Prices on the rise at Walmart

[Spyder7]

I picked up the 4.4L Syntec special, that StevieC found, today at Walmart ($26.88 w/ cap). I've never seen Mobil marked down at the WMs here. Traditionally its always been Castrol (GTX for $10.88 most weeks), and Valvoline Premium ($11 for 5L). Since the new Pennzoil product line has made its way up here, I've found PP (once) rolled back to $19 and since then its been Pennzoil conventional ($11.88).

Edge is always $45 here for whatever bottle it comes in (4.4L I think). The VOA that's posted here on Edge isn't that impressive, particularly when it costs $10 more than the current price of PP, Synpower, and Quaker State Synthetic.

If Walmart has carried any PU here, its gone, because I can't find it. Although with the current pricing of the other oils, it'd likely be priced up there with Edge - so its just as well they don't stock it as far I'm concerned. $25 for 4 liters is my personal price ceiling for syn. $12 for dino (Pennzoil conventional, GTX, and Valvoline are all good and either can always be had here for that price, depending on which is the rollback of the day).

-Spyder

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Spyder7
I've never seen Mobil marked down at the WMs here. Traditionally its always been Castrol (GTX for $10.88 most weeks), and Valvoline Premium ($11 for 5L). Since the new Pennzoil product line has made its way up here, I've found PP (once) rolled back to $19 and since then its been Pennzoil conventional ($11.88).


Well, I'm furious. When our dollar was $0.67 to $0.80 US, I could see Syntec being $9 or $10 a litre. Now, at nearly par, forget it. At the local Walmart, only the Syntec 5L jugs and all the Mobil 1 was rolled back. I've never seen Mobil 1 rolled back either, until yesterday. I had thought Syntec was permanently down, since it was reflected on their website and not part of a flyer special.

There is absolutely no reason for me to spend $9 a litre on Syntec (or any other synthetic on the shelf for that matter) when I can get RP for less than that. Someone really needs to give his head a shake.

I know this isn't going to be popular, but BP and SOPUS should respectively stick Edge and PU somewhere (they can PM me if they want an exact location) until they can figure out how to market them appropriately.

Anyone who buys Edge at Walmart for $14 a litre (which is what PU will probably be when and if it shows up) should be automatically be given a coupon for a free psychiatric evaluation, or be given the P.T. Barnum "Sucker of the Day" prize.

I suppose if I want a reliable, steadily priced supply of oil, I'm going to have to stick with my bulk suppliers and my other automotive suppliers.

Everyone here seems to think RP is a good oil, except it's too expensive. It's pretty strange when I can get RP cheaper than everything except Mobil 1.

 

[HTSS_TR]

If the price of Castrol Syntec is $9 a liter and Edge at $14 a liter and if you need xW20 oil, then the excellent 0W20 at Toyota dealer at around $5.xx/liter is a steal.

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Okay, friends, someone at Walmart or at BP has lost their mind or is playing games. I took a trip into Walmart for something unrelated to oil, but had to check the oil section anyway.

As I believe StevieC pointed out, there is a sale on Castrol Syntec in Canadian Walmarts in the 5L with a hat thrown in. Fine. I checked the 1L bottles, since that's all GC comes in. The price, which was recently rolled back from $8.97 to under $7 (all excluding 5w-20), is now rolled back up to $8.87! Were they just waiting for me to try GC and get hooked?

To make matters worse, my old standby, Mobil 1, has rolled back from around $9 down to $6.88, including the 5w-20. SOPUS and other products are unchanged. Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck is also unchanged, unfortunately.

My guess is that we're getting the Canadian version of the PU customer backlash. We have Edge up here, at a ridiculously inflated price, around $12 a litre. Who in their right mind would buy a bottle of Edge at $12 per litre when Syntec was under $7 a litre? BP, like SOPUS with PU, has done absolutely nothing to differentiate the more expensive product.

