Meet a Shell Distributor at Wallymart

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I was at Wallymart today and I always go down the oil section and Oil filter section and talk to people. Well today I meet a guy who really knew so much about oil. However I knew more about OIL FILTERS...
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I told him about bobistheoilguy web site.

We were talking about how the new Pure Plus technology Syn oil is so much better then other oils. He also knew much about other oils. I asked him about VALVOLINE and he said that they are a small company compared companies like EXXON who make MOBIL 1 and CHEVERON who make HAVOLINE and Shell Who make Pennzoil and Quaker State and went on and on. I asked him about Castol oil and about OEM oils like Motocraft oil b.c you know they sell that at Wallymart and he knew who the makers were.

However what I was shocked about was his opinion of Valvoline. He said they are to small of a company and really cant do the same testing as the BIG OIL Companies. I asked about Valvoline Maxx life ATF and he said thats a good point as they are a small company and cant do the testing as and he pointed to Castol ATF. He also knew about AFT products and I talked to him about HONDA and DW-1 and how the Castol actually says DW-1... and he felt it was totally fine to use it. I cant wait for him to come here b.c he has a great knowlege when it comes to all lubricant and even snake oils.

I wont says his full name but his first name was NICK and he knew so much about all lubricants I was in awe..

Also I asked him how come we cant get Shell Helix oils here and he said that is Europe.

However I did educate him on Motocraft oil filters and how for the $ they cant really be beat and showed him how they come with Silicone ADBV. However he didnt have a FORD and they didnt stock the motorcraft oil filter for his car... He had a FRAM Extra Gaurd filter in his hand and I told him about the fiber end caps and how some people do not like them and told him how some call them them OCOD

I told him to go to you tube and he can find just about all the oil filter cut open.... and I told him even on this site they show many oil filters cut open new and used.

Also he sorta knew about the fiber end disc talk, but was surprised that it was a big issue online and on many car forums. He went on to say that Pennzoil Oil filters have metal end caps or I think he was talking about there best Pennzoil oil filter. Also he went on to talk about some instant oil change places how some use the cheapest oil filters $ can buy also we started talking about Valvoline again and Nexgen came up and he said in the oil marketing it has been a total failure and the oil is not that good and in order to get them to even meet some specs they have to load them with additives. Then we started to laugh how Valvoline was able to come out with a Synthetic Nexgen Oil. His eyes rolled with that. Mine did to b/c he knew so much and explained how the big oil companies and how much testing they do on oils and other lubricants plus ATF.

I have a feeling he is going to be here very soon b.c he took his Smartphone and bookmarked the site, I even went on to tell him on the new Pennzoil is sponcers on this the site or at least there is banners for the new oil.

Also he went into depth about how great this new oil is. I went to say how come just a few months ago they had Regular SYN PLAT and SYN ULTRA and SYN EURO ULTRA and NOW they have this new Pure Plus and how is confusing. I asked him how come you can find pure plus Platinum but so far I was unable to find Pure Plus Platinum Ultra. I guess he is working on that since he is marketing... However in marketing you have to know about your product.

We talked for a long time and I think he said the Pure Plus is such a good base stock Pennzoil had to be first to the market it.

he gave me his card with his phone number and his email address and address where he works
I wont put the address b/c he might work out of his home.

However it was a great conversation and I was mesmerized about how much he knew about oil and I think he was about how much I knew about Oil Filters or about how much I think about oil filters. I think I know more then the average person.

I went on to show him a E-Core DELCO Filter and there was a NON E-Core Delco Filter and he was totally surprised on the difference.

Also about the bypass in the motorcraft filter how it seemed better to have the bypass at the top of the filter then the bottom, as some people feel the bottom style bypass can take dirt from the filter and sorta clean the filter and put the dirt back in engine. However he felt that had to be filters that were made with not as good filter elements and a good filter keeps the dirt in the filter. We also talked about the FRAM ULTRA and I said how much I like that filter and how popular it is here.

He did end up getting a FRAM Ultra or a Purolator Classic.. I do not remember, However he does follow OCI. If / when he does come to this forum he knowledge will be a good asset.
 
