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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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
Now that RedLine has been mentioned, who manufactures their oil? They have no Labs or manufacturing facilities. They only have warehouses and packaging facilities. This was a Topic at the Track this past weekend. They are overpriced compared to AMSOIL and cannot outperform AMSOIL. Everyone at the track that was involved in this discussion agreed. Red line in the past has been a dominating brand at the tracks due to marketing and discounted driver suits. Now that drivers are having to update their driversuits in Grassroots Motorsports, It will be interesting to see if RedLine continues with the past trend or will AMSOIL, for a superior product at a better price, will take the #1 position of lubricants in the Grassroots Arena.
More info and free catalogs available @CAP
quote:
Originally posted by CharlieB:
Now that RedLine has been mentioned, who manufactures their oil? They have no Labs or manufacturing facilities. They only have warehouses and packaging facilities. This was a Topic at the Track this past weekend. They are overpriced compared to AMSOIL and cannot outperform AMSOIL. Everyone at the track that was involved in this discussion agreed. Red line in the past has been a dominating brand at the tracks due to marketing and discounted driver suits. Now that drivers are having to update their driversuits in Grassroots Motorsports, It will be interesting to see if RedLine continues with the past trend or will AMSOIL, for a superior product at a better price, will take the #1 position of lubricants in the Grassroots Arena.
More info and free catalogs available @CAP


RL makes, designs and Mfg there own oil all in house look up there website.

bruce
quote:
Originally posted by sear:
Bob Woods,
I followed your link. But I just found MSDS & so on. I didn't find anything about Super Tech or its manufacturer.

Did I blow it somehow?


Here is the list of Walmart brand lubes. To stores like Walmart and their packagers oils are just a commodity. Meaning they considere them all the same so they are more interested in what their cost is, 99% of thier customers only care about price and nothing else.

Assuming a Super Tech oil that is made by QS etc is the very same product you will find in the QS bottle is a huge leap. There are varing additives that can be used that would increase or decrease the cost of the raw product without affecting it meeting current spec's.

I thik all you can say about store brands is that they are cheaper than name brands but you cannot say they are identical formulations. Also these big chain stores like to buy in huge volume. So you may have product that is anywhere from months to year old from when it was mfg. All things to consider...

