GC Woes

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Well I had the biggest disappointment today. Yesterday I stopped by at least a couple of the local Autozones here in search for GC as Castrol is on sale for 4.something a quart.

When I finally did find an Autozone that had GC in stock, I thought I struck gold. Four bottles with the Red 0w-30 label and date code 0228. I quickly snatched them up and left the store for 19$ and change.

Today as I was looking at the back label, it is made in USA!! Poured a small amount out, and it's definitely NOT green. The red 0w-30 wording and 02xx date code had me sure that it was GC Green. I thought the made in USA stuff only had the yellow 0w-30 letters.

Long story short, should I use it? It's API SL with only a handful of specs listed, which ACEA A3 is NOT one of them. Nor does it have any of the VW specs, which leads me to believe it is inferior to GC Green/Gold (perhaps HTHS < 3.2?).

Lastly, how is Autozone's exchance policy? Should I return these with the receipt and grab something else? Only one bottle has been opened, and I doubt they will notice.
 
Yes, it sounds like you got some of the really old "pre-GC" Castrol Syntec 0w-30. It's definitely not GC, either gold or green. Almost all the genuine GC has been snatched up by those who venerate the stuff, like me. Sorry. I do not know why AZ is still stocking this old US made stuff. I also do not know about their return policy. They may give you in store credit, but probably will not give your money back. Sorry to hear about your hassles. Anyway, good hunting.
 
AZ is actually pretty liberal about returns with receipts. OTOH, the stuff you have meets SL. No it's not elvin magic, but for one OCI, it should be no worse than any other synthetic. Give it a run!
 
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