Voices From The Garage

Who or what is dexos and why are people looking for it!
In my daily dealings with auto parts customers while they are entertaining they are also an engine to get more info. This is one of those more info scenarios. So here we go. Consider yourself informed. Any opinions stated here are just that … opinions based on how I see it. Feel free to make your own judgements but here they are mine. I hope the following will enlighten you to what the heck is dexos and what can I do I do about it.

According to the official GM dexos info center this is a direct quote

That’s why GM Powertrain engineers developed the dexos™ engine oil specification. The result is engine oil designed specifically for your GM engine, with added performance in areas important to its operation. dexos™ represents a high quality, robust oil formulated to some of the most rigorous specifications in the industry. And just like GM, dexos™ is global. GM wants to make sure that every GM car anywhere in the world has access to the highest quality oil formulated exclusively for GM engines.

dexos™ is designed to increase fuel efficiency, extend the life of your emissions system, require fewer oil changes, and produce fewer emissions. You save time and money, and your car performs the way it was designed to.

dexos™ is the best oil for any GM car. It’s that simple.

To ensure you are using the right oil for your GM car, choose only authentic, licensed dexos™ oils. dexos™ is an exclusive trademark of General Motors. Only those oils displaying the green or blue dexos™ trademark and icon on the front label have been certified and licensed by GM as meeting the demanding performance requirements and stringent quality standards of the dexos™ specification. Other oils may make a lot of claims but have not gone through GM’s rigorous testing and quality control process.

Source – GM dexos information center

When you initially read this either in the owners manual or on the site the impression that you get is that GM is dictating which oil you can use and that if it is not theirs you are toast. Marketing 101, make it sound unique even if it is not. More than one customer has come in to the store in a panic looking for this elusive GM dexos oil that they just gotta have. Nothing else will do!

dexos1 icon

Here is the real deal. The gospel according to Bob. dexos™ is not an oil it is a specificationfor oil, as stated in the quote. What a lot of the literature that deals with it, makes you think that you have to get it from GM and that is GM oil. Not so! All it means is that these goonybirds at GM have spent a whole bunch of time making up a “new” specification for oil that is so very special and unique that they had to go so far as to brand it and make a licensed logo for it. And, yes, they do have their own branded oil. Is it the only game in town? NO! They would like you to believe that and they appear to have gone to great efforts to imply that, but NO! Basicly they want you to use synthetic oils. We all know that these are the best oils for all kinds of reasons. Nothing new here. Just more expensive. But take note of the licensed part very carefully.

Here is why. If you read further into the site you will come to a page GM dexos Licensed Products. This is the “official” list of “GM dexos certified oil”. As official and impressive as it sounds don’t be too overly taken by it. It basically establishes that they want you to use synthetic oil. That’s it! On to the list. At the top of this list is a flock of oils in the ACDelco dexos1 family. Wow! No surprise there. But here is where it gets your attention, and in my case [remember, it's my opinion] it aggravates me enormously, when you drill down this extensive list you will find most of the major brands of synthetic oils. Mobil 1, Pennzoil, Quaker State, they are all there.

Now, follow along with me here, all of these “licensed” name brand oils have been on the shelves for a long while. And we all know that synthetics are better for your engine. Now they had to pay a fee, major oil company to major car manufacturer, to get “licensed” for something they already did! And everyone already knew. WTF??!!! So basicly GM engineers spent alot of time and effort to create this unique, nifty neato oil spec all on their own because they thought they were being tricky and special. And they can get a fee to put their logo on all the major oil companies bottles. But it turns out they really aren’t because all the major oil companies synthetic products, that were already on the shelf, meet this “special” spec right out of the box! That sucks. So much for being “special”. But they can get money for inventing something that was already there. Now that’s the tricky side. I guess it worked.

What does puzzle me is that the major oil companies were okie dokie with this and went ahead and let it happen. I guess you can call it a windfall because now GM is pushing their premium products for them. Well, maybe, kinda ,sorta, after they paid them for it.

