Originally Posted By: partspro
Here's a kicker, Nextgen is currently on sale, 5qts and filter and a free recycling container AND a $20 MIR American Express Card. Use it where ever AMEX is accepted. Now that is almost free.
As to the pricing issue, crude is only a small part of the cost of the end product. The re-refining does consume 50% less energy but the add pack is still needed, the collection process is expensive (dealing with HAZMAT materials here). 50 cents less per quart would be more like a reasonable saving IMHO.
Kind of makes you wonder how well NextGen is being accepted in the market, since they're practically having to give it away, doesn't it? Like I wrote in a NextGen thread about a year ago when it first came out: after the introductory incentives, the price better come down, or it's done for. And now a year later, Valvoline is priming the pump again. Americans' experience with "Green" products has been that they are more expensive, don't perform as well, and can only survive in the real world by being subsidized. This is something that Valvoline has to overcome.
I do agree that the price wouldn't have to be half of Valvoline conventional or ML, but 20% cheaper is my threshold. If the price were half, I would begin to wonder if it really was inferior. As it is, I don't have any cars that I would use NextGen in. If they did a NG version of VR1, and it was ~20% cheaper than regular VR1, I would consider it for the 307 in my '72 GMC, or my riding mower.