Rocket Dawg

In our area we have huge store(s) called Meijer. They carry most every major brand of oil but the Dexos line seems to be vanishing. I had 2 choices this time, Valvoline Max Life semi synthetic and an off brand I never heard of.
They carry Mobil One, Pennzoil, Quaker State, Vavoline, Castro, Phillips 66, Meijer oil (dont know who makes it) Rotella etc.....After years of this GM hype ( licensed oil) I'm not going to use dexos ever again. In our area we have a store called Family Farm and Home, ( similar to Tractor Supply) They do not carry dexos oil anymore. This 'licensed oil" isnt what I thought it was a few years ago. My mechanic doesnt use it in his own cars that require it. hard to find a fully synthetic "dexos oil" period. next oil change its Kendall Titanium Fully synthetic, same that i use in my Silverado. For what its worth, I send my oil in to get analyzed thru my buddy's business and had great results using this stuff. They own about 8 pick up trucks, some brand new others less than 5 years and use the Kendall oil ( 55 gallon drum for them) and all vehicles get the oil sent in. The first oil change the trucks get is a non dexos oil. Most people say that GM cant detect if dexos is in the engine or not. One thing for sure, I will only use a Wix or Purolator oil filters. What do you guys think? dexos= just a license fee to print it on the oil container?

Greybeard999

I use Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic... It's specified as dexos2.

Oldblue

I use Castrol Edge 5W30, it's decision approved, here's a list of the licensed oils to carry the Dexos crest

dexos2 Brands | GM dexosContact dexos? Licensing Program

This is interesting also

http://www.imakenews.com/lubritec/e_....cfm?x=b11,0,w

donbrew

Dexos is not a line, it is a specification. Almost all full and semi syn oils have the Dexos badge on them.
Look in the specs area on the label. Yes, it is a license deal. Basically a synthetic oil spec with additives from specific vendors. In theory; any Dexos oil is the same as any other Dexos oil.

I don't think I've ever seen a warranty requirement.

aradmahogany

I use ultra platinum! Best stuff out there imo

Rocket Dawg

I've been reading many topics on this online. Some say that by law if it will void a warranty that GM has to supply the oil for you. Somehow they got around that. Others say that they paid GM to put "dexos" on their container as a licensed GM approved oil nothing else, as in no additives, just a label. My son drives a 2010 Cobalt that has the same engine as my 2011 HHR. His doesnt require the dexos oil. We all know GM didn't reinvent that engine after 2010. Same with my 5.3 in my Silverado (2009) Same engine in 2011 but that one requires the dexos brand oil. The vavoline max life is dexos approved so I will use that today. next oil change?? I have 171k on this HHR its a sweet ride that gets great MPG's . thanks for posting that list. I'll look closer at that pennzoil ultra platinum stuff, maybe I didnt see the dexos stamp on it. I've used pennzoil in the past and ist on the top of my list of brands to use .

donbrew

Please direct me to the "required" and warranty statements.
I have only seen "recommended" and general references to "performance" and "may not be covered".

I have seen a lot of people that have "been told" that GM MANDATED dexos, I have not seen it from GM.
Here is the TSB from 2012/2013, but the letter on the end denotes revisions that update years, i.e.: A for the first rev etc.
http://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/TSb/...dPdf?id=177600

Once again it's not a brand. It was originally a spec, but now it seems to be a badge.

Please read the links that oldblue provided; the first one explains everything you seem to have a problem with.

If you carefully parse the statement in the Owner Manual; you will see that dexos has nothing to do with the warranty reference. ("or equivalent" is used twice.)

It basically says use the 5W30 you want. It is hard to find a non-Starburst oil.

From page 6-18 of the 2011 HHR Owner Manual (BTW, the 2011 rec is dexos1):

Oldblue

I used to use Royal Purple but it's tough to find and even tougher to pay that much for it.
For years I was sponsored by Valvoline and Castrol so I get what's on sale
Seems Castrol Edge comes up at 50% off every few months that coincide with my oil life readings and mileage about every six months

mister hhr

Napa oil made by Valvoline is dexos approved

843de

And to be the contrarian, it's Mobil 1 for me every 3,000 miles, let the screaming and gnashing of teeth begin.

I've heard it all, but oil, even Mobil 1 is cheap....engines aren't.