After all this hokus pokus magic show stuff that GM did all it really comes down to is that they, GM, want you to use synthetic oil in their motors! That’s it! Pretty frickin straight forward. And anyone with any sense about cars already knew that and is probably already using it.

Just another chapter in the book of “What The Heck Is Going On Here”. In my continuing saga of daily observations, the latest is a series of incidents surrounding my everyday comings and goings. It has become more and more apparent lately that the placement of neophytes, untrained and unprepared, individuals in positions of management has once again gone bad. When put in an abnormal stressful scenario confusion and chaos ensued. After the fact, total mishandling due to a combination of inexperience and pure ignorance came to light. With no readily apparent skills training or use of outside management training entities, it does not surprise me at all. The trial by fire method or we’ll deal with it when it comes up method is ridiculously standard fare.

Help wanted

With more than a few years of experience under my belt, with 9 years of military experience and having been on both ends of the management ladder, it still escapes me as to why a major business entity would place individuals in top management positions that are grossly under skilled and ill prepared. It has become readily apparent, to me at least, that the issue of convenience and a dash of the “good ole boy” mentality have more to do with getting these positions than true quality of leadership. And when these traits are ignored in this process the outcome is pretty predictable. The current prevailing business mode is one of dollar economics, get by with what you can for less money. And usually money can be translated into seniority. Senior members are usually higher on the pay scale. And after many years working with the Germans in the European business mentality, senior people are worth more than newbies because they are experienced, proven and more productive than multiple newbies. They can hit the ground running, have more life experience and have seen many of the business scenarios first hand.

When it comes to opening up new markets with my background, training and experience, my tactic has always started with the import of my “biggest and baddest” individuals in order to present an overpowering presence to new market. I believe it is now referred to as “Shock and Awe”. Back then I called it “impressing the crap out of them”. In the mean time I back filled these positions with the newbies. And once the market had stabilized then did a swap out and turned the helm over to the newly trained guys and sent the others back to their home sites. It has always confused me that in more than one corporation that the chant and banter was “we promote our own” and “we appreciate our employees” or something along that line. And yet, more often than not, it is an outsider that gets the job. And it’s not a far reach for those individuals to be recent rejects from other players in the same business sector. And by filling a whole new location with these outsiders appears, to me at least, to be a recipe for a future problem that will have to be addressed. And it really doesn’t help the morale and loyalty issues of the current employees at all. Despite many so-called management training positions, without any publicity or calls for volunteers or recommendations. This really is a stick in the eye of the corporates training sequence and truth of purpose. I always gave my own the first shot at these positions. Seems you would like a trained insider than a newbie outsider. Unless we bring up the “good ole boy” scenario. More than one incident in many corporations has smacked of that possibility. And when there are published guidelines with the qualifications for these positions why on earth would you blatantly ignore these in order to put “your guy” in there. Kinda makes the whole guidebook in question and if you can just do what the hell you want, guidelines be damned, brings one to ask “who is really running this ship?”

In conclusion of this episode, I am vocalizing over what I am seeing, hearing and reading on a daily basis. It is unsettling to say the least, but it continues to be an issue. And in these days and times I believe it should work better but a lot of time and effort [money] is being expended in correcting things that should be dictated by common sense but because of the interference of bean counters and personal agendas, it is going into the dumpster.

Am I the only one seeing this?

Every day I get home from work my level of annoyance at a variety of patrons on the other side of the retail counter gets elevated. All I can do is grin and shake my head. More specifically, this series of rants is about a wide range of these goofies. I have selected a few of the prevalent ones that come to mind easily. First, all the “wanna be” and “old school” mechanics. Second, the “this-auta-work” mechanics. And last for now, the “parts emissary”.

