How well do mechanics recommend motor oil?
- Thread starter Mystic
- Start date
- Status
Well, let me chime in here from my experience as a mechanic/ electronic tech/oil specialist/sales.
As I visit different mechanic shops, some repairing company fleet equipment, some retail repair for automotive, I find a wide range of mechanics. Many are ASE certified, some master ase, and during my rounds have found that ASE does not cover lubrication, just as doctors don't have nutrition as mentioned before.
I also visit quick lube centers and most also again have very little idea of the difference except from what they figure out on the side.
In discussing bulk oil, I have talked with many other oil salesmen and they admit that they too have very real limited knowledge to oil basics. They sell based on price and name recognition. In one instance, a mobil rep was selling a truck lube center their grease in 55gal drums. I came in and gave the lube guys a lesson on water mixing with certain base complexes, demonstrated on how to test for this, then also helped them learn a little about basic oil 101. After about 4 hours of this, they had come to the conclusion that they were not happy with what they had. I in no way told them that they are using anything less than good products but after they become educated on some of the basics, they then contacted the mobil guy and had him bring out their best grease. Short is, nothing he had seemed to do as well from what they saw so they switched. The mobil guy now calls me "scare tactic Bob". So, they sell on price and name, I sell on educating the consumer. What I have found it that bulk lubes are sold on price. I witnessed toyota dealer using castrol in a bulk tank, valvoline guy comes in, asked what he's paying and he could be it and btw, here's some daytona 500 tickets. the next order was valvoline. No tank change out, no draining, just pumped on top of the castrol left over. Several months later, back to castrol.
Most mechanics do make assessments from their experience and that is a good thing but like someone said earlier, no idea of conditions the vehicle has been put through to get the results they had.
I believe that most mechanics like many others base their opinion based on experience and since some are limited on what their exposed to, it only stands to reason their choice would be the best to their knowledge. I think this holds true for most of us IMO.
So, moral is, PRICE, NAME RECOGNITION, and PRICE seems to be the major factor for oil selection from many companies/mechanics. When I go into a place and all they ask about is price, I know they don't care about quality and if I can't get them over that, I leave as I don't use price as a way to sell and never will. There's a lot of good business people that understand the difference between price and cost and those are the ones that can see the benefits of a good lubrication program.
As I visit different mechanic shops, some repairing company fleet equipment, some retail repair for automotive, I find a wide range of mechanics. Many are ASE certified, some master ase, and during my rounds have found that ASE does not cover lubrication, just as doctors don't have nutrition as mentioned before.
I also visit quick lube centers and most also again have very little idea of the difference except from what they figure out on the side.
In discussing bulk oil, I have talked with many other oil salesmen and they admit that they too have very real limited knowledge to oil basics. They sell based on price and name recognition. In one instance, a mobil rep was selling a truck lube center their grease in 55gal drums. I came in and gave the lube guys a lesson on water mixing with certain base complexes, demonstrated on how to test for this, then also helped them learn a little about basic oil 101. After about 4 hours of this, they had come to the conclusion that they were not happy with what they had. I in no way told them that they are using anything less than good products but after they become educated on some of the basics, they then contacted the mobil guy and had him bring out their best grease. Short is, nothing he had seemed to do as well from what they saw so they switched. The mobil guy now calls me "scare tactic Bob". So, they sell on price and name, I sell on educating the consumer. What I have found it that bulk lubes are sold on price. I witnessed toyota dealer using castrol in a bulk tank, valvoline guy comes in, asked what he's paying and he could be it and btw, here's some daytona 500 tickets. the next order was valvoline. No tank change out, no draining, just pumped on top of the castrol left over. Several months later, back to castrol.
Most mechanics do make assessments from their experience and that is a good thing but like someone said earlier, no idea of conditions the vehicle has been put through to get the results they had.
I believe that most mechanics like many others base their opinion based on experience and since some are limited on what their exposed to, it only stands to reason their choice would be the best to their knowledge. I think this holds true for most of us IMO.
So, moral is, PRICE, NAME RECOGNITION, and PRICE seems to be the major factor for oil selection from many companies/mechanics. When I go into a place and all they ask about is price, I know they don't care about quality and if I can't get them over that, I leave as I don't use price as a way to sell and never will. There's a lot of good business people that understand the difference between price and cost and those are the ones that can see the benefits of a good lubrication program.
With my recent birthday, I am now closer to 85 than to 25, so maybe I can shed some light on the beliefs of older mechanics.
Mobil 1 was first marketed in the early 1970s, I recall. They blatently advertised that you could go 25,000 miles between oil changes. The earliest formulations were somewhat aggressive with rubber seal materials still on the road in some cars. The only viscosity initially available was 5w-20 This combined to turn a lot of people off to synthetic oil.
