Is it ok to switch to synth at high mileage?

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: daman
Bill you've had allot of vehicles with high mileage that you post about how much do you drive and how old are you??

and you really gotta stop hitting people with that stick you were raised better then that.

I drive too much (esp with gas coming up to $3 a gallon, even with a 40+mpg car) and lets just say I've been driving for many years. Prob a lot longer than most of BITOG's members are old.

(Esp if they are as old as their posts seem to show....)

I'm a LOT closer to retirement but the #@!$^ keeps raising the retirement age up. (last Social Security letter I got said *IF* I retire at 72! Heck, *IF* I MAKE it to 72 would be more the question)

I've cut down on some driving and my almost 5 year old car has only 163k on it. A few miles under the seatbelt.

Just trying to keep it real.. Been doing that since I've been here.

Bill

 

[daman]

I hear ya....

 

[tig1]

Bil,
Nothing wrong with keeping it real, and no one has challenged your 85K position. But some people do abuse their engines. No OCs in 20-40K miles. Stuff like that. The 75K figure oil companies use is an arbitrary number chosen, I would guess, to begin to use an oil with a little more cleaning action and seal swell abilities than the standard conventional or synthetic has for engine abusers.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Bil,
Nothing wrong with keeping it real, and no one has challenged your 85K position. But some people do abuse their engines. No OCs in 20-40K miles. Stuff like that. The 75K figure oil companies use is an arbitrary number chosen, I would guess, to begin to use an oil with a little more cleaning action and seal swell abilities than the standard conventional or synthetic has for engine abusers.


Wrong...

The marketing wizards at the oil companies STATE that if your engine has 75,001 it has suddenly become necessary to run this HIGH MILEAGE oil that will cure all the problems that a HIGH MILEAGE (75,001 miles and up) engine.

They don't say anything about 20-40k oil changes. (very FEW motors fall under this category) Nothing about abuse.

Let's look;

Mobil High Mileage spew

"Designed for vehicles with more than 75,000 miles"

"Engines with more miles on them sometime need a little extra care."

Sometime? Why not all the time?

Nothing about abuse or 20-40k oil changes...

It has the SAME cleaning as their NORMAL Mobil 5000 oils.. So much for cleaning the "crud" from abuse. You could do that with their normal 5000 oil..

How about Castrol?

Castrol GTX High Mileage spew

Notice the marketing word "MAY".

"Conventional oils MAY not do enough to protect high mileage vehicles."

"It addresses the key problems that MAY impact your high mileage vehicle."

Just like the words that most oil companies use "meets OR exceeds".

The koolaid users skip the word meets and go right to EXCEEDS word but even the regular oil (you know the oil that does not make you feel smarter or Superior that the idiots who use normal oils) say the same.

How about Pennzoil?

Pennzoil High Mileage spew

"Continuously cleans and protects engines with over 75,000 miles"

So their normal oils don't?

So their Syn oils are only for engines with under 75,000 miles? Ultra (which EXCEEDS everything and is the only oil out there to STATE that) is not for engines for over 75,000 miles?

My point is marketing is what drives you guys to use syn oil and High Mileage oils. They make more money on these products and for most engines (and is PROVED day in and out) a normal oil is what WORKS and all is NEEDED.

Interesting that back in the 60s and 70s (even though oils were worst than today's EXCELLENT oils) plenty of high mileage (75,000 and up) engines got down the road to even higher mileage without any High Mileage oils. Or Syn oils.

And today we have no lead fuel and FI instead of carburetors with better oils.

Wonder how that happened?

What is the difference between back then and today?

One word..

MARKETING

(and it obvious that more suckers are buying it more and more)

The OP with the statement of a vehicle with 85,000 miles is high mileage shows that marketing works..

Even though it is not TRUE...

Take care, bill

 

[BeanCounter]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah


But 85k miles is NOT a high mileage vehicle.



I wasn't arguing this at all.
Like mentioned though, to some vehicles I could see this being "high mileage" if they weren't taken care of (or be in a position to be best served from "high mileage" maintenance).
It is somewhat relative, but no, I don't think of 85k as particularly high mileage for an automobile.

 

[sl1driver]

Forgive me for fueling the flames (which is not my intent), but it seems to me that an engine that has been abused is just that. An engine that has been abused. "High Mileage" has absolutely nothing to do with it. An abused vehicle can be low mileage, or higher mileage, but it is stil an abused vehicle. High Mileage oils may be beneficial in some of these circumstances, but not because the engine is "High Mileage."

 

[tig1]

Here is XMs link to their High Mileage oil. I believe there is a market for this oil and most oil companies believe that as well.

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_High_Mileage_5w30.aspx

 

[daman]

i agree some times the marketing is absurd but i think there's a place in this world for High Mileage oil's that can help in certain circumstances, i like them because of there "Boosted" add pack vs SM but thats me.