Simply put, I'm not going to subsidize BP's or Walmart's failure to sell Edge. If I can't get another supplier of GC who offers a sensible price, I'll switch back to Mobil without hesitation. You know things are ridiculous when I can buy Royal Purple cheaper than I can buy Syntec. Maybe I'll go back to Royal Purple.


Edge and Ultra seem to be marketed to the rich person with the very expensive car either collectable or supercar, or anyone for that matter that wants the most expensive thing on the shelf. Most people often don't walk into a Wal Mart that mentality. There is a limit to how much people will pay out of faith. Mass marketing 'synthetics' already paid off big time in changing the psychology of motor oil among the consumer. Unless they come out with 'nuclear space oil produced on a geosynchronous orbiting satellite using gamma rays from the sun', then each company will have a really hard sell pushing multiple formulations of synthetic motor oil at such discrepant price points.

 

[silvert4r]

Garak: I stopped by Cambodian Tire just a couple days ago, Syntec is now $6.99 regular price, all flavours including GC. There's about 4 CT's within 5 minutes from me I'll have to stop by each of them and see if they've adjusted the price yet.

 

[Spyder7]

Originally Posted By: silvert4r
Garak: I stopped by Cambodian Tire just a couple days ago, Syntec is now $6.99 regular price, all flavours including GC. There's about 4 CT's within 5 minutes from me I'll have to stop by each of them and see if they've adjusted the price yet.


I noticed it was marked down there at a CT here to $30 for the 4-5L (whichever it was) bottle it came in, and that it wasn't flagged as a sale. It was still over $3 cheaper at the WM next door, plus the free hat.

Regarding Garak's point about the pricing difference across the border: I agree, we are getting reamed here up north. But its not just on oil. Its on everything we buy. Simple illustration of how bad (and blatant) the gouging is:

When our dollar hit parity, a friend of mine calculated that even after duties, etc, he'd save a lot on DVDs & books by ordering from Amazon.com instead of Amazon.ca. The kicker? The stuff he ordered on the American site was shipped to his door from their Canadian warehouse, so there was no duty. He simply saved the 30-50% Canadian markup as they still billed his credit card the American price.

-Spyder

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
If the price of Castrol Syntec is $9 a liter and Edge at $14 a liter and if you need xW20 oil, then the excellent 0W20 at Toyota dealer at around $5.xx/liter is a steal.


I don't need 0w-20, but I'm sure if I did, I'm sure a Canadian Toyota dealer would gouge me suitably.

Originally Posted By: ItsuMitsubishi
Edge and Ultra seem to be marketed to the rich person with the very expensive car either collectable or supercar, or anyone for that matter that wants the most expensive thing on the shelf. Most people often don't walk into a Wal Mart that mentality.


I don't have a problem with people who want the best and will pay any price to have the best. I do have a problem when "lesser" oils are held at an artificially high price because the "better" stuff simply isn't moving. I use "lesser" and "better" simply because I doubt anyone in BP or SOPUS can tell me why Edge is better than GC or why PU is better than PP. At least they couldn't do so in a convincing matter. ExxonMobil at least can say that this oil is for extended drain, this one for fuel economy, this one for diesels, and so forth.

I don't care if Edge and GC were exactly the same price. I'd stick to GC. If Mobil 1 and Edge were the same price, I'd stick with Mobil 1. One of my parts suppliers is complaining he can't move his Edge stock. The quick change places don't want much of it, and I certainly don't want it, when he gets me Royal Purple at half the price.

Originally Posted By: silvert4r
I stopped by Cambodian Tire just a couple days ago, Syntec is now $6.99 regular price, all flavours including GC. There's about 4 CT's within 5 minutes from me I'll have to stop by each of them and see if they've adjusted the price yet.
Thank you for that. I just checked the price at my local Canadian Tire, and it is $6.99 per litre. When Canadian Tire beats a Walmart price, we know that someone has dropped the ball royally.

Note to BP: Edge is double the price of Royal Purple here, a niche, boutique oil criticized almost solely for its price. Has hydrocracking gotten more expensive than Group IV or V base stocks?