The Parts Emissary

What the heck is a “Parts Emissary” you ask? We deal with them all the time. Basically, it is usually a woman coming in to get the parts that her significant other or “mechanic” told her to pick up. It can be a very trying memory quiz or even a written list. Most of the time after the initial request a simple responding question such as “does it have disc or drum brakes” throws the whole conversation into chaos. And this usually progresses into a couple of pet peeves that I have. Before I go to these let me just say this… Have him call ahead! Or have him come get the parts. It will make everyone’s life a whole lot easier. I am tired of having to go through a complete quiz show about what kind of car is it, which motor / trans does it have in it or what kind of brakes does it have. many end up with the” I don’t know. Can’t you tell?” Folks! Most of the time it is YOUR car! Find out the basic info on it and, for goodness sakes, write it down!

Now we come to the first of two major pet peeve that gets me wound up. One leads into the other so bear with me here.

First – I know technology is a wonderful thing but if you have to dial your mechanic to get the info why in the heck couldn’t he just call me outright? Then we get to talk, get the RIGHT info and get on with it. An alternative version of this is the phone in by the emissary. Once again usually the woman, who is clueless, asking for parts only to have it evolve into the same question and answer session. And the part that grinds me to no end is that more times than not she pauses and yells to the fixer person for the answer! I can hear them in the background, JUST HAND HIM THE FRICKIN PHONE! I don’t need you to be in the middle of this. This event leads us into the second of my pet peeves.

Second – I will only say this once… men and women equally applied here, I Do NOT want to talk to your mechanic on your phone! First off if I am on the phone with him why couldn’t he call me in the first place?Secondly while I am not a paranoid person by nature but I don’t really want to talk on your phone! I have no clue where it has been and if you sneezed on it recently! And ladies if you pull your phone out of your bra area, and this goes for money too, I am not really enchanted with grabbing it and holding it anywhere near me! Yeah! that is personal! I don’t know about you but WTF?!

Anyone else got these kind of issues, cause I do and it is an everyday occurrence for me at least. Well … that about does it for now. I said now! I am sure I will come up with something else hear shortly that I forgot to mention. Just one cranky old guy spouting off. Thanx! Come again!

Every day I get home from work my level of annoyance at a variety of patrons on the other side of the retail counter gets elevated. All I can do is grin and shake my head. More specifically, this series of rants is about a wide range of these goofies. I have selected a few of the prevalent ones that come to mind easily. First, all the “wanna be” and “old school” mechanics. Second, the “this-auta-work” mechanics. And last for now, the “parts emissary”.

The “this-auta-work” mechanics

This group is a very wide ranging one. Most of them are backyard and self maintainer mechanics but there are a whole bunch of “professional” mechanics, mainly from used car lots. But some shop guys are just as bad. These guys will do almost anything to quick fix some things rather than just step up and get a good part. This covers everything from trying to patch a plastic radiator tank with glue to trying to fix an overheating Caddy Northstar with stop leak. Not to mention a bazillion bad cooling fan issues being “fixed” with a roll of cheap wire and a plastic bat handled switch. One of my personal favorites. And it also ranges in scope to include the patrons that can’t seem to get a grip on the cost of technology in new vehicles. If the car calls for a platinum or iridium plug it is not OK to put in a carbon steel $2.00 plug in place of the correct $7.00 iridium! Yes, they will screw in … but NO they are not the same. And, yes, the alternator is $200.00! I love the “How come it’s so much? I used to get these for $35.00! Got anything cheaper?” comment. You probably did, three decades ago!

Another facet of this group is the sector that just “had to have” the Cadillac “whatever”, Land Rover or BMW, and can’t step up to the parts and service cost! You gotta pay to play! These cars are upscale vehicles, they cost more initially, I don’t care what you paid for it, it still cost more, get a grip. I’m not a math major but the parts for the over $30k vehicle is probably gonna cost you a bit more than your $10K Dodge Neon. Flat out! Everyone concedes that Cadillac Northstars are finicky motors. They don’t take kindly to overheating. There are literally tons of them on the car lots. Why? Because for the most part they are problem children and more likely they are there because they have a problem. Land Rovers aren’t made here. Jaguars aren’t made here. Land Rover and Jaguar Cars are now owned by a company from India. Cadillac Cateras are really Opel Senators. Yes, you do have to take the while face off the motor in order to replace the water pump. Yes, you do have 4 oxygen sensors. Yes, there is a coil on top of each spark plug. Yes, the voltage regulator in in the body computer. Sorry, running out of breath. Don’t bitch at me about why parts are so high and why it takes so long to get them. You picked the car, had to have it, and I am just the parts guy. Not my issue. There are more and more cars out there that are cooperative imports. The situation is not getting better, it is getting worse.

