A friend of mine says that Wal Mart "brand" motor oil is made by Quaker State. One of their "service reps" working in the automotive section pointed out the similarity of manufacturing numbers (I assume date, lot number, etc.) on the containers. I am skeptical, but he is convinced.

I would just as soon pay 30 to 50% less for the Wal Mart brand if it is basically the same oil as Quaker State.

Any comment, suggestions, information on where I can find "the truth"?

Please forgive me if this is an old, rehashed subject. I'm just a Newbie.

Walmart oil was made by QS its now made by Warren. goto http://www.cheminfonet.org/msds1.htm
and click on walmart for oil source.

By the way when you do your search for a product you may have to do a right click and then "open with" I pick picture viewer as they open as pictures.

Thanks for the info...I'll go there now.

I have an 88 S10 with 227000 miles on it that has used walmart oil for years. I'm using the walmart blend 5w30 in my 97 Taurus and 2002 GMC pickup. Its good oil and for the price its great oil.

Don't take this wrong, I'm not knocking SuperTech, I've used the motor oil some, and the ATF quite a bit with no problems. But, I'm always a little scared of Wal-Mart simply switching suppliers on the oil products. I don't mind using the SuperTech filters, because I can just look at them (or cut open) and make sure that they haven't changed.

At least for me, at my Wal-Mart, the best cheap oil deal is on the Chevron Supreme at ~$1.10/qt. I'm not saying that you should avoid the SuperTech, but personally, I feel a little better with the Chevron.

Thanks Bob and Abus-

That is enough information for me to use SuperTech in my dear old Lumina (179,000 miles)with some confidence.

And I will inform my friend that the stuff is no longer made by Quaker State...at least for the time being!

And by the way, does anyone have any comments on "Warren blended" motor oils from Warren distribution?

I agree with the other member, why for your car would you chance playing roulette and mixing manufacturers brands of oil to save a few cents? If a problem ever developed you think ole mal wart is going to fix your engine, or even listen to your complaint?

Buying generic repackaged goods have their place and in my opinion my car is not that place, unless there is tracability and accountability for the goods such as Napa oil ie: Valvoline...ashland.

Knowing exactly what is in my oil pan makes me feel a bunch better. Spending time to locate who made the oil and what specs it meets takes more patience than I have, but to each is own.

Some good points Fastr1....

This all simply started out as a curiosity for me, but it turns out that I kind of like the research aspect, etc.

I'm 100% with you...I like to know EXACTLY what is in my crankcase too!

Here in Louisiana Walmart oil in the norhtern part of the state is actually Penzoil and in Baton Rouge its Castrol. Graham packaging makes, fills, and stickers the bottles for Wallyworld. There is also a Graham packaging in Vicksburg MS that uses Quaker State.

A Father and a Dad!

My complaint about WalMart oil is that my civic takes just 4 qts. At two different locations, they have put in 5 qts. I even put a note on the dip stick, and then the person lied and said he put in 4 qts(it was one qt over full). They advertise 5 qts and filter. I suppose they don't even check to find the correct capacity of a vehicle.

Lumina,

I am pasting below a response I had submitted in the Industrial Lubrication message board, which would be of interest.


Many OEM's "market" lubricants under their brand name. It possibly started with the Japanese who started marketing "Genuine oils."

Principally it is a good idea as the OEM seek to protect their equipment from damage and subsequently warranty /guarantee claims by the use of wrong lubricants.

Reputed manufacturers rarely take short cuts and it is in all probablity that these OEM's will choose a top of the line lube manufacturer. The only problem is that some of the top brands like "Castrol" may; or may not supply oils, if it does not carry the their (Castrol) brand name.Some comprises have been and we now have joint-branded products like Castrol-Hitachi Excavator fluid (Castrol Hyspin TH 46).

The option then, for OEM's, is to chose from lesser brands (Valvoline, Pennzoil etc) if OEM wishes to camouflage the "manufacturer" of the lubricant.

Thus the use of Atlas Copco Roto-H Compressor oil provides an in-built warranty & guarantee. The only difficulty is that such "Genuine oils" carry thier own mark up in price and do not come cheap.

The same would be be true of "Wal Mart" oils.

If you are persistent you can "discover" the "manufacturer" of the oil, but in all probability it may not be Shell. Further, the OEM may have obtained "undertaking" from the Lube manufacturer not to sell the same oil in the market, "with the same name."

Hussam Adeni

I'm not sure what relationship between oil suppliers and the manufacturers of equipment has to do with Wal-Mart's store brand oil?


Thanks to the wonders of OSHA, we can definitely tell exactly who makes most store brand oils based on their MSDS sheets. In the case of Wal-Mart's Supertech line, they are made by Warren Dist.

Now, the obvious question is when a store brand oil is made by a major oil company, is it the same as their branded oil? Based on comparing the CAS#'s on the MSDS sheets, and comparing spectro analysis reports from virgin samples, you can typically tell one way or another. An example of this would be the NAPA brand oil that is made by Ashland and appears identical to Valvoline.

Warren is a packaging company, no telling where they get their products from. Most likely the low price supplier. Not saying this is bad, just you never know from one batch to the other who makes it.

Abus,

The relationship between the two is that, in both cases Companies who have nothing to do with lubricants are marketing oils under thier brand name. Whether it is Wall mart oils or Honda Genuine oils, they both buy the lube from a lube manufacturer and put their brand on it.

In both cases too such "marketeers" may be fleecing the customer.

Hussam Adeni

Hussam Adeni

With Honda brand oil, at least the bottles that I've seen, it was implied that the oil was superior to average cheap dino...the same thing on most of the OEM brands. The Honda (or AC-Delco, etc) oil maybe radically overpriced as well.


I can't see how Wal-Mart (or the discount store of your choice) is fleecing anyone, I don't know anyone that goes into Wal-Mart and buys SuperTech oil (or Sam's choice Cola) and thinks that it is somehow superior, or anything of that sort. Rather, they see it as the upper cheapest oil on the shelf that meets SL, and they buy it for that...Just like they have no illusions that the Sam's Choice cola is superior to the Pepsi next to it.

No matter whether you'd run SuperTech oil or not, at $0.74 for SL oil, its hard to argue that any deception whatsoever is taking place.

Abus,

I stand corrected. You are right in the Honda Genuine oil business, the custmers may be fleeced.

The "Wal mart" is like "Mustafa" of Singapore. They buy in bulk;(and in containers) and hence are able to pass on the bulk discount benefits to the customers. Hence yes, they cannot fleece customers.

Hussam Adeni

I was told by a co-worker that Wal-Mart has a fully synthetic motor oil on the shelf now, under the Wal-Mart brand. Does anyone know where this might come from?

99% certain that it is a Warren product.

It is, as already discussed here, a Group III fake syn oil, not necessarily a bad thing, but it is not Amsoil/Redline/Mobil for $3/qt.