Is WalMart/discount chain oil the same?

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camperbob

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Years ago I bought a washer at Lowes and while the same model number as the local mom and pop, it followed with an A. I needed a replacement part and went to the mom and pop only to learn the similar model sold by Lowes...ending in A, had some internal differences in part quality...plastic vs Aluminum.

Weed and Feed... The version in WalMart comtains 34% active ingredient, while the same bottle at Agway contains over 70%.

This gave me a thought. It is firm fact WalMart controls it's suppliers, not visa versa. So with this said, has anyone conducted a VOA on say PYB (or any other) purchased from Wal-Mart vs PYB purchased from a distributor?

Curious as to if they adjust the formula slightly to sell at a lower price point.
 
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This would affect the products meeting the performance specs they are certified against, so no, they cannot be "specially" produced for Walmart.
 
On generic products Im sure it could be done that way (amongst others, read the last paragraph). The least amount of additive and basestock to make the lube fully compliant is what's used.

The one that concerns me is the WM house ATF. Since there is no such thing as Dex III any more, I wont buy their D/M ATF since it may have pennies squeezed out.

So my concern would be more for products that meet a generic API SN or similar. For the ones that hold true manufacturers certs, I doubt that there would be an allowable additization change.

For the supertech motor oil, what I observed is that they achieved cost savings from commonality. It doesnt meet special specs, and every single oil from 5w-20 to 20w-50 has the same exact add pack with 800ppm of zddp and whatever else.
 
It's probably the same, although a neighbor gave me a jug of Castrol GTX 10w30 unopened that they had no use for, and on the bottom of the label it showed the AutoZone logo on it, so it was made specifically for AutoZone
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's probably the same, although a neighbor gave me a jug of Castrol GTX 10w30 unopened that they had no use for, and on the bottom of the label it showed the AutoZone logo on it, so it was made specifically for AutoZone


Often times the packaging is customized to a particular customer. Walmart used to be the only place with 5L jugs up here for example. I doubt that means any difference in terms of what is inside the bottle however.
 
Gun shops have begun rumors that firearms sold at Walmart are lesser quality or have lesser quality wood. Don't know if there ever was any evidence, likely just a way to create panic and give incentive to buy from them instead.

I don't think any oil analysis results have ever implied Walmart oil is of lesser quality.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's probably the same, although a neighbor gave me a jug of Castrol GTX 10w30 unopened that they had no use for, and on the bottom of the label it showed the AutoZone logo on it, so it was made specifically for AutoZone


The label was specifically made for Auto Zone, not necessarily the contents of the bottle.
 
Originally Posted By: ledslinger
Gun shops have begun rumors that firearms sold at Walmart are lesser quality or have lesser quality wood. Don't know if there ever was any evidence, likely just a way to create panic and give incentive to buy from them instead.

I don't think any oil analysis results have ever implied Walmart oil is of lesser quality.


It doesn't take a lot to panic the gun folks.
 
The appliance story is a good one.

I had my plumber tell me the same thing about the faucets in my new house.

Plumber = metal

Lowes = plastic

The plumber was clearly blowing smoke because upon inspection, the fixtures were exactly the same.

The same plumber also told me with a straight face that labor to install a $200 faucet was more than that required for a $30 faucet.

It's a lot like the old Pennzoil stories about wax gumming up your engine. In my home town, a lot of this was put out by local repair shops that used the mechanics choice - Valvoline.

Anything to keep the customers coming back.
 
Washer model xxxx at Mon%Pop is not the same as model xxxxA at Lowes. Model xxxx is more expensive than xxxxA therefore has better more expensive parts.

Mobil 1 0W40 at Walmart is the same as Mobil 1 0W40 anywhere, including at Mercedes Benz, BMW ... dealers. Exxon/Mobil is very big company, they has largest share of the synthetic oil market, they can't afford to tarnish their reputation to produce lesser quality products for Walmart.

Walmart is known for demanding their suppliers to lower the price of most product they sell, but they can't bullies Exxon/Mobil to make special oils for them.
 
Originally Posted By: ledslinger
Gun shops have begun rumors that firearms sold at Walmart are lesser quality or have lesser quality wood. Don't know if there ever was any evidence, likely just a way to create panic and give incentive to buy from them instead.

I don't think any oil analysis results have ever implied Walmart oil is of lesser quality.
+1 They used to say the same things about radio tubes. Raytheon made tubes for a dozen labels in one big factory in Massachusetts, and all were the same, even the "JAN" military tubes. Only the label changed.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Washer model xxxx at Mon%Pop is not the same as model xxxxA at Lowes. Model xxxx is more expensive than xxxxA therefore has better more expensive parts.

Mobil 1 0W40 at Walmart is the same as Mobil 1 0W40 anywhere, including at Mercedes Benz, BMW ... dealers. Exxon/Mobil is very big company, they has largest share of the synthetic oil market, they can't afford to tarnish their reputation to produce lesser quality products for Walmart.

Walmart is known for demanding their suppliers to lower the price of most product they sell, but they can't bullies Exxon/Mobil to make special oils for them.
Walmart can get a better price, though, by buying what Exxon/Mobil has to
offer by the train load, instead of a few cases a week. I'm sure they don't have a lot of trouble getting suppliers to make custon products for Supertech and the like if they offer to buy enough.
 
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Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Oil is identical from Walmart compared to AutoZone, PepBoys, AAP, etc...

It's what we call a fungible good.
 
Wasn't there a post recently suggesting that "all Supertech was 'rerefined'"? That post got the short shrift it deserved as well. I am not a Walmart fanboy but what I see in their pricing is consistent with the purchasing power of a huge retailer. It amazes me that people can escape the "educational system" in this country without a CLUE as to how basic economics works. I suppose that's why so many of them thought that the "new healthcare' was going to be next to free.
 
Since they probably devote the bottling plant/ tankers/ pipelines/ shift to one huge WM batch I could see normal additive level deviation, +/- 20% or so, reflected in the WM batch labeled "return your old oil to WM".

Could you trace it? Possibly, though it'd get lost in the static.

If there were something "that sunk" and it was added to each bottle individually they'd have to adjust the "squirter" for 5 vs 5.1 qts, but all modern additives dissolve... or we wouldn't have bulk oil.
 
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