Just spoke to a Havoline tech

[mossad]

I was asking him why they don't provide a wide range of weights and types (HM and blended) oil. The tech said that they do not beleive in the benefits of synthetic blend motor oil which Catrol and Valvoline attest too, and that it is all marketing. He said that you would need much more synthetic in the oil for it to do the things that the other brands claim. I now understand why many of you like to blend your own oil.
I was sort of suprised that the Havoline tech was so honest about it. I figured he would try to sell me the stuff, instead he shot their own product down.

 

[buster]

I agree with him.

 

[tripleM]

Just like the midlevel gas isn't worth the money spent on it.

 

[Mystic]

I agree with him. According to what I have been able to find out some of these semi-synthetic oils have only about 10% synthetic oil in them. In comparison, you could add a quart of synthetic oil to conventional oil and have 20% to 25% synthetic depending on whether your car or truck uses 4 or 5 quarts of oil.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Or you could just purchase a "synthetic-blend" in the Conoco-Phillips family that is comparably priced to other conventional motor oils...

 

[mossad]

He also that he and many other emoployees wish they advertised more since the take a lot of pride in their products, and they are also stock holders

 

[vronline]

I'm a little confused with the first line of your post? Havoline does have HM and syn-blend oils... you just can't hardly find them!

Advance Auto used to carry them, but discontinued them in their inventory due to a small following.

 

[Auto-Union]

By some definitions, a "synthetic" blend would need a portion of PAO in it to qualify. I see often people refer to an oil like MC as Synthetic Blend, like the label says, but I don't think it is anything more than a G-II,II+,III oil with declarative labeling. Why not call Havoline a synth blend? Look to compare an oil with even a small portion of PAO like Mobil Clean 7500, DuraBlend or even Syntec Blend, you might see a higher level of performance. fwiw, I have used Havoline Semi and it ran pretty nice.

 

[m2200b]

Bottomline for me is I can get at least a group 111 syn not blend on sale for $2 a qt. If I use dino I can get enough below $1 and usually Chevron. I just never see blends in the middle of those two prices since even Tropartic is moving closer to $2 at WM.

 

[MarkC]

Or you could just use Havoline, do a UOA and see that you have an excellent oil for $2 or less.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Yes, Havoline does have a synthetic-blend, have a few quarts in my garage right now. Problem is they are INCREDIBLY hard to find, when you do find them, they are very $$$

Ran the 5w-30 blend last 2 winters with GREAT results, engine purred all winter; but I was spending about $5/qt and having to drive 40 miles just to get it.

Switched to Valvoline Maxlife 3qts 5w-30 & 2.5 qts 10w-30 for the winter at only $3/qt and 10 miles to get it.

They also have 5w/10w-30 & 10w-40 HM oils as well.

I use to be a die-hard Havoline oil user for years in a lot of vehicles, and still really like their oils. Then I got curious, after being here, and I now have Valvoline Maxlife (the only Valvoline product I like)in one vehicle, Delo 400 in the diesel, and GC going into the new Tacoma.

But I still have several cases of regular 10w-30 Havoline oil sitting around my house. My G-pa passed away recently, and he must've had around 15 cases or so of Havoline, some back to SG/SH and SJ.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Quote:

---

Bottomline for me is I can get at least a group 111 syn not blend on sale for $2 a qt. If I use dino I can get enough below $1 and usually Chevron. I just never see blends in the middle of those two prices since even Tropartic is moving closer to $2 at WM.

---

Shoot man, I can't find ANY kind of oil for less then $1.98/qt here, irregardless of what it is or who makes it.

Probably has something to do with where I live, I'm sure. But these .9?/qt deals, I never find them, surely not Chevron oils. Chevron appears to be gold, round these parts, and can typically only be found at Checker or Sam's Club - i.e. $3/qt on average.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Bottomline for me is I can get at least a group 111 syn not blend on sale for $2 a qt. If I use dino I can get enough below $1 and usually Chevron. I just never see blends in the middle of those two prices since even Tropartic is moving closer to $2 at WM.

---

Shoot man, I can't find ANY kind of oil for less then $1.98/qt here, irregardless of what it is or who makes it.

Probably has something to do with where I live, I'm sure. But these .9?/qt deals, I never find them, surely not Chevron oils. Chevron appears to be gold, round these parts, and can typically only be found at Checker or Sam's Club - i.e. $3/qt on average.

---

I also have this problem here!

People talk about Home Depot having closeouts! I've never seen HD carry any automotive oils here, ever, just the stuff especially marketed for lawnmowers. I've even asked and gotten a slightly snippy-retort. And that goes for their competitors too, such as Lowes.

Even the local Big Lots sells either Kendall for $1.90 (when I can get it at a local hardware chain for $.99 a quart on sale (but only after a rebate).

 

[Nickdfresh]

Oh, Big Lots also sells Mobil "Drive Clean" SAE30 for $1.70 a quart.

 

[michaelc80]

Quote:

---

I was asking him why they don't provide a wide range of weights and types (HM and blended) oil. The tech said that they do not beleive in the benefits of synthetic blend motor oil which Catrol and Valvoline attest too, and that it is all marketing. He said that you would need much more synthetic in the oil for it to do the things that the other brands claim. I now understand why many of you like to blend your own oil.
I was sort of suprised that the Havoline tech was so honest about it. I figured he would try to sell me the stuff, instead he shot their own product down.

---

Gee, and on the home page of their website is a big old picture of their High Mileage Oil.

Amazing, they "don't believe" in it, but there it is!

Havoline website

And on their product page is (GASP!) synthetic blend!!! Another product they don't believe in.

Havoline products

 

[Volvohead]

One blend that does make the grade is Schaeffers. A great oil. Once past 20% synthetic, the base changes are significant.

But that tech is right, most of the rest are overpriced for what little they eyedropper into them. Dumping an ounce or two of group III into a quart is not my idea of a great deal. A robustly additized conventional will likely do just as well for most, for less money.

 

[Valvofan]

I asked valvoline about how much synthetic was really in the blend, they said they couldn't tell, but around 10%, i said that really didn't sound like much, he told me that the blend isn't just 10% synthetic mixed in to a dino, but that it had some other properties that helped it preform better than just a home made blend.