Sep 5, 2001

Oil Change Fanatic Puts Million Miles on His Truck

Last week William White of Lawrenceville, Georgia, pulled his 1995 pickup into Lube 3000, a quick oil-change business, for its million-mile oil change. He left Lube 3000 with brand a new pickup compliments of Pennzoil.

White puts close to 800 miles per day on his truck while delivering newspapers from Spartanburg, South Carolina, to Nashville, Tennessee. To make sure his truck is in tip-top condition, every four workdays he takes it to the same Lube 3000 to have his oil changed, always insisting on (what else?) Pennzoil motor oil.

"Bill has been a loyal customer of Lube 3000 and Pennzoil motor oil," said Dave Page, Atlanta market manager for Pennzoil, understating the obvious. "His unwavering dedication to oil changes with Pennzoil every 3,000 miles has kept his 1995 pickup in peak condition. We're more than happy to provide him with a brand new pickup to do it all again."

Pennzoil is taking the million-mile pickup to its research laboratories in Texas for a close look at the engine. Jeff Hsu, one of the company's senior research engineers, will remove the engine from the vehicle, disassemble it and perform a detailed inspection. Hsu is a CRC certified rater, recognized in the industry for his ability to inspect engine parts and assign a numerical value that describes how clean or worn they are for comparison purposes.

"We do a lot of laboratory tests on engines to simulate extensive mileage under various conditions, but to have one that has actually been driven by a consumer for a million miles is an excellent opportunity to study the real thing," said Mark Ferner, manager of mechanical development at the Pennzoil-Quaker State Company Research & Development Center. "A million miles for a passenger vehicle with a gas engine is quite an accomplishment."


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