# Does motor oil expire?



## the_humeister (Sep 25, 2008)

I'm guessing no. Any thoughts on this?


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## BuddyWh (Nov 11, 2006)

*Re: Does motor oil expire? (the_humeister)*

Do you mean in the car? or in the bottle?
Entropy happens but since motor oil is very stable by design (else it'd fall apart REAL QUICK in the high-temp pressure cooker of your engine) I'd imagine it should be good for a reasonably long period in an unopened bottle, stored at human-habitable temperature/environment. Any opened bottle would make me concerned about contamination.
I think the biggest problem is that oil formulations are under constant improvement so an older oil of same make/brand/grade may not meet the most modern spec's. But that is only of concern if the oil is REALLY old.

_Modified by BuddyWh at 7:55 AM 5-6-2009_


_Modified by BuddyWh at 8:01 AM 5-6-2009_


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## the_humeister (Sep 25, 2008)

Yes, I meant in unopened bottles. The reason I ask is because VW spec oil rarely goes on sale where I live and when it does I plan on getting a lot more bottles than I need because both my car and my wife's car are VWs.


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## BuddyWh (Nov 11, 2006)

*Re: (the_humeister)*

Sounds like the same strategy a number of people have taken...buy large (case lot) quantities when it's on sale. This can pay off really well with online purchases if shipping comes out cheaper when amortized over a larger quantity.


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## barrier12 (Feb 1, 2009)

*Re: (the_humeister)*

Shelf life is 5 years according to Mobil:
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-En....aspx


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