The huge increase in the number of different oils needed to service passenger cars is causing headaches for independent garages and mechanics. That’s according to Andy Brown, UK Automotive Technical Manager at Fuchs Lubricants.
“Oil is one of the most critical components in an engine, otherwise it just doesn’t last.”
Previously, the vast majority of cars would take 10w-40 or 15w- 40 engine oils. But now, more and more OEMs are coming up with their own demands for the precise specifications of the products used in their vehicles. For example, Fuchs has three different engine oils for Fords.
Failure to use an OEM- approved oil from a reputable manufacturer can invalidate a warranty. With this in mind, an independent garage would have to stock in the region of 10 different engine oils to cover around 95% of the UK’s car parc – and probably double that to have the right product for every car.
Fuchs has looked through the data of 32 million vehicles and the company knows how many grades are required to cover most of the cars on the UK roads today. For independent garages that don’t know who is going to come through the door, the question is, what do you stock?
This change has occurred because it has become much more common for OEMs to have their own bespoke needs. It’s all about emissions, particularly with the new CO2 rules coming in by 2020/2021. OEMs will have to use oils which have a lower viscosity, which, in turn, reduces the internal energy losses within the engine. The energy loss of every lubricated component reduces because there is lower friction, the engine becomes more efficient, you use less fuel and the emissions come down.
But every OEM has approached this challenge slightly differently and therefore the oil that each car requires is slightly different. In many ways, the oils being used in different makes are very similar, but they’re very different at the same time, too.
The formulations have been tweaked with additives, often very subtly indeed, to help that vehicle perform to its absolute maximum. Often with these new grades, they are not backward compatible.
Traditionally, a garage would have a bulk tank with 15w-40, 10w-40 and a gear oil, but that’s just not possible now because of all the different grades that are required for common vehicles. Fuchs’ Lube Cube is a 20L bag in a cardboard box, which many garages find useful. The Lube Cube can be stacked and you can therefore fit nine products in a space the size of a cupboard.
Oil is one of the most critical components in an engine, otherwise it just doesn’t last. It’s important to have the right oil and to understand how they are classified. All of the oils are different for a reason. We have seen instances where the wrong oil has been applied and, while that has not directly caused the problem, it has invalidated the warranty. Garages must cover themselves, there are no excuses anymore.
Two oils might both have 0w-20 on them, they might both have the ACEA stamp on them, but unless all the numbers match, it could be a no, not a yes, to the warranty if a problem arises.