Other than Mobil 1, other major oil companies did not heavily market motor oil. The brands you normally saw in the auto parts store were Quaker State, Pennzoil, Valvoline and Castrol. Some people thought Castrol was made from castor beans, which it was not, except for some specialized racing oil they made (and you would not want to use, because it would get tacky over time). Valvoline made a "Racing oil", single grades going up to at least 60 weight, and a 20w-50. Multi-grade oils were still not commonly accepted, and some made their own multi-grade oil by adding STP Oil Treatment to single weight oil.
Back in those days, Valvoline heavily advertised and promoted racing. So a lot of people used it. The only person I know who used "diesel" oil in a car was my father, who was ahead of the curve and used Chevron RPM Delo.
People recall one bad experience that occurred years ago and that forms the basis of their opinion today. For example, I remember in the early 1970s I used some Pennzoil in a 750 Honda on a hot cross country trip, and more of it disappeared from the dry sump tank than my usual oil, Castrol GTX. I havn't used Pennzoil since.
The last thing mechanics want is an irate customer coming back to complain. So they recommend what never gave them any trouble, and they do not recommend what they have heard bad about, no matter how long ago it was.
There is an old saying: "You can always recognize the pioneer....he's the guy dead by the side of the trail with the arrow in his back".
Mobil 1 was first marketed in the early 1970s, I recall. They blatently advertised that you could go 25,000 miles between oil changes. The earliest formulations were somewhat aggressive with rubber seal materials still on the road in some cars. The only viscosity initially available was 5w-20 This combined to turn a lot of people off to synthetic oil.
Other than Mobil 1, other major oil companies did not heavily market motor oil. The brands you normally saw in the auto parts store were Quaker State, Pennzoil, Valvoline and Castrol. Some people thought Castrol was made from castor beans, which it was not, except for some specialized racing oil they made (and you would not want to use, because it would get tacky over time). Valvoline made a "Racing oil", single grades going up to at least 60 weight, and a 20w-50. Multi-grade oils were still not commonly accepted, and some made their own multi-grade oil by adding STP Oil Treatment to single weight oil.
Back in those days, Valvoline heavily advertised and promoted racing. So a lot of people used it. The only person I know who used "diesel" oil in a car was my father, who was ahead of the curve and used Chevron RPM Delo.
People recall one bad experience that occurred years ago and that forms the basis of their opinion today. For example, I remember in the early 1970s I used some Pennzoil in a 750 Honda on a hot cross country trip, and more of it disappeared from the dry sump tank than my usual oil, Castrol GTX. I havn't used Pennzoil since.
The last thing mechanics want is an irate customer coming back to complain. So they recommend what never gave them any trouble, and they do not recommend what they have heard bad about, no matter how long ago it was.
There is an old saying: "You can always recognize the pioneer....he's the guy dead by the side of the trail with the arrow in his back".
Lot of wisdom, k1xv. I know a man who is still a mechanic who is 83 years old. He has been a mechanic for 53 years. Until I saw this web site it was really hard to get good information on motor oils. All people had was advertising claims and the experience of mechanics and drivers. There were all kinds of stories floating around-this oil causes sludge, this oil is preferred by mechanics, this is the oil that race dirvers use. Mobil 1 had some serious problems when it was first introduced, and lots of people were probalby turned away from synthetic oils because of that. Lots of people used STP Oil Treatment, which was probably good in warmer weather because the motor oils in those days were not very good. Actually, a web site like this could have been started a long time ago, however. All that was needed were a bunch of guys willing to have their oil tested and some guys who work for oil companies attracted to the site. My Dad was an old time mechanic but he told me he considered Mobil 1 to be a good oil. He was not so old fashioned that he would not accept Mobil 1 just because it was a new type of oil. There was some good information in the old days, however. Castrol is considered to be a good oil based on testing and a lot of people have recommended Castrol to me. But there was a lot of misinformation in the old days also. A oil would get labeled as a sludge causing oil and the story would never end. I heard stories about Pennzoil and Quaker State being sludge causing oils, and I think I know the reason why. After all, Pennzoil and Quaker State are the two most popular brands, right? Engines probably get sludged up when oil changes are neglected. With so many people using Pennzoil and Quaker State, a large percentage of the sludged up cars and trucks were bound to be vehicles where these oils had been used. Any engine would get sludged up, regardless of oil brand, if oil changes were neglected. It is dangerous being the pioneer, but I am glad somebody is willing to do it.
By the way, k1xv, welcome to the site. You must have joined not too long after me. I think this is the best web site on the internet for obtaining good information about motor oils, oil filters, etc. A lot better than the old days, huh? When I stop to think about it, however, a lot of people recommended Castrol to me (and Castrol has tested well at this site), I could have saved myself a lot of trouble and just used it. Somehow somebody from somewhere had some good information. My Dad worked as a mechanic for a long time-decades, actually. He was a truck mechanic and he worked for a road construction company. My Dad was kind of like your Dad, he really liked Mystik oil, which was used in trucks a lot back in those days. But because Conoco was cheaper he used it in his own car. That is the oil he was using in his car when he died. I have a strange fondness for Mystik and Conoco oils, but strangely enough I have really not used these oils very much. But anyway, welcome to the site.
- Status
Similar threads
