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Anyone heard of Total oil?


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Got a local oil supplier trying to get me to switch to a bulk oil system. The brand he sells is called Total. I think it is pronounced "toe-taal" ? It is supposed to be some kind of European oil. Anyone heard of it or know anything about it?

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Absolutely. Total is a big European brand of oil, and FYI European oil standards are much more stringent than here in the US. The garbage Mobil 1 sells as a synthetic does not fly over there.

 

Anyway, Total is good stuff, as is LiquiMoly. Both brands that I use.

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The garbage Mobil 1 sells as a synthetic does not fly over there.

 

That garbage seems to allow engines last well beyond 200,000 miles... Sorry, I'm no European oil expert, and sure, it might be better than what we use here, but garbage? Really?

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SAAB, Sprinter/Freightliner; BMW it's Castrol, no?

 

 

I just cheked the net..mobil one is second to factory fill for BMW. Mobil Tri Syn was first on list for MB. Just wanted to be sure I hadnt lost my mind.

 

 

The Castrol that BMW uses has BMW's German certs (LL01-LL04). The Mobile 1 that is used in Mercedes is 0-W40 which has Mercedes certs. Its right on the bottle. Anything without say even Mobil 5W30 does not carry the correct certs.

 

Does it make a difference? Possibly. Certainly only over time. It is a quality and marketing position we take in using the 100% correct stuff in our client's vehicles.

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The Castrol that BMW uses has BMW's German certs (LL01-LL04). The Mobile 1 that is used in Mercedes is 0-W40 which has Mercedes certs. Its right on the bottle. Anything without say even Mobil 5W30 does not carry the correct certs.

 

Does it make a difference? Possibly. Certainly only over time. It is a quality and marketing position we take in using the 100% correct stuff in our client's vehicles.

 

Well, from my experience I have seen a difference in fleet performance. Sprinters that have been maintained with the proper oil have easily done over 300k miles, while those that have come in off the street their turbos have failed around 115- to 180k miles. (gas MB 229.3, 229.31,229.5, 229.51;diesel MB288.51, 229.31, 299.51)

 

Of course a good quality oil filter is a must, some of the early turbo failures I have seen had installed cheap filters or they didn't replace the oil filter.

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      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
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