We're running low on lube. 😳

[underpants]

AutoZone’s alleged memo on motor oil supply is ugly, and your next oil change could prove it

from MS Now

Over the past week, reports about looming motor oil shortages have started popping up from multiple directions. The most pointed of them surfaced today, when a person posted what looks like an internal memo to the Southeast region of AutoZone stores.

In the memo, the writer says, “Realistic, middle-of-the-road estimates are for our average available supply in this product category [lubricating fluids] to drop by 40%.” That figure continues to pop up, and it basically means one thing. Oil changes, transmission fluid changes, really anything that lubricates your car is about to get more expensive. We reached out to AutoZone for comment, but haven’t received a reply at the time of writing.

Shops on the ground are already bracing for it. Speaking to a local repair store here in Little Rock, Arkansas, a general manager tells Carscoops that “They are being very secretive about all that. They say the price is for sure gonna go up, but they don’t know how the mainline volume will be affected yet.”

Another shop owner in DC said on Monday that Mobil and Shell informed Costco and Walmart that they’re out of product to ship. Later that same day, he posted what appears to be a bulletin focused on managing supply chain issues. Guidance included partially substituting 0W-8 oil with 0W-16 and then doing the same for 0W-16 with 0W-20. These are just the most recent and easily accessible examples of the current concern.