Originally Posted By: David1
we started talking about Valvoline again and Nexgen came up and he said in the oil marketing it has been a total failure and the oil is not that good and in order to get them to even meet some specs they have to load them with additives



I can't speak on the second part, but he is right it has been a marketing failure. We can't give the stuff away. Nobody buys it.
 
The comment about MaxLife ATF hit home for me, and I imagine it would for those guys that believe their transmissions were possibly damaged by it.

He is probably correct about the testing aspects between the companies as well. I doubt that Ashland has the ability to commit to the extensive testing that BP (Castrol) and Shell have.

I don't think there is any auto manufacturer in Europe that uses their products as OEM, but there are many that use Castrol and Shell especially the transmission products ATF or
MTF.
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
The comment about MaxLife ATF hit home for me, and I imagine it would for those guys that believe their transmissions were possibly damaged by it.

He is probably correct about the testing aspects between the companies as well. I doubt that Ashland has the ability to commit to the extensive testing that BP (Castrol) and Shell have.

I don't think there is any auto manufacturer in Europe that uses their products as OEM, but there are many that use Castrol and Shell especially the transmission products ATF or
MTF.



Yupp I said that , b/c I was like MAXX Life products especially the ATF Maxx LIFE and he started to run down the list of transmissions and said do you think ashland really has the means $ or wants to even spend the $ to do proper testing?

He went on to say I market for Shell and Pennzoil and Quaker State and the $ they spend on testing is unbelveable, and he went on to say that he has to read and study on this b/c he is into marketing bascially a sales rep. It made me feel better about Castrol b/c he said they spend $ on research and I pointed out how it has both ATF Z1 and DW-1 for Honda and explained to him I had a Honda. He then said I would use the Castrol if I had to pick from them both.

Also the Engine Oil, he said its not going to hurt anything, but its nothing special. Its just good marketing. He said Vavlvoline spends a considerable amount of $ on marketing and they did a good job with Maxx Life marketing.

Also I started to talk to him about how much syn oil does the blends have and he was so quick to grab the Pennzoil Syn Blend and point out the 50/50 syn and then he siad its more like 30% syn or 40% syn. I asked him about Pennzoil Gold and I was told the Pennzoil Syn Blend replaced it.. He also went on it say do you see any other syn blend that has the Dexos1 logo on the bottle and I started to look and it was the only 1. I was on Valvoline maxx Life and even Valvoline Maxx Life FULL SYN in regular print it said it meets or exceeds Dexos1 and then again he said they do not do the proper testing to get the proper approval to get the logo and I was told think about it. If it was really Dexos1 dont you think Valvoline and the other brands that just state it on the bottle would make all attemps to have the logo? Its a nice green logo and he went on to to tell me that even Qaker State Syn Blend is a TRUE DEXOS1, but that is the logo he was talking about. Again he was not saying Valvoline Engine Oil would hurt anything, he just said its nothing special. Just very good marketing. However the marketing for the Nexgen was just a total failure and we went on to say, perhaps if it was half price perhaps people would buy it. However to pay full price for recycled oil just wont cut it with even people who are not into Engine oils as much as you are. It was a very fun convo. Id say we talk about a hour. Also he asked me about Fram Air Filters and I said they have a good reputation are bob the oil guy and we talked about the FRAM Proving Grounds.


He didnt says this but just think, if there was a Nexgen Maxx Life Full Syn Multi ATF, would you buy it and pour it into your transmission?????? Imagine if Nexgen had been a successful marketing you would had seen Nextgen Power steering, Nextgen Coolant, Nextgen Brake Fluid. Perhaps Nextgen Gas Treatment. They have a MAXX LIFE Gas treatment.

QS5w30-Synthetic-Blend_Dexos-Approved.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Thanks for sharing sounds like a good time.


We both had a good time.
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
He is probably correct about the testing aspects between the companies as well. I doubt that Ashland has the ability to commit to the extensive testing that BP (Castrol) and Shell have.

