Is 0W-20 A Better Oil Than 5w-20 In Same Brand ?

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I just bought a 2015 Jeep Cherokee and the recommended oil is 0w-20. This is the first vehicle I've owned with that viscosity. The vehicle I traded in used 5W-20 and I have about 6 Litres of 5w-20 Penzoil Platinum leftover. Not sure if I should use that sometime down the road on this vehicle or not. By the time the first oil change arrives I'll probably stick with 0W-20 as cooler temps will be in my area by then. The owners manual recommends Mopar 0w-20, or Penzoil or Shell Helix .

My salesman told me that these vehicles now use synthetic oil. Does the 0w-20 motor oil spec automatically make it a synthetic oil ?, whereas 5w-20's could be found in both conventional and synthetic oils ?.
 
Use the remaining Pennzoil plat then look for a 0w20 afterwards. Yes, 0w20 cannot be made from regular conventional base stock, it must be at least a synthetic blend which makes it generally better than a 5w20 conventional.

Since you're in ONT, the cheapest local 0w20 will be from a Toyota, Honda, or Subaru dealership. They usually stock 1L bottles for ~$6-7. Don't bother buying 0w20 from retail stores because it will always be $10/L or more and RARELY goes on sale.
 
No conventional oil can meet 0W requirements, at least not at present.

As far as whether a 0W-20 will be better than a same-brand 5W-20, I don't think that can really be given an answer. Better extreme cold performance, yes. Higher VI, probably. Better oil overall? Maybe, but not necessarily.
 
Use it for top-ups for the next couple of years...engine, dealer, warranty won'y know the difference.
 
Originally Posted By: Doog
Close your eyes and dump the 5w20 in....your engine won't know the difference.


Agreed, except in subzero temperatures. In Ontario, I'd save the 5w20 for summer.
 
Thanks for the quick replies from everyone, I do appreciate it.

Knowing that 0w-20 pretty much has to be synthetic explains why the salesman told me that the vehicle uses synthetic oil.

I think that I will use the Penzoil 5w-20 for warm weather top ups, and definitely use 0w-20 in winter temps.

I will have to check Toyota, Honda, and Subaru for their oil prices, I'll see what Mopar 0w-20 is priced at as well. They owe me a few free oil changes so I have a few months to think about the oil brand to use.

Thanks again to everyone
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: JSRT4
Thanks for the quick replies from everyone, I do appreciate it.

Knowing that 0w-20 pretty much has to be synthetic explains why the salesman told me that the vehicle uses synthetic oil.

I think that I will use the Penzoil 5w-20 for warm weather top ups, and definitely use 0w-20 in winter temps.

I will have to check Toyota, Honda, and Subaru for their oil prices, I'll see what Mopar 0w-20 is priced at as well. They owe me a few free oil changes so I have a few months to think about the oil brand to use.

Thanks again to everyone


If going OEM I would check Mazda first
 
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: Doog
Close your eyes and dump the 5w20 in....your engine won't know the difference.


Agreed, except in subzero temperatures. In Ontario, I'd save the 5w20 for summer.

My engine did not see any difference between 0W40 and 5W40 in winter in almost Siberia. In Ontario, probably, a little bit warmer ;-)
 
Yes, the Mazda high moly 0w20 oil would be nice but from my experience, they're $12/L or more locally.

Also to OP: ask for 12 bottle case pricing when getting quotes from dealerships, usually it's cheaper to buy a case than individual bottles.

Originally Posted By: dave123
Originally Posted By: JSRT4
Thanks for the quick replies from everyone, I do appreciate it.

Knowing that 0w-20 pretty much has to be synthetic explains why the salesman told me that the vehicle uses synthetic oil.

I think that I will use the Penzoil 5w-20 for warm weather top ups, and definitely use 0w-20 in winter temps.

I will have to check Toyota, Honda, and Subaru for their oil prices, I'll see what Mopar 0w-20 is priced at as well. They owe me a few free oil changes so I have a few months to think about the oil brand to use.

Thanks again to everyone


If going OEM I would check Mazda first
 
Check Walmart for Valvoline Synpower 0W-20. It meets the Chrysler MS-6395 spec, which you'll want if you you're worried about your warranty, and is probably cheaper than anything you'll find anywhere else.
 
5w20 synthetics like PP already have excellent cold starting properties, and you can use it in the engine if you want. I doubt there would be much difference between PP 0w20 and PP 5w20 in a UOA if you had problems, but using as top up isn't a bad idea either.
 
PP 5w-20 has excellent cold flow properties. But if you're concerned and want to feel better about it, then get some PP 0w-20 to use during the winter, and use the PP 5w-20 for top ups and spring/summer time.
 
New vehicle warranties require that you use the specified grade of oil, in this case 0w20. If you like your warranty and want to keep it, use the required grade. I'm sure an emergency top up would be allowed with a non spec oil.
0w20 will perform flawlessly in all seasons and you do not need to switch to 5w20 in the summer. The engine was designed, tested and approved for 0w20, all you have to do is use it.
So just do yourself a favour, use the spec grade and avoid any issues. Around here Mazda, Ford, Honda, Kia and Hyundai will all do UOA's on any large engine issue with a car under warranty. I'm sure a small top off of 5w20 wouldn't be an issue, but a full engine of it would.
Btw, TGMO 0w20 is the best deal going here, $60 for a case(12L) at Toyota or Lexus. The other option for an 0w20 OEM oil is the Honda 0w20 GF4, not sure if you have to have a GF5 oil spec for your warranty? If you can use a GF4 oil, Acura and some Honda dealers carry it, although it's $8-9 a litre. It is on the heavier side of the OEM oils but the add pack is top notch with high doses of moly and boron. If you check the VOA section you'll find info on both TGMO and the Honda GF4 oil.
 
High moly sounds good.

I will have to check out the Mopar spec, the Toyota, Honda and Mazda oils won't care about meeting that spec though.

I couldn't locate PP in 0w20 today at the local place I usually get my oil, the only carry 5w20 right now.

I've got a bit of time to locate oil so I'll shop around. Thanks for the added replies.
 
I'd seriously doubt that any UOA would enable anyone to detect a difference between a 0W-20 and a 5W-20, especially after the oil had some hours of use on it.
In the event of a large engine issue, the oil would probably be heavily contaminated with metals in any event.
Also, I doubt that the OM "requires" any particular grade. The term "recommended" is almost always the one used and an engine that runs fine on a 0W-20 is not going to be destroyed if a 5W-20 is used.
Since the OP has the 5W-20 PP, he could use it during the warmer months.
For winter, M1 0W-20 AFE would be a good choice, unless it's priced sky-high in Canada. It's cheap from Walmart here.
 
JSRT4, "better" is relative. But pretty much across the board, a 0w20 will provide benefits over a 5w20.
 
Well you can doubt all you like, your not/I'm not invested in the vehicle, the op is. That is why I defer to the manufacturer and warranty requirements. We don't know better than them, unless one of us has a multi million R/D, test track, various design experts and engineers at our disposal. I don't......

Moving on-
It's important to remember that we are talking about running the "required grade of oil" to satisfy the warranty, not any oil the engine can operate on. That is key to this discussion. 0w20 is the required grade, not 5w20.
If the op wants to take a chance with his $30-50,000 vehicle he can, but it is an unnecessary risk and avoidable if the op just follows the requirement of oil grade to satisfy the warranty.
Here Walmart has the cheapest prices for other synthetic oils, M1, Penz and QSUD are still overpriced for what you pay for them in the US, but Valvoline synthetic 0w20 is the cheapest here when on sale at $10 for 5L and I think it meets the Chrysler spec.
 
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