House Brands

[jediwebmstr]

Any opinions/ information on "house brands". Specifically thinking of something like Autozone, Advance Auto, or NAPA. 5w-20.

Running 4000 oci's.........is there a significant difference between these brands and something like YB for example..........

 

[mrsilv04]

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.

NAPA oil is going to be made by Valvoline.

Why not buy some YB on sale (along with some extra for the next oil change), and sleep easy knowing the quality that you end up with?

 

[sicko]

I can't remember AutoZone or Advance Auto. But NAPA oil is made by Ashland who also makes the oil for Valvoline. Some people claim they are the exact same oil, just in different bottles, however some people have said that Valovline claims them to be the same except for a slightly weaker additive package in the NAPA oil.

Quite a few people stocked up on NAPA synthetic b/c it was on sale for $3.29 a quart (sale ends today), so I expect we'll be seeing some new UOA on it soon enough.

There are differences between house brands and a predominant name brand like Pennzoil conventional. YB is generally understood to have a great base oil and a solid additive package. But at this point you'll be hard pressed to find a SM/GF-4 oil that can't do 4k mile OCI with normal real-world usage.

If you're looking to save a few bucks on your oil changes, at my local Advance Auto the Formula Shell is cheaper per quart then their house brand. It's actually the cheapest oil they sell, and I'd personally have no problem with using Formula Shell in my car for 4k miles (though my driving conditions may differ from yours). Also, if I shopped at Walmart, it'd be hard to pass up the 5 quart jugs of Mobil Clean 5000 or Motorcraft. Both have shown solid UOA results and both are priced very competitively

 

[INDYMAC]

I was pleasantly surprised by how well O'Reilly 10w30 worked while Auto-Rxing my vehicles. I even did a used oil analysis to see how well it held up during a rinse phase. Excellent results.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

today at Walmart: $2.47 per qt Super Tech; $12.50 for 5 qt jug Motorcraft. 3 cents difference per qt answers the question for me.

I think there are much fewer bad or poor "house" brands than in the past, but with small price differences I have always voted for name brand.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: JayhawkRoy
today at Walmart: $2.47 per qt Super Tech; $12.50 for 5 qt jug Motorcraft. 3 cents difference per qt answers the question for me.


Jayhawk-

Your price comparison is FAR from apples to apples, and is misleading. I hope this was an unintentional mistake. Comparing the price of one oil in single quarts to another oil in a 5 quart jug is *not* a fair comparison.

The SuperTech (per quart) in 5 quart jugs is MUCH cheaper than $2.47 a quart (in single quarts). It shouldn't be any more than $2 a quart ($10/5 qt. jug).

That changes the cost per quart of your comparison to 50 cents per quart.

Be fair when making comparisons.

 

[jldcol]

Seems likely made by a Big 5 company, with a bit lesser add pack. Should meet all SAE/API standards, but only just. Name brand more robust to far exceed standard, to help build/protect it's reputation. Use as name brand for less time/miles, if price difference allows.IMHOBTW.

 

[RacerE7773]

Originally Posted By: INDYMAC
I was pleasantly surprised by how well O'Reilly 10w30 worked while Auto-Rxing my vehicles. I even did a used oil analysis to see how well it held up during a rinse phase. Excellent results.
Thanks for the info.

I just bought a case of their 5w30 to start my stash.

 

[chet2]

any oil will go 7k..i like qs and Pennzoil myself

 

[chet2]

i agree with jld