TECH 2000 SUPER CONCENTRATED FUEL INJECTOR CLEANER -- FIRST BRAND
SUPER TECH GAS LINE ANTI-FREEZE -- CRISTY
SUPER TECH R&O ANTI-WEAR OIL ALL GRADES -- SPECIALTY OIL
SUPER TECH RV WINTERIZER -- QUAKER STATE
SUPER TECH UNIVERSAL PRECISE MIX 2-CYCLE ENGINE OIL -- SPECIALTY
SUPER TECH SUPER CONCENTRATED FUEL INJECTOR CLEANER -- FIRST BRANDS
SUPER TECH GAS TREATMENT -- FIRST BRANDS
SUPER TECH FUEL INJECTOR AND CARBURETOR CLEANER -- FIRST BRANDS
SUPER TECH & TECH 2000 WINTER FORMULA -25 WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID
SUPER TECH & TECH 2000 WINDSHIELD WASH -30F -- SOUTH WIN LTD</a><br>
SUPER TECH & TECH 2000 -20 WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID -- SOUTHWIN T
TECH 2000 & SUPER TECH SUMMER FORMULA WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID --S
SUPER TECH R&O ANTI-WEAR HYDRAULIC OIL ISO 46 -- WARREN DISTRIBUT
SUPER TECH BAR AND CHAIN OIL SAE 30 -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH UNIVERSAL HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION FLUID -- WARREN DISTR
SUPER TECH MINERAL GEAR OIL SAE 90 -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH SAE 15W40 -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 20W50 OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 5W30 MOTOR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 GENUINE 30W MOTOR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBU
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 30W MOTOR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 DEXRON III/MERCON AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 TYPE F AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID --
SUPER TECH SAE 30 UNIVERSAL MOTOR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH 5W30 FULL SYNTHETIC OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH FULL SYNTHETIC SAE 10W30 -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH SYNTHETIC BLEND SAE 5W30 MOTOR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUT
SUPER TECH SYNTHETIC BLEND SAE 10W30 MOTOR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBU
SUPER TECH ENGINE TREATMENT -- SPECIALTY OIL CO
SUPER TECH STARTING FLUID -- VALVOLINE
SUPER TECH 50/50 ANTIFREEZE AND COOLANT -- OLD WORLD INDUSTRIES
SUPER TECH TILT AND TRIM FLUID -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH MULTI-VEHICLE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID -- WARREN D
SUPER TECH SYNTHETIC BLEND 10W40 MOTOR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH UNIVERSAL 2-CYCLE OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH RV AND MARINE ANTI-FREEZE -- FOX PACKAGING CO
SUPER TECH ENGINE DEGREASER -- HYDROSOL INC
SUPER TECH CARB CLEANER -- HYDROSOL INC
SUPER TECH WHITE GREASE -- HYDROSOL INC.
SUPER TECH MULTI PURPOSE LITHIUM GREASE -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH MULTI DUTY COMPLEX GREASE -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH MOLY LITHIUM GREASE -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH MARINE GREASE -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH 0 DEGREE WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID -- SOUTHWIN LTD
SUPER TECH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH 75W140 SYNTHETIC GEAR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 GL-5 SAE 80W90 GEAR OIL -- WARREN DIST
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 GL-5 85W140 GEAR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUT
SUPER TECH FULL SYNTHETIC - ALL GRADES -- SPECIALTY OIL / PENNZO
SUPER TECH OUTBOARD 2 CYCLE ENGINE OIL TC-W3 -- SPECIALTY OIL
SUPER TECH MINERAL GEAR OIL SAE 90 -- SPECIALTY OIL / PENNZOIL QU
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 10W30 MOTOR OIL -- WARREN DISTRIBUTION
SUPER TECH SYNTHETIC BLEND MOTOR OIL - ALL GRADES -- SPECIALTY O
SUPER TECH SUMMER WINDSHIELD WASH (WASHER FLUID 32) -- FOX PACK
SUPER TECH +22 F WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID -- FOX PACKAGING
SUPER TECH 10W40 -- EXXON MOBIL
SUPER TECH 20W50 -- EXXON MOBIL
SUPER TECH R AND O ANTI WEAR HYDRAULIC OIL AW 46 -- SPECIALTY
SUPER TECH SAE 30 UNIVERSAL MOTOR OIL -- PENNZOIL QUAKER STATE
SUPER TECH SAE 30 UNIVERSAL MOTOR OIL -- PENNZOIL QUAKER S
SUPER TECH AND TECH 2000 WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID -25F -- FOX PA
SUPER TECH WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID -20F -- FOX PACKAGING
SUPER TECH MARINE OUTBOARD 2 CYCLE ENGINE OIL TC-W3 -- SPECIALT
SUPER TECH MARINE HIGH VISCOSITY 80W90 LOWER UNIT GEAR LUBRICANT
SUPER TECH CORROSION CONTROL AND TRAILER WHEEL BEARING GREASE --
SUPER TECH CONCENTRATED FUEL INJECTOR CLEANER -- PENNZOIL QUAKER
SUPER TECH GAS TREATMENT -- PENNZOIL QUAKER STATE
SUPER TECH POWER STEERING FLUID -- PENNZOIL QUAKER STATE
SUPER TECH HIGH PERFORMANCE BRAKE FLUID DOT 3 -- PENNZOIL QUAKER
SUPER TECH UNIVERSAL 2 CYCLE ENGINE OIL -- PENNZOIL QUAKER STATE
SUPER TECH 80W90 AND 85W140 GEAR LUBRICANT -- SPECIALTY OIL
SUPER TECH MARINE POWER TRIM AND TILT FLUID -- PENNZOIL QUAKER
SUPER TECH SAE 30 UNIVERSAL HEAVY DUTY DIESEL ENGINE OIL -- PE
SUPER TECH PERFORMANCE ENGINEERED HD SAE MOTOR OIL - ALL GRADES
SUPER TECH HEAVY DUTY TRACTOR HYDRAULIC AND TRANSMISSION OIL -- SPEC
SUPER TECH R&O ANTI WEAR HYDRAULIC OIL AW 46 -- SPECIALTY OIL
SUPER TECH FUEL INJECTOR AND CARBURETOR CLEANER -- SPECIALTY OI
SUPER TECH TYPE F AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID -- SPECIALTY OIL
SUPER TECH DEXRON III / MERCON AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID -- SPEC
SUPER TECH BAR & CHAIN OIL GRADE 30 -- SPECIALTY OIL / PENNZOIL
SUPER TECH SAE 15W40 UNIVERSAL MOTOR OIL -- SPECIALTY OIL / PENN
SUPER TECH PERFORMANCE ENGINEERED MOTOR OIL - ALL GRADES -- SPECI
SUPER TECH ANTIFREEZE / COOLANT -- HONEYWELL
SUPER TECH WINDSHIELD WASHER PREMIUM DEICER -30 -- FOX PACKAGIN
SUPER TECH 5W30 -- EXXON MOBIL
SUPER TECH MULTI LUBE -- HYDROSOL
SUPER TECH OIL TREATMENT -- NATIONAL INTERCHEM LLC
SUPER TECH 10W30 -- EXXON MOBIL
SUPER TECH HD 30 -- EXXON MOBIL
30440 SEARCHED 96 SELECTED
Last edited by miker
The mineral oils are regional . If the product code on the bottle for the mineral oils starts with WM with numerals behind that , it comes from Warren Distribution .

