GC is Dino

[ssj4]

Or more specifically, may be going the way of the dinosaurs, ie. extinct.

After reading the forums about Autozone not carrying any more GC, I visited a couple where I had purchased the last bottles over a couple of months ago.

Guess What: No More GC yet!

I went to a couple of more, that I had searched for the green in. One had 12 (gold) purchased all of them. One had 14 (first 7 gold) and to my surprise, the last 7 were very dusty bottles of green.

NOTE: woohoo, this brings my green stash up to 19 (enough for almost 3 full changes on my M3).

However, if the stuff is sitting on the stores this long and stores are not continuously refreshing, it means people aren't purchasing the stuff anywhere near the levels of the other brands.

FWIW, the only 0W-anything I've seen in the store is GC, and I always get funny looks when I tell a clerk I'm looking for 0W-30. I think people are scared of the 0.

1)The stuff is only available at Autozone = indicates low demand
2)Old bottles = low demand
3)little to no other brands readily available in 0W-X = low demand
4)low demand = why would a store want to carry it

If demand is this low, why would Castrol import it?
plus the fact they have introduced the 5W-40 (american mixed) as a Euro Car formula.

Has anybody contacted Castrol about whether the GC will continue to be sold? Perhaps they will be introducing the Edge line in the US? or is this the end?

 

[pidster]

GC is readily available here in Canada, all of the larger Canadian Tires, Partsources in my area all have gold GC with pretty recent date codes. I'll bet 0w grades sell better in areas with very cold winters. I know people that switch back and forth between 0w30 and 10w30 synthetics winter and summer. Not necessary to do, but the "5w30 is thinner than 10w30 period" belief is pretty common. I used to switch back & forth 5w30 and 10w30 myself before I knew better.

 

[wavinwayne]

My local AZ just restocked with fresh M06 GC, after I cleaned them out of their M04 green. I think the GC shortages are regional, and no indication of a national trend.

On a side note, I don't know why, but 0WXX oils are available just about everywhere in North AL. It doesn't get cold here, compared to you guys up North. We have absolutely no need for 0WXX oils here. Somehow, the stuff sells, though, because the date codes on everything I see is recent. Go figure.

 

[ssj4]

I don't have a clue, one Autozone had some of the old old American version 0W-30

 

[ekpolk]

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My local AZ just restocked with fresh M06 GC, after I cleaned them out of their M04 green. I think the GC shortages are regional, and no indication of a national trend.

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I'd be inclined to agree with that. We've got GC all over the place in the AZ stores I visit between New Orleans and Pensacola. I don't purchase any more, since I still have 3-4 years worth of green on hand, but still plenty of gold here.

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. . . We have absolutely no need for 0WXX oils here. . . .

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Careful there wayne, that's awfully close to a flat out BITOG blasphemy! (Let's not, of course, let reality get in the way...).

 

[ssj4]

Well, I hope they continue the GC. Well, at least I think I do, as I have yet to do a UOA on my engines. But after reading some on here + the fact that I'm running it in BMW's, it may very well be the best for my application.

I guess it would be funny if I get #@$%! UOA after stocking about 34 quarts of the stuff. Of course I could sell it to BITOG'ers

 

[ssj4]

Note: 34 really isn't that much at (7+9), thats only 2 oil changes (each vehicle) with some makeup oil.

 

[INMY01TA]

plenty by me.

 

[glxpassat]

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If demand is this low, why would Castrol import it?

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It is imported because it meets VW spec 503.01 which was designated as an Audi spec for high horsepower turbo engines. It is used and sold at Audi dealerships, and I'm sure Audi is the largest consumer of GC. My guess is that AZ probably started selling it because their competition did not.

 

[Mokanic]

My local AZ manager said they would no longer stock it becouse of very slow sales. The store is located in the middle of illegal alien erea of our county and they ain't about to pay 6$ for a qt. of oil or buy a drain pan to drain the old oil in for that matter.
The manager didn't even know if they could get it for a customer if they wanted to buy a case.
Obviously, shelf space is important and if another product will move quicker they want to make room for it.

 

[Tempest]

Every AZ I go to here has GC. Not sure about the manu. dates, but the bottles don't look dusty.

 

[jmac]

I just checked the local AZ the last couple of days that has always carried the GC, and the oil racks had all been rearanged and no more GC and no spot for it like there used to be. Last time I was in there there were two bottls of gold and I snagged those, likely the last two that store will carry.
But that is normal for this burgh, you can pretty much count on the managers in any of the major stores here to have nothing but pure junk sitting on the shelves. NAPA, WM, AZ, HD, Lowes, all have p-poor selection in just about every catagory that you can think of. Example: local Wallmart doesnt even carry gallon jugs of 2-cycle oil, had to drive to the next one about 10 mi. away to find a gal of 2-stroke oil, and all they had was the ST outboard TCW3, no Universal TCW3, and the stores sit right next to two very large lakes! ok rant off.

 

[Vlad]

Well, 5W-40 has "Designed for MB and VW" or something to that affect, yet it is missing some stuff I buy GC for (funny, because I buy GC specifically for VW AND Merc), in particular MB 229.5 and VW 503.1. Once and if GC is gone I am at loss as to what oil to use, outside of some exotic (and expensive) "designer labels"...

 

[bmrlvr]

You can always do what I've been doing prior to learning about GC and that's buy the oil from the dealer. BMW full synthetic is actually less expensive than most fully synthetics at Wal-Mart or AZ. My dealer gives a discount for BMWCCA members also making it even cheaper. There aren't many oils out there that have the BMW LL-01 certification and the ones that do such as Mobil 1 0W30 and GC are rarely on sale.

 

[Vlad]

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You can always do what I've been doing prior to learning about GC and that's buy the oil from the dealer. BMW full synthetic is actually less expensive than most fully synthetics at Wal-Mart or AZ. My dealer gives a discount for BMWCCA members also making it even cheaper. There aren't many oils out there that have the BMW LL-01 certification and the ones that do such as Mobil 1 0W30 and GC are rarely on sale.

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Well, my "better" local VW dealer uses Elf Exellium 5W-40. Good oil on it's own except no VW 503.1 spec, which is pretty tough spec, BTW. My other local VW dealer never could specify what oil they use and most probably just pour in anything that is cheap. VW of NA, BTW, recommended me to contact local dealer for questions about oil, since "local dealer will be the best source to determine best oil to use in particular climate and condition" (yeah, right, talk to "most knowledgable" guy in the service revealed that he only heard that you need to use VW 502 oil, never heard about VW 503.1, heard about 505 and 505.1 for older and newer diesels, respectively). Just to clarify, W8 manual asks for all 3: VW 502, 503.1 and 505 to appear on the oil. Local Merc dealer uses M1, 0W-40, I think (which does have all specs in question but I just don't like Exxon/Mobil in general and Mobil 1 in particular, for different reasons, of course). Anyway, the only clear choice in relatively easily obtainable and reasonably priced oil for both W8 Passat and C320 Merc is GC at this point, unless you like Mobil 1 (which I don't). Amsoil and such claim to meet specs but don't have proove. Then come lubromolies and alike if right weight is chosen, that have specs but priced significantly higher and are difficult to obtain (remember 8.5 and 9+ quarts sumps, we are not talking couple of bucks of difference). Maybe I should change from W8 to the car that uses oil you can buy in local 7-11