Quality of Sams club motor oil

[Dan_at_Home]

Has anyone used Sams club brand of oil in their car for a DIY oil change? 

In the past, I would usually buy the Pennzoil 5W-20 from BJs wholesale club however they have not carried it for the last 6-12 months or so in our local store.  BJs does have Mobile One 5W-20 but it really expensive to buy.

Sams club own brand of oil is definitely priced really well, however I am a bit skeptical about the quality.  Is the quality decent and acceptable for reliable use or will it lead to an early demise of your car's engine? 

[FIRE me]

If you feel like saving a few bucks, just compare the API ratings on the Sam's oil with the required API rating from your vehicle manufacturer (either your owner's manual or web site).

As long as the specs match, it is good enough.

http://www.pqiamerica.com/apiserviceclass.htm

My two cents: I watch for rebates and I get Mobile One from Wal-Mart for about $12 for 5 quarts (after rebate).

[Daddyfatsax]

So far I've done one oil change each with the 5W-20 and 5W-30 from Sam's Club. They looked good going in and the vehicles have ran well since. I'm going to change the 5W-30 out here in the next week or two, got about 5400 miles on it in my Tacoma. No issues and I'll see what it looks like coming out then.

And in case anyone is getting ready for a face punch, I only drive it to work and back and would love to get a job within biking distance and go down to a one vehicle household. I also have a job I cannot miss so I use it for harsh weather, driving through flooded streets, whatever it takes.

[Dan_at_Home]

Thanks FIRE ME for that link, it is interesting and a good reference to keep, I always have seen that API service logo on packages of oil but never knew how to read it. 

Daddyfatsax thanks for post, it sounds like the oil works good in your vehicles so far.  As far your vehicle situation, it sounds like the only way you will be able to bike to work is to (1) get a new job closer to your home or (2) move to a house or rental closer to your current job.  Both of those options are serious lifestyle changes, and can take some time to figure out if you want to go through with them or not.

[guitar_stitch]

Since Sam's club doesn't manufacture their own oil, it would behoove you to find out who actually makes it.  I know the Walmart brand, Supertec, is actually Warren Performance Products.  I've been running the full synthetic Walmart oil religiously for commuting as well as towing and have no issues to report.

[paddedhat]

bobistheoilguy.com is a great forum if you really want to dive deep into everything you could ever what to learn about oil.
blackstone-labs.com is a testing service that has a wealth of info. on their site. I recall an article there, many years ago, on how one of their employees would buy dirt cheap, no name oil from a drugstore chain, and run it in his own car. Analysis proved that it really was no different than what they were seeing from similar engines running the top brands.

[Milspecstache]

bobistheoilguy.com is a great forum if you really want to dive deep into everything you could ever what to learn about oil.
blackstone-labs.com is a testing service that has a wealth of info. on their site. I recall an article there, many years ago, on how one of their employees would buy dirt cheap, no name oil from a drugstore chain, and run it in his own car. Analysis proved that it really was no different than what they were seeing from similar engines running the top brands.

paddedhat nailed it.  I did a day's worth of research on bobistheoilguy 5 or 6 years ago and came to the conclusion that if you change the oil at the 3k mark, then it doesn't matter how cheap the oil is.  The difference between oils is only after 3k miles.

If synthetic I would push that to at least 5k miles, however.

This is what I do for my cars.  On the old ones I run wal-mart conventional oil at 3k intervals and my newest I run the wal-mart synthetic brand but at 5k intervals.  Don't put synthetic in an old car unless you want all the seals to leak from the high-detergent cleaning the seals.  If you can catch it by the 50k mark or so in the first few years of life shift to synthetic as it will result in longer engine life, at least enough to repay the extra cost in oil.  If you run less than that interval in a year then change the oil annually.