Lack of Castrol GTX Popularity

[The Critic]

Why isn't Castrol GTX more popular on this forum? Outside of this forum, I find Castrol GTX to be one of, if not the most respected brand of conventional oil. In fact, I find that many customers go out of their way to request Castrol GTX. So, why doesn't this forum share the same feelings?

 

[BigPapi]

I don't think it's any lack of respect from the forum - GTX has been around for so many years, I think it just gets lost in the shuffle when new products hit the shelves.

The UOA's posted for GTX are typically very good.

 

[eljefino]

Their TV ads in the 1980s were awesome. And all over the place. Now you might see them on NASCAR or Spike TV's powerblock but they used to just have prime time ads back when more people DIYd.

They had one ad talking about "viscosity breakdown" where a motor got hotter and hotter and siezed with a clanging "kerchunk" sound. What a great Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt piece!

Pre-BITOG, I got some GTX for my (sniff) first saturn as I considered it a "premium" oil that was "engineered for today's smaller cars" (their words).

 

[gaspo]

No sponsors, no former employees, castrol sludge advertisement haters, more expensive than any other dino oils.
Bitog very biased place.. mostly driven by few individuals with thousands posts under their belt

 

[jstutz]

For me it is simply the price. Around here it is almost always the most expensive dino and it dont offer anything more than the other brands. If it were one of the cheaper ones i would easily consider it.

 

[JustinH]

I agree, I used to buy it several years ago for right around $10 for 5 quarts from walmart. Now it has crept up to right around 15 dollars, not worth it to me when there are decent offerings from SOPUS for 10 dollars still.

 

[HTSS_TR]

GTX is a good oil, no question about it. The problem is its price is higher than other good dino and rarely on sale or rebate for less than $1/qt, while you can get $0.49/qt for other dino oils once in a while. Or you can get less than $2/qt for syn oils such as Synpower after rebate few months ago.

As good as GTX is, it's not better than Synpower for extended OCI to 8-12k miles, why pay $2-3/qt for GTX while it cost you less than $2/qt for Synpower ?

 

[CATERHAM]

Agreed it's overpriced. It's knocking on the door of some synthetics so why bother with it.

 

[simple_gifts]

I can't really find a compelling reason to use it. Pretty expensive @ the store I shop, $3.59/qt. Appears never to be on sale.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
GTX is a good oil, no question about it. The problem is its price is higher than other good dino and rarely on sale or rebate for less than $1/qt, while you can get $0.49/qt for other dino oils once in a while. Or you can get less than $2/qt for syn oils such as Synpower after rebate few months ago.

As good as GTX is, it's not better than Synpower for extended OCI to 8-12k miles, why pay $2-3/qt for GTX while it cost you less than $2/qt for Synpower ?

I doubt either of those oils are good for extended service intervals in applications where long drains are not called for. Even if they are, I doubt either of those oils are capable of it.

 

[fdcg27]

Everyone else has nailed it.
GTX is simply too expensive for what it is.
There are many who equate cost with quality.
They may be GTX users.
Most hereon know that there is nothing special about GTX to support its premium retail price.

 

[sangyup81]

The only Castrol GTX that is anywhere near deserving of the reputation it gets from old timers as well as the high price is the 20w50.

Newer players like Pennzoil, Mobil Clean and Motorcraft have caught up

 

[Gilstein]

my dad always used GTX when I was young. He said he was told that it was good oil for Mazdas and that's all we had growing up. I use synthetic in my car, and high mileage in my wife's car, so GTX is out for me. I would buy and use it again if I wanted a straight dino.

 

[SLCraig]

I like it, and sometimes do use it.
The only reason is the price. It almost never goes on sale, and dollar for dollar its one of the most expensive conventional oils one can use at least around here.

 

[beast3300]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Everyone else has nailed it.
GTX is simply too expensive for what it is.
There are many who equate cost with quality.
They may be GTX users.
Most hereon know that there is nothing special about GTX to support its premium retail price.


My thoughts exactly. I wish I could add to the conversation at hand. I just wanted to basically add a "+1" to this thread.

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Why isn't Castrol GTX more popular on this forum? Outside of this forum, I find Castrol GTX to be one of, if not the most respected brand of conventional oil. In fact, I find that many customers go out of their way to request Castrol GTX. So, why doesn't this forum share the same feelings?


I don't think Castrol is very popular on this board period, beside GC.

From what I can tell, Castrol GTX is the biggest seller at my local Wal-Mart.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: BigPapi
I don't think it's any lack of respect from the forum - GTX has been around for so many years, I think it just gets lost in the shuffle when new products hit the shelves.

The UOA's posted for GTX are typically very good.
+1

As a Canuck who normally gets bent over for oil prices, I can find much better performing oils for the price as I'm sure my neighbours to the south can as well.

I think Castrol/BP's marketing of their oil and price point is misguided and they need to realize that IMO.

But as for their current line-up it's good oil with respectable results, just overpriced IMO. On-sale for 20% off would be a deal!

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: sangyup81
The only Castrol GTX that is anywhere near deserving of the reputation it gets from old timers as well as the high price is the 20w50.

Newer players like Pennzoil, Mobil Clean and Motorcraft have caught up


I've seen Syntec 5W-50 on sale for less than the antiquated 20W-50 dino.

 

[Spyder7]

My experience has been the opposite here: GTX always the regular rollback special, and the most you have to wait is 2 weeks before its marked down to its usual $11 (versus $18 for other dinos, excluding Supertech). So in the past it was always my preferred oil simply because its good enough for dino and it can always be had cheaply here.

Now that Pennzoil has expanded their product line, Walmart is promoting that as well. Last week it was PP for $19. Today when I popped in the same display had been replaced with PYB for $11.

Last week they also had tons of PP on display. Today there was almost none in the store, and what was there was marked back up to $36 (same price as Synpower right next to it). Ultra was nowhere to be found.

In 2 weeks or a month it'll be Ultra rolled backed and they'll be blocked with it. That's my prediction anyway, after making it a point to cruise the auto section every visit, starting at the back with the engine oil displays.

-Spyder

 

[buster]

I don't like Castrol products.