Lesser quality Walmart products (oil)

[apache]

During last nights dinner the topic of the proposed new Walmart came up. One of my family members brought up the fact, which is a fact indeed, that two like products,one made for and sold at Walmart and the other for a non bargain store are differing quality materials,Walmarts being cheaper thus the lower price. This is a proven fact on clothing,shoes and some other stuff (DAHIK). Anyway it got me thinking about the last batch of 5 quart jugs of Castrol 5/30 I picked up. The ones now carrying the Walmart name and some other wording on the jugs. Its obvious B/P who makes castrol has been approached by Walmart to make specific lables on the jugs but is it the oil the same quality? our Walmart sells it for $10.98 for 5 quarts and most local A/P stores close to $3 a quart,Also Mobil 1 @ $24.99 a 5 quart jug and the A/P`s $36 or so for the same.
Fire away

 

[Chaddy]

I buy all my Valvoline and Delo diesel oil at wallyworld because they beat any other store's price.

 

[wayne]

Let me give you just a little info on Walmart and how they buy. Let's say you own company a and want to have Walmart sell your product. You meet with Walmart and you tell them what you want for your product. They turn around and tell you what they will pay and if you don't agree they get up and walk out of the meeting untill you agree to their price. As far as their store brand products, they get sorced out to the cheapest bidder. One place they save a ton of money is packaging. As far as their automotive fluids, I've been using them for years with no issues. When my wife or I need to get any auto fluids we usually look to see what's on sale. If it's cheaper then the Wallyworld brand we get it. 95% of the time though it's the Walmart brand though.

 

[toomany]

I have never used their motor oil, but have used their gear oil, brake fluid and anifreeze. No complaints with any of them.

As you know, it's name brand stuff, just packaged differntly. Napa, Advance, AutoZone do the same thing.

 

[ramjet gmc]

i dont get the -- store brand oil -- for newer stuff i just want to know what is in it and the - off brand probly is fine but i dont know what the low bidder is

 

[wayne]

i dont get the -- store brand oil -- for newer stuff i just want to know what is in it and the - off brand probly is fine but i dont know what the low bidder is

The low bidder is the company that will make it and package it for the low bid. When I worked for Cadbury we had to deal with Walmart on a regular basis. Walmart has a their store brand for tons of products.

 

[GsxrMike]

The reason walmart is cheaper is because they press and press there supplier for lower prices. The vendor becomes relient on walmart and is forced to comply. They drive the price lower and lower until the vendor goes out of business. That is the jist of walmart.

 

[ramjet gmc]

The low bidder is the company that will make it and package it for the low bid. When I worked for Cadbury we had to deal with Walmart on a regular basis. Walmart has a their store brand for tons of products.

i know that i just was trying to say was the low bidder /q-state or moble or some china crap brand

i want to know what

 

[wayne]

i know that i just was trying to say was the low bidder /q-state or moble or some china crap brand

i want to know what

I don't know who does their auto fluids. If it's anything like the food industry you might find several brands under one parent co. It works out well when you own competing companys.

 

[British Slave]

Look at the API Spec on the Wal mart oil and any other brand. If it meets the same API spec, it is the same quality.

I have a link to a web site somewhere that shows who packages who's oil. Chevron packages a lot of different brands.

Citgo packages a lot of off brand oil also.

 

[jrcpi999]

F*** WALMART!!!!!! Cant stand them and would pay a higher cost for an item at a different store just so they dont get the business. They dont give benefits to employees, seems like they just want money for CEOs, and at least in Colorado are overrun with mexicans. Most of the signs in the store are english and spanish and most employees only speak spanish. I wish that store would die. Pull the heart out...IE South Park. Buy elsewhere, heck, support mom and pop or smaller companies. Sorry, hate that place and just had to rant. On with the show

 

[bodacious]

I would venture a guess that the reason they sell cheaper is buying in bulk. All oil has to meet API specs, so Wal-Mart's oil is the same as everybody else's. Castol is Castrol, Mobile is Mobile, Delo is Delo, etc.

 

[apache]

Things somewhat went off course from where I was going with the inital question. True about the low bidder on Wallace Martel goods,but what I was getting at is the Castrol or Mobil 1 sold there the same quality as everyone else sells at normal retail price? be interesting to see some test results on new out of the jug analysis. The statement about Castrol is Castrol surely dosent apply to all the products such as cloths they sell,the ones sold at Walmart are labeled the same and sold under the same presumption of like quality elsewhere but made or lower quality materials to meet Walmarts low price.

 

[Kjunky5]

Just my $0.02
The local O'rielly store sells Mobil 1 in a 4 quart jug for $28.99
Wal-Mart sells it in a 5 quart jug for $23.96. You do the math.

I've used their store brand oil in lawn mowers/gokarts for years with no problems but in my opinion, if it's not Mobil 1, it's all the same

 

[super10brss]

I have heard that not all oil is the same.... seems that some of the additives have been taken out because of new engine designs.... Hydrological lifter engines need those additives.... "those who know" have said that the 15w40 Shell Rotella, not sure but some GM oil and one other I can't remeber.... I use the shell 15w40 in all my rides... 89 GM truck, 04 jeep, Blaz-r (of course) 06 GMC 4 door truck, 00 buick regal... I guess it still stands true... to wear a enigne out you must first wear the oil plug out.....

