I used to care...
Back when I was employed and had more disposable income,I always used Castol 20W50 in all my vehicles,even year round a few times,though I did have some unnerving noises on 20 degree or lower days when they first started up in the morning,prompting me to switch to 10W30 in the winter--but all my vehicles ran better and consumed a lot less 20W50 than 10W30,so I ran the 20W50 as long as I could--had higher oil pressure too...even though none of the engines were not really in need of attention,or visibly smoking...
Then I used whatever was available on sale,or free--working at a large parts store almost gaurantees you wont have to BUY much oil,if you dont mind taking home the leaky quarts your boss gave you, crushed under a stack of cases piled too high,or accidently slashed with the box cutter when putting them on display!
..or dont mind if all 5 quarts are not the same brand--I'd just try to keep them all the same viscosity,and dump them in!--I used Wolf's Head,(good oil!)--OilZum(another good one)..Amalie and Kendall (same company)is good stuff too..
Quaker State-(Eh---I never liked them after a viscosity mix up that blew a lot of motors in the 80's.I've seen sludge problems with its older formula too,--probably much better now--) I also used Valvoline ,and their Racing 50W oil in some of my older "smokers"...we had "No Name" 99 cent stuff that we used on our own cars and the delivery vehicles at the store,none had any engine lube problems or failures..
We sold Amalie grade 70 oil for harleys,thet stuff was like maple syrup,almost like 90W gear oil,but no sulfer smell!--I used that on my worst oil burners in the summer--you didnt have to add a quart nowhere near as often with that stuff,I even added some "Motor Medic" in with it on an old VW beetle that had real bad oil burning problems,it ran a lot better!--but dont expect it to start below 50 degrees!
I used to be "brand loyal", both on cars,and the oil I put in them..but oil comes from the same pipe,comes to us from a few big refineries,and all they do is add a few :additives: and call it castrol,valvoline,wolf head,etc--they are all just slightly different,just enough for people to swear by,or swear AT the oil as far as it making their engine last 300,000,or blaming it for an early demise..its all one's personal favorite,just like some prefer chevy's over ford--it makes it a marketing strategy-
-Synthetic is probably THE best protection by far,but I've never used it--I cant see spending 20+ bucks every 3000 miles,when I have driven 30 years with no real oil related failures,and I never used anything but cheap stuff and changed it often...maybe when I get a new Vette,I'll be able to afford the synthetic oil too...
--but I think dinosour juice is good enough for what I'm driving...
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