Originally Posted By: titanium10k
Planning to purchase for the first time Mobil conventional oil. This is called super. Went to WM and noticed the bottles say 5000 miles of protection. This is for my daughter's 08 Civic. She usually lets the OLM go to close to zero before calling for an oil change. This ends up being about 6k or so miles. Her car does not call for synthetic. I passed up the Mobil and went back to Castrol GTX which is what it has been getting for the past 40k or so miles. I also noticed that Fram filters also show mileage numbers on them. Anyone use the traditional Mobil longer than 5k?
Surprised Mobil say their oil will only last 5K miles !!
If your daughter likes using O on the OLM to judge oil changes, it might be a good idea to spend a few dollars more on a longer lasting oil with a better Add pack. I hope Castrol have improved their additives in GTX, as it's probably their cheapest oil and you will get what you pay for when an engine is subject to severe service useage in particular.
The service notes for my own TDI say the max OCI is 20K km and use a conventional A3/B3 oil when subject to normal use. In severe service applications the max OCI is reduced to 10K km, BUT there is a specific note that says if the car is used in a hot desert area (Above 35c) a full synthetic (Group 4 synthoil) 15w40 should be used AND the max OCI reduced to only 5000 km.
Oddly enough only Amsoil make or did make a FS 15w40, so the mid East dealers have been using Mobil 10w60 EP and a 3000 mile OCI due to Silicon contamination limits.
The only way to know if a Mobil oil with a dinosaur base stock is good for an extended OCI, is to get a few UOA's done. Doing anything else is just guess work.
Not many cars call for a good major brand full synthetic in the US, as such approvals are not popular with the dealers or even some owners, but there are some areas and applications that make using a major brand FS oil a real good idea.
Cheap oil filters are prone to internal media splits, the oil seal can leak and they might have a pressure relief valve that is unreliable. Another case of, "You get what you pay for".
Some of the cheaper orange, white or black cans of death should have a zero mileage written on them.
PS: Castrol GTX 5w30 is a fairly OK oil, it's GTX 15w40 HM or GTX 10w40 that I'm not a fan of.