Has anyone ever heard of Coastal brand motor oil? My local mom and pop service station recently changed over from BP products to Pure Oil Company products and is selling motor oil with the "Coastal" label. I've been trying to research it on the Internet but can't find out much about it. One poster says to stay clear of Coastal brand oil because it's "used oil." I'm concerned because I recently bought a Honda Accord and I don't want to put some cheap, bargain oil in it at oil change time.

I'm disappointed with that station. The owner says he switched to Pure because BP wanted him to make a bunch of expensive cosmetic changes. The station serves a rather affluent neighborhood of mostly elderly people who buy full service and want good products. I don't know why he doesn't stock some well known, popular brands of motor oil for his customers. He told me that if I want to, I can buy five quarts of Honda 5W-20 from the dealer and he'll use that to change the oil.

Thanks ahead of time for any info.

Should I be skeptical of "Coastal" motor oil.

 

If I'm not mistaken Coastal is the lowest priced oil brand that autozone sells. I've bought a quart or two when quality didn't matter but I don't know that I'd use it on a regular basis.

I've never priced oil at a new car dealer but I'd assume it would be high. Autozone along with most any other parts store sells a variety of motor oils including well known trusted brands. If you intend to use that service station to change your oil I'd recomend supplying your own.

I would think if enough customers complained, he would stock another brand.

 

Check the oil yourself...Put your fore finger into the oil and rub it around between your forefinger and thumb...it should feel like little ball bearings...Then seperate your finger and thumb and good oil should string...that means cling when you seperate your finger and thumb. I heard Sunoco Oil was the best and Quaker State was the worst...I don't trust synthetic oil although some say its actually better...I agree with the assumption that mother earth makes the best. Used Oil? I might use that to kill weeds!

 

When in doubt dont use it spend a little extra your Honda is worth it.

 

The "donut" tells all
http://www.advanceautoparts.com/english/youcan/pdfs/prodb/Motor%20oil.pdf

If it has the info on there that matches up with what you need, it should be OK

Myself, I think I'd stick with a more well known brand

And to be sure, the reason he stocks the lesser known brand is economics
Truth is, he doesn't really sell a lot of oil by the quart, and he can mark-up the less expensive no-name brand more than the more expensive well-known brand

I don't blame him, as oil changes are not real money makers for any place including speedy-change places (though, they are the ones who helped create this situation...the public expecting cheap oil changes)
It's simply not worth the liability to open a hood for less than $35
-and I'm not exaggerating, I'm being kind

So, in his mind, if he doesn't make the oil change sale...no biggie
The cheaper oil is the only way for him to maybe come out even on those

 

Is quaker state really the worst. I have been using it along time and never had a engine related problem?

 

Oils today have to meet certain standards, thats the "donut" on the label
If it has the donut, and has the markings you need, it's good
That's the law
Technical analysis may show some differences, but none are "bad"
And certainly some have extra additives which may suit your needs better

Years ago (pre-donut) this was not always so
What's happened since then is the playing field has leveled quite a bit

Then there's some that are "only legal for use in certain states"
Now some of the biggest names make these (well, EXXON markets theirs as Esso, their old name...stuff like that), but they are marked if you look

I have found that more important than one national quality brand being ever so slightly better in some way than another, it seems much more important to use the same brand regularly

Even regularly maintained engines that have had coupon of the month brand oil changes tend to show much more sludge, crunchies, and dirt, when cracked open

 

I've always thought the Quaker State rap was questionable. If it was so bad they wouldn't have sold a couple of billion quarts of it that people have used in their cars for 50 years. Somewhere along the line, a couple of million people with oil-related engine failures would have sued them into bankruptcy.

 

I just heard it christalized and would really gunk up an engine. I took 1 engine apart that was really cruddy and my boss instantly said quaker state oil did that... I am sure oil changes and clean filters and PCV valves have more to do with it than the oil itself. I know, I wish I would never of heard that myself cause Pennzoil was always my fav...

 

Feeling the oil with your fingers? That's a real scientific test there! There is alot more to testing oil performance than feeling it. You don't trust synthetic oil? Perhaps you should share your scientific oil test and opinions with some of the worlds leading car manufactures who seem to think synthetic oil is superior in cars like the Corvette and many other high end vehicles. It is so superior I even use it in my oil can, lawn mower, etc.

 

yes syntehtic oil is far superior than mineral oil, just do a search on google type " mineral vs synthetic oil " and find out why, too many reasons to list here.

 

The cost for synthetic is far superior too. Mineral oil is good enough for every day cars.

 

Consumer Reports did a test on motor oils a number of years ago and they found no difference with almost any of the oils they tested AFAIR.

No new test has been done since since I'm sure Bush and the boys put a stop to that.

 

one thing about synthetic oil is dirt gets susspended in the oil where as mineral oil it drops off. thus you still need to change the oil filter every 3000 miles.