Mobil 1 Annual Protection

[cmhj]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I bet somewhere on the label is their fine print *Always follow your owner's manual's recommendations*(or something to that effect). So if your manual says 3/3K,the Annual Protection guarantee goes straight out the window.


Almost

Be advised that if your vehicle is covered by a warranty, you should follow the vehicle’s oil life sensor or the oil change interval recommended in your owner’s manual to avoid a disruption in your vehicle warranty. Follow your owner’s manual if the vehicle is operated in any of the following severe services: racing or commercial applications including taxis, limousines, etc.; frequent towing or hauling; extremely dusty or dirty conditions; or under excessive idling conditions.

 

[GRWOil]

It's just a ploy to sell more Mobil 1 EP. People will think 28$ a jug is a good buy, and upgrade from regular Mobil 1.

I bet the engineers designed a great oil that takes marginally more inputs to make than EP. The marketing team set the price.

 

[NO2]

This is classic retail strategy. Introduce another variant, exactly like Tide.

Since 10K AFE sells for $26, 15K EP for $29, 20K AP should sell for $32. They will get plenty of buyers with a 'good, better, best' strategy, and the extra shelf space (the actual reason they developed it) will drive a weaker competitor off the shelves. If they price it at $50, it will disappear from the market quickly. DIY buyers won't spend that much.

 

[serversurfer]

Originally Posted By: mooferz
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I bet somewhere on the label is their fine print *Always follow your owner's manual's recommendations*(or something to that effect). So if your manual says 3/3K,the Annual Protection guarantee goes straight out the window.

Your speculation could be correct.
From here...
Quote:
ExxonMobil will replace any lubricant that is defective. In addition, if there is equipment failure due to the lubricant you purchased, and the engine was serviceable at the time the oil was installed, ExxonMobil will repair any equipment damage directly caused by a defect or malfunction of the lubricant, at no cost to you, provided that the lubricant was selected and maintained in accordance with specifications of the OEM or the written instructions (which includes product packaging) of ExxonMobil.

Though this seems pretty comprehensive at first, that 'or' in "...OEM specifications or the written instructions..." seems conveniently placed to create ambiguity.

Yes, it's oddly worded, but it basically says, "We'll cover any oil-caused damage, provided you followed the instructions of your OEM, or the instructions of Exxon-Mobil (and yes, that includes any instructions and recommendations printed on the jug itself)." So if XOM say 20k, and you can prove that the 20k OCIs are specifically what ruined your engine* then they will pay for the repair.

Plus, as mentioned, they say you should just follow the OEM's instructions while under warranty, lest you void it. That being the case, if your OEM and/or Oil Life Monitor won't be cool with a 20k OCI, you may as well save your money and buy "regular" oil until your warranty runs out.

*Good luck proving it was caused by the extended OCI and not just normal wear on your old-a**, out-of-warranty engine.

 

[Schmoe]

I've been a historic user of M1 5W-30 EP and have taken that oil, sometimes, past 15K. No UOA's at that mileage, but it still actually looked good on the blot test. I know, that doesn't really give a lot of scientific analysis, but that annual protection advertisement almost got me, until I saw the price. Wonder if the EP is on the way out, then for us long OCI'ers, we'll have no choice but to jump to annual protection and pay the price.

 

[SilverFusion2010]

I've always shied away from the EP and other long OCI products, mainly because the top off oil is still necessary. If you have an engine with close to zero consumption a long OCI makes sense to me. If you're gonna have to add 2 or 3 extra qts over a 15k interval, why not just use a cheaper oil that meets spec and change it twice?

my .02

 

[serversurfer]

Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
I've always shied away from the EP and other long OCI products, mainly because the top off oil is still necessary. If you have an engine with close to zero consumption a long OCI makes sense to me. If you're gonna have to add 2 or 3 extra qts over a 15k interval, why not just use a cheaper oil that meets spec and change it twice?

my .02

Well, if you're looking at a 4 quart change, you're talking about using 4*3=12 quarts of oil versus 4+3=7 quarts of oil. Pricing M1 5W-20 at Walmart, it's $28.68/jug for EP, while the AP is only $25.47. So you're consuming $68.83 worth of oil every 15k, while the EP user is only consuming $35.65 worth. You've nearly doubled what you're spending on oil, and nearly doubled the amount of oil that needs to be recycled.

Plus, you have triple the labor and downtime that the EP user has…

 

[SilverFusion2010]

Originally Posted By: serversurfer
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
I've always shied away from the EP and other long OCI products, mainly because the top off oil is still necessary. If you have an engine with close to zero consumption a long OCI makes sense to me. If you're gonna have to add 2 or 3 extra qts over a 15k interval, why not just use a cheaper oil that meets spec and change it twice?

my .02

Well, if you're looking at a 4 quart change, you're talking about using 4*3=12 quarts of oil versus 4+3=7 quarts of oil. Pricing M1 5W-20 at Walmart, it's $28.68/jug for EP, while the AP is only $25.47. So you're consuming $68.83 worth of oil every 15k, while the EP user is only consuming $35.65 worth. You've nearly doubled what you're spending on oil, and nearly doubled the amount of oil that needs to be recycled.

Plus, you have triple the labor and downtime that the EP user has…

when I said cheaper I meant way cheaper, non M1. The motorcraft semisyn, or valvoline ML semi. Or even Supertech.

