Is "synthetic blend" a legal term to use a cheaper oil?

Do you have the original promise/agreement in writing ? Not just paraphrasing what they told you, i.e. he said, she said.

I will see if I can find it. It was just always $20 oil changes for the life of the car. I never thought about it until I looked at the price of synthetic oils, the price I was paying, and the way they call it a blend and came to the conclusion there was no way I was gettting a standard synethitc oil sinice they didn't even call it that.
 
Aren't the terms conventional and full synthetic defined in some standard somewhere? They can't put in conventional as that would clearly violate the manual. They don't want to use the recommended full synethitic as that would be a substantial loss at the promised $20 so they use a mix that is something less than a full synesthetic but not all the way down to a pure conventional. I am trying to figure out if I am getting a lower than recommended type of oil when asking for the $20 guarantee.

No as far as I know, base stock can be 1% syn and called a syn blend a full syn to me would be >80 syn base stock
 
Yes it's cheaper but should be good enough to meet the manufacturer requirements and preserve the warranty. You can probably pay the difference for full synthetic if you want to but mostly it's about getting vehicles in so they can recommend further, high profit service... keep the bays full at all times. It's not a bad deal for the vehicle owner if they learn to say "no" or "I'll have to wait on that", unless they take so long to do the oil change that you can't be stuck there sitting around for hours or have to get other transportation to drop the vehicle off.
 
Aren't the terms conventional and full synthetic defined in some standard somewhere? They can't put in conventional as that would clearly violate the manual. They don't want to use the recommended full synethitic as that would be a substantial loss at the promised $20 so they use a mix that is something less than a full synesthetic but not all the way down to a pure conventional. I am trying to figure out if I am getting a lower than recommended type of oil when asking for the $20 guarantee.

As a Professional Engineer, no such definition or standard exists anywhere on this planet.

As others have said, if your selected oil meets the specifications ( usually a viscosity and maybe an agency rating like API, SAE etc. and possibly a unique quality) then its approved for your vehicle.

Don't get in the trap of arguing "advertising terms" because its an endless waste of time and energy.
 
I can't think of a single scenario where blend would be better than full synthetic.

With that said, from a performance standpoint, there is more to an oil than just its base composition.
I believe Magnatec syn blend gave better results than their full syn. I remember when it was giving stellar results in Ecoboost engines. I don't think it's produced any longer, too bad.
 
Words should have meaning... But unfortunately at times and in certain circumstances in today's time words do not have a lot of meaning.

Like stupid paper towels packages that say 6=8... Numbers I know... But it still off to a good degree...

No... What that really means is that they have made paper towel rolls smaller...

Then when they make them a bit bigger per roll.... Then they can say something stupid like now.... 6=8.
 
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What I mean is, if the car calls for synetitch are they using what they call a blended oil to cut costs while maintaining the legal definition of what the car should take while if I paid normal price they would use a full synthetic? Are they using the lowest grade allowed in the car to cut the loss on the $20 changes promised 10 years ago? Next time I will just ask for the oil change and then at the end mention I have the $20 for the life of the car deal and see what I get.

What does the vehicle say it requires in the owner's manual? If it has different oil change intervals for conventional and synthetic are you following the conventional interval with your Blend?

What does your paperwork say they were required to provide for their $20 for life oil changes?

In the USA no legal definition of Conventional, Synthetic Blend and Full Synthetic exist.

They are marketing terms. When most people here refer to a Conventional they mean an oil made with all Group I/Group II Base. When they say Blend they mean with a significant portion of Group III or above. When they say Synthetic they mean all Group III or above bases. I am of course excluding the additive carrier from my definition of basis.

A Blend can cover a lot of ground.
80% GI / 20% GIII
75% GII+ / 25% GIV (PAO)
50%GII+ / 50% GIII+ (GTL)

The first Blend would likely barely make the grade as an API 20W-50 and the #2 Oil would rival many standard grade synthetics while #3 could qualify for GM Dexos 1 Gen 2.
 
FWIW, Smitty's syn blend at Kmart is 10% PAO group IV, the rest group II
Of course, that can change, but that's what it was the last time I got oil at Kmart, and this was also before SP
 
Yeah they have changed the Smitty's Super S to a group III at 10%... No more group IV. .

Though Cam2 full synthetic and Smitty's Super S full synthetic Dexos gen 2 actually has 25-40 percent group IV in it...
 
Valvoline durablend circa 2003.. that was a blend. Now we have blends of grp11 and grp111 and they don’t have the odor. Where is that strong odor from and oil that has great solvency?
 
Yeah they have changed the Smitty's Super S to a group III at 10%... No more group IV. .

Though Cam2 full synthetic and Smitty's Super S full synthetic Dexos gen 2 actually has 25-40 percent group IV in it...

So smittys super s synblend is 10% grp III and 90% grp II? How does one obtain this information?
 
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