Why does Pennzoil cost more than other compareable dinos?

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I have a question. Why is the price tag for Pennzoil dino higher than other oils? For example: at Walmart Penn. is 1.97/quart and Havoline is 1.42/quart. Thats like a 40% difference in price. What makes Pennzoil think that they can charge that much more when Mobil 7500 is only 20cents away and Havoline is 55cents cheaper? Is it the name, better refining, better base ol, or what? I'm just curious. If I were to buy Pennzoil I want to know what I'm paying more for. Thanks in advance.
 
Strange. Pennzoil is consistently one of the cheapest brands available in Canada. You generally end up paying a premium for Havoline, Esso, Valvoline, Castrol, Quaker State, etc.

I guess to the original poster, if the stuff wasn't selling, they would lower the price or discontinue it. Obviously there is decent demand for Pennzoil-branded motor oil if it is priced higher than some of its counterparts.
 
Because of suckers like me that grit our teeth and swipe the plastic no matter how much it is. You also get the assurance that next oil change, the same thing will still be there. None of the frantic hunting and hoarding of GC.
 
Pennzoil spends a fortune on motor oil advertising. ChevronTexaco spends almost nothing on motor oil advertising.

John
 
quote:

Originally posted by labman:
Because of suckers like me that grit our teeth and swipe the plastic no matter how much it is. You also get the assurance that next oil change, the same thing will still be there. None of the frantic hunting and hoarding of GC.

Come over to the Havoline camp, there's room here for you !
cheers.gif
 
yep, people pay the price.That said I just bought 5 qts Redline mtl "works great in my Toyota" 6 qts Redline d4atf for my wifes Ford truck. Later comes Redline for the differentials. yes I am foolish.
 
quote:

Originally posted by mikemc:

quote:

Originally posted by labman:
Because of suckers like me that grit our teeth and swipe the plastic no matter how much it is. You also get the assurance that next oil change, the same thing will still be there. None of the frantic hunting and hoarding of GC.

Come over to the Havoline camp, there's room here for you !
cheers.gif


Yeah, but can I count on being able to find it cheaper, if at all next oil change? I won't save much if I have to use $10 in gas and a half a day to go out of town for it. I don't have much else except Wally's to buy oil.
 
Hey, buy it in the 5 qt jugs that Walmart sells. That's what I do. The $1.97/qt Pennzoil works out to be only $1.55/qt at the $7.77 5-qt jug price. Or better yet, price match Walmart with the O'Reilly, AutoZone, or Kmart's periodic ads. I've seen those guys advertise Pennzoil anywhere from $1.39 to $1.69 recently. Then of course, there is the Pennzoil warranty. I've signed up for that and got some special coupons unexpectedly for their various oils.

It's hard trying to figure out the logic for retail pricing. Between profit margins, production costs, distribution costs, marketing costs, brand image, promotions, et all, the prices vary widely for the same product. I focus on what I can control...being a prudent buyer.
 
quote:

Originally posted by mikemc:
Come over to the Havoline camp, there's room here for you !
cheers.gif


I agree..the verdict is not in yet but I started switching to it. I am adding a 25% mixture of RedLine though.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Roger:
Hey, buy it in the 5 qt jugs that Walmart sells. That's what I do. The $1.97/qt Pennzoil works out to be only $1.55/qt at the $7.77 5-qt jug price. Or better yet, price match Walmart with the O'Reilly, AutoZone, or Kmart's periodic ads. I've seen those guys advertise Pennzoil anywhere from $1.39 to $1.69 recently. Then of course, there is the Pennzoil warranty. I've signed up for that and got some special coupons unexpectedly for their various oils.

K-Mart is the only one of those that advertise in our local paper. I thing most of the match competitors price is LOCAL competitors. I do buy the big jugs. Besides saving money, I use the cut off bottoms to organize the stuff I save (hoard) in my garage (junk pile).

I think I need to be quicker to do a little buying ahead when I am out of town. Took time out from my trip last weekend to grab 4 Purolator L 15436 cartridges a lot cheaper than they ever are locally.
It's hard trying to figure out the logic for retail pricing. Between profit margins, production costs, distribution costs, marketing costs, brand image, promotions, et all, the prices vary widely for the same product. I focus on what I can control...being a prudent buyer.


 
I use Havoline and it is 1.20 per qt. at Sam's. Thinking about switching over to Costco where Shell is a buck a qt. by the case. Anyway I have used Havoline for about 2 years now due to the good info I have read here and it seems as good as anything else.
cheers.gif
 
The secondary brands like Havoline, Chevron and Mobil dino are a little cheaper

Not that I am arguing/disagreeing with you...

I always thought of Chevron Supreme, Havoline for one thing as being super duper oils with few appreciating how good they really are for the money.

That is why I was surprised you called them secondary brands
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I guess the few that appreciate them are us BITOG's with concrete UOA to show Chevron in action
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Oh ya, sorry forget.

Could it be that Pennzoil uses Group II+ (IIA) Base stocks for there PureBase oil and this stuff is more expensive to make over std base stocks?
 
Well, I kinda-sorta don't think it is the cost of base oil stocks that generates the higher or premium price for Pennzoil.

The Shell/Saudi Motiva refinery is now one of the two largest Grp II/II+ refineries, in barrels per day, in the world.

It's the Pennzoil business model to run a high marketing budget & this includes various media advertising, and sponsorships in a variety of race series.

Still, I think automotive crankcase oils are a good buy. Compare the price of a quart bottle of oil with a quart of Windex or any other national brand household cleaner that contains a high % of H2O!
 
As others have pointed out, the answer to the original question is: marketing. That's all it is. Nothing else. Nothing. Consumers associate price with quality, and Pennzoil is good at exploiting that. A couple of years ago, during Havoline's transition from Shell to ChevronTexaco, Shell (owner of - you guessed it - Pennzoil) drove the street price of Havoline down to near $1 per quart. I think they were playing the same consumer psychology game with Havoline, but in reverse - trying to smear consumer perception of Havoline as a "cheap" oil. Shell no longer produces Havoline, and ChevronTexaco is slowly and successfully bringing the price of Havoline back up into the ballpark of other major brands. I'm glad that BITOG generally sees Havoline and Chevron Supreme for the excellent products that they are.
 
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