After working for an independent oil company in tech service for the last 18;years, I can only say there’s a lot of marketing goes on !

Exactly, you buy technology, no retailer of any product can afford to be behind the best product available

I Like Chips wrote:

Beware The Placebo Effect is coming to a street like yours soon

Castrol GTX and Blucol antifreeze.

Always used Castrol GTX in the old days

I remember for the first time around the early 90s I came across fully synthetic oil Mobil something or other, in a petrol station on the A3 I picked up a 5litre container and asked the guy behind the till how much, can't remember the cost now but I put it back darned quick.

For those who have the time, it was written last century and needs an update

https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/engine_oil_history.shtml

Interesting ...so cheap oil is as good as expensive stuff?
Therefore using this argument...cheap tyres re as good, cheap cars are as good, cheap phones are as good, cheap food is as good!
Can you see where i am going with this.
Comments on a postcard

All those things are as good as the expensive ones IF they are made to the same spec yes.... if not then clearly not!
Cheaper oil made to the same correct spec WILL be perfectly suitable for your FL2

Personally I use Smith & Allan for all my vehicles - in 20l drums usually you pays your money & take your choice.

Would you pay more from one retailer for the same product if you can get it cheaper elsewhere? it's more expensive right? so MUST be better  2014 Freelander 2 TD4 Manual Dynamic
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover - undergoing restoration

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You are not comparing like with like, and what do you mean by "good" anyway.
It is all about the specification you want to compare and your own personal requirements.
Is cheap oil as "good" as expensive oil ? - yes if they are of the same specification.
Are cheap tyres as "good" as expensive tyres ? Yes if your requirement is only for them to be circular and to pass an MOT but not if you want to include other factors such as wet weather grip and longevity.
My cheap £200 Motorola phone is as "good" as any iphone or expensive Samsung - as it fulfils all my requirements (in the Motorola is better as it saves me money), but obviously their performance specifications are different but not to a point that it makes a jot of difference to me.
Is an expensive Range Rover as "good" as a cheap Hyundai ? not if it keeps breaking down. Jules

Based on AT's argument , why shop around ? Surely the most expensive is the best.  Jules

This argument is no different to the common one:
Cheaper filters as good as genuine filters (made to the same spec).
This argument divides many and it does come down to what you want for your vehicle!
Personally, i service myself and buy genuine filters and best oil as i am saving £££ on sending to dealer/garage to service. So the extra money i save means i buy the best and still save money

I worked for a manufacturer of oils a while back, technically they didn't manufacture oils, they bought base oils and blended them with additives that would prevent oxidation, keep it in grade, keep particles in suspension, prevent startup wear by clinging to bearing surfaces etc.

So you get the idea that it's not only the quality of the base oil, but the additions pack that determine the "quality" of the oil. Supermarket buyers are far from stupid, they would say "we want this quality of base oil and this specific additions recipe", give us a call when you can do it for £x per bottle. They knew what they could get away with to meet the standards, and did not fall short of the standards, rarely exceeded them by much.
Moral being read the label, if it says xxx and you need xxx you will be OK, just don't be tempted to exceed the oil change distance or time as nobody is saying that it will stay in grade any longer than it strictly has to.

Funniest is when the company got it wrong you have 100,000litres of oil that doesn't meet spec. So you have wasted the oil, wasted the additions pack and have to pay an awful lot of money to get someone to take away your hazardous waste. Or you could thicken it up, bottle it, and sell it as cheap 20-50 for "older cars", as long as you cover the cost of the bottle you are quids in. Many an old banger has had fully synthetic oil with too many wear inhibitors for £1 a litre Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

….or put it to reblend and blend it in small amounts into a good blend !

AT1963 wrote:

This argument is no different to the common one:
Cheaper filters as good as genuine filters (made to the same spec).
This argument divides many and it does come down to what you want for your vehicle!
Personally, i service myself and buy genuine filters and best oil as i am saving £££ on sending to dealer/garage to service. So the extra money i save means i buy the best and still save money

The trouble with filters is that there is no way of comparing the specification of after market filters. Hence i buy OEM ones Jules

The deed is done, 1st time after 6 years of Castrol.
My son is a, Mercedes Technician and he showed me the difference between the Mercedes part and a copy part.
They looked identical but it was a dramatic difference in weight.
I am fortunate to have a trade account so only buy JLR parts,