Examples of "low quality" oil?

I wouldn't say they use especially low quality oil. However, if you have a vehicle of the last fifteen years or so with no leaks, why not use a synthetic? The off the shelf market (Walmart, auto parts store) has moved to primarily synthetic.
Full synthetic is substantially more expensive at Jiffy Lube and Valvoline quick change (forgot exact title). My car (Kia) requires 6 month (severe schedule) OCIs to maintain warranty. I usually drive less than 1000 miles in 6 months.

As an aside, if you look into the owners manual, the vast majority of people use their vehicles according to the "severe" schedule.



Are there oils claiming to be multi-weight but are really straight weight?
 
Full synthetic is substantially more expensive at Jiffy Lube and Valvoline quick change (forgot exact title). My car (Kia) requires 6 month (severe schedule) OCIs to maintain warranty. I usually drive less than 1000 miles in 6 months.

As an aside, if you look into the owners manual, the vast majority of people use their vehicles according to the "severe" schedule.




Are there oils claiming to be multi-weight but are really straight weight?
Valvoline Instant Oil Change is the name of the outfit.

I’m not in the shady oil business so how would I know. I guess those high end, boutique products made without VII could also qualify as straight. 🙂
 
What are examples of low quality oil?

Is what they use in Jiffy Lube and Valvoline oil change places examples of low quality oil? At Jiffy Lube I've used semi-synthetic. At Valvoline I had them put in conventional oil the only time I bought my car there.
No jiffy lube and valvoline don’t use low quality oil. It’s hard to even call bulk low quality oil, if it’s purchased by service stations and dealerships it will have to meet current specs maybe it’s not a 10k oil but that doesn’t mean it’s low quality.
 
City Star comes to mind.
City Star 5W-30 c.webp
City Star 5W-30 a.webp
City Star 5W-30 b.webp
 
The company I worked for had us get the vans serviced at Valvoline quick change which didn`t cause any engine problems but teach us to not bring our POV`s there. So the oils quality isn`t suspect just the experience.
 
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I think he's asking if there are blenders displaying a multigrade designation on the bottle with contents that are actually a straight grade.
That’s permitted (but not required) under the SAE labeling rules if the monograde oil meets the winter rating requirements for the labeling. The reverse is not permitted. An oil with any VII cannot be labeled as a monograde.
 
The company I worked for had us get the vans serviced at Valvoline quick change which didn`t cause any engine problems but teach us to not bring our POV`s there. So the oils quality isn`t suspect just the experience.

Its surprising to me how cheap Walmart is for their most barebones oil change. About $30 OTD for the bottom of the barrel. That's their "pit crew" oil change. Suspect you get a fill of **** oil and a filter, but that's certainly better than nothing. No clue what they use.

Occasionally at random nasty super shady gas stations, the kind of places that sell "water pipes" K2 and Kratom, I'll look over the bottles of oil. Always no name random stuff with questionable labels. But when 90% of the cars pull up without license plates, mufflers, and scream like a siren from power steering pumps, I don't suspect the owners are too interested in preventative maintenance.
 
Its surprising to me how cheap Walmart is for their most barebones oil change. About $30 OTD for the bottom of the barrel. That's their "pit crew" oil change. Suspect you get a fill of **** oil and a filter, but that's certainly better than nothing. No clue what they use.
Why would you suspect **** oil? By what basis?
 
I kinda feel like the real question isn't whether there are janky uncertified oils being sold in gas stations, bodegas, and dollar stores, and whether they're any good, but rather whether there are low quality certified oils out there.

Like for example, that Reladyne/DuraMax stuff mentioned upthread. I'd never heard of it until I got the oil changed in my old Dodge Dakota and that's what they had. It's SN+ rated, so ostensibly it should be good enough.
 
I read "low quality" oil is a possible culprit for oil caused engine problems. I thought all oil here in the U.S. had to measure up to a specification.

What are examples of low quality oil?

Is what they use in Jiffy Lube and Valvoline oil change places examples of low quality oil? At Jiffy Lube I've used semi-synthetic. At Valvoline I had them put in conventional oil the only time I bought my car there.
I think the recycled oil that valvoline or one of the big companies had a few years back was tested and considered not good. Walmart sold (still sells?) I can't remember the brand but an SA rated oil that shouldn't go in anything remotely modern.
 
I kinda feel like the real question isn't whether there are janky uncertified oils being sold in gas stations, bodegas, and dollar stores, and whether they're any good, but rather whether there are low quality certified oils out there.

Like for example, that Reladyne/DuraMax stuff mentioned upthread. I'd never heard of it until I got the oil changed in my old Dodge Dakota and that's what they had. It's SN+ rated, so ostensibly it should be good enough.
You would have to test every batch from each company in order to determine this. If an oil blender provided one oil for certification but offered an inferior product for distribution, how would you ever know?
 
You would have to test every batch from each company in order to determine this. If an oil blender provided one oil for certification but offered an inferior product for distribution, how would you ever know?
I think the question I was getting at was more that "is just the standard and nothing more" considered low quality or not?

The problem really then becomes how do you know? I mean, an engine that is fed a steady diet of SP rated oil is going to last for hundreds of thousands of miles. And the assumption is that a bargain basement SP is still probably better than a super top-of-the-line SM from 20 years ago, and we all know that engines could run forever on that oil. We make a lot of assumptions about oils (really any consumer product) based on price and product positioning that may or may not be valid. Is Tide really better than other detergents? What about Dawn vs. Ajax? Pantene vs. Suave?

I don't know that there's a thought-experiment sort of answer. Actual testing would be ridiculously long-term and expensive, and anything else is basically checking that it meets the standard, looking at the testing results, and hoping for the best.
 
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