Thought I would ask a few of you from Minnesota if you have seen any 5w30 Mobil 1 synthetic in stores. I usually buy it from Wally World but I've been to three different stores and they all told me that Mobil 1 is having distribution problems due to the hurricanes. Two different employees also said that their warehouse is out of stock.

I've also tried some local part stores and Fleet Farm. Some do have the "Extended Performance", but I want to stick to the regular 5w30 synthetic due to previous comments from muskyamigo.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

FWIW, I went to change the Jetta's oil last weekend, drove to Walmart, found no Mobil1 5w30 5-quart containers on the shelves. There were only a few 1-quart bottles, so I went with another 5w30 synthetic instead.

Weird.

- mike

Been looking for 5W30 Extended Performance here in Cali for the last two months with no luck. Had to get the regular synthetic.

By the way, what's wrong with the Extended Performance?

I haven't looked for any in the last month or so, I have about a dozen quarts on hand already <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

BTW the Northtown Walmart is by far the cheapest place I have found to get Mobil One, much cheaper than any other Walmart in the area. Has been that way for years for some reason...I think I paid $3.83/quart last time. A lot of people seem to know about it, because sometimes you have to get there in the morning or they will be sold out. Dunno anything about this alleged national shortage, though.

muskyamigo switched to extended performance and soon thereafter his engine blew up. Could of been a coincidence but it's enough to make me look for the regular synthetic.

I have used extended performance in my Infiniti, but that engine seems to have a little better track record than the Isuzu 3.2 DOHC.

Thanks for the heads up on Northtown Walmart BigSwede, if they ever get it back in stock, I'll load up on it there.

Just for fun -- look at the newer Mobile-1 packaging...

... now try to find the API certifications (Hint - the newest stuff on shelves here is NOT API certified for use in cars or anything else; the label just says "Suitable for API applications"...)

On inspection, whatever they're putting in the 5W30 bottles is darker than the API certified 5W30 old stock.

I just talked to Mobil Oil and they confirmed that production has been compromised by Katrina and Rita. They also told me that the recent shipments of synthetics DO NOT HAVE the API certifictaion because the additives needed to meet the API are in short supply.

They said that eventually, Mobil 1 will have the API certifictaion again (but no timeframe).

So, I can't wait for them to get there distribution up and running full speed.

Can anyone recommend an API certified fully synthetic oil that's affordable and easy to find (non-Amsoil). Sorry I tried to search but seem to get way too many hits.