Walmart Oil Aisle Today

[Buick8]

This morning’s trip to Walmart for oil change supplies has me perplexed.
There were almost no SuperTech oil filters, and of course no Fram filters. Makes me wonder if Fram were making the SuperTech filters.
I have used the Walmart brand oil in the blue bottle for quite a while. Today not one blue bottle has Dexos on the label. In fact, mist if the Big Name oils don’t have it either. There were two bottles of Pennzoil side by side, identical except one had Dexos and the other did not.
For my 2018 GM pickup 5.3 with 125,000 mikes I am changing from OW20 to 5W30. There were no Dexos-labeled blue bottles; oh, well, out of warranty anyway.
What is going on at Walmart?

 

[fantastic]

Yes champion labs made SuperTech. There are limited supplies of synthetic oil right now.

 

[JoelB]

Turn on a TV and watch some global news to understand the oil situation.

 

[GW.]

We warned everyone to stock up in the spring with your favorite oils. Slim pickings now…..and more expensive.

 

[oil pan 4]

This morning’s trip to Walmart for oil change supplies has me perplexed.
There were almost no SuperTech oil filters, and of course no Fram filters. Makes me wonder if Fram were making the SuperTech filters.
I have used the Walmart brand oil in the blue bottle for quite a while. Today not one blue bottle has Dexos on the label. In fact, mist if the Big Name oils don’t have it either. There were two bottles of Pennzoil side by side, identical except one had Dexos and the other did not.
For my 2018 GM pickup 5.3 with 125,000 mikes I am changing from OW20 to 5W30. There were no Dexos-labeled blue bottles; oh, well, out of warranty anyway.
What is going on at Walmart?

Get a pgi filter from Napa.

 

[Buick8]

I know the news; US is the number one producer of crude and exporter of refined products. There is plenty of oil; the missing Dexos on the label is the noticeable issue; all the other qualifications are present.
How could a premium bottle of Big Oil like Pennzoil Platinum not be dexos suitable ?

 

[oil pan 4]

We warned everyone to stock up in the spring with your favorite oils. Slim pickings now…..and more expensive.

I've got 1 jug of VRP probably use that in the next 2 or 3 months.
Next oil change after that will be another 3 to 4 months after that.
I think I can save up $5 to $10 more over the next 6 months for the now more expensive VRP or PUP.
Or save about $10 and buy a jug of Supertech next time I see it and just change it sooner.

 

[GW.]

I know the news; US is the number one producer of crude and exporter of refined products. There is plenty of oil; the missing Dexos on the label is the noticeable issue; all the other qualifications are present.
How could a premium bottle of Big Oil like Pennzoil Platinum not be dexos suitable ?

There’s a base oil shortage(especially group 3). Dexos will not allow a base oil change without retesting.

 

[oil pan 4]

I know the news; US is the number one producer of crude and exporter of refined products. There is plenty of oil; the missing Dexos on the label is the noticeable issue; all the other qualifications are present.
How could a premium bottle of Big Oil like Pennzoil Platinum not be dexos suitable ?

Its easy to not stay dexos approved. They have to sell exactly the same oil as tested. So even if Pennzoil changed additive suppliers it has to be retested.
They could be using GTL from one production facility for all of it now and that causes them to lose the dexos label.
Maybe they're using a different viscosity modifier. Dont know.

 

[Urshurak776]

UNless you have a new GM, Dexos label isn't that big a deal IMHO. I would think API-SQ/ILSAC-7 is more than good enough for most people. I think Supertech/Warren are just trying to cut down the cost as much as they can, which includes the high Dexos tax. Supertech isn't the only ones either.

 

[Kestas]

How could a premium bottle of Big Oil like Pennzoil Platinum not be dexos suitable ?

They probably don't want to pay for certification. Instead of saying "Dexos approved" they may say "suitable for Dexos applications".

 

[oil pan 4]

There’s a base oil shortage(especially group 3). Dexos will not allow a base oil change without retesting.

I thought they couldn't change base oils with out retesting?
Seemed like they would only allow manufacturers to change the color of the lid on the jug without retesting.

 

[GW.]

I thought they couldn't change base oils with out retesting?
Seemed like they would only allow manufacturers to change the color of the lid on the jug without retesting.

Typo on my part. They can’t.

Now API is allowing base oil changes without retesting.

 

[oil pan 4]

They probably don't want to pay for certification. Instead of saying "Dexos approved" they may say "suitable for Dexos applications".

Yeah last I heard it was like a million dollars worth of testing per formulation to get and keep the dexos label.
I can see why they wouldn't.

 

[oil pan 4]

Typo on my part. They can’t. Now API is allowing base oil changes without retesting.

I hadn't hear about that api change. That's good to know.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Turn on a TV and watch some global news to understand the oil situation.

I recomend against this. It will ruin your day.

Just carry on blissfully if you can.

 

[ripcord]

Oil blenders have had to start changing their products due to the fact that three very large refineries that produced about 20% of the world's high quality lubrication oil base stocks were bombed by Iran this spring. Those refineries will be offline for the foreseeable future. That makes it more difficult for 3rd party producers like Warren to get the materials they used to create finished products. Since even minor changes to a DEXOS oil require recertification, it's not surprising that some oils have dropped certification as oil blenders adjust their formulas.

 

[melk]

If you think oil is expensive now, just wait 6 months

 

[Hall]

I thought they couldn't change base oils with out retesting?

Probably entirely accurate but given the situation in the oil market, they likely can't maintain the 'exact' same source(s) and there ain't time to go through re-testing or continual re-testing as their sources change.

 

[ripcord]

Does anybody know if GM is still being a butthead and staying super inflexible about their DEXOS certs?