which oil to use

[turbodogs]

Hello All,I have just purchased a 05 with only 48,000 km on the odometer.I was just wondering what brand and type conventional or synthetic motor oil many of you are using and why.Thanks for any and all information.Larry

[vibenvy]

I use regular Penzoil 5W 20. It's pretty much all my dad has ever used in our cars and we have consistently gotten 200,000+ miles in all our cars so I see no reason to use anything else.

[star_deceiver]

I use whatever synthetic 0w20 is on sale or I can find, usually mobil 1 or Penzoil platinum

[Zimm]

i recently switched from dino juice to valvoline synpower 5w-20.went 5w-20 because 0w-20 selection locally is minimal at best. went synthetic because i plan to go to a semi-extended drain schedule (approx 7.500mi) and with valvoline because i like their products and because i got 130,000 miles of great results using their durablend product in my '98 gmc sonoma that i traded for my vibe. a lot of things on that truck were falling apart but the engine was strong and had another 130,000 miles in her at least. never any signs of sludge and the oil was always nice and amber colored when drained every 5,000mi. never burned or used oil at 11 years old/130,000 miles.

[joejoev]

I've been using Valvoline products in my 2004 base Vibe since day one. Bought it new in September '04. Started on Durablend with the first oil change and switched to MaxLife sometime in the 60k-80k mile range. I use 5W30. My average interval is 5,000 miles.5 years 9.5 months later the old girl is still going at 425,800 miles. Original engine and trans...no rebuilds, no major work, just regular maintenance.

[Vinlandr]

Quote, originally posted by joejoev »5 years 9.5 months later the old girl is still going at 425,800 miles. Original engine and trans...no rebuilds, no major work, just regular maintenance. I am shocked...thats an average of 73540 miles per yearLets talk about reliability...

[djkeev]

First let me say WELCOME!! This is not a new topic by any means and if one did a search would find pages of questions similar to this.Is your car a stick or automatic? engine? AWD?Oil like so many consumer products boils down to what are YOU comfortable using?There are minimal standards ALL oil must meet. From WalMart to high end racing oils.I would never run Walmart or similar. I most often run Mobil 1 in my Vibe and all of the newer "nicer" cars I maintain. I use a name brand on sale oil in my older "lesser" vehicles.I strongly believe that the more important question is what oil FILTER should I use. Great oil with a crap filter is a recipe for problems. I think that lesser oil with a good filter is actually a better mix for any engine. Again, a much discussed topic with some very clear cut winners.As far as oil weight, look at your oil filler cap or your owners manual. Use that grade of oil.Dave

[Stang2Vibe]

I agree with the previous statement about the importance about the quality of the filter.I ran only regular Pennzoil 5W30 in my 2003 Vibe GT and never had a problem with the car in the 8 yrs 83,000 miles of ownership I had it. When I bought my 2000 Mustang brand new I changed the oil to Mobil 1 the second day I owned it. Had to trade it in for the Vibe after 2 yrs and 22,000 miles because the valves tapped so bad and Ford refused to do anything about it, claiming that it was "normal".