What's the point of eliminating straight dino and replacing it with a blend?

[CKN]

How many times in a 12 month period do you change oil?

I'm replying to my own post because the OP hasn't answered..........

 

[grampi]

Why have dino when syn is better?

It used to be price, but now these blends are almost as much as full syn. It's almost cheaper to double the OCI and run full syn...

 

[grampi]

I'm replying to my own post because the OP hasn't answered..........

The OP was out for a while and not looking at this thread. Now that I'm retired, my monthly mileage went from 2500-3000 a month, to about 500 a month, so now my OCI is based on time, not mileage. Which is twice a year...

 

[CKN]

The OP was out for a while and not looking at this thread. Now that I'm retired, my monthly mileage went from 2500-3000 a month, to about 500 a month, so now my OCI is based on time, not mileage. Which is twice a year...

OK-so you could use the cheapest synthetic/syn. blend at Walmart and not "break the bank". If this is of big concern to you in retirement well....I don't know what to tell you. BTW-I suspect at 6 months you are draining out perfectly good oil.....

 

[BISCUT]

Ehhh, no, but we end up in a weird spot because we end up talking about hydrocracked Group II(+) and is that synthetic, because it's hydrocracked (just like Group III) or is it not, because its VI isn't high enough to make it Group III?

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Thanks for the answer and more importantly the graphic explaination.

 

[wpod]

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I AM BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND !

 

[OVERKILL]

Thanks for the answer and more importantly the graphic explaination.

You are quite welcome!

 

[tyman]

It used to be price, but now these blends are almost as much as full syn. It's almost cheaper to double the OCI and run full syn...

Exactly. Technology progresses.

 

[Elkins45]

And look closely at that "straight conventional oil" from Rural King. It might meet only SA or SB, which effectively means it doesn't meet any specs. We've had discussions here before on non-detergent straight-30 still being sold as motor oil, which hurts those who don't know the difference when they use it in anything built after 1950.

According to the bottle it meets API service SP.

 

[grampi]

OK-so you could use the cheapest synthetic/syn. blend at Walmart and not "break the bank". If this is of big concern to you in retirement well....I don't know what to tell you. BTW-I suspect at 6 months you are draining out perfectly good oil.....

I'm retired now, what else have I got to do besides gripe about high prices, yelling at the clouds, and you know, the typical retiree stuff...Lol!

 

[OVERKILL]

According to the bottle it meets API service SP.

It's likely blended using Mobil's EHC group II+ or similar.

 

[grampi]

Really, there are alot of issues that have been going on 4 awhile, when what has been happening 4 awhile you either stock up on oil or you just pay the price, and not complain.

I never did the stock-up thing, I always knew I was getting a decent oil at a lower price at Walmart than almost anywhere else at regular price (not on sale), so I always just bought my oil there. Not any more. I shop around now...

 

[Elkins45]

It's likely blended using Mobil's EHC group II+ or similar.

I have no idea what that means, but I assume that’s a good thing? Isn’t SP the current highest spec?

 

[grampi]

I have no idea what that means, but I assume that’s a good thing? Isn’t SP the current highest spec?

It's the most recent one I've seen...

 

[mdtaylor86]

I'm convinced this is nothing but an excuse to raise prices. I've been buying my oil at Walmart for years, their Super Tech dino to be exact. Over the last year, I've watched the price of their dino go from $2.37 a qt, to today's price of $5.35 a qt, which is more than double of what it used to be. They no longer offer any conventional oil, it's now either a blend, or a full syn. I have no way of knowing how much of this price increase is due to the switch over, or how much is just inflation, but whatever it is, I refuse to pay that much for a non-full syn store brand oil. I went over the Rural King and found that they still sell a straight conventional oil for just $2.99 a qt, so I bought that.

No offense intended by this statement, but you are probably the market segment that they were targeting by continuing to use the word "Conventional" on bottles full of oil that almost certainly could have been marketed as synthetic blend for the past several years. There's a certain (and shrinking) market segment that is dedicated to buying conventional oil, for some reason or another, and I think some companies wanted to try to ease those people up into synthetics.

The reason, as already stated several times here, is just the continued improvement of tech. Inflation definitely has something to do with sharp increases in price, too.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I quit using non-synthetic oil dozens of years ago. I suppose it would work ok in a lawn mower or a less expensive engine. I know farmers use it to lubricate various chains etc on low rpm machines and gears etc. I know Ford dealerships use a blend in a lot of their vehicles they service and I agree, regular non synthetic oil is getting hard to find on store shelves at a decent price.

 

[grampi]

I quit using non-synthetic oil dozens of years ago. I suppose it would work ok in a lawn mower or a less expensive engine. I know farmers use it to lubricate various chains etc on low rpm machines and gears etc. I know Ford dealerships use a blend in a lot of their vehicles they service and I agree, regular non synthetic oil is getting hard to find on store shelves at a decent price.

My 427K mile Corolla has had nothing but conventional in it. Nothing wrong with good ol' dino...

 

[grampi]

No offense intended by this statement, but you are probably the market segment that they were targeting by continuing to use the word "Conventional" on bottles full of oil that almost certainly could have been marketed as synthetic blend for the past several years. There's a certain (and shrinking) market segment that is dedicated to buying conventional oil, for some reason or another, and I think some companies wanted to try to ease those people up into synthetics.

The reason, as already stated several times here, is just the continued improvement of tech. Inflation definitely has something to do with sharp increases in price, too.

I don't go specifically looking for straight conventional oil, but rather the least expensive oil I can find. As long as it meets the required spec and weight, brand and type don't matter to me. There is no such thing as a bad motor oil. When the price started climbing, I started to take notice of the contents, and that's when I noticed Super Tech no longer makes a straight dino. I could see the price going up maybe 20-30% due to inflation, but doubling the price is inexcusable...

 

[Tdbo]

According to the bottle it meets API service SP.

Exactly. It is essentially a blend.
At $1.99 a quart, it presented a value proposition.
At $2.99 a quart, not so much.
At that price point, may as well go full synthetic.

 

[DGXR]

I can see some people with older cars don't want to pay for syn blend or full syn because their car doesn't need it, and/or their car burns oil, or whatever. But as others said, most vehicles on the road today require an oil that meets a certain spec (SM at least?) and true conventional oil often cannot meet those specifications. Also most "conventional" oils on the shelf today have some synthetic content, usually a synthetic component to the add pack or maybe part of the base oil? But I'd guess that it would be called a blend if part of the base oil was synthetic.