Product codes 97Z053 and 477414-00 are an Exxon/Mobil product . The latest MSDS was revised on 1-18-05 .

The group III synthetic product is apparently from Warren , who knows who supplies the base oil but if a SHC is a SHC I'd personally buy on price if I were inclined to use a 30wt formula comprised entirely of group III base oil . But I'm not so inclined Razz

Pennzoil Platinum is a SHC per the MSDS and 2 bucks per quart higher than the Super Tech . I'm not certain that either of those has the cost vs performance value of the 2 dollar per quart Mobil Clean 7500 but ..........

Thats off topic now is it not ? Cool
I sent Warren Dist. an e-mail. I have used the Walmart Super Tech products, with good results. Here is my e-mail from them...

Thanks for your inquiry.
We are one of WalMart's packagers for their Super Tech Motor Oils.
While there are others, we are one of their major suppliers.

We are a prime manufacturer meaning we do everything from blow mold the
bottles, attach the labels and caps, to also blend the oils from base
stocks, and additive packages. We do it all from start to finish, so we
don't use someone else's oil or package and just put the Super Tech
label on it. We do it from "scratch" right here.

As far as their other packagers are concerned, I can't speak to what
they do, but I know we produce their oil to the highest automotive
standards, and their specifications.
Hope this helps.

>>> Paul Rucker <doda2024@yahoo.com> 11/01/05 09:06AM >>>
I have heard that Warren Distributing labels some Walmart Super Tech
Motor oils, I was just wondering if you manufacture them for Walmart,
or
simply repackage another suppliers product into your
bottleing/distribution system? I like the Super Tech Motor Oils and use
them...rumor has it that they are made by Quaker State, some say
Exxon-Mobile, some say Warren Dist. makes them. I am just curious and
appreciate your time and help.
There sure is a lot of talk on this site that is helpful. I did not see anyone referring to specific levels of quality or application of motor oils. I know that on road hiway diesels for heavy trucks need to meet emission requirements starting in 2007. All these newer engines require CJ-4 type motor oils becasue they have lower ash levels and lowered phos levels and must meet very stringent wear, soot, viscosity control and detergency requirements met by the engine manufacturers. Has anyone from the manufacturer of the Walmart Tech 2000 ever said their 15W40 meets CJ-4 quality specs? This is a must for all warranty on all heavy duty diesels. What about it...is anyone out there willing to say it does or is it on the package?
I use their automatic transmission fluids from time to time, however I flush all of my transmissions every 10,000 miles and or when I notice the fluid to before somewhat gritty and or slightly cooked. Most all of my mileage is 99%hwy. But again, I try to flush out atf by at least 10,000 miles, or less. I used it continuously in my volvos, Lincolns, Saabs etc. (740's/850's). My 740's (250-300,000 avg) did well especially the one with 500,000 plus original miles! All of the others. And the trannys still ran good. Now oil is another story, however in an emergency I wouldn't turn super-tech down!

Best Regards
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