 

[Spyder7]

I wish I could get RP here for half the price of Edge. Or Redline. Both are insanely expensive here. But then so is Edge. So I'll stick with Syntec, and buy more PP if it ever goes on sale again. And in the summer I'll use dino: Castrol GTX, Pennzoil conventional, or Valvoline. The WM here is really pushing Castrol hard (except Edge): Syntec is $26.88 for 4.4L with the free cap. Their inhouse Supertech brand is $28.88 for 4L. Choice here is easy (because there isn't much choice).

-Spyder

 

[Sayjac]

It's deja vu all over again. The last time Wally had a national TV advertising campaign for DIY oil change, oil prices rose shortly after it ended. Same now. They did come back down again eventually though.

One thing, Castrol GTX and Valvoline Prem. consistently the highest priced dinos at Wally, therefore I don't purchase.

Wally still has the lowest everyday price, just currently not as low. But with recent SOPUS rebates/Wally coupons, I have all the all the oil I need for some time.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Spyder7
I wish I could get RP here for half the price of Edge. Or Redline. Both are insanely expensive here. But then so is Edge. So I'll stick with Syntec, and buy more PP if it ever goes on sale again.


The PP price isn't bad, but it isn't available there in any viscosities that I want. The price on Edge is disgusting. They'll be sitting on that stuff for ages if they don't do something. They might as well forget about PU if it's going to be priced anywhere close to what Edge is.

Originally Posted By: sayjac
One thing, Castrol GTX and Valvoline Prem. consistently the highest priced dinos at Wally, therefore I don't purchase.


Oddly enough, up here, two of the most recent sales were on Castrol and Valvoline, around $10 for five litres. As for coupons and rebates, that rarely happens here.

 

[Cutehumor]

walmart, I want my supertech oil at $0.78 cents/quart, circa 2003.

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
walmart, I want my supertech oil at $0.78 cents/quart, circa 2003.

Oh man, those were the day, a jug of oil for under 4 bucks!

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

Originally Posted By: Garak

Note to BP: Edge is double the price of Royal Purple here, a niche, boutique oil criticized almost solely for its price. Has hydrocracking gotten more expensive than Group IV or V base stocks?


+1 I seriously question what exactly is wrong with the people in that company.

 

[ArtDart]

Just cruised thru WM

Delo $8.50 a gallon

jringo

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: ItsuMitsubishi
Originally Posted By: Garak

Note to BP: Edge is double the price of Royal Purple here, a niche, boutique oil criticized almost solely for its price. Has hydrocracking gotten more expensive than Group IV or V base stocks?


+1 I seriously question what exactly is wrong with the people in that company.


To make matters worse, I just checked with one of my other automotive suppliers (my regular RP guy). Royal Purple is over $1 a litre cheaper than his cost on Castrol Syntec, let alone Edge. That's absolutely ludicrous. My price on RP beats Walmart's price on Castrol Syntec, too.

Someone at Walmart or BP needs to do some serious reflection. Considering the most major criticism of RP here has been for its price, it would appear that at least in my neck of the woods, things are reversed, with RP being about the second cheapest synthetic, after Mobil 1.

 

[oilmaven]

I can remember cruising the Auto Zone stores in Detroit looking for green GC when it was all the rage here. At the time, the new gold GC had just come out and the "green is better than gold" argument was on. The suburban stores were sold out but it had never sold in the inner city stores (probably too expensive when oil could be found for $1 a quart) and there was a special at the time (a little over $4 a qt. if I remember). I scored enough to last my PT Cruiser until it had over 80,000 miles when I switched it to Mobil 1 High Mileage (it really was good oil...turned in a couple of excellent used oil analysis on the stuff). I think I hit 6 or 8 stores (all that were there...probably fewer now). I used it up by manufacturing date...oldest to newest. I have to laugh now...I can't imagine going through all that for any oil...beer maybe.