Sources of "Own brand" oil

[PiperCub]

As I don't want to hijack the other thread on Unipart oil, I'll start this one. More out of personal interest but may help out those who want decent oil but maybe don't like paying 'for the name'. 

 

We all know the name brand oil companies, Castrol, Comma etc., but when shops/motor factors sell oil packaged in their own branding - say Asda, Halfords or under some other spurious name - where does it get sourced from? Obviously these outlets don't have refineries and have to get it from an oil retailer as they would fuel in the case of supermarkets.

 

 

According to an old 2010 post on HJ, it was said Unipart oil came from Fuchs (ex-Silkolene?), don't know if this is still the case. Another one I've been told from a Caterham owning mate via the Caterham club site was Halfords oil (at least some of it) was sourced from Comma. 

 

So who knows what comes from where? 

[steveo3002]

at one point carlube was halfords ...i guess they vary where they get the best deal

 

if you look up a data sheet for the health n saftey etc it often lists the maker , might need to email to request it

[Kiltox]

Tetrosyl make a lot of off brand oil including ECP’s TripleQX

[steveo3002]

does it answer much though?

 

you know if i approached them and said id buy a million gallons of watered down dross , cheapest filth they could make im sure they would sell me some ...same as if i asked for the best of the best with 3x the additives and unicorn jizz 

[Captain Furious]

There is so much brand snobbery around oil its untrue.  People automatically assume just because a brand is cheap or unknown it is going to have fish heads and seaweed floating in it.

 

There will be a list of specifications on the back that it is certified to comply with, providing your manufacturers specification is on there, you're golden.

[Parky]

Halfords nowadays is Comma. You can confirm that by looking at the technical data sheet for the Halfords oil that confirms it.

 

Unipart oil is apparently Fuchs

 

I will do some googling and see if I can find out where the supermarket and budget store oil is sourced from. Probably Comma and Tetrosyl but maybe smaller companies like LiquiMoly, Mannol or Repsol are getting in on the game

[unclecalzone]

Asda was made tetrosyl until recently

Previously to that I think it was a company called silverhook, there’s YouTube videos of them putting their oil into Asda bottles

 

I guess this might explain why they have massive knock down price sales of super market branded oil every so often as they are changing supplier and need shot of the old stuff

[Parky]

Well there's a bit of variation but I have seen reference to Tesco stuff being Castrol and Asda being Comma.

 

The fact is there are only a handful of firms capable of refining engine oil that meets specs and can be produced in a big enough volume. I would expect many of those are owned by majors, or at least affiliated with them.

[Andyrew]

Tetrosyl like kiltox said. They make masses of stuff, and brand it to the customers request. Wilkos, b&m , etc etc

 

The Motorfactors I work in had B&Qs own brand screenwash delivered by mistake in an order from tetrosyl.

 

Like food and clothes the mass volume stuff all gets made in the same place.

 

From working in a factors, it's often that eastern European people tend to only want or buy expensive Castrol oil. Even in old bangers.

 

Yet english people tend to go with "whatever's cheapest" over the actual correct oil for the car which may only be a year or so old.

[Mally]

Tetrosyl make a lot of off brand oil including ECP’s TripleQX

 

I knew someone who worked at Tetrosyl. Blonde and mind to suit, but lovely girl.

"Got a rollacking at work today, wrong labels"

Hows that?

"Filled the machine with Belgium labels, should have been Bulgarian, I'm English, how was I to Know?"

How many cans?

"20,000"

[Wack]

Mate of mine used to work at a brewery , he said they had a few types of lager but lots of different cans , as long as the gravity matched what was on the can it went in , i'd think oil is the same

[dave21478]

Halfords oil used to be made in-store from the refined tears of the Saturday staff.

Source - I used to be a Halfords Saturday till boy.

 

But realistically, it has been Comma stuff for as long as i can remember.

[PiperCub]

Have heard of some of these. Appreciate that suppiers change from time to time but as someone said, there's only a few places with sufficient volume it can come from.

[Jim Bell]

Rape seed oil is made by the actual rape of actual seeds.

