Here are two quick tips to help you identify genuine imported motor oil.

发布时间：2022年01月24日 10:39

Attention, car owners: Currently, there are over 4,000 different brands of motor oil on the market, with widely varying quality. Although genuine imported motor oils are of high quality, it’s often difficult for ordinary consumers to tell them apart. We’ll show you a simple little experiment—just two easy steps—to help you easily identify genuine imported motor oils. First: Look! On the front and back of the original imported oil drum, the large label is entirely in English, with absolutely no Chinese characters. You can also check the barcode and the double-circle seal. (We’ll go into detail below.) Second: Burn! The term “genuine imported” means that the oil was filled into the drums overseas before being imported—both the oil itself and the oil drums are imported! Whether or not something is genuinely imported can sometimes fool people, though.

Dear car owners, there are currently over 4,000 different brands of motor oil on the market, with widely varying qualities. Although genuine imported motor oils are excellent, it’s very difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish them.

Through a simple little experiment, we’ll show you two easy tricks to help you effortlessly identify genuine imported motor oil.

One: Look!

The large label on both sides of the originally imported barrel is entirely in English, with absolutely no Chinese characters. You can also refer to the barcode and the double-circle seal (details will be provided below).

Two: Burn!

The term “genuine imported” refers to products that are fully assembled and packaged overseas before being imported—both the motor oil and the oil container are imported! While it may fool the eye, “fire testing” can’t be fooled! When burned, eco-friendly materials produce no black smoke—so you’ll know right away whether a material is truly high-quality just by putting it to the test.

Here are two quick tips to help you identify genuine imported motor oil.

I. Strict environmental requirements in Europe and the U.S.—the materials used for original oil drums must be environmentally friendly.

The bottom of the eco-friendly oil drum is marked HDPE.

[Full English Name] High Density Polyethylene

[Full Chinese Name] High-Density Polyethylene

[Basic Characteristics] High-density polyethylene is an opaque, white, wax-like material that is lighter than water, with a specific gravity ranging from 0.941 to 0.960. It is soft and flexible yet slightly harder than LDPE, and also exhibits moderate elongation. It is non-toxic and odorless.

[Combustion Characteristics] Easily flammable; once removed from the flame, it continues to burn. The upper part of the flame is yellow, while the lower part is blue. During combustion, it melts and drips liquid without producing black smoke. At the same time, it emits an odor similar to that produced when paraffin wax burns.

[Product Performance] High-density polyethylene is a white granular material that is non-toxic, odorless, and tasteless. It exhibits excellent heat and cold resistance, good chemical stability, as well as high rigidity and toughness. It also boasts good mechanical strength, dielectric properties, and resistance to environmental stress cracking.

II. Why is originally imported motor oil so good?

Due to their higher degree of industrialization, developed countries typically ensure high product quality and mass-produce goods according to stringent standards in areas such as environmental protection and safety. Lubricants are no exception: whether it comes to the refining of base oils or quality control, original imported brands from North America or Western Europe offer superior lubrication performance for engines and better comply with international environmental standards.

Although “domestically repackaged” oils mostly use the same raw materials as “genuinely imported” ones, the quality certification for genuinely imported oils is much stricter, as they must meet multiple standards set by both the host country and automobile manufacturers. For example, EU regulations stipulate that lubricants meeting only the API standard are prohibited from being sold within the EU region. Similarly, since President Obama took office, the U.S. has adopted the internationally higher ILSAC GF-5 standard, and in 2011 mandated that newly manufactured vehicles must use oils conforming to the GF-5 specification. The GF-5 specification undoubtedly offers superior fuel economy and lower tailpipe emissions. Meanwhile, domestically produced or refilled oils still predominantly adhere to the single API oil specification.

III. How to identify genuine imported products?

1. Barcode: A product’s barcode is akin to a person’s ID card. Barcodes starting with 01–09 are used in the United States and Canada, while products from mainland China have barcodes ranging from 690 to 695.

2. Soft drums: Due to stringent packaging requirements for lubricants abroad, originally imported lubricant drums are all soft drums. Lubricants produced domestically, in order to cut costs, are mostly packaged in hard drums. (The cost of soft drums is higher than that of hard drums!!!)

3. Double-circle seal: Originally imported lubricants will have a double-circle seal on the back of the oil drum.

The double-circle mark is a certification mark for exports abroad; domestically bottled or domestically produced motor oils do not carry this certification.

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