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German Castroil, RED US/German label not the same!

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Old 03-15-2005, 09:06 PM
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Default German Castroil, RED US/German label not the same!

In recent oil discussion it was declared that the newest red labeled castroil 0w30 made of us and imported products was exactly the same as the GC 0w30 since the front of the bottle has the same label, same sku ect.

I decided to buy the newest red label can to compare to real GC 0w30 and in fact it is not the same! This is bad news for some of us that thought we found a replacement. Not only is the color different, I'm not sure it smells the same. lol...

I purchased a bottle of the us imported stuff for a side by side compairson.

GC is on the left, Imported blend on the right


The GC is dark green, and the blend isn't doh
Old 03-15-2005, 09:09 PM
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only get the stuff that says imported from germany s what you are saying? i found some at the local autozone
Old 03-15-2005, 09:13 PM
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yep, if it does not say Germany or have a BP stamp, its not the real deal
Old 03-15-2005, 09:45 PM
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You have a PM on FAST.
Old 03-15-2005, 10:00 PM
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it has to have all the european standards listed on the bottle, and the "imported from germany" tag on it to be legit.
Old 03-16-2005, 09:34 PM
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Whoops, I intended for this to be in the internal engine section! feel free to move it!
Old 03-17-2005, 08:56 AM
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I have found US manufactured castrol that does have the euro standards and is green. I popped the cap in the store to make sure.
Old 03-26-2005, 01:47 PM
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BAD NEWS !!!!!!!
PATMAN just informed us on another board that even if it says "made in Germany", if it is made in 2005 (you can check the bottle on the bottom ... it should begin with m05) then, it is not the right stuff.

It's confirmed, I just checked my m05 batch and even though it says made in germany, imported by Castrol, it is the wrong stuff and it is brown in color like in your picture and not green
Old 03-26-2005, 02:23 PM
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So I guess the better question is where to find GC now? My next oil change is coming up and I have GC in the car now, but why switch to an inferior oil if I don't have to? I don't want to go back to oil consuming M1.
Old 03-26-2005, 03:20 PM
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You just have to open up each bottle and check the color, make sure it is green and also check the bottom for M05. If you find it, try not to get that one and go for m02, m04, and previous oils
Old 03-26-2005, 07:22 PM
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Yep, if it's not green, it's most likely not the same stuff as the good stuff I've been using. I would make sure it's the proper green stuff before using it. The M02 to M04 batches were all green. There is some green M05 stuff, but I think it might just be the early production stuff. So if you do spot M05, avoid it if you can, but if there is no M04 or older, then open up the bottle of M05 first to make sure it's green oil inside. Castrol strikes again, radically changing their formula without telling anyone!
Old 03-26-2005, 09:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Patman
Yep, if it's not green, it's most likely not the same stuff as the good stuff I've been using. I would make sure it's the proper green stuff before using it. The M02 to M04 batches were all green. There is some green M05 stuff, but I think it might just be the early production stuff. So if you do spot M05, avoid it if you can, but if there is no M04 or older, then open up the bottle of M05 first to make sure it's green oil inside. Castrol strikes again, radically changing their formula without telling anyone!
Whoa ... I just emptied the shelves at a local Autozone of all their GC. It was mixed in with the US stuff. Had to check it all now - it is all M02 or M03 (different label for each). You can tell it's green just looking at the window slot on the side of the bottle.
Old 03-26-2005, 10:04 PM
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Damn Patman, you scared the $hit out of me! I too recently purchased 12 quarts from a local Autozone thinking it was the "correct" stuff since it said Made in Germany on the back. Luckily for me, they read M04 on the bottom and I could see the oil was green from the side window slot too!

I'm going back tomorrow to load up again, so hopefully they'll have some...

Mike
Old 03-28-2005, 10:15 AM
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Why would they make a drastic change to such a popular product? Unless the manufacturing cost was that out of line.
Old 03-28-2005, 03:51 PM
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Originally Posted by SSCamaro99_3
Why would they make a drastic change to such a popular product? Unless the manufacturing cost was that out of line.
Probably because the manufacturers don't expect people to inspect the bottle to make sure it says made in germany, m02, m04, is red labeled, and most importantly, most people don't open the container to make sure the oil is green in color.
Did I miss anything else that you guys check for?

So the manufacturers don't think anybody will notice the difference.

Last edited by 01_SuperSlow; 03-28-2005 at 04:49 PM.
Old 03-28-2005, 05:39 PM
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So I am confused and kinda scared here, is legitimate GC not being made anymore???
Old 03-28-2005, 06:09 PM
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an employee might have messed up and now we're getting the american stuff in the german bottles
Old 03-28-2005, 06:21 PM
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I just bought about 20 qts. They all had MO4xxxxxxxx on the bottom. It looks green. I am glad. I had a hard time finding that stuff.

Bill
Old 03-29-2005, 12:33 AM
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So once it is gone off of the shelves, it is no more??? Are they not making this formula anymore??? Oh shat. What oil should we move to now oh wise and powerful Patman
Old 03-29-2005, 04:42 AM
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I'm honestly not sure if the oil is still going to produced the way it previously was or not. Time will tell. I'm not sure which oil I would switch to, but Mobil 1 0w40 would be one of the top choices on my list, or Castrol Syntec 5w40 from Belgium. In Canada we've also got a 0w30 made by Esso which looks similar to GC in that it's on the thick end of the 30wt scale.



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