[Squire_Dawson]

What's the most expensive - an extra £5 on a gallon or an engine rebuild?

[Parky]

If the oil you are using meets or exceeds the required manufacturer specification and it is changed when it is supposed to be changed, it doesn't matter if Sebastian Vettel or Dave from the local spares place is selling it.

 

There is probably only one brand I will never use and that's Castrol. My last two cars sounded dreadful, saw less mpg and didn't seem to have the same smoothness using Magnatec or Edge.

[dave21478]

If the oil you are using meets or exceeds the required manufacturer specification and it is changed when it is supposed to be changed, it doesn't matter if Sebastian Vettel or Dave from the local spares place is selling it.

 

 

 

Exactly.

 

Also remember that even a supposedly "cheap" brand of new oil is infinitely better for your engine than the old, used stuff already in it.

[Kiltox]

Also - I always thought TripleQX was exclusive to ECP but you sometimes see it in Motorworld which is owned by Tetrosyl too

[Captain Furious]

Its basically impossible for any end user to authoritatively state which is a good oil and which is bad.  In the absence of any real data - eg from running a particular oil over thousands of miles under lab conditions, stripping engines apart to measure wear etc they can't possibly have anything to back up an opinion over and above "well i'm running it in mine and it hasn't seized up therefore it must be good"  Its just marketing.

 

Not saying you shouldn't buy the expensive stuff, but Its probably not going to appreciably extend your engines life.  especially if the car has already had half a dozen owners before you of unknown mechanical sympathy.

[petermchugh79]

How do we feel about liqui moly??

 

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[Bren]

If the oil you are using meets or exceeds the required manufacturer specification and it is changed when it is supposed to be changed, it doesn't matter if Sebastian Vettel or Dave from the local spares place is selling it.

There is probably only one brand I will never use and that's Castrol. My last two cars sounded dreadful, saw less mpg and didn't seem to have the same smoothness using Magnatec or Edge.

A lot of manufacturers recommend castrol.

[Kiltox]

A lot of manufacturers recommend castrol.

Ford recommend BP fuel

 

Lot of cash changes hands for these “recommendations” I’m sure

[Stanky]

How do we feel about liqui moly??

 

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I run liqui-moly truck-spec 10/40 in lawnmowers and its bob-on for them. I got 2 gallons of it for free and its great. Right colour, mowers don't explode until out of earshot. 11/8. Would receive for free again.

[Parky]

How do we feel about liqui moly??

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Like. Good feature in Car Mechanics recently. Lord Sward visited the factory

[Parky]

A lot of manufacturers recommend castrol.

As Kiltox surmised, I think there are financial inducements on offer to become a preferred partner.

 

A bit like how despite the sheer number of oil companies globally, the French carmakers only recommend French oils (Renault with Elf, PSA with Total) And Fiat specify Selenia

[petermchugh79]

And the verdict was..

 

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[Tadhg Tiogar]

 

A lot of manufacturers recommend castrol.

Ford recommend BP fuel

Lot of cash changes hands for these “recommendations” I’m sure

VW would prefer you to use their Quantum / Synta-branded lubes. No idea who formulates it for them.

 

When all's said and done, oil brands are like farts: everyone prefers their own.

[Parky]

And the verdict was..

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If referring to the LiquiMoly question, the visitors were mighty impressed. German, very smart, know what they are doing

[New POD]

A lot of manufacturers recommend castrol.

 

One of the Standard questions on the Omega Owners Forum, if someone is complaining of lots of moyo on the oil cap is :

 

i) Are you using Castrol ?

ii) Are your breathers blocked?

iii) Do you do short journeys ?

 

When I started using GM fully synthetic 5W/30 it stopped mayo on the oil cap.  The other week I was forced to buy oil due to a massive oil leak and the only stuff in the services on the M6 was Castrol.  The oil leak is fixed but the mayo is back. I only used 1 litre of the stuff. Even Asda oil is better.

[petermchugh79]

I'll give them a go so, 5 liters is cheaper than 4 of CASTROL to the right very spec.

 

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