Synthetic oil: You get what you pay for

AKRON (March 1, 2017) — When it comes to engine oils, the old adage — "You get what you pay for" — rings true, according to a panel of industry experts who discussed the benefits of synthetic oils during the Automotive Aftermarket Parts Expo show in Las Vegas last November.

For auto shops that provide oil changes, the variety and types of oils available, and recommended, for various vehicle models can be mind-boggling.

However, more and more new vehicle models are requiring synthetic oils which, though more expensive, offer better engine performance than conventional oil, according to the panel of oil company and service shop representatives.

• This piece appears in the Feb. 27 print edition of Tire Business.

Synthetic motor oil is categorized as a Group 3 oil, whereas conventional mineral oil is a Group 2 and fully synthetic PAO, usually used for race cars, is Group 4.

While conventional oil will continue to dominate the U.S. engine oil market through 2025, according to Freedonia Group research, demand for fully synthetic engine oils is expected to increase 5 percent annually to 148 million gallons by 2020.

In 2015, fully synthetic products comprised 11 percent of engine oil demand, nearly all for the automotive market, according to Freedonia, which noted that increasing penetration of synthetics into the engine oils market will allow demand for synthetic products to continue growing, despite overall flatness in engine oil demand.

"Synthetics can cost more than twice as much as conventional products, and the benefits conferred by synthetics may be unclear to consumers or not worth the expense," Freedonia analyst Minor Cline said in a recent report, noting that since all lubricants must be licensed as meeting the performance requirements needed for use, even the lowest cost conventional oils are certified to protect engines from wear.

AAPEX panel participant Mark Mathias, chief sales officer for Bizol Lubricants, argued that while synthetic oil is often three times the price of conventional mineral-based oil, "it is very stable. It has great flowability. It has a resistance to pressure. It won't split. It has a long life (as much as 30,000 miles in some cars)" and a low evaporation loss.

"So all these things make for a better oil for your cars," he said.

"All OEMs now are specifying a synthetic oil, whether that's hydrocrack or a PAO (Group 3 or a Group 4 oil)," he told the audience of service technicians and jobbers.

Synthetic oils undergo a more advanced refining process than conventional mineral oils to remove more impurities from crude oil, according to Exxon Mobil Corp., maker of Mobil 1 motor oil.

The oil company noted on its website that synthetic oils are much more free-flowing than traditional mineral oils, providing increased engine protection.

When an engine is first started, a mineral oil can take time to circulate, allowing friction between unlubricated parts which can cause wear. In contrast, a synthetic lubricant starts circulating faster, protecting moving parts within the engine, according to Exxon.

Synthetic oils also can improve fuel economy by allowing the engine to reach peak operating efficiency much sooner. Synthetics are cleaner and environmentally friendlier because they help cut engine emissions compared with conventional oils, according to Exxon.

Conventional oils, on the other hand, contain greater amounts of impurities, such as sulfur, reactive and unstable hydrocarbons and other contaminants that cannot be completely removed by conventional refining of crude oil, according to Exxon.

"It should never be, in my mind, a discussion at the front counter of 'synthetic' or 'conventional.' Those days need to be gone," said Frank Scandura of Frank's European Service in Las Vegas, a service shop participant on the AAPEX panel.

"We have to get away from 'Here's conventional, here's a blend, here's synthetic'...that should go away. I don't think there's a car on the road that should not be running synthetic oil.

"The advantages are a longer-lasting engine. The advantages are less environmental impact and fuel economy should be going up. So there are too many advantages for anybody to be coming in to say 'No, no, no. Just put the regular oil in. At $19.99 that's perfect for me,' " Mr. Scandura said.

"There are companies that only deal with that crap — they should go there. "The rest of us need to up our game and educate our customers. And if you have that, it's real easy to upsell," Mr. Scandura said.

The panel was incredulous about the benefits of so-called "blended synthetic" oils because it is usually difficult to determine the ratio of synthetic to mineral oil in the blend.

"When someone comes with blended synthetic and it's a really great price, please walk away because it's not doing you or your customer any good at all," Mr. Mathias said.

"Blended synthetic means it's a mineral oil with a touch of synthetic in it just to change the characteristic a little bit. It doesn't do anything for the car. It still builds up sludge. It still has all the problems mineral oil has. Go to a synthetic oil and teach your people to go to a synthetic," he said.

"'Blended' or 'semi' just might as well say 'oil' and that's really what it comes down to," added Mr. Scandura.

It is important for service technicians to educate themselves on the types of oils recommended in various foreign and domestic vehicles and then to educate their customers, the AAPEX panel recommended.

Service techs need to inform their customers on the benefits of synthetic oils "because they are more confused than you are," Mr. Mathias said.

The first step for a technician is to look up the OEM specification for the motor oil and the replacement interval in the vehicle owner's manual, noted Mark Malone, Pentosin brand director for CRP Industries Inc.

A quality oil filter replacement also is important as oil change intervals will be filter-dependent.

"If that filter is not cleaning the oil correctly, you can't put a good enough oil in the car to overcome that," he said.

Mr. Malone also suggested that service shops document the types of oils they are putting in their customers' vehicles in case OEM warranty issues arise.

"Make sure you've got that oil you put in the car on your invoice.... You not only need to know what it is, you need to make sure you're communicating it on your invoices," he said.

Service shops also need to communicate the benefits of the more expensive synthetic oil to all their customers.

"When shop owners get into the habit of shopping for price because they are so used to their customers shopping for price, they make a mistake of putting cheaper products in because they think it's all the same," Mr. Scandura said. "So you have to be very careful."

Some vehicle owners don't understand they have to use a high quality product at the OEM recommended intervals, which can range from 7,500 to 15,000 miles.

"I definitely believe in the 7,500 (mileage) mark for synthetic oils. With the conventional motor oils it was 3,000," Mr. Malone said.

To make things more confusing, not all 5W30s, for instance, are the same, according to Mr. Mathias, so "please read what's written on the labels because it will make a difference to how much sludge protection and how much oxidation is taken care of by the mix and the blend that goes into that specific oil."

Newer high-performance cars are more likely to require 0w oils, which are thinner and can circulate through the engine in under three seconds in freezing temperatures, he noted, vs. 5w oils which can take eight seconds and 15w which can take up to 48 seconds.

Unfortunately for service shops, there is no one oil brand that offers everything for every vehicle, the panel noted.

Shops need to have multiple brands to cover all the different OEM specifications out there, as well as to fulfill some customers' brand preferences, Mr. Malone said.

Some service shops might balk at the idea of not seeing a customer more often than every 7,500 miles, the panel noted, but that's where marketing comes in.

The younger generation is going to want to look for ways to minimize impact on the environment and will be more willing to invest in synthetic, according to Mr. Malone.

"So we have to be very careful that we're not going against that message...We have to get cars in for routine inspections in between the extended oil change intervals because we are so used to every time a car comes in, we're going to inspect it to make sure everything is OK," he said.

"This is where, I think, social media and emails can work on your behalf," added Mr. Mathias. "If you got someone who is coming in on a rotation of 15,000 or 7,500 miles for an oil change, but 12,000 for brake fluid or whatever, ...in your system you can send that email to your customer saying, 'Please don't forget we need to check your brake fluid. It's time for it to be changed.'

"Then that's another way you can develop your business because then the customer has an interaction with you and not just waiting for the (dashboard) light to come on before something goes wrong or wait for a squeak or something else like that to happen. This medium we have is a really great tool for you to be able to develop your business and to make it go further."