Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco • Hacker News Board

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#221

Post by anon7725 » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 6:20 PM UTC

6SixTy wrote: post #87

ebbi wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same trend here in NZ. People buying utes/trucks just because they want, not because they need. They're not as big as the American F150s etc, more a Toyota Hilux or Ford Ranger. And they're often driven by reckless road ragers, often modified with uncertified suspension, bush lights turned on at night blinding oncoming traffic, and wheels extending past the fender flares. These vehicles are often financed to the hilt…

Remember that the US is it's own market with different regulations and has a complicated history with imports, so no Hilux. Though it does look like the Ranger is externally the same between NZ and US. I'm not counting maybe 1mm as different. I am somewhat familiar with a Ute since I've seen Subaru Bajas before. Not old enough to see Subaru Brats around or El Caminos. It does seem like those people are emulating Amer…

> so no Hilux

Isn't that just a Toyota Tacoma?

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#222

Post by klaff » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 6:25 PM UTC

diydsp wrote: post #82

dietr1ch wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's 11.3L for the civilised audience. For reference, my 3.6L 6-cyl boxer needs about 6.5L according to my service notes.

Liters are not SI units. Metric isn't magic. It's not ergnomic nor designed around the human body or everyday experiences. It started arbitrary. Then was defined as in terms of the wavelength of radiation from krypton-86. (the meter was 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of that particular transition to match the original arbitrary metal bar) Then they based it on the distance light travels in an arbitrary amount of time (1/29…

Metric isn't magic but as an engineer who's had to use both systems for my whole career[^1] I despise the imperial system. Factors of 3, 8, 12, 640, 5280! Fractions used in carpentry. Just centering a picture on a wall is annoying.

I will agree that a temperature interface in °C should read in increments of 0.5 in order to have roughly the same resolution as when in °C (and many don't, but that's poor UX). I don't care about 0-100 being roughly aligned to human environments - 0-100 being aligned to freezing/boiling of water is just as good a reference.

[1] of the many things that Reagan should be despised for, cancelling metrication is probably not in the top 5, maybe not top 10. I still despise him for it.

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#223

Post by anon7725 » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 6:41 PM UTC

stinkbeetle wrote: post #169

LeBit wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize the shortages you enumerated have different reasons , but a highly respectable French engineer, Jean-Marc Jancovici , has been repeating for years that we are heading into an inevitable age of "degrowth". It is not an "if". It is now inevitable. He is very pro alternative sources of energy but he clearly explains nothing can replace petroleum right now. Petroleum is used to build everything. Gas for your ca…

> nothing can replace petroleum right now. You don't need to be some kind of super genius to understand this, if you have not been sucked in to the populist left wing propaganda about petroleum. We can't even replace petroleum for energy right now, let alone all its other uses. It's not just oil we'll have issues with either, lots of minerals could easily see shortages and rapidly increasing costs to extract over thi…

> Nothing bad even happens when you have degrowth

In human history, when there has been a period of protracted degrowth something bad has very much happened - usually civilizational collapse or severe prolonged economic downturn.

> We don't need infinite economic growth, infinite population growth, or even continued quality of life growth

I agree on the first two, but I believe that an expectation of the third is foundational to the post-Enlightenment social order. It has waxed and waned, and there have obviously been incredibly dark periods, but we've usually returned to "things will be better in the future" as a setpoint.

I read "Degrowth" by Kohei Saito recently. I found it challenging (in that it challenged a lot of my preconceived notions), but also a fairly positive approach to implementing degrowth. Sadly, at least in the US, I think it is alien to the American mind and only has a hope of being implemented at the local level in sporadic places.

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#224

Post by goalieca » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 7:30 PM UTC

xethos wrote: post #218

goalieca wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trade war tarrifs are punishing Alberta the least. Ontario and Quebec are taking more of it.

Precisely - Carney can't tariff Albertan oil without stoking seperatist rhetoric, which Smith is using as a political tool instead of stating outright Alberta will always be part of a Canada, and shutting down the [real or manufactured] movement

What I meant to say is the USA didn’t care about Alberta. They’re about supply management, subsidies in manufacturing and lumber and dairy and that. Alberta has their hands clean in this one.

Re: Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco

#225

Post by ffsm8 » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 7:53 PM UTC

anon7725 wrote: post #219

ffsm8 wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I omitted on purpose is that Ive also only driven it like 4k km during that time period ( ･ั ﹏･ั )

Oil is a consumable with both a use lifespan and a time lifespan. So it needs to be changed at the lesser of either of those intervals. Same with tires, which a lot of people don't realize.

True, and I'll probably have to change it soonish, but 5 years/4k km is not in a problematic range.