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Geogia

hi, can you advice will AA use different brand of engine oil for their different types of services? what brand and number of oil would AA use for a toyota runx in different types of service please, thanks.

ABayliss

For services at an AA Auto Service Centre, bronze services use 15w-40 and services from silver up use 10w-30 for this car. Depending on the location, some outlets use Castrol and others use Elf.

tjhull

Could you please elaborate on this info.Why would the different service use different oil grades for the same car? One would have thought that if the vehicle in question needed a particular oil grade then that would be it.Am I missing something here? With regards to oil brands i have been using castrol in my vehicles for 50 years and can honestly say i have never had an engine problem.

ABayliss

VERY good question tjhull, and one that has sparked some conversation around our office and perhaps I should have asked before simply reading it from the service sheets and posting on this forum, as once you asked it you had me asking myself the same question.
I wondered if it could be that the 15w-40 is cheaper than the 10w-30, but that is only part of the answer.
Anyway, here's the answer I received from Castrol's technical representative.
Generally speaking, either of these oils will be suitable for a majority of cars on our roads, however, more modern engines prefer, and will return better fuel economy on a lower viscosity oil such as the 10w-30.
However, a thicker viscosity oil such as 15w-40 would be more advisable to use in an older engine with more wear.
As a generalisation, the bronze service is used by owners of older cars and is perhaps more appropriate for older cars due to its lower price. While a more modern car can still use the higher viscosity oil, it is preferable to use the lower viscosity grade, hence the silver and above is generally the better recommendation for newer cars.
As a further explanation, if a particular car is listed as needing a particular oil (whether this be 10w-30, 15w-40 or some other grade), this is explained to the customer and the correct grade used.
And I agree with you about Castrol's quality. (Elf too, I should add!).

Geogia

Thanks, can you advice are all actions in the checklist will be done, such as check fill adjust, and are they price inclusive? thanks

ABayliss

Please see this link for what operations are carried out during the various services. (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum etc)