My neighbor the mechanic swore by cheap motor oil, so I tried it

Old Mr. Henderson across the street has been fixing cars for like 40 years, right? He told me to just buy the store brand 5W-30, said expensive oil is a total scam. So I figured hey, he knows his stuff, I'll save $15 a change on my old Camry. After about 6 months and two oil changes with that cheap stuff, my engine started making this nasty ticking noise. Took it to a real shop and they said the oil was basically sludge and it gummed up a valve. Cost me $400 to flush it all out and fix the damage. So yeah, Mr. Henderson is nice but he was dead wrong about that one. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a well-meaning neighbor or friend?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_ramirez1mo ago

Damn, that's rough man. I used to be all about whatever oil was cheapest too but after seeing this and hearing other horror stories I switched to at least mid-grade stuff. Not worth the risk for saving like ten bucks.

dakotacraig1mo ago

Actually, there's a common mix-up there - mid-grade gas usually doesn't help much with engine health. The difference between regular and mid-grade is just the octane rating, and unless your car specifically calls for higher octane, you're not getting any extra protection from mid-grade. What matters more is using the right viscosity oil, not the fuel grade. Most modern engines run just fine on regular 87 octane, and the real horror stories you hear come from people using the wrong oil weight or skipping changes, not the gas grade.