Is German Castrol really going the way of the dinosaur?

[Gman87t]

As the title says, is Autozone really dropping GC? After reading some posts here that said it was going away, I decided to check my local Autozone stores. The first one I went to had 7 bottles on the shelf. 6 of them were M03 and M04 date codes and one was M06. I took all these up to the counter and asked if they had any more. The guy went in the back and came out with a brand new case (6 qt.) and ask how many I wanted. The way he asked kind of made it sound like there was even more in the back, but I didn't ask. These bottles had M07 codes on the bottom. I bought all these for $6.09 a quart and after leaving decided to see if another store had any. The second Autozone had 13 quarts on the shelf with M07 codes. I went up to the counter there and told the guy I had heard they were dropping the Castrol Syntec 0W-30 oil and asked if this was true. He said he didn't think so, but I'm not sure he really knew. With 07 marked bottles I was wondering if they are still getting it in. Does anyone know for sure?

I just can't believe my luck would be so good as to find that much of it if it really is discontinued. Do I need to go latched on to the rest of it?

I also want to make sure I'm getting what I think I am. I just recently learned about this oil from these forums, and I've never actually bought or used any before. The newer bottles (M06 M07) say European Formula on the front and Made in Germany on the back. The older ones (M03 M04) don't say anything on the front but say Made in Germany on the back. I didn't open any to see if it was green, but the older stuff looks like it is a different color through the clear strip on the side. So am I getting true synthetic as long as it says Made in Germany?

-Gary

 

[jdub]

Read Post #'s 4, 6, and 7:
http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38768

Looks like you came across 6 bottles of the GC Green...nice find

I've been seeing GC pop-up in a few AutoZone stores around where I live too....one batch had M07 date codes, but were early '07 production. Take a look at the 3 numbers that follow the "M07", those indicate the number of days into the year the oil was made. For example, "059" is Feb 28 (31 days in Jan, 28 days in Feb).

Concerning the availability of GC at AutoZone...that's the million dollar question. It's looking like it depends on where you live in the US. Guys in TX, CA and south FL can't seem to find it...but, guys in the mid-west are still finding it on the shelf. It seems to still be available, but whether it's old stock AutoZone is selling off or some kind of flip-flop marketing remains to be seen. If you like the oil, I'd buy enough for 2-3 oil changes plus a few extra for adding oil between changes. If you find more of the GC Green, buy all of it

BTW - if you don't see your post appear in this section right away, that's normal. I have to approve all posts here before that will show on the forum.

 

[fstlane88]

I'd like to update that I was able to find some here locally...a lot actually. It was weird I had gone to this same store several times and not seen any, went after I spoke with you through PM Jdub and they had it, the entire row in the shelf was full!!! So I bought enough for a couple oil changes.

 

[tissimo]

Guys in TX, CA and south FL can't seem to find it...

hit up the poorer areas.. i found 14 bottles of gc green in Miami.. it was the ghetto though, haha

 

[jdub]

I'd like to update that I was able to find some here locally...a lot actually. It was weird I had gone to this same store several times and not seen any, went after I spoke with you through PM Jdub and they had it, the entire row in the shelf was full!!! So I bought enough for a couple oil changes.

Yeah...there's no predicting which store will have it...seems to be completely at random
Guess you just have to keep checking the same stores.

hit up the poorer areas.. i found 14 bottles of gc green in Miami.. it was the ghetto though, haha

Yep...stores in "economically challenged" areas will be more likely to have it. Folks that live around these stores will rarely run a syn oil in their cars, especially a 0W-30!

How are you cars running? Are they liking the GC?

 

[Gman87t]

The codes on the bottom of the newest bottles I bought are M07179xxx. If I remember correctly the codes on the ones at the second store were M07228xxx. That would put them in July 07. Below are pictures of an 07 bottle I bought.

Also one of the Autozone guys said they sell very little of it, and when I was paying for it another worker walked by and said, "Zero weight?"

 

[Poodles]

Haven't found one bottle of 0W-30 at all around here. Not even a spot on the shelf for it.

 

[suprajjang]

I wiped out all the stores around here but all of them are stocked full of them again. If you would like me to buy you some let me know because i would be happy to help you out

 

[starscream5000]

Damn, glad this was brought up, I'll check a few AZ's around here when I get off of work today.

 

[starscream5000]

Okay, I remembered to check the local AZ's around here Friday...

No GC in stock, only the replacement 0W-30 here that says "not to be sold outside of America" or something like that, on the back of the bottle where "made in Germany" is supposed to be...

 

[slidebabyslide]

Okay, I remembered to check the local AZ's around here Friday...

No GC in stock, only the replacement 0W-30 here that says "not to be sold outside of America" or something like that, on the back of the bottle where "made in Germany" is supposed to be...

every autozone has is . I got some but never used it on my car, because my motor developed rod knock.

 

[dugums]

It's interesting - when I read the thread title, I thought about it a different way.

"going the way of the dinosaur" - I guess based on the responses, the intent of the question was if it was going extinct.

I read it as a question as to whether or not the new GC that can be found in autozone has switched to a group III oil. Anybody know?

 

[starscream5000]

every autozone has is . I got some but never used it on my car, because my motor developed rod knock.

Did you not read my post that you quoted? I just said that I visited a few (four to be exact) AZ's and ZERO out of the Four had any German Castrol. :nono:

It's been replaced (over here anyways) with a different type of 0W-30.

 

[jdub]

every autozone has is . I got some but never used it on my car, because my motor developed rod knock.

Depends on where you live...the supply is definitely getting sporadic.

It's interesting - when I read the thread title, I thought about it a different way.

"going the way of the dinosaur" - I guess based on the responses, the intent of the questions was if it was going extinct.

I read it as a questions as to whether or not the new GC that can be found in AutoZone has switched to a group III oil. Anybody know?

LOL...I can see that
Nope, GC is still a Group IV PAO base stock oil. The other Castrol oils you see on the shelves are all Group III and have been for some time.

 

[GrimJack]

I just stopped by my local shop (called Lordco up here) they had 12L of GC Green on the shelf. I picked them up and asked if they had more, the guy looked it up and found another 144 bottles at their warehouse.

No way to tell what the manufacturing date on the warehouse stuff is in advance, of course, but the counter guy is ordering another 24 for his shelf...

 

[slidebabyslide]

Did you not read my post that you quoted? I just said that I visited a few (four to be exact) AZ's and ZERO out of the Four had any German Castrol. :nono:

It's been replaced (over here anyways) with a different type of 0W-30.

Im sorry. I 4 got to say in cali.

 

[drjonez]

no problems sourcing GC here. then again, most of the AZs i've hit wouldn't have sold them any time soon anyway....

BTW- if you can find them @ AZ, be sure to sign up for "autozone rewards". you make 5 $20+ purchases and then you get $20 back! i've been buying up all the GC i can find....4 bottles @ a time.

 

[Gman87t]

^^ That's exactly what I was doing with the "Autozone Rewards" program.

Also the first store that I had cleared out got some more in marked M07234.

-Gman87t

 

[Jeff Lange]

Out of curiosity, where am I looking for the date code on the bottle? (In Canada BTW, if that matters).

Both NAPA and Partsource carry GC here.

 

[jdub]

Jeff - It's on the bottom of the bottle...starts with an "M". The next five numbers are the year (two numbers) and number of days (three numbers) into the year the oil was made.

Some of the Canadian guys have told me Canidian Tire and Wal-Mart have GC too.
I just checked an AutoZone in N Phoenix...the shelf was fully stocked