Why do you think THEY know?
Valvoline use recycled oil for oil changes?
- Thread starter Clemente
- Start date
- Status
As long as the oil performs as required, my motor and I will be happy and I really don't care where it originated. I DIY my oil services so this is not a concern for me. But some quick lube places may use re-refined oil and this might not be announced if the product meets the spec required for your vehicle. I don't know if there is a legal requirement for service shops to state if they use a re-refined product. Again, if it meets the spec... why does it matter? My $0.02
There is some need for transparency. There was a recent thread here about a oil that had in their SDS “spent oil” as part of the base. I would not consider that transparent to the consumer.
It would be like buying a brand new car but the engine has been rebuilt to factory new standards. How many people would pay full price for that?
I agree with the need for transparency. But if there is no legal requirement to state the origins of the product, then it gets down to the customer... some may not care at all since the oil meets or exceeds the spec, and some may be outraged that the shop put that nasty re-refined oil in their precious baby.
If that engine is honestly rebuilt to factory new standards, I don't see much difference. A rebuild shop may pay extra attention to detail, where the factory (cranking them out by the thousands) may not be as particular. For all we know, re-refined oil may be better than some "virgin" motor oil. I guess transparency would be helpful here too!
The way I understand it, all oils that meet a certain spec all perform well in their intended application, regardless of the source material. So we have countless oils meeting the API SP standard, all made from any combination of Group III, Group III+, Group IV and/or Group V base stocks.
I would HOPE they have a MSDS on file.
There was a guy on here once that claimed to have inside knowledge about some company or another and made all sorts of technical pronouncements about what the "real" answers were to questions. Eventually it came out he drove a truck delivering stuff to their facilities.
Safety-Kleen pioneered re-refining of used motor oil - I know @53' Stude uses it and so do many government fleets. P66 also offered a “recycled” product. It was a 76 product called Firebird. Valvoline was the first to mass-market re-refined motor oil.
Used motor oil doesn’t go to waste - it’s either re-refined or it ends up as fuel for making asphalt.
Used motor oil doesn’t go to waste - it’s either re-refined or it ends up as fuel for making asphalt.
I think of it along the lines of recycled aluminum which has been melted and used to cast the engine block which goes in your new car. Is the customer entitled to know how much recycled aluminum is in the engine block?
I think a lot of that is assumed. Those of us who pay attention know that the metals, carpeting and floor mats, dashboard materials and plastics are in part made from recycled sources. Some automakers make the point that their vehicles are 100% recyclable and point out what has been recycled. It’s a selling point in fact these days.
My father had an Esso station in the 50's.There's a big business in re-refined motor oil. I'm sure Valvoline (as well as other oil change chains and shops) recycle their oil which is then put to use again. Here's just one example:
AmericOil - The Leading Suppliers of Re-refined Motor Oil
The official website for AmericOilwww.rerefinedmotoroil.com
Back in the 1950s and early 60s, I sometimes used re-refined oil in my 1953 Pontiac. It could be purchased for about 25¢ a quart. The oil I purchased came in a glass jar and had a spout screwed on to it.
Regardless of the oil put in customers cars the can always went into a drain tree to be collected in a pan.
Then it was put into a glass jar with a metal spout and sold cheap,25 cents a quart sounds about right.
It was new oil drained from new oil cans.
I have a small stash of Valvoline NextGen. My current OCI is coming out in a few weeks and more NextGen is going in. I won’t be putting many miles on this OCI(5 mo/~3500 mi) but I bought it cheap. The next OCI will have more miles in a shorter time as we’re driving to FL & back.
My dad too had an ESSO/ Exxon station(‘55-‘79) and he did the same thing. We turned over all of our OCI qts into a large clean drum and sold the mixed grades of clean oil cheap to those on a budget. Usually guys with a small private trucking business(usually junk collectors). Their engines burned lots of oil and the just needed something cheap.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Re-refined oils, which produce the same spectrum of base oils we find with bases made from crude, can in many ways be better, because you are starting with a product that was already refined once.
Yes, Valvoline marketed their NexGen oil, that used re-refined oil as its base oil blend. It was an utter failure.
That in no way means that Vavoline is required to call out the usage of that product in oils not sold under the NexGen moniker. So yes, Valvoline could still be using it in their products and simply not calling it out anymore and there's nothing to prevent them from doing that.
Yes, Valvoline marketed their NexGen oil, that used re-refined oil as its base oil blend. It was an utter failure.
That in no way means that Vavoline is required to call out the usage of that product in oils not sold under the NexGen moniker. So yes, Valvoline could still be using it in their products and simply not calling it out anymore and there's nothing to prevent them from doing that.
MolaKule
Staff member
Please define your terms.
What is your definition of recycled?
If the waste oil has been sent to a refinery for processing, then the waste oil has been "re-refined' to essentially a quality Group II+ base oil. So if this is what you understand as a "recycled' oil then there is nothing to worry about.
Valvoline's NeXTGEN was not a failure due to the quality of the base oil, but the failure was due to the ridiculous pricing for the finished product.
Last edited:
IIRC, it sold for the same price as regular Valvoline white bottle so not sure where the 'ridiculous pricing' comment is referring to.
In my locale the NexGen when it came on the market was priced exactly the same per qt. as the white bottle Valvoline at Walmart. I just could not see paying the same price for a qt. of oil when one had been in an engine previously. I think if NexGen had been priced somewhat less than the Valvoline white bottle, it may have sold better.
And that kind of ridiculous thinking is why NexGen failed. Disappointing but not at all surprising considering the typical American consumer.
That was my thinking at the time. On the other hand, if Valvoline HAD priced it lower, people might think it was lower quality.
It's kind of like the local discount closeout store that sells a "factory reconditioned" appliance (e.g. vacuum cleaner), and another store across the street sells the exact same model of vacuum cleaner that is brand new for the exact same price. Which one is the average consumer going to purchase if they are aware of both items being for sale at the same price?
- Status
