I had to stop by WalMart today to see if they had any "Tennessee Beauty" strawberry plants - they are getting difficult to find. Any way, I found a path to the plant section that involved passing by the oil. I wanted to confirm that TropArtic and TropArtic synthetic blend were the same price. They were, $1.48. To my amazement there was NO 5W20 Havoline, Pennzoil, SuperTech, QuakerState, or Mobil 1. Except for Mobil 1, there wasn't even an empty space on the shelf. The only 5W20 that I could find was PP and Valvoline. There was a lady restocking the Havoline and I asked her about the lack of 5W20 and if they were going to stop carrying it. She said "I don't know, but I just replaced the shelf lable with 10W30." I looked around and the 5W30 was missing for Havoline, SuperTech, and Pennzoil. Do I live in an area where 5Wxx just doesn't sell in the summer? I thought that 5W30 had been accepted.
where's the 5W20
- Thread starter GMorg
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A LOT of places further south than West Virginia, you just CAN'T find 5WXX in most stores.
Wal-Mart is famous for tuning their inventory and stocking on a store by store basis.
Wal-Mart is famous for tuning their inventory and stocking on a store by store basis.
Interesting...
I was at my Wal-Mart Sunday and they had 5w-20 in the following;
Mobil 1 (qts)
Mobil 5000 (qts)
Pennzoil (qts and 5qt)
Castrol (qts and 5qt)
QS (qts and 5qt)
Havoline (qts and 5qt)
Motorcraft (qt and 5qt)
The QS was the cheapest at $8.98 and the Havoline was the most $$ at $10.24 for the 5qt jugs.
I'm sure if I went to the next city Wal-mart I'd find something else...
Take care, Bill
I was at my Wal-Mart Sunday and they had 5w-20 in the following;
Mobil 1 (qts)
Mobil 5000 (qts)
Pennzoil (qts and 5qt)
Castrol (qts and 5qt)
QS (qts and 5qt)
Havoline (qts and 5qt)
Motorcraft (qt and 5qt)
The QS was the cheapest at $8.98 and the Havoline was the most $$ at $10.24 for the 5qt jugs.
I'm sure if I went to the next city Wal-mart I'd find something else...
Take care, Bill
Yea, the one's areoun me have been adding 20 weights. Mobil 1 has several rows now with the new 0w-20 and 5w-20, PP and Motorcraft are in abundance also.
So, WalMart is of the oppinion that Ford, Honda, and Chrysler owners don't change there own oil in the summer...
GMorg,
Is it safe to assume that you follow the Mfg's viscosity recommendation year round?
Is it safe to assume that you follow the Mfg's viscosity recommendation year round?
Walmart: where the intelligent buyer shops.
This 5-20 thing is just too scary and new to some people, that they cannot believe the oil is thick enough for "summer" use. Oh, well. I always have enough "thin" oil on hand that I can make it through a summer without it on the shelves.
This 5-20 thing is just too scary and new to some people, that they cannot believe the oil is thick enough for "summer" use. Oh, well. I always have enough "thin" oil on hand that I can make it through a summer without it on the shelves.
I got about 4 cases of Havoline 5W20 on my shelves at home.
And a bunch of 5W30.
I'm alright until 2008, I believe.
And a bunch of 5W30.
I'm alright until 2008, I believe.
GoldenRod wrote: "Is it safe to assume that you follow the Mfg's viscosity recommendation year round?"
Me, personally? I consider Mfg recomendations for oil as a starting point. To keep valve chatter down, my GM LX9 (GF-4, 5W30 only recommendation) gets a mix of 0W20 and 5W30 in winter. Currently running GC Green (Not GF-4) and will try BC 5W40 in a few months.
With a lot of mountain driving, my wifes 3.0L ford sounds horrible under load with 5W20. In the summer it usually gets spiked with a quart of 20W50. This summer it will likely get switched to M1 5W30 (My guess is that GC Green is a little thicker than needed. Plus, I wouldn't want to waste GC Green in a Ford [personal bias]).
Me, personally? I consider Mfg recomendations for oil as a starting point. To keep valve chatter down, my GM LX9 (GF-4, 5W30 only recommendation) gets a mix of 0W20 and 5W30 in winter. Currently running GC Green (Not GF-4) and will try BC 5W40 in a few months.
With a lot of mountain driving, my wifes 3.0L ford sounds horrible under load with 5W20. In the summer it usually gets spiked with a quart of 20W50. This summer it will likely get switched to M1 5W30 (My guess is that GC Green is a little thicker than needed. Plus, I wouldn't want to waste GC Green in a Ford [personal bias]).
Stock varies at my Walmart, but they usually have a nice selection of 5w20. That's all I use in both my vehicles: new Ford and Dodge. I haven't seen the TropArtic yet in 5W20. I'm still waiting for that day! My Walmarts have about the same selection as Bill in Utah.
In several of the WM's around here, the only 5w20 oil I have ever seen is Ford Motorcraft. Nope, not even Mobil 1 or PP. Just Motorcraft.
I guess I live in the twighlight zone. In every store around me that sells oil, they are fully stocked with 5w20. I even know where a huge stash of API SL M1 0w20 is, if anyone is interested.
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I'm pretty sure that the only dino 5w-20 in my WallMart are MC and PZ. No Supertech. No Valvoline. No Castrol. No QS. No Havoline. They all start at 5w-30. I've never seen a bottle of Tropic-Artic ..ever.
There are a few 5w-20 synths. M1, PP, and ...hmmm..one other
There are a few 5w-20 synths. M1, PP, and ...hmmm..one other
My wording may have been confusing. I was not looking for TropArtic 5W20. I was confirming price on synth blend vs regular 5W30 TropArtic. Independant of my TropArtic 5W30 curiosity, I noticed that there was not any 5W20 for a bunch of brands for which there had previously been 5W20.
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