Why are oil manufacturers selling only 5 liter bottles of oil?

[dorlow]

I have a Chevy Impala. It takes 4.5 quarts of oil. I liked it when they sold 4 quart bottles of oil. So I would buy one 4 quart bottle and one 1 quart bottle and pour in the 4 quart and the half of the 1 quart.

2 days ago, I went to the store to buy oil because our cars are due and found they don't sell the 4 quart bottles anymore but 5 liter bottles. Why in the world would oil makers sell liter bottles? Oil isn't measured in a car in liters.

So, I figured out that the 5 liters is equal to 5.28 quarts. So my car takes 4.5 quarts of oil. So somehow, I need to pour in the oil and leave .78 quarts in this big bottle as I pour it.

My dad always taught me when pouring oil, always pour exactly how much it takes. Don't go by the dipstick when changing because it takes a while to all settle. Just dump it all out and pour in exactly what the specs says it takes and it is right. But trying to pour in 4.5 quarts and trying to leave .78 quarts in this huge bottle is stupid.

There has to be a reason or maybe a trick I just don't know. Or has all the new cars switched to liters in measuring their engine oil? If that's the case, it makes sense... I just haven't heard about the huge switch from quarts to liters for engine oil measuring.

I could've bought the quarts bottles, but when buying oil for both my wife and my car, it saved me 20 bucks to buy the liter bottles. My plan is to go to Walmart or somewhere and find a quart measuring container and I'll just have to pour it in there to measure it out right.

I can't pour it into an old quart oil bottle because a quart is somewhere between the top of the reading viewer thing on the side and the top, so it would be a guessing game if I were to try to measure it that way.

[dorlow]

Ok, so I went to Walmart today and they had a funnel that has a measuring container on top and it has a lever that you turn it on and off. So you can turn the spout off, fill it up to a quart and then drain it. So, this way I can measure out the exact 4.5 quarts.

I was waiting for someone to tell me a trick though of why they're doing 5 liter bottles... I can't even think of a reason...

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by dorlow

I was waiting for someone to tell me a trick though of why they're doing 5 liter bottles... I can't even think of a reason...

There could be many reasons, most of which have to do with efficiencies of manufacuting, shippping, retailing; and marketing reasons.

perhaps the bottle manufacturer has given them a deal on the 5 liter size..........

perhaps the manufacturer has done some price-to-volume studies and worked out the 5 liter size maximizes revenue-per-unit of retail shelf space........

perhaps they have done a consumer survey and found out the 5 liter size has the most consumer appeal, regardless of your particular opinion.

FWIW the last time I bought oil, I noticed Pennnzoil had a 5 liter size, the Quaker State used a 4.4 liter size....... so this leads to another reason, product differentiation. This is a marketing term which helps consumers establish an brand opinion or preference for products which may otherwise be considered to be all the same. Pennzoil may have introduced a 5 liter size to make their product slightly distinct and different than everyone else.

[Scrapper]

i think at walmart they sale 4 quarts and 5 in gallon jugs my moms van sais 4/5 but i end up using a gallon. you may want to take valvcovers off and make sure port holes are open you cand do this by a good piece of wire threw them. but like i say about my moms car. but to me the 5 quart gallon arn't realy a gallon.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

i think at walmart they sale 4 quarts and 5 in gallon jugs my moms van sais 4/5 but i end up using a gallon. you may want to take valvcovers off and make sure port holes are open you cand do this by a good piece of wire threw them. but like i say about my moms car. but to me the 5 quart gallon arn't realy a gallon.

I have found the 1 gallon containers do not have 1 gallon. always less....................

I was taught you always go by the dip stick for the final amount to fill the crankcase..never rely on these containers to be correct.

on level ground after a few hrs this should give the accurate reading...