Was someone trying to pull a fast one on me?
 

So my girlfriend went into a local shop to have her oil changed. I gave her 6 quarts of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0w20 and told her to let the guys put that in her car. Later she told me that the guys said Pennzoil was crap oil and that it doesn't stand up to Toyota's 16000km oil change interval. They put it in anyway and then continued to say that only Toyota branded oil is good for the 16000km. He tried to pitch their shop's in-house brand oil and claimed that one would last 12000km. He put the reminder sticker on her windshield and told her to come back after 8000km.

I use this same oil in my FR-S and I wait until 16000km have passed. Is there any merit to this shop's claim?

I reckon the guys at the shop were jest ah messen wich your girl friend.

I'd suggest you and your GF just follow the manufacturers recommendations for oil changes.


humfrz

A fast one was pulled.

The best way to know is get a used oil analysis from black stone labs or another lab. Then you will know for sure. How the car is driven and climate can really make a difference on how long it will provide acceptable protection. So it can vary.

The Toyota 0W20 does test better in some aspects. Apparently the shear test is quite a bit better. I can't remember who it was but someone here had posted a bunch of good info about this and I changed over on my last oil change. It's tough to ascertain a difference but I do know that I appreciate the low cost, less than $5/qt.

Your girlfriend requires oil changes??


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Unless she is heavily tracking or beating on it under very extreme conditions as long as you are using the proper grade oil all is good.

Only negative thing about that oil...It's cost for a 5 quart container is about twice the price of Mobil 1. Possibly not the case where you are located.

I’m a woman with a degree in engineering and a lifetime messing around with motorbikes, cars, and pretty much anthing else that moves. It’s a pretty rare event when I go to a mechanic and they _don’t_ try to bullshit me.

I'd suggest a shop that doesn't try to fuck over those who they think know less or push a sale of a "better" oil. They exist but definitely hard to come by

Any good stories?

Well there was the Peugeot dealer from my last car, who at 20,000km wanted to sell me new tyres, as they were “wearing unevenly”. He backed down quickly when I told him I’d been rotating them every 5,000km.

Same Peugeot dealer at 40,000km told me the front pads were shot, about 2000km after I’d put new pads in on all four. They also didn’t bother replacing my air cleaner, despite billing me for it.

I pretty-much never take a car to a mechanic except for warranty stuff, preferring to do all my own work. I think a lot of the reason for that is that I expect bad things.

On the flip-side, parts counter guys are often wonderful. Went to a Honda parts counter to buy parts for my daughter’s Spada (wonderful old 250 bike), which was ~15 years old. From memory we needed new brake lines, a caliper rebuild kit, new rotor and new pads, plus a seal kit for the carbies. He took the time to research parts from current generation Hondas that were compatible. The only bit we were unable to source OE was the lines.

I went back for other parts a few weeks later and he’d put together a parts list for me from going through microfiche in his spare time. That’s pretty awesome.

0w20 is the gold standard? sorry im new here, just got my new to me brz last week. trying to learn and do all the right things.

Yes that is the recommended. If you are going to do any track you may want to go a bit heavier though.

the important takeaway here is that toyota makes their own oil! :bellyroll:

i would call them back to troll them and ask what specific certifications this 'toyota oil' has that the pennzoil doesn't-- anything that is better should be able to be verified to be better by independent standards.