I decided at some point in the past year that I was tired of having my Subaru Impreza's oil changed by the dealer. It happened sometime around the point when the dealer changed the oil, I drove the car 1000 miles, the "low oil" light came on, and then I took the car back to the dealer to basically figure out if they had a) either not fully loaded up the car with oil or b) the quality of the OEM oil that they were utilizing was so poor that the car was burning it off at an excessive rate. When the first words out of their mouth were "we should do an oil consumption test" on the car I had purchased from them no more than 3 months prior (with a head to toe pre-certified used car check), I vow that I would handle the oil changes on my own car, thank you very much, and see if I had any evidence of oil consumption problems.
I naturally reached for this oil first given the appealing price point. I can say the following pros and cons about this oil:
Pros:
- the cost is superb especially for 0W-20; it is also carried at Wal-Mart for a similar price but otherwise 0W-20 remains tough to find
- I change my oil every 5,000 miles with this as I have a long commute (1.5 hrs/day) at high speeds (~75 mph); I can tell when the oil is low and/or needing changing on my beloved Subaru and the 5,000 mile mark tends to be it. I don't mind given the price.
- despite my aggressive driving and my nasty commute, this oil holds up well with minimal loss over the course of one replacement. I usually will add a little bit of oil around the 3,000 mile mark but nothing out of the ordinary
- I like the fact that Wal Mart carries this even though I buy it from Amazon - I did have one instance where I added too little oil and could tell my Subaru was dragging a bit; I pulled over, picked up a quart from Wal Mart, topped it off, and went on my way with no problems
Cons:
- this is completely vain but it is tough to see the quantity of the oil that is left in the container in my dark garage; I have oil from another rival company of Castrol's and the lighter material for that company's oil makes it easier to measure the volume added to the engine
I am going to replace my oil with a more expensive product in the upcoming months and will update this review as needed if I find that the more expensive product is wildly better. My prediction is that this will perform very similarly at about half the cost.
Update after using more expensive oil:
- I purchased a more expensive 02-20 synthetic oil (approximately twice as much as this Castrol oil). I noticed no difference in terms of performance. Subarus tend to burn more oil than most vehicles, but I didn't notice a difference in how much oil the Subaru burned between this Castrol oil and the more expensive stuff. I have switched back to this oil permanently.
| Manufacturer | Castrol |
|---|---|
| Brand | Castrol |
| Model | 03124 |
| Item Weight | 9.18 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 11.9 x 9.5 x 4.4 inches |
| Country of Origin | USA |
| Item model number | 03124 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 03124 |
| Viscosity | 0W-20 |
