draining my oil/cvt fluid when the Honda monitor tells me to no matter what fluid brand I use. I will say there was enough fluids in his shop that I wouldn't smoke a mile from there. I thought hard and just decided that if I had to use the second best oil to escape that idiot then it was worth it. I did manage to get Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0w20 for a sale price of 5.99qt AND a 2.00MIR.(Thank you NAPA) I bought 24qts and 2 Fram Ultra XG7317 for 8.00 each. (Thank you Walmart)
No thank you to any business that I have to pay a membership to do business with you scheisters (Amsoil,Costco,Sams,etc)
I'm a free market capitalist and I take my money where my commerce is welcomed and I feel appreciated and valued as a consumer.
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I don't use it because I can get PPPP for a steal at WM and it does a superb job for less money! Sure Amsoil is a good product but there are plenty of excellent OTC synthetics that meet all necessary specs and are very much up to the task of keeping our engines clean and in great shape for far less money. Your paying extra but not getting any extra benefit.
Mainly price and availability. I can go buy a Fram Ultra for $7 good for 3 oil changes and a 3 jug's of Mobil 5000. After the usual Mobil yearly rebate I'm paying less then $10 a oil change.
I tried Royal Purple back when it became widely avaliable in my area around 2007-2008. That was the only time I went after more expensive oil and I paid about $7 a quart at the O'Reilly across the street. I remember a few years back I thought about trying out the oil and requested a catalogue just to see what they had.
I know they make a good product from all the feedback I hear and see here but I ended up getting called every week for about a month from one of the "local distribution" and it just really came off as a pyrimad scheme. I know it's not but even then it still had that feeling when I was getting all those calls asking me if I seen anything I was intrested in and they would pay my first fee or what not.
Just seemed like overly aggressive marketing.
My truck burns a qt of oil every 500 or so miles.
Originally Posted By: CT8
I used Amsoil for about ten years . It wasn't worth the money.
Price and availability are the reasons I don't use it.
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