Thoughts on Valvoline 300,000 Mile Engine Guarante

[doublebase]

I never have never given any of these oil guarantees/warranties a moment of consideration. And I don’t think many others have either. Here we are on bobs the oil guy and not one single member can say he has received an engine from Valvoline or Mobil or whoever...and that should tell you something. But let’s say you did stick with just one oil all the way up to 300,000 miles and let’s say it’s Valvoline. Think of all the sales and rebates on OTHER brands you’d miss out on in that time frame! And were talking 75 oil changes using the 4,000 mile parameter. You potentially could save around $750 in that time frame by just using Super Tech synthetic. Or you could save even more by using Super ate h or Quaker State and running 6,000 mile intervals.

Too many stipulations, too few oil change interval miles and too far down the road (300,000) to ever see the end of this things. And let’s say you make it to 300,000 and THEN the engine blows at 305,000? It sure could happen.

Nit many of us have taken an engine to 300,000 from day one - I’ve come close - 289,000 and at that point the engine was consuming a lot of oil, stalling at idle, etc, but it wasn’t in danger of actually seizing up or grenading in a parking lot.

 

[Spector]

Not worth the paper it is printed on!

 

[wpod]

"In 50 years of driving I've never had an engine fail ". you answered you own question. Engines can and do fail,,, not from the proper spec oil.

 

[danez_yoda]

I never have never given any of these oil guarantees/warranties a moment of consideration. And I don’t think many others have either. Here we are on bobs the oil guy and not one single member can say he has received an engine from Valvoline or Mobil or whoever...and that should tell you something. But let’s say you did stick with just one oil all the way up to 300,000 miles and let’s say it’s Valvoline. Think of all the sales and rebates on OTHER brands you’d miss out on in that time frame! And were talking 75 oil changes using the 4,000 mile parameter. You potentially could save around $750 in that time frame by just using Super Tech synthetic. Or you could save even more by using Super ate h or Quaker State and running 6,000 mile intervals.

Too many stipulations, too few oil change interval miles and too far down the road (300,000) to ever see the end of this things. And let’s say you make it to 300,000 and THEN the engine blows at 305,000? It sure could happen.

Nit many of us have taken an engine to 300,000 from day one - I’ve come close - 289,000 and at that point the engine was consuming a lot of oil, stalling at idle, etc, but it wasn’t in danger of actually seizing up or grenading in a parking lot.

This is a good point.

If an offer was on the table of two options.

1) use oil A for 300K miles 9on the same car, in the same engine, on our change interval and IF you have a failure that can be undoubtably be linked back to the oil, we will replace your engine with a new/reman one (~$5000) at our service center of choice.

OR

2) Use whatever oil you want with a guaranteed $750 savings over the same 300K miles.


which would you choose? Sure bet or a chance?

 

[doublebase]

This is a good point.

If an offer was on the table of two options.

1) use oil A for 300K miles 9on the same car, in the same engine, on our change interval and IF you have a failure that can be undoubtably be linked back to the oil, we will replace your engine with a new/reman one (~$5000) at our service center of choice.

OR

2) Use whatever oil you want with a guaranteed $750 savings over the same 300K miles.


which would you choose? Sure bet or a chance?

Easy choice for me, the sure bet.

Insurance companies/warranty companies also agree. They know the odds (or else they wouldn’t play).

 

[demarpaint]

Odds of an oil related engine failure to a well maintained engine are slim to none. Odds of them paying out on an engine that failed due to an oil related issue imo are slim to none as well. You'd probably need the OJ Simpson dream team on your side for a payout. Run a good synthetic oil from any of the major oil companies and sleep well at night.

 

[Malo83]

I'm a Top Mechanic, but I use PENNZOIL.

 

[partspro]

You did. Valvoline is a excellent product but so are all the major brands. Pick what you want and run it.

my 2 cents, a buddy of mine worked at Valvoline, he was full of praise for their oil. My 2005 Buick CENTURY loved their oil, not so some other brands. The techs were really good, even calling out the torque when installing the drain plug. They would check the oil level after change and it always needed 1/2 quart more than their data said.

 

[4WD]

This is a good point.

If an offer was on the table of two options.

1) use oil A for 300K miles 9on the same car, in the same engine, on our change interval and IF you have a failure that can be undoubtably be linked back to the oil, we will replace your engine with a new/reman one (~$5000) at our service center of choice.

OR

2) Use whatever oil you want with a guaranteed $750 savings over the same 300K miles.


which would you choose? Sure bet or a chance?

Instead - give me an ATF that guarantees the slush box for 300K

 

[CheezWhiz]

valvoline is good oil, doesn't mean i want to marry it.

 

[CheezWhiz]

Odds of an oil related engine failure to a well maintained engine are slim to none. Odds of them paying out on an engine that failed due to an oil related issue imo are slim to none as well. You'd probably need the OJ Simpson dream team on your side for a payout. Run a good synthetic oil from any of the major oil companies and sleep well at night.

if you had told me back in 1985 that one day OJ Simpson would be in jail, Donald Trump would have been President, and Bruce Jenner would be a girl, I would have assumed the apocalypse had happened and there was no point in worrying about trying to make a car last 300,000 miles.

 

[Fitter30]

Doesn’t cover knocking , pinging or rattling. Just full failure. Too many outs for Valvoline.

However it’s interesting how they decided what oils are to be used for each total interval and obviously they picked 4,000 miles to sway things to their advantage. Given the small odds of a failure and the large number of changes, they would make money off this. I’ll pass.

Reads like a disability from a shady insurance company. Loose a index finger on a Friday and will cover it and in super fine print has to be a full moon.

 

[CapitalTruck]

I think what kind of makes Valvolines warranty "special" is that it doesn't have to be proven to be a lubrication related failure.

 

[kschachn]

I think what kind of makes Valvolines warranty "special" is that it doesn't have to be proven to be a lubrication related failure.

The exclusion list only warranties those items which are directly related to the motor oil. And you must have a complete breakdown of that part (failure) not just a knock or pinging.

Plus that 4K mile requirement is downright silly when compared to what ExxonMobil states in their warranty.

 

[PandaBear]

They don't cover things that typically get your engine, like head gasket or cooling system issue. Oil related failures are very unlikely as the cause of engine failure these days.

Let's be honest, when your car is 250k miles you likely won't care that much about oil but rather more about the rest of the car.