Interesting conversation w/ a Walmart Auto dept Mgr..

[DirtyApe]

Had about a 10 minute talk with a Walmart auto (oil/ auto stuff) dept. Mgr... Lessee what I remember.. Supertech oil (all grades) are Quaker state (both synth and dino) ST filters are "cheaper made Frams" 5/20 (all brands) is all at least 50% synthetic. Motorcraft oil & filters are going away (I knew this one already) Best one of the bunch.... Mobil 1 EP oils are terrible for the DIY'er, as "you won't ever get under your car except maybe once a year, all kinds of things can go unnoticed when you're not under there changing oil every couple of months). 5/20 "is one of the biggest mistakes in a long time, it's not much more than water." Mgr of that area, he is... (been there many years though, I remember seeing him around that store for a long time).

 

[outrun]

ST filters are "cheaper made Frams" I reject that statement. Unless it recently changed SuperTech filters are made by Champion Laboratories. It is even badged on the box. If he actually considers Fram superior to SuperTech my only conclusion is that he must have some sort of subconsious cardboard endcap fetish. 5W20 a mistake? I agree although my personal opinion is baseless to the UOA analysis on this board. Personally 0W30, 0W40,5W40 and good ol' 5W30, 10W30 are the way to go for most demanding applications including us oil fanatics.

 

[rpn453]

quote:

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Originally posted by mh2800: 5/20 "is one of the biggest mistakes in a long time, it's not much more than water."

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Good thing I'm using 0W-20 then. Otherwise it would probably freeze in our cold weather!

 

[mormit]

Consider the source.....Wal-Mart personnel. Like saying the cashier at McDonalds told you that Cheddar cheese was superior to Stilton. You're getting cheap. Not quality, experience, or knowledge.

 

[DirtyApe]

mormit: one would tend to think he was knowledgeable about his products, due to time being the mgr of that area (at least 5 years, maybe more), but guess not..

 

[ediamiam]

Must be all that good training Walmart spends on their people such that they can acquire that wealth of knowledge and pass it on.

 

[Gary Allan]

Do him a favor ...refer him to BITOG. When I go to the "chew the fat" gear head convention at my pals shop ..and a question of oil comes up ..who do you think they ask for the finer details??

 

[eljefino]

I was in there and a punk kid was checking out a $29 battery and two quarts of ST 10w40. "Are you all set with that oil, it's still cold outside you know" says the TLE checkout guy. "Yeah, it says here on the back, it's for high-revving engines" says the kid. "OK then, it's spring soon anyway" say the TLE guy, not starting an argument with a paying customer. FWIW, ST 5w30 also says it's for high-revving engines.

 

[T-Keith]

I don't think your going to find too many BITOG knowledgeable people in the Wal-mart oil department. Their hiring and promotions have nothing to do with their knowledge of oil, only they ability to keep things stocked and selling. I don't know why you'd expect more? I've heard worse things from a parts store guy. -T

 

[74 Laguna]

Just for the heck of it I asked the manager at our Wal Mart auto department who makes the Supertech oil and he said Pennzoil. So who knows!

 

[kenw]

quote:

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Originally posted by 74 Laguna: Just for the heck of it I asked the manager at our Wal Mart auto department who makes the Supertech oil and he said Pennzoil. So who knows!

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why ask him? Might as well ask the kid at Taco Bell.

 

[ron917]

When I was in college studying Computer Science, I worked part-time in the Auto department at K-Mart. Not Wal-Mart, but close enough. Saying that the ST oils are Quaker State is an easy mistake. For whatever reason, QS was our distributor for ALL of the lubes we sold. The return address on every case said "Quaker State", no matter what the brand was. Maybe Wal-Mart has a similar deal. I don't understand why a company would act as distributor for its competitors, but they do. Most of the people working working in discount retail are as dumb as rocks. They are there because they can't do anything else. After working with those people, I honestly used to wonder how they found their way home at night. BTW, this was back in the day when oil was sold in cardboard cans.

 

[oldman]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7131655007&category=35675 People will try and sell anything.