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Dunno about the house brand and "no name" stuff they sell but their big name stuff is the same as elsewhere. Walmart just buys in massive bulk purchases and their supply system is VERY lean so they don't have a lot of overhead or extra purchasing cost in their products. This is why you go to a Walmart in Florida and see the same products as Walmarts in Michigan and Colorado.

It's good stuff. I can get Valvoline 5w30 for about $3 a jug cheaper in the 5 quart jugs at Walmart than anywhere else in town. With synthetic oil it's over $5, almost pays for my NAPA Gold oil filter. I love my local NAPA but I can't justify paying their prices on oil when I can go to Walmart a mile away and get it for $3-5 cheaper.

They're the same way with ammo. A while back one of their suppliers tried to force them to renegotiate...that company no longers sells it's products to Walmart. Like them or hate them Walmart knows how to make a buck and keep prices low.

 

[4by4bygod]

what I was getting at is the Castrol or Mobil 1 sold there the same quality as everyone else sells at normal retail price? be interesting to see some test results on new out of the jug analysis. The statement about Castrol is Castrol surely dosent apply to all the products such as cloths they sell,the ones sold at Walmart are labeled the same and sold under the same presumption of like quality elsewhere but made or lower quality materials to meet Walmarts low price.

Whenever you buy from a chain, be it pep boys, napa, or walmart, the price is determined by a) what the chain is willing to pay the manufacturer, and b) what the chain permits the product to be sold for. ( I know, duh )

Summit does the same thing.. I like to call them the wal mart of high performance..

To answer your question -

Oils have devolved in quality, ( for example, an increased use of solvents instead of detergents) and one of the reasons is the walmart mentality that everything can be made and sold more cheaply..

and to make up for the fact that companies have to eat a certain amount of profits to play in walmarts sandbox, every other chain that carries the same product gets the cheap stuff too..that's how the manufacturer builds profitability, keep the stock price up, and pays for those cool commercials and NASCAR sponsorships.

Eventually, things even out and the manufacturer is making big profits on the sheer volume from being in walmart, but it's funny, they never dump their profits back into making a better product, but there I go, editorializing again..

there's no difference between the oil you can get at pep boys, and the oil you get at wal mart.. it's all made to API specificiations ( viscosity, TBN, etc), so you can shop for the cheapest price, and not worry if one chain or another has a better formula.. remember, API specifications insure "uniformity of formulation", not " the best ingredients we can afford to put in the jug". it's not about you, it's about profits.

the issue is, what you want the oil to do, and how long you want it to live..that's when it may be time to forget the discount oils, and look at something better.

 

[apache]

the issue is, what you want the oil to do, and how long you want it to live..that's when it may be time to forget the discount oils, and look at something better.[/quote]
True but in my years Ive found cost dosent necessarily mean quality. Case in point I think castrol is over advertised and poor quality for the price and hype. Personally I use Mobil 1 in our bikes and vehicles but have used Delo 5/30 in several personal vehicles and felt it far out performed Castrol in the consumption and engine noise on startup. This is based of a worn 22R and a new 4.0 Jeep engine and 07 6.0 chevy PU. We also use this in the fleet vehicles without issue as expected. I gotta admit im a bit dissapointed in the Mobil 1`s performance in my 07 Chevy,oil useage has reared its head and mileage dropped over 1 mpg for some reason,and it turned pretty dark quickly which is odd because synthetic has less detergents and the truck has 20K on it. Still off all the tests,reports etc I`ll stay with it all around,specially in the bikes.

 

[Chevy305]

I think I'll just pay the few extra $$ for Tom's (4By4ByGod) oil and be done for 10K miles.

 

[4by4bygod]

Thanks, Glenn! you are the man!

Apache, just so you know, I wasn't necessarily asking you to look at switching oils ( IE: buying mine) ..my point about specialty lubes was this:

the mobil ones, the castrols, and the quaker states are not only similar in formulation to each other, ( so you can buy them anywhere), they are similar in functionality..

look at them like elmers glue - if you just want to bond two pieces of construction paper to make something to hang on the fridge, then the elmers is great.. but, ( getting back to the need for specialty lubes ) if you want to bond two things together so that you can put pressure on and get production out of the bonded parts, then you might need to step up to epoxy. they're both adhesives, but they produce dramatically different outcomes.

I'm not saying everyone needs a specialty motor oil..I'm just pointing out that there are different needs out there, and the cheap stuff can't meet everyone's needs. Some people just want an oil to go 3,000 miles, and their only criteria is that nothing's blown up.. for them, whatever is on sale that day is fine.

The sad part is when marketing hype convinces people they're buying something that they aren't getting.. and that's the only reason I make the distinction between common and specialty oils.

and you're right, a higher cost doesn't automatically mean better quality.. some of the "high performance" specialty oils out there are nothing more than the same stuff you can buy at wal mart, in a different bottle.

I should have made the point earlier - the key to an oils quality isn't brand name, where you buy it, or what it says on the bottle.. the key is what an oil analysis says the oil is doing in the unit..

in thinking about your oil consumption issue.. take a look at the PCV valve.. if it's gummy, what you may have going on is the solvents are boiling out of your oil and "outgassing".. if your oil has lots of solvents and reactive hydrocarbons in it, this can reduce your oil level and make it seem like a mechanical problem...just something to check - I'm thinking out loud, as always.