Hijacked
- Thread starter TOLSON
- Start date
The force is strong.
dnewton3
Staff member
Let's see if we can quantify HPLs attributes ...
- HPL makes excellent lubes
- HPL has top customer service
- HPL hosted a free tour event for BITOG members at their facility and had a great round-table disucssuion from many lube industry experts
- HPL has even created a no-VII product line at the request of some BITOGers
- HPL's owner (Dave) is truly a gear-head and a lube geek who is hands-on, and fits right in here
Is all that supposed to be a bad thing? Just what is it that seems overtly controlled by HPL to you?
If this is "hijacked" behavior, I'm all in!
- HPL makes excellent lubes
- HPL has top customer service
- HPL hosted a free tour event for BITOG members at their facility and had a great round-table disucssuion from many lube industry experts
- HPL has even created a no-VII product line at the request of some BITOGers
- HPL's owner (Dave) is truly a gear-head and a lube geek who is hands-on, and fits right in here
Is all that supposed to be a bad thing? Just what is it that seems overtly controlled by HPL to you?
If this is "hijacked" behavior, I'm all in!
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I'm gonna say when I joined in 13 that Pennzoil was the thing. I have always had a love for Redline partly because of their intimate association with Honda and Acura race teams but I quickly learned that the paying brands got more looks. I came around and used the PUP and even had the good fortune of @GenaFishbeck getting me involved with the Make The Switch promo. Used lots of Sopus out of respect for her. Bought from @OilUdder not because I really needed the help but to support small business and those supporting BITOG. I have come to the point where everyone has a opinion and you just have to comb through what you feel is fact or faux. @High Performance Lubricants is gaining traction because they had a open house and I got invited but the reviews from the people who went were stellar. I bought the EC30 and it works and that's a product I need.
You sound like a reasonable person so I say this..don't let it get to you. Use this forum to learn what you can and piece the rest of the puzzle
as you go. I used to get bothered too and when you do is the time to take a few days away. Had the same issues with XBOX; bought a PlayStation and never looked back.
I have never used and never really even looked at HPL but I disagree with your thesis. There one of the few manufacturers that cater to oil enthusiasts - and this is an enthusiast site, so I would expect to see a lot of discussions around them - even though I have no interest myself.
Any automotive site is going to have a lot of threads related to manufacturers that cater to their particular interest. I used to be active on a site for a niche interest vehicle model. There were essentially 2 aftermarket suppliers of parts for that model, and every 3rd thread was about one of them. Its normal.
There are a million posts here talking about buying cheap stuff from Walmart or RA. They both cater to people who like to pay the least they have to. Have they hijacked the site also? No - they just fill a market demand for lowest price, and there is a lot of interest in that around here as well.
Any automotive site is going to have a lot of threads related to manufacturers that cater to their particular interest. I used to be active on a site for a niche interest vehicle model. There were essentially 2 aftermarket suppliers of parts for that model, and every 3rd thread was about one of them. Its normal.
There are a million posts here talking about buying cheap stuff from Walmart or RA. They both cater to people who like to pay the least they have to. Have they hijacked the site also? No - they just fill a market demand for lowest price, and there is a lot of interest in that around here as well.
Couldn't agree with this more.
I've also never really had any interactions with Dave, but by all accounts, he seems like a knowledgeable guy who has shown a lot of patience answering our seemingly never-ending questions. They're willing to tailor-make lubricants to the desires of the board and even certain individuals - heck, one of our members even has an oil named after him. That's pretty cool, if you ask me! On top of that, they just so happen to make a top tier lubricant. A statement that isn't just spouted, but reinforced from some of the most knowledgeable folks on here. Honestly, they're exactly what you'd expect one of our BITOG members to have asked for had they received 3 wishes from a genie.
You don't have to buy their products to benefit from what they've shared with the site- what they post is free to read and Dave will answer anyone, whether they're a customer of his or not. Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. Feel free to avoid threads on the topic of HPL, or muting anyone you feel necessary to receive less exposure on the subject.
They are a site sponsor though so calling it a hijacking isn't accurate. However, the BITOG influencers here do heavily promoting HPL, which seems to be "by design."
We have “influencers”? Huh…
I was wondering the same thing, and also wondering what this “by design” thing is when Dave himself may be the biggest tempering factor in keeping the chatter objective- when someone asks him about other market players, he has never said one negative thing at all, and frequently compliments the other good available lubes.
