Step four: analysing the market

We're getting ever closer to the final choice of oil. At this stage the main task is to draw up a list of engine oils from various brands and manufacturers that suit your particular engine. For this you can use, for example, our oil selection tool by car model.

If you've read the previous steps carefully, along with the articles on engine oil composition and on oil approvals from automakers, you should already understand that what you need to look for is engine oil certified by the car manufacturer to the approvals for your engine. That's not too hard, and most likely you'll have a choice among several manufacturers. The simplest way is to type your approval (or all the information you have on the engine maker's oil requirements) into any search engine's search box, and you'll get a flood of offers to buy engine oil from various manufacturers and brands, listing certification against manufacturer approvals and classification under various systems.

An interesting detail — far from every oil manufacturer publishes information about certification against automaker approvals on their website, or that information can be hard to track down. Traders, though, especially those selling several brands of engine oil, publish the approvals almost without fail. As a rule, this information is also on the engine oil's label.

The main thing is not to pay much attention to what the engine oil manufacturer recommends for your car — they very often play it fast and loose and don't specify exactly which engine this brand of oil is recommended for. When choosing an oil, you need to look precisely at the stated approvals that a given brand of oil is certified against.

Let's repeat it once more — an approval is an exhaustive set of additives and a quality standard suited specifically to that engine. Any claims from sellers that "this engine oil is newer and better, so it can only do the engine good" are disingenuous. For more detail, see the article on how additives in the oil affect engine operation.