Hi to all. Yesterday i went to a local auto parts store (Mexican autozone), to find out a "decent" oil for mi HHR. In the previous oil change i added Castrol Synthec blend 5W-30 purchased on McAllen, Tx. Works fine, but now is necessary to change the oil (i have 7,000 miles with it). I only found Quaker State 10W-30 multigrade engine oil . I found also 10W-40, 20W-50 (only those two and 10W-30, believe me, it´s hard to find good car oil in Mexico as royal purple, AMSOIL, Castrol, etc, and the synthetic is really expensive (12 USD/Quart). this was a good option? I´ve made the change. Also, its annoying to find the filters (air, oil, cab) in Mexico. Auto parts store don´t have them, neither the dealer. I bought the air filter (Purolator) in Evansville, Indiana (one month ago in a trip that i had), and the oil filter also there. Its very ironic that a vehicle "made in Mexico", the dealer and auto parts store don´t have on stock parts (Guess what, when i opened the purolator filter, it has the legend "made in Mexico)

 

Zagohhr-

If 10-30 is all you can find, just use it...

I would NOT go any thicker, the 10-40 & 20-50 are too thick..

 

10W30 is a better choice than a 5W30, especially for use in Mexico during the summer.

My HHR is operated in southern California and one of the first things we did was change from the factory fill 5W30 to a 10W30 synthetic. To mitigate the expense of the synthetic oil, we also went to an extended drain interval for the oil but a normal change interval for the oil filter.