Agreed, as you indicate, Castrol has a lot of OEM type drivetrain fluids, including actual approved ones.
 
Good conversation sounds like, but isn't what he said pretty much sound like what any marketing guy from a big company would say?

I work for a big company with resources; it is no guarantee of a better product. Sometimes bigness is the greatest impediment to one.
 
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Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
The comment about MaxLife ATF hit home for me, and I imagine it would for those guys that believe their transmissions were possibly damaged by it.

He is probably correct about the testing aspects between the companies as well. I doubt that Ashland has the ability to commit to the extensive testing that BP (Castrol) and Shell have.

I don't think there is any auto manufacturer in Europe that uses their products as OEM, but there are many that use Castrol and Shell especially the transmission products ATF or
MTF.


Size is relative.
Ashland is small as compared to XOM, RDS or BP but it's an 8.4 billion dollar company, 307th on the Fortune 500 list, with 15,000 employees, so it isn't as though the company is too small to develop quality products.
There are many of us who have had very good experience with Valvoline oils and ATFs.
I'm aware of one poster who claims that his automatic transmission failed due to his use of Maxlife ATF.
I don't think that he ever got around to telling what the failure mode actually was, though, so we really have no basis for evaluating his claim.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: David1
we started talking about Valvoline again and Nexgen came up and he said in the oil marketing it has been a total failure and the oil is not that good and in order to get them to even meet some specs they have to load them with additives



I can't speak on the second part, but he is right it has been a marketing failure. We can't give the stuff away. Nobody buys it.


Nextgen was unquestionably a marketing failure.
There are strict limits for API spec metalic add levels, though, so I'm not sure that Ashland was able to load the oils with additives and still meet API SN.
I do know that Maxlife Nextgen 10W-40 worked very well in my old BMW and I have the UOA to prove it.
We'll see how Defy compares over time.
 
Thanks for repping us. Could you imagine if GearTool-ology brought up this website?
 
LOL @ his comments that Valvoline is small. Sure, they are not as big as XOM and SOPUS, but as others have mentioned, $8.4B is not a tiny company by any means.

In the end, if the oils get the same approvals and meet the same specs, who cares how big the blender is. Half the stuff comes from Lubrizol anyway.
 
Thank you for sharing, it's always nice to talk with someone who shares your interests. But, after thinking about this for a moment, it's not much different than talking with a G.M. guy about how they must be the best because they are the biggest company, can anyone think of a better car builder than G.M.? Pretty easy to come up with quite a few. Not a knock against G.M., just an example of my thinking on this. One could argue Amsoil and Redline make the finest oils known to man, these company's are not so big.
It's hard for me to get on board with this line of thinking.
With that being said, in my opinion Shell makes fantastic products.
 
Re the Valvoline size claim, market cap of the overall company is irrelevant. It is the size of the lubricant division that is comparable.

In that regard, Valvoline is a big enough player. If they have manufacturer approval then the testing has been done and unless you have the test results, you can't claim that Mobil or Pennzoil or whoever has a better product than Valvoline for that application.

Valvoline do have ATFs that claim to meet spec rather than come with approvals, but you have to look closely at all ATFs to see which are approved vs claimed. I have some Pennzoil multi ATF that claims to meet the same specs that Maxlife ATF does. Valvoline Mercon V was once approved but no longer is. Maybe it's the same product in the bottle now or maybe its not.

Valvoline Zerex products seem the most compete to me if any brand when it comes to coolant. What does that say about the other players?

And don't Shell own Jiffy Lube and Slick 50?
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Good conversation sounds like, but isn't what he said pretty much sound like what any marketing guy from a big company would say?


Originally Posted By: dave123
You talked to salesman that's it no more no less.

This was my first thought. If a car sales person made similar claims, I doubt he would have been believed.
 
So which is it?
Large global corporations are bad because they promote and benefit from what you like to refer to as the New World Order, or they're good because they have the resources to create superior products?
Can't have it both ways, although you seem to contradict yourself from one thread to the next.
I'd think that you'd be inclined to support an oil blender actually based in this country, but then a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of simple minds, or maybe just rational ones.
 
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