You just dance with one leg or half the song or ??
Why is so much oil and lubricants sold in 1 qt bottles?
- Thread starter CharlesInCharge
- Start date
I totally agree with the OP. No matter the capacity of the crankcase, I get my oil in either a 5 qt. jug or a 12 qt. box. My wife's Outback takes 5.1 quarts, and it burns a little. So I keep a 5 qt. jug on had for top off. My E350 takes 6.9 quarts, so I buy 2 of the 5 quart jugs, and then only 1 at the next oil change. It's easy. Snow blower and lawn mower now get the same motor oil as the E350, so no need to buy oil by the quart for them.
A few months ago Costco ran a smoking deal on a 6 pack case of Kirkland, so I bought a couple cases. Better price than a jug.
Normally, the only time I'll buy oil in a quart is when we take my wife's Outback on a road trip and need make up oil.
A few months ago Costco ran a smoking deal on a 6 pack case of Kirkland, so I bought a couple cases. Better price than a jug.
Normally, the only time I'll buy oil in a quart is when we take my wife's Outback on a road trip and need make up oil.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
My Escape and Van take 6 quarts of oil. At oil change time I buy a 5 quart jug and 1 quart bottle. Wouldn’t really make sense to buy two 5 quart ones for that at least not in my opinion. Plus one quart bottles are good to carry along with you. I’ve been places where someone needs oil and nobody has it. Recently I done a study for an oil company and they sent me 10 quarts of oil, two five quart jugs. My capacity is 6 so I used 6 quarts then this oil change I used the remaining 4 and purchased two single quarts.
A few examples. Costco carries oils now, have been for awhile I guess. Anyway, their Kirkland brand is sold in very efficient 5 qt jugs, two per box. But the Mobil1 is in 6 individual quart packs in a box. Go into Walmart and try to find various transmission fluids. A lot of it is only in 1 qt bottles. Certain weights of oil are only sold in 1 qt bottles.
As others said… it sells and on this forum we are the minority. Joe Blow who doesn’t do his own oil changes isn’t going to buy a 5qt jug because his car burns a quart over say 2000 or 3000 miles or has a slow leak. Is it ultimately more expensive to buy single quart jugs? Usually yes (I’ve seen $7/quart for single quarts, $25 for a 5qt jug of the same oil), but Joe can dump his quart in in the parking lot and throw the bottle away in a convenient trash can close by. Same with transmission fluid, most people are simply topping off because they have a slow leak.
CleanSump
Site Donor 2022
When I started driving in the 1970's, I don't recall ever seeing any oil in gallons except maybe Diesel Oil in steel cans. We didn't say HDEO either; it was "Diesel Oil". Everything was in quart cans and 4qt or 5qt jugs were nonexistent. Liters? A liter is just a little more than a quart- no need for metric as even Japanese manufacturers used quarts in their owners' manuals.
Everyone was fine with it. You didn't order online, and variety was what the local stores had. One read about cool oils in the magazines, but the local stores didn't have those.
Everyone was fine with it. You didn't order online, and variety was what the local stores had. One read about cool oils in the magazines, but the local stores didn't have those.
Yes, much simpler here - we have 1 litre, sometime 2 or 2.5 litre, 4 litre, 5 litre, 6 litre, 10 litre, and 20 litre containers. You buy the size you need.
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The opposite problem here in MA. There are 5qt jugs everywhere with very few 1qt bottles. I'd say the displays are 90% 5qt jugs. When you can find 1qt bottles they are really expensive. I was just at Walmart and Castrol Edge EP was $27.50 for a 5qt and $8.50 for 1qt.
Did he look like this?
Because the US hasn't figured out how to ditch imperial units.
I can see that. The one Diesel car I owned took 8 qrts of oil.I like the quart bottles because they are easier to pour, and any leftover oil is stored in a small bottle rather than a big jug
Most diesel engines have oil capacities measured in gallons rather than quarts
You were there too ! Yeah That's Him. Sometimes, you didn't even get out of the automobile!!
Gallons and 5–quart jugs can be heavy and awkward to handle, especially for people not used to lugging them, that is, most people who mess with oil changes only once in a while. To echo CleanSump, I never saw motor oil in anything but quarts before the late 1990s. It might be unnecessarily difficult to pour oil from a 5–quart jug into a funnel to refill an engine because of the weight of the jug and obstacles on the engine around the funnel.
A factor to consider is storage. Plastic can age, get brittle, spring leaks, etc., especially in an unheated garage or anywhere with sun exposure. A gallon jug will make a much bigger mess when the container leaks than will a quart (liter) bottle.
A factor to consider is storage. Plastic can age, get brittle, spring leaks, etc., especially in an unheated garage or anywhere with sun exposure. A gallon jug will make a much bigger mess when the container leaks than will a quart (liter) bottle.
Dude, it's because of the anguish of the membership over what to do with the remaining 1/2 quart in the jug following a change
/sarcasm
In all seriousness it's likely a carryover from yesteryear. Modern packaging has come a long way from the 70s and paper-walled cans with metal ends.
Of course cars aren't the only things needing oil, there are the small equipment and OPE operators, who don't need the 5qt volume, so would say there will continue to be a market for single quarts.
Dude, it's because of the anguish of the membership over what to do with the remaining 1/2 quart in the jug following a change
/sarcasm
In all seriousness it's likely a carryover from yesteryear. Modern packaging has come a long way from the 70s and paper-walled cans with metal ends.
Of course cars aren't the only things needing oil, there are the small equipment and OPE operators, who don't need the 5qt volume, so would say there will continue to be a market for single quarts.
I fully understand there are SOME applications for small amounts of oil. Makes sense that SAE 30 would be sold in 1qt. since it's mainly for small engines. But when I try to find certain transmission fluids, and most auto transmissions are going to need 10-15 qts of the stuff, it's often sold in 1qt bottles. I've never ever just needed 1qt of ATF. It's always 4+ qts. Often 30 qts over a short interval of drain and fills. While yes, Valvoline is smart and sells their muti-grade ATF in bigger units, if you need Type F, or Type IV, or Mercon V, etc. the main retailers seem to sell only 1qt bottles. So I am often having to buy 20-30 one 1 qt bottles...
I also buy engine oil in 4- or 5-quart jugs because I do my own oil changes and the larger container gives a better price per volume. If I paid a shop/dealer for the service, there would be no need to buy so much and I'd just buy the 1-quart bottles (as bcardinal stated above). Also sometimes parts stores will have sales on the smaller containers but that is rare, usually a clearance event to make room for new product.
