Does Castrol need better products or marketing?

[gfh77665]

They are global. I think they sell a lot in Europe. I doubt they are hurting.

 

[zrxkawboy]

I'm not being facetious but honestly curious: Why not run their Power 1 instead? If I recall correctly, the price difference is very slim.

I get it from walmart.com. The difference isn't "very slim" to me.

 

[userfriendly]

I get it from walmart.com. The difference isn't "very slim" to me.

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When the white bottle 20w50 motorcycle oil goes on sale, I buy a few every couple of years for my summer lawn tractor.
I might try Edge 5w50, API SP next time in my winter tractor that I use for snow blowing.
5w40 Pennzoil A3/B4 in it now.

Both are 726cc Kawasaki powered.

 

[DFWoilguy]

As everyone's mentioned Castrol products are more global VS US. Mobil 1 and Valvoline are fan favorites and well know names brands but most other countries "drink the Castrol Kool-Aid"

Personally, I do have one auto dealer client who STRICTLY only buys Castrol oil from me

Also when I went to Colombia to visit family few years ago most of the oils that was sold in that market was Castrol, Total and Simoniz

 

[picklyrickly1073]

I think some European manufacturers fill and recommend Castrol (and Mazda I believe) but I feel like Castrol is not that prevalent in the US. I’ve watched a lot of oil vids on the ol YouTube and feel like Castrol never even gets mentioned,

 

[Hootbro]

Back in the 1990's and early 2000's, I can remember Castrol GTX conventional being about the cheapest name brand oil at Wal-Mart and bought a bunch of it then. Not so much anymore and rarely buy it now unless on sale or clearance. I rarely pay attention to marketing, just spec and price.

 

[Patman]

When I first got my license in 1986, Castrol XLR was quite popular here in Canada. I used it for a few years actually. I remember it only costing $1 per liter, and a Fram oil filter was $2. So I could do an oil change for $6!! I was changing my oil every 3 weeks then (I was driving 1000 km a week)

 

[DFWoilguy]

When I first got my license in 1986, Castrol XLR was quite popular here in Canada. I used it for a few years actually. I remember it only costing $1 per liter, and a Fram oil filter was $2. So I could do an oil change for $6!! I was changing my oil every 3 weeks then (I was driving 1000 km a week)

With inflation $6CAD in 1986 is like $106USD in 2024 right??


You must have been RICH back then to do 3 week OCI's???

 

[Patman]

With inflation $6CAD in 1986 is like $106USD in 2024 right??


You must have been RICH back then to do 3 week OCI's???

I was still a student back then actually. But I soon bought a brand new 1988 Dodge Shadow ES turbo and I drove it pretty hard so it was probably a good idea to change that conventional oil so often in that car. I had briefly tried Mobil 1 in that car but at $8 a liter (it was only sold at Esso gas stations then) it was too expensive for me at the time.

 

[buster]

Well at least they moved away from this marketing:

Now they're on point by claiming industry test results.

 

[cheesepuffs2]

I think the reason why they aren't as popular with the BITOG crowd is because they don't market themselves on YouTube with lab videos or sponsor the forum.

Mobil 1 markets through Engineering Explained with lab/testing videos. Valvoline has done the same thing more recently in trying to showcase Restore & Protect, and that marketing effort has obviously paid dividends for them. HPL is popular here in large part due to their accessibility. Pennzoil is a forum sponsor.

Castrol doesn't provide the same connection even though their products are competitive. Probably the same reason why Havoline isn't popular in this crowd either. Outside of this forum, I've found that Castrol is popular with DIYers that aren't "oil geeks" though, and it seems to move just fine off the shelf at my local Walmart.

