$500 on oil?

[Audi Junkie]

Just doing some math and figuring different car ownership costs and stuff. I'm doing 4x a year changes on synth oil I already bought. Cost-wise, it's EXPENSIVE! I'm posting this because there are always guys saying "oh, only the best for my car", or "it's worth extra money for peace of mind". I call bunk. Those extra dollars add up.

Dino oil, even extended a bit is an economy that can't be ignored. Doing my 4x a year synth changes means $100 a year or $500 added to the cost of my car before it's paid-off. That's just unacceptable and I wanted to state my opinion. The oiling can be handled for $150 with 3x dino changes. The savings could buy some shocks, a timing belt or a nice set of tires. Heck, $350 is basicly a car payment. Something to think about.

 

[MysticGold04]

Wow... just think of the savings if you buy the $ale Dino oils...

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, your math assumes the same length of service ..or so I reason. If you don't extend the drains or aren't subjecting the car to severe enough service to require a synth ..then you're right. 2X to 3X the cost.

Now some in your shoes are not willing to violate the AUDI/VW/MB "numbermania-fest" ..so they're kinda stuck (mice or men?? Do you feel lucky? Fish or cut bait

)

Don't buy any oil unless you get your money's worth in either longevity or utility when compared to alternatives.

 

[tenderloin]

Those arguments can be made with almost anything item. Generic store brand groceries vs national brands. Name brand gas vs independent. Even riding in your car vs mass transit or biking. What you may consider as extravagant or expensive does not make it so for others.

Use what you use and I hope you sleep well at night. As for others? Let them do the same. Your outrage on one subject just leaves you open to it coming back at you on another.

Next time you use the Hunts ketchup or real Cherrios you better feel guilty. You are wasting money man

 

[tom slick]

how many miles on each type?

how much are you paying for each type?

Here are some numbers for my most driven car:
considering oil cost only

20,000 miles per year
3.5 quart sump

3,000 OCI = 6.6 changes per year
$2 oil x 6.6 changes = $46.20

5,000 OCI = 4 changes per year
$2 oil x 4 changes = $28.00

7,500 OCI = 2.6 changes per year
$6 oil x 2.6 = $54.60

Throw in the cost of having someone change your oil and the difference becomes less.
If a change costs $15 labor then the difference per year is:
6.6 x 15 = $99
4 x 15 = $60
2.6 x 15 = $39

adding the numbers together:
$99 + $46 = $145 per year
$60 + $28 = $88 per year
$39 + $55 = $94 per year


I change my own oil so in my case the difference is $26 a year or $130 over 5 years. That's not much, you'll pay more then that for not having great credit.

 

[Steve S]

Changing out that expensive oil too soon .I will again post syn oils generally are long drain oils that is their main advantage if you are not going to take advantage of the benefits you are not in need of the syn oil.

 

[dailydriver]

Besides, it depends on which synthetic you use and just how much you pay for it.

PennzPlat on Pep Boyz sale/rebate is sometimes actually cheaper than a lot (most??) of the regularly priced dinos out there, and not much more than the sale/bargain dinos (yes, with the exception of the 'once in a blue moon'
Chevron/Havoline/etc. $.49/qt. blowouts).

Even GC is not that bad at ~ $4.00/qt. including a decent filter on the Peppies sale/rebate.

Like others have said, most people would NOT have to change these two oils more than twice a year, IF that.

 

[drivewaytech]

I spend around $155 dollars per year on my wife's car doing the oil changes myself. I use Grp III synthetic oil and change it out between 3.5 to 4K miles. I have an engine that particularly rough on oil and my wife puts about 25K miles a year on the car. The engine is the Chrysler 2.7 v6.

Example

The money is well spent, I believe, due to the high repair or replacement cost of this

remarkable

engine. At 52K miles I had developed an intermittent lifter tick. I will likely be adding another $30 to that annual total for a bottle of Auto RX. The bright spot is I recently used MotorCraft 5W-20 for the first time. It is very reasonably priced under $10.00 for a 5 qrt. jug. I used it on my last OCI, for which 500 miles into the run, the tick has not returned. I may stick with the MotorCraft because of it's quality and lower price. This will drop me down to about $100 per year cost for maintaining the Sebring.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Well we do not have good sales on dino oil in Michigan. Second why change 4X a year on synthetic that seems like a waste. Third even I tell people that synthetic only makes sense if you are going to keep the car until the wheels fall off or you do once a year 25K oil change intervals etc......If one can get $.49-$.99 dino oil that is name brand then heck yeah that is a deal but in my mind it only really is meanigful if that is what I pay up front. I hate haveing to do the rebate thing.I have been cheated too many times on rebates that I never saw!

 

[JohnBrowning]

I only change my oil twice a year and many think that is too often on this site. I have never gone by milage even when new. I went 6 month intervals with synthetic. Any more then twice a year with synthetic is a waste of money. In fact if I was going to do more freq. OCI's I would make my own 50/50 blend from name brand products and call it good. I did this when I had a bad O2 sensor that was diluteing the oil with fuel until I fixed it!