And for all of you “hipo” neophytes that just had to have an LT1 motor, I don’t want another wide eyed wonder response to the over $200 tuneup (cap, rotor, and wires) aftermarket cost. Those are the cheap parts. I must admit I do love to see it. Oh, did anyone happen to mention you have to remove the electric water pump to do it? What?! You didn’t know? I’m shocked! Not really. Tag! You are it! Had to have it, now it got you. Anything else I can help you with?

So, this entry is dedicated to all the people that supply a whole bunch of entertainment from the other side of the counter. And I will not recommend any shop or used car lot that pulls this sort of stuff! So if you want to know why I am smiling… Well, because you made my day!

Next up The Parts Emissary!

Every day I get home from work my level of annoyance at a variety of patrons on the other side of the retail counter gets elevated. All I can do is grin and shake my head. More specifically, this series of rants is about a wide range of these goofies. I have selected a few of the prevalent ones that come to mind easily. First, all the “wanna be” and “old school” mechanics. Second, the “this-auta-work” mechanics. And last for now, the “parts emissary”.

First up, the “wanna be” “old school” mechanics.

I get tired of trying to educate the “so called” mechanics as to how the new cars work and how to troubleshoot the problem at hand. And unfortunately many of these same people are “licensed” and “Certified” mechanics! Please don’t throw your certification in my face during a conversation in a parts store as to how to fix or troubleshoot a problem. And I really don’t give a damn about how long you have been working on cars. Apparently you suck at it or you wouldn’t be asking me, the guy behind the parts counter, what to do now would we?

I know times are tough but just because you don’t want to learn the new technology,and/or invest in the right tools, don’t make the people you are trying to help pay with their wallet to do your guess work! And before you do anything else… Get Some Damn Metric tools! Sockets, allen wrenches and Torx. Welcome to the real world! Most of the vehicles for the last 20 years or so, and a lot of the consumer products too, for that matter, are METRIC! It’s not kind of close to SAE, it’s METRIC! It just bugs the fire out of me to hear ” What do you have that’s about a 1 1/16th but that doesn’t fit snug.” You have been sleeping under a rock not to already own these tools. I really have no sympathy, or patience with these people. This includes the Parts Galore fix it people.Now I am not a rocket scientist but if you need it to get the part off at Parts Galore then you just might need it to put it on your vehicle. And you may even need it again for that same vehicle. Just sayin! And to add insult to injury they purchase the tool in question, use it, and instead of keeping it to fill out their tool box they bring it back “because I didn’t need it”. Really .. you used it and now your bringing it back because you’re a cheap ASSHAT!

Next you may want to educate yourself on the “NEW”, last 20 years, technology. Fuel injection and computer controlled systems are here to stay. Deal with it! And all the technology is not just the ignition module or a fuse! And most of the primary parts are expensive and intertwined with extensive wiring and control systems. You need to also step up and learn how to deal with the OBD (On Board Diagnostic) codes. Let me say this about that, OBD never, ever, calls out a part. A system yes, a part, NO! Learn how to read codes and interpret them. They may actually clue you in to what is going on. Guessing is expensive. And since they are electrical parts, once you install them they are yours. I have lost count the times that someone buys a part, asking if it can be returned if they “don’t need it” or “if that doesn’t fix it”. Gee, that wasn’t too obvious was it?! Test and return. Then when they come in and ask what could the problem be for a whatever problem, and you give them he laundry list of common sense possibilities they get this blanked out stare, usually followed by a statement in the line of “well, how much are those parts?”

All I can do at that point is give them the big laundry list of parts and wish them luck! They’ll be back! Enough of that. On to the next bag of Goofies!