 

[Nuclear_42]

I recently started using Castrol. I was just looking into the rebrand options and noticed the Gold Edge EP 0W-20 was basically a Euro spec which happens to be Dexos approved. That alone made me switch. Locally the Black Edge has been selling a lot at wally world. 20k miles claims for $24.99 is impressive. Compared to M1 EP pricing. I grew up in a household that purchased cheapest name brand oil on sale and fram orange can at wally world. Castrol is just one of those oils that has been around forever and is known to be solid/ reputable. They don't really advertise a whole lot but still maintain a solid reputation. I'm a little disappointed their drivetrain fluids offerings have been small or lacking. We will see what this "New way forward" rebrand has to offer.

 

[facility1]

Castrol is a fine oil, its one I never really think of to buy however their Trans-Max tranny fluids are good so am told , the local Transmission shop is all they use,they are certified mechanics that may know this subject better than most.

 

[ChrisD46]

There have been discussions here speculating the lower quality of Castrol base stocks as compared to Mobil , SOPUS and Valvoline citing higher NOACK , etc. with Castrol oils . Still , Castrol meets a variety of specs globally and has a good following . I ran one OCI of Castrol EDGE 5W30 in a interstate round trip from Georgia to Maryland and back in a Hyundai GDI engine - resulting in black oil by the 2,000 mile mark . I had not experienced that quite as early black oil situation before with SOPUS or M1 oils being run for lower mile intervals (i.e. clean engine) , so not sure what was going on with my lone run of Castrol in the Hyundai . I chose not to use Castrol oils further after that experience - YMMV .

 

[wareze]

It's been around 1-1/2 years since the new 25k formulation Castrol Edge EP was shown in ads and there's still no sign of it around Detroit. Their Black Edge is not in the same recipe league as the EP.

So please, they need this new EP 25k Edge more than they need new marketing.

I haven't seen the gold ep Castrol in over 2 years now. Only the black bottle

 

[cptbarkey]

From the major oil brands it's been a long time since I've seen someone hyping over Castrol products.

I think German Castrol 0W30 is the last time I saw someone excited about Castrol products, which was probably like 10 or 15 years ago.

The titanium additive and magnatec looks like it didn't really resonate with BITOGers.

Mobil always had strong following. Shell has people raving about PUP. Valvoline had a strong comeback with R&P. It seems like Castrol is getting left behind.

Do you think Castrol needs a new oil product to wow customers or some better marketing?

BP owns the brand and likely neither one pays attention to niche BITOG forum member opinions or perceptions.

 

[Hootbro]

There have been discussions here speculating the lower quality of Castrol base stocks as compared to Mobil , SOPUS and Valvoline citing higher NOACK , etc. with Castrol oils . Still , Castrol meets a variety of specs globally and has a good following . I ran one OCI of Castrol EDGE 5W30 in a interstate round trip from Georgia to Maryland and back in a Hyundai GDI engine - resulting in black oil by the 2,000 mile mark . I had not experienced that quite as early black oil situation before with SOPUS or M1 oils being run for lower mile intervals (i.e. clean engine) , so not sure what was going on with my lone run of Castrol in the Hyundai . I chose not to use Castrol oils further after that experience - YMMV .

Oil color change alone without analysis has never been a good gauge of oil life remaining. Some oils have a better detergent package that can turn oil black quicker due to the cleaning action process. Especially in GDI.

 

[thetricky]

Another aspect I believe that helps it get lost here is that this crowd is always looking for something new, innovative, revolutionary, cue up the likes of HPL and VRP, even PUP. I just don’t see any snippets of Castrol doing anything other than what they have for years.

 

[buster]

BP owns the brand and likely neither one pays attention to niche BITOG forum member opinions or perceptions.

True. There used to be two Castrol guys on here. Both were good contributors.

Castrol is just like any other big brand and quite capable of making a good oil.

 

[userfriendly]

I think some European manufacturers fill and recommend Castrol (and Mazda I believe) but I feel like Castrol is not that prevalent in the US. I’ve watched a lot of oil vids on the ol YouTube and feel like Castrol never even gets mentioned,

Nobody mentions Havoline 0w40 either, but will start a new topic thread about M1 0w40 on a weekly basis.