If that’s a “design” to promote HPL over all others, it sure seems like a less than optimal one compared to most marketing campaigns who only tout how much “better” they are than the competition…
Are we reading the same forum? I see mention of the whole rainbow of brands getting mentioned here regularly.
It's a fine line between promotion and being a shill for a brand or forum sponsor. While I do see some overly enthusiastic promoters at times I don't see anything wrong with promoting or recommending HPL. Good outfit and good products that fill a niche. I think many of the more respected members here are careful with that line and don't blindly promote it anytime someone asks for oil advice but there seem to be a few folks that push it a bit. Whatever. Read past it. If you had to pick one I'd say it would be M1 0W40 as the ultimate hijack haha I've been the Liquimoly fanboi around here for years and may even have been called a shill by some. I do enjoy that monthly check and swag pack I get from 
for my work here...haha
for my work here...haha
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And, it's not necessarily a bad thing to raise a question like this and challenge a situation or result. That's how we learn and grow. It would be pretty boring if we were all in agreement all of the time.
To be fair....I think what ruffles some feathers is the no licenses/approvals bit w/r to HPL for some and the "Oh that? Don't worry about that" by many supporters. While not an issue to me with HPL (using it), folks should be able to objectively understand that concern some have with folks that may have downplayed other oils in the past without licensee/approvals...which can make it seem to some as blind fanboi-ism.
For sure. You don't think some of the high-post count member "legends" including mods here by using HPL aren't an advertisement for it?
I wouldn't say Hijacked.
I would say uneven treatment. And nutty brand reverence. Some of the same people who bathe the feet of HPL call anyone using Amsoil a disciple or worse.
There is no magic oil, or so I have been told for 23 years.
Agreed.
I'm curious about the "legends" appellation and how you see those folks.
I don't think it comes with post count, per se. My perspective is that that the real influencers are those whose posts are good - thoughtful, informed, etc.
While we are all here because of a shared interest (oil, tangentially, cars and trucks) there are clearly some folks with great expertise in this area. I would think that matters more than post count, certainly more than moderator status, which is basically an administrative function.
I don't think it comes with post count, per se. My perspective is that that the real influencers are those whose posts are good - thoughtful, informed, etc.
While we are all here because of a shared interest (oil, tangentially, cars and trucks) there are clearly some folks with great expertise in this area. I would think that matters more than post count, certainly more than moderator status, which is basically an administrative function.
dnewton3
Staff member
That's a fair point, but one that has not gone unsaid about some other brands such as Amsoil, Valvoline, etc. Licenses and approvals can come from not only orginizations (API for industry standards), but also OEM (for brand-specific standards of engine oils, tranny oils, etc). Licensing is a frequent topic about many products and many brands here. If one understands licensing, it's a minium standard, but not a max standard. Licensing and approvals are a two-way street. Licenses can be about content, or performance, or both. Licensing is a rabbit hole topic.
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I think what confounds me in this thread topic is that, in the absence of an HPL-type company (one that makes premium products and is directly involved with the BITOG community), BITOGers would complain that there's no company that listens to the lube enthusiast; that there's no support for the niche buyer. Then, when we get a company that shows up and gives a darn to the "n"th degree, a company that answers our questions directly and provides products we ask for, we then get people who complain about the perceived "hijacking" of the niche community.
Most companies would just ignore BITOG; we're a microcosm. Most companies just direct you to a website FAQ page or have you call a 800 "tech line" manned by morons who only read and regurgitate boilerplate canned answers from a computer screen.
Now, we now have a company owned by a guy who takes direct interest in our conversations here, and responds to niche customer demands. And what's our BITOG response? Question the motives and complain about the results.
Pablo has represented Amsoil admirably over the nearly two decades of BITOG. Gary Allan used to do so as well. We used to have a Schaeffers guy around here; not seen him in some time. I find it comforting to know that some folks who rep premium products stick around, regardless of their brand. Whereas I'm not sure that Amsoil has any direct corporate love for BITOG, I know with certainty that Pablo does (Gary did before he passed). Now we've got Dave/HPL. We are having a net increase in niche supporters; we should be thankful for the attention.
Let's see if we can summarize this:
- WAAAAHHHH ... no one cares about us (say the BITOGers)
- HI; I'm hear to listen and help provide answers and products for your specific needs in support of your web community (Amsoil; HPL)
- WAAAAHHHH ... we got hijacked (say the BITOGers)
And people here wonder why I refer to BITOGers as a fickle-minded bunch?
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