Done with Wally World

[honus402]

I'm just about done shopping at Wal-Mart. Today, I went to a large Wal-Mart to buy what was left of the Mobil 1 15W-50. They've stopped carrying it along with Motorcraft oil and all Chevron products including Delo.
My preference for my Crown Vic is Chevron 10W-30, with Motorcraft 10W-30 as a second. Delo for my dad's SUV and Mobil 1 15W-50 for the two Harleys in the garage. Last year, I was told that Wal-Mart made an under-the-table deal with Pennzoil to get the Chevron products off the shelves. Now they took the Motorcraft away. Another deal? To add insult to injury, I noticed a shiny new Pennzoil sign on the outside of the store's Automotive Service Center. I don't have a problem with Pennzoil products but I believe the free market should dictate what products sell. When Wal-Mart is questioned about this the reply that Chevron and Motorcraft were slow sellers. I find that hard to believe, because every time I was at Wal-Mart, the Chevron and Motorcraft shelves were 2/3s empty. Am I the only customer that uses Chevron, Motorcraft and wants Mobil 1 15W-50 or 20W-50?

 

[SSDude]

It does seem that something strange is going on. It seems to be turning into an M1 world.

 

[eljefino]

... and walmart probably has a good deal on pepsi but not coke. If they don't have what you want, don't shop there.

Indirectly, they are driving down the price of all oils at other parts stores, because "I can drive down to walmart and get Pennzoil, it's the same thing." Shelf space deals are all over retail, not just walmart.

 

[andrews]

Good points eljefino,
Looks to me like the free market system is just exactly what walmart is participating in when it comes to oil. Just don't shop there if they don't carry what you want. If enough people do that, walmart will do what the market demands.

 

[Ignatz]

We had a K Mart near our Wal-Mart here outside of Reading Pa. It seemed they had price wars with motor oil for a good while. Pennzoil went from $.91 to $1.50 as soon as the K Mart closed. I miss my local K Mart.

 

[2004 F150 4x4]

With dino going for $2.00 and more I have been more inclined to wait for a sale and stock up. I got 3 cases of Pennzoil this way last fall and I have a bunch of Pep-Boys coupons for Mobil 1 buy 3 get 3 free plus I got some free Durablend and Maxlife from Valvolibe thru rebate offers. It's not hard just be patient and wait till the price gets right.

 

[T-Keith]

I used to get all my oil products at Wal-mart, but now I've been getting things from auto parts stores. It can be just as cheap with a sale or mail in rebate and Wal-mart doesn't carry the brands I use, Chevron, Purolator and AC-Delco.

I still go there are browse, get washer fluid and antifreeze though.

-T

 

[labman]

Last I looked, no ST 3950, and 5 qt Pennzoil 5W30 over $8.

 

[Korean_redneck]

Don't you guys know that they are doing this so they can get the new "SM" type Oil? They want to get rid of the "SL" type.

 

[02supercrew]

As much as I love the MC oils, IMO the new SM Clean 7500 is a really tough deal to beat at ~$2.25 or so a qt.

 

[TomJones76]

quote:

---

Originally posted by honus402:
I'm just about done shopping at Wal-Mart. Today, I went to a large Wal-Mart to buy what was left of the Mobil 1 15W-50. They've stopped carrying it along with Motorcraft oil and all Chevron products including Delo.
My preference for my Crown Vic is Chevron 10W-30, with Motorcraft 10W-30 as a second. Delo for my dad's SUV and Mobil 1 15W-50 for the two Harleys in the garage. Last year, I was told that Wal-Mart made an under-the-table deal with Pennzoil to get the Chevron products off the shelves. Now they took the Motorcraft away. Another deal?
SNIP

---

This was covered in another thread here on BITOG.
Look at Haley10's post in this thread:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=42;t=001417

The executive summary is that certain Ford dealers persuaded Ford Motors to stop selling Motorcraft goods to Wal-Mart. The Ford dealers complained that Wal-Mart was undercutting them.
Your actual beef is with Ford dealers, or perhaps with Ford Motors.
I understand where Ford is coming from on this one, and I also understand where the dealers are coming from.
I personally think this sucks, as I just picked up a Mercury Sable, and was wanting to stock up on Motorcraft 5W20 at the good price.

 

[Whimsey]

In all reality the dealer's sale of oil through the parts department doesn't "amount to a hill of beans" to paraphrase that great American Humphry Bogart(sorry if the spelling is wrong)

. I use to work for a consumer goods company and trust me those large discount stores beat the pricing down to the point where why should you sell for a loss. Besides the Motorcraft oil and filters are still available in auto part stores so obviously the "evil" Ford dealers don't have that much pull. The oil that the Ford dealer "sells" is usually from oil changes. And in most cases it's bulk oil. Also part of the EPA agreement to allow Ford to run their tests with 5W-20 was to insure that it was WIDELY AND EASILY AVAILABLE to the public. Maybe Motorcraft/Ford bit the bullet and sold at a loss to Walmart until enough other oil suppliers came on board and started offering Ford approved 5W-20 oil. Now that other oil companies offer 5W-20 they don't have to lose money by supplying Walmart at a loss. Just a thought

.

Whimsey

 

[1maniac]

As a general rule I try to avoid WalMart

at all costs but that's a whole different topic....

 

[PeaveyFender]

quote:

---

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a general rule I try to avoid WalMart at all costs but that's a whole different topic....

---

I totally agree!

 

[k1xv]

I only go there for the motor oil. Buy nothing else there. Nothing at all.

When I start to see "Chinese Castrol" on their shelf, that will be the last straw.