I have a 6 qt sump. It's good and bad... I like having the nice cushion, but I always have to buy that extra quart.

Also I change oil at 7500mi intervals so that changes the math a bit.

 

[SilverFusion2010]

If replacing my PCV valve corrects my oil consumption issue (not really enough to be an issue but I'm more used to losing a qt in 6k) I would consider running a longer fill with fancy oil, but since I'm topping up every 3k I don't see the need to run the expensive stuff since the add pack is being refreshed every top off. Actually, considering that I could probably run 15k just with cheap semi syn if I switched to the Fram Ultra filter. I've been running the motorcraft filters for a while now.

 

[Matagonka]

Get ready for a new catalytic converter.

 

[SilverFusion2010]

Originally Posted By: salcuta88
Get ready for a new catalytic converter.


Why? Mileage?

 

[serversurfer]

Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
If replacing my PCV valve corrects my oil consumption issue (not really enough to be an issue but I'm more used to losing a qt in 6k) I would consider running a longer fill with fancy oil, but since I'm topping up every 3k I don't see the need to run the expensive stuff since the add pack is being refreshed every top off. Actually, considering that I could probably run 15k just with cheap semi syn if I switched to the Fram Ultra filter. I've been running the motorcraft filters for a while now.

Wowzers. If you're really going through a quart every 3k, then yeah, buy the cheapest stuff you can find until you fix your engine. Even a quart every 6k seems like a lot to me. I'm about 9k in on my 2013 Fit (~70k), and I've had no significant consumption at all. (Valvoline 0W-20 High Mileage w/Fram Ultra) My OLM has me on pace for a 12k OCI. Regardless, if your engine is consuming oil at twice the rate you typically expect, then I'd personally call that "an issue."

Oh, and rather than buying an extra quart every time you do a change, just buy an extra jug every fifth change, so you still get the volume pricing.

(Besides, it sounds like you'll use most of those four extra quarts on top-ups anyway.

)

Apart from that, I'm generally with you on the "cheap oil" stance. I'm really only using the Valvoline because SuperTech don't make a 0W-20 yet.

I may start ordering Kendall GT-1 online though, since it'll be cheaper than Valvoline or Pennzoil at Walmart, and it seems to have some nice adds.

 

[Matagonka]

Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
Originally Posted By: salcuta88
Get ready for a new catalytic converter.


Why? Mileage?


No. Cars that burn oil kill the cats and o2 sensors.

 

[SilverFusion2010]

Originally Posted By: salcuta88
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
Originally Posted By: salcuta88
Get ready for a new catalytic converter.


Why? Mileage?


No. Cars that burn oil kill the cats and o2 sensors.


Hopefully the PCV valve replacement will stop consumption. I suspect the spring is weak so it's allowing too much flow and sucking oil right out.

I'll deal with the cats when it starts tripping MILs, or if it starts clogging up, but no signs of that right now. I tend to be generous with throttle on the highway so it gets nice high flow several times a week

 

[nascarnation]

Originally Posted By: salcuta88


No. Cars that burn oil kill the cats and o2 sensors.


Sometimes, occasionally, but not always.
My old Saturn was sucking oil like crazy from about 40,000 miles onward (due to the oil ring drainback issue) and had the original cat and sensors with no diag codes past 100,000 miles when it was punted to its death (but thankfully not mine) by an 18 wheeler on I-70.

 

[kohnen]

Originally Posted By: mercuryblues
I had a look at that the other day at a local Walmart. Personally, I don't think it's worth paying $50 for a 5-quart jug to go 20,000 miles, whereas you can get the EP 15,000 mile version for about $28 and change. I would also have to say that most any synthetic oil would be good for a year, providing that you do not exceed the appropriate OCI for the version that you are using.
I think it's notable that ^^^THIS is almost the universal reaction to Mobil 1 AP. Mobil's latest oil is pretty much being ignored on BITOG and when I go to Walmart, it looks as if nobody is buying it either. Unless the price comes down to within about $1 per quart of M1EP, I don't think it will sell.

 

[mjoekingz28]

This appears to be everyone's chance to get Euro grade quality oils and it seems the BITOG population is quarreling about it costing a few bucks.

Leave it on the shelf so they can ship it overseas where I bet it will sell to those who appreciate quality.

 

[bbhero]

Costing a few bucks?? $50 is a lot for the average Wally world shopper. Anything over $25 has a hard time selling. It would not even sell well if it was $34. $25 per 5 qt container is about where most people's threshold is at. Nothing wrong with that at all. But a few bucks is not quite accurate here. For the extra $20 I can get two ribeye steaks for the lady and myself. That's a big difference.

 

[demarpaint]

At $50 in Walmart it is destined to fail. Unless they lower the price I'll wait for them to blow it out on a closeout sale, then try it.

 

[mooferz]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
This appears to be everyone's chance to get Euro grade quality oils and it seems the BITOG population is quarreling about it costing a few bucks.

Except this doesn't fulfill any European specifications except A1/B1- which is obsolete.

For people who want European grade oil, Walmart does typically stock Castrol 0W-40 A3/B4 and now has Pennzoil Euro L 5w-30 (C3) as well, both for around half the price of M1AP.