Safety_Driver

Hello,

I just got Valvolin Max-Life from Wal-Mart (red bottlle).
I read on the net that is synthetic blend but it doesn't say so on the bottle?



Is it or not?

Also, is it a good idea to put synthetic blend in my D16Y7, which has 140K miles on it?

Thanks in advance!

joeshmo

I'd be willing to bet that it is not. "Synthetic blend" will generally be plastered all over the bottle of anything with synthetic oils in it as a marketing ploy.

Safety_Driver

The guy in Wal-Mart tald me it is synthetic blend,
and it says so on their site, but the bottle is different (the one I got is on my first post):

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvoline-...5-Qt./15125765

Here the same bottle in Advance Auto Parts is says it is synthetic blend (same bottle), and even when you click on the link below and then click on description it even says it's full synthetic.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...___#fragment-2

I have never been so confused when buying oil.
(I run with conventional oil since now)

joeshmo

If the bottles have the same well...part number? I guess it is likely the same stuff as is in autozone and ect. Personally, I see little benefit to starting to use synthetic oils late in an engines life (which I am guessing your engine has quite a few miles on it, considering you are buying high-mileage oil.) Any questions could be cleared up by a simple email to valvoline though, I'm sure.

thenext

That is a synthetic. I don't think I would trust a Walmart employees advice on motor oil or anything going in my car. Stick with conventional since that is what you have been running it on, switching up can be bad for internals.

Texas4door

I work for a Valvoline Instant Oil Change and can faithfully say that Maxlife is synthetic blend.
Maxlife Full Synthetic though...well there ya go ^^;

The full syn version has FULL SYNTHETIC on the side in blue lettering so there's no confusion....anyways, yeah.

"Regular" Maxlife is always synthetic blend

*EDIT*
Another easy way to tell is by the ENGINE GUARANTEE label on the bottle

All conventional Valvoline oil has the guarantee for 150,000 miles
All synthetic blends have a 250,000 mile sticker on them
And all their full synthetics have a 300,000 mile sticker on them

So yeah, my extra 2 cents on top of my original 2 cents ^^;;

Safety_Driver

Yeah, Texas4door is right!

I just passed by Advance Auto Parts and ask an employee there about the Valvoline Max-Life (red bottle) and he said is NOT synthetic blend.
Then I called Valvoline and spoke with technician. He said Max-Life has ALWAYS been SYNTHETIC BLEND, but last time the marketing team forgot to put indication on the label that the oil is synthetic blend.
They are working on new label with the synthetic blend indication. I guess is hard to correct the mistake since so many bottles are on the market already, and they would like to sell them first.

Here's what it says on the Valvoline's web site when you click on Download Product Info PDF:

What correction to Texas4door info.
The mileage guarantee on the synthetic blend of Valvoline is 225,000, not 250,000 :-)
I don't know what exactly that guarantee is all about, but don't care much either.

Texas4door

****, hope my boss doesn't see that
j/k
XD;

Some info:
https://valvoline.promo.eprize.com/e...=about_program

The engine guarantee is basically a return-customer sort of marketing.
Change your oil at Valvoline every 3k miles (with a 1000 mile grace period) and they guarantee your motor for up to the amount shown on the oil.
It gets kinda expensive, depending on the oil you use, but if your engine DOES crap out, and they determine it was due to an oil problem (basically not attributed to a cooling issue-they're pretty lenient) they can reinburse you for Blue Book on your motor (doesn't help if your motor is modded, which voids the guarantee anyways)

Seems pretty reasonable

Soo...if you're driving an older vehicle out of warranty, and want a little insurance (sign up is free), AND you're old school about 3k miles every oil change, sign on
If not, you're not missing out on much ^^;
...just kinda bashed my own company XD;;

Personally, I think this guarantee is aimed at cheap cars that don't typically last very long (unlike our little Hondas which just keep going if shown a little love)
Meh...marketing XD

Safety_Driver

Thanks a lot Texas4door!

I used to change my oil about 3000 miles, but now with the synthetic blend I'm thinking to chage it at about 4000 miles.
I just run with conventional Mobil Super for about 4000 miles, and I'm gonna get the oil to an oil test analysis lab to see if caused any wear of the engine.