Has anybody had any experiences, good or bad, using the Wal-Mart SuperTech Full Synthetic oils. At $1.77 per quart it looks like a good buy. Also their filters, according to the single pass and multi pass test ratings on the box seem to surpass the leading brands.

 

There was some discussion here about the WalMart line of lubes a while back. If you can buy a full synthetic at $1.77 a quart I don't see any reason to pay thirty cents less for name brand dino. The synthetics have proven to be superior oils and I'm not a brand snob.
Just my .02

CB

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 22-Sep-02 AT 04:00 PM (EST)]There is possibly no topic more debated, and probably no more vital to longevity of our vehicles, than that of motor oil, their quality, and of course, that is where the subject of "brand" and costs come into play. I have used (in my own personal vehicles) the 'SuperTech' (Wal*Mart "brand") conventional and "blended" oils, with "seemingly" no ill effect(s). I have not used their Full synthetic, but I can tell you the 'power of suggestion' is strong - and based on you're bringing up the issue, I am now seriously considering using this product in my dear mother's Subaru this winter (and then probably again next summer) for several (numerous) good reasons. I gotta' believe that Sam Walton (Dear Lord rest his soul) did not get EXTREMELY wealthy selling, much less putting his "name" on, products of less than average quality. I do believe Wal*Mart does sell some products of less than average quality, in fact they probably sell SOME down-right "junk" - but THOSE products are LESS expensive than the 'known' quality products, the products with a reputation that precedes them. As well and further, the products commonly referred to as "Wal*Mart" brands (Equate, Ol' Roy, SuperTech, etc.), appear and seem to prove to be of at least decent, if not GOOD, quality (a.k.a. - NOT "junk"). In a pinch (have been in plenty of them, and am currently in one of, if not THE tightest one of my 42 years), I would not and do not hesitate (well truthfully, I have and still do "hesitate" - but not as long as I used to when I racked my brain for longer periods!) to purchase and use these Wal*Mart "brands". One point of reference I use is in the case of some vitamins and supplements I was checking out online through an independent quality assessment company - the Wal*Mart "brands" "passed" the testing as being "good" or above average products. All that said - I have reason to suspect that SuperTech is made for Wal*Mart BY Quaker State - and though THEY (Q.S.) have had some problems in the past - I think they are no better and no worse than ALL other companies trying to make a profit - Firestone has had problems (BEFORE the "Wilderness" fiasco even) - but they have as well made some mighty darn "good" rubber TOO. I hope I haven't put anyone to sleep with my EXTREMELY humble opinion(s). PS the ONLY affiliation, association or connection I have with Wal*Mart is that I walk in and pay for what I walk out with.

 

SuperTech oils are made by Quaker State Oil. I would treat those cheap synthetics like conventional oils and change them on a regular 3,000 to 5,000 mile schedule. Stay away from their filters. Use motorcraft oil filters.

>Has anybody had any experiences, good or bad, using the
>Wal-Mart SuperTech Full Synthetic oils. At $1.77 per quart
>it looks like a good buy. Also their filters, according to
>the single pass and multi pass test ratings on the box seem
>to surpass the leading brands.

 

Why stay away from supertech oil filters? They are made by champion labs... the people who make k&n oil filters etc.

Rand

 

Champian filters may make K&N and Supertech but it does not mean they are made from the same specs. Walmart gives them the specs to make their filters. IT is just the same with supertech oil. Quaker State makes their oil but it is made to Walmarts specs which seem to be pretty low...

 

On what do you base this gratuitous assertion? :-)

 

Personal experience in the big world of manufacturing...

 

Still a little vague - if Wal*Mart's specs are so "low", would they not go with oil OTHER than QS (?) - which ain't the best MAYBE (definately not IMHO) - but QS has what you might call a "clue" about mass production of "decent quality" lubricants - they've been in business, oh, a couple of years now. As well, I'm SURE Wal*Mart could get filters made to the same specs more inexpesively than what K&N sells them for. Yeah I know Wal*Mart BUYS en masse and by contract, but are you tellin' me they couldn't have found some 'third-world' company to buy `em from cheaper ? Sam Walton was no fool. Advertising and marketing only go so far. "SuperTech" is of at least average (DECENT) quality - and for the price, I'll just say one could pay more and do no better, could even do worse. - ALL, as in A-L-L, oils and filters wear out and need to be replaced. Your comments suggest that folks are doing harm to their vehicles by merely USING these products - which is nonsense. Timely, proper maintenance is the key. But hey, if I had $ to burn, I'd go for the "warm fuzzies" too, in fact I always USED to . . .

 

I refuse to shop at W-M based on their business practices and tendency to enforce the company's owner's religious and moral views on their stores.
In New Orleans, as in many other places in the country, Wal-Mart would not put a store in the city downtown for many years. All their stores were in the suburbs, of the big box, standard design. Then comes Super Wal-Mart, they build it close to the existing store, close the existing store down and rarely lease the empty spaces to other businesses, so we have huge, empty, ugly big boxes sitting vacant in the suburbs.
In rural areas, they would build a store near one town, then down the highway build another store close to another town. They cut prices so much with the two stores, that the businesses in the town, mainly family-owned operations, have to close and go out of business. Then, they close the two existing stores and build a Super store further away than the first two, and leave two big empty boxes they won't let anyone else use. Sounds to me like robber-baron tactics of the 1800s.
Now Wal-Mart has decided that enough people have moved back into the city, so they are building a new store in an area recognized for its historical and architectural signifigance, and you know what they wanted to build? A suburban big bix, identical to all the others. Never mind that it will be totally out of character with the historic neighborhood. So finally citizens and preservationists have gotten them to conceed to change the physical design of the store. But it was a very costly process, like pulling teeth.
Then we found out last year that the Wal-Mart corporation is a major high-dollar contributer to ultra-conservative religious organizations like the Christian Coalition, and that they were not going to carry certain kinds of birth control in their pharmacies because this clashed with their "moral and religious" beliefs. Also, Wal-Mart has a habit of censoring different music CDs they sell in their stores, yet they are not labeled as so, in effect taking away the choice to buy music according to your own tastes.
I respect the right of every individual to have their own religious beliefs, regardless whether they agree with mine or not. This is every American's right. But I don't expect certain beliefs and positions to be levied on customers. I believe Wal-Mart's business practices are unethical and wrong and I refuse to support such a company.

 

It is true, Wal-Mart pretty much "dictates" the specs for everything they sell with their own name on it, which can cause some compromise in quality EVEN THOUGH produced by a well-known reputable manufacturer in many cases. In the case of motor oil, I use theirs ALL THE TIME. Even the worst synthetic is better than the best conventional. My personal opinion is that you really can't go wrong at that price. I just bought some.

 

Oil discussions go in the Oil & Lubrication forum.

Politics religion etc go in the General Conversation forum.

Please :-)

 

Not rying to start a "peeing up the wall" contest here, but I really fail to see how Walmart's perceived "predatory" business practices have anything to do with the original question or discussion thread.

Although I share your concerns with "forced morality" and the proliferation of the views of the conservative right by using a ford enthusists discussion forum and a topic that has nothing to do with your opinions you lower yourself to the same type of "evangelical" tactics they use.