 

[drivewaytech]

I do not like the rebate thing either. I particularly do not like floating money for the enticement of savings. If you want my business, then put the discount up front, like the BOGO on Penn. Plat. last year. I bought a boat load of that oil. I rarely ever run across .49-.99 cent deals because I have to run 5W-20. I find sales on 30 weights but rarely 20 weights. Before someone chimes in about using 5W-30 or whatever, the before mentioned lifter tick happened after I used Valvoline SynPower 5W-30 because it was the only grade I could find BOGO at the time. Can't say going from 5W-20 to 5W-30 is what caused it, but that is when it started.

 

[FZ1]

You could go to 2x per year with the syn. But really,3x per year with the conventional might be just a good for your motor. You could justify the syn if you get slightly better mpg but that's your call. .02.

 

[tropic]

Originally Posted By: drivewaytech
...I rarely ever run across .49-.99 cent deals because I have to run 5W-20. I find sales on 30 weights but rarely 20 weights....

Same here, and I'm not a fan of MIR's either. Many filters can be found cheaply online, but I end up paying retail for motor oil.

I've wasted gallons of oil playing around this year. I've settled on a few combos that I like, and there really is a big price difference between them.

Pennzoil YB 5w-20 + WIX 51356 filter: $16
Pennzoil Platinum 5w-20 + PureONE PL14610: $27
Mobil 1 5w-20 + M1-110 filter: $34
Mobil 1 0w-20 + M1-110 filter: $42

I intend to keep my car forever, but I really don't have a clue whether it will notice a difference between Pennz 5w-20 and M1 0w-20 in the long run. I tend to think the 0w MIGHT perform better... so I'll spend $260 more over the first five years on that gamble.

BTW: my Honda didn't like 0w-30 as much as Xw-20, either. Sucks. That would have cut the price gap by $8 per OCI.

 

[drivewaytech]

FZ1, appreciate your input (assume you are commenting on my 2.7l) about OCI durations. I bought this car without a real thorough inspection of the car because it looked well maintained and was less than a year old with 20K miles. I got a very good deal on the car. A couple days after purchasing the car, I took off the oil cap to discover a thick coating of sludge. I then discovered that the PCV system was near completely clogged with residue or sludge. Many days after intense internet research on the engine and learning of it's propensity to sludging, I made my mind that I would not risk getting this motor back to the condition it was when I bought it.

 

[chet2]

i wouldnt pay 50 bucks for syn oil changes, but if i do it myself it is only 22-25 bucks...twice the price of regular oil but will go [censored] on oci...really not neccesary cept for turbo...i guess i like to baby my car and it keeps the engine clean..i go at least 8 k on m1 which is conservative...6500 on dino

 

[PT1]

Money is no object to really cool people like me...

Besides, I have 2 soon to be 3 FEMALE drivers. Synthetic oil is a basic requirement when they cold start a Lexus in the Winter and after a 3.2 second warm up throw it into reverse and gas it out of the driveway...roll back...slam it into drive and floor it..

If I don't get a full pump up to the engine top end within 15 seconds my engine is hack in 70,000 miles. Add to that sitting in the car running the engine and A/C during Summer field hockey for AN HOUR when it's 96 degrees outside.

You get me picture of why synthetic oil is a MUST HAVE...

 

[BrewCityR]

Originally Posted By: tropic
[quote=drivewaytech
BTW: my Honda didn't like 0w-30 as much as Xw-20, either. Sucks.


Just curious, how so?

 

[drivewaytech]

There is also the "return of investment" aspect to higher maintenance costs. I will explain by describing the three factors that led me here to BITOG. 1st: How do I combat sludge? 2nd: What is the colored water I'm putting in my engine? (5W-20) and 3rd: How can I make my engine last. I knew a good bit about maintaining and repairing vehicles, but very little about the motor oil I was pouring in. My goal is to drive my vehicle long after it is paid off. The longer I can stay away from a car payment, the larger my return of investment. Synthetics lend regard by many to extended oil life, I look to extended engine life. My views may be way out of kilter, but I ask if an oil can extend out to 10K miles, how much more protection do I have with changing it out at half the milage. Instead of pushing an oil to it's limits which may lead to slight engine wear, change it out a little earlier. Will that help keep my car out of the junk yard an extra 3 or 4 years? Keeping the sludgees at bay with synthetics or short OCI's on dino may prevent me from having to invest another $6,000 for a new engine. 5W-20 grade oil seems to be a wonder in lubrication (flow) and MPG savings. I do not regard a somewhat more expensive maintenance cost to throwing away money, but a working toward a return of investment.

 

[tropic]

Originally Posted By: BrewCityR
Just curious, how so?

You're going to laugh, but I'm basing this on the temperature of the oil filter after the 25 mile highway drive to my Dad's house to water his wife's plants. According to an Extech IR thermometer, the 0w-30 had a 5-6 C higher temp than the 5w-20 on two different trips. Replacing it with 0w-20 lowered the temp again.

I don't know that it means anything, but there you have it.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I like to take advantage of the cold starting advantages of synthetic in the winter time and the better resistance to burn off and high flash point in the summer. I will admit though that if dino oil was not so close in cost to synthetic I would consider going back to dino myself. The oils have really improved so much since I was a young technician aprantice in the late 1980's. My entire family though tends to keep vechiles in the family for about 20-30 years on average. So it pays for use to use synthetic every place.When you have a vechile that is 26 years old and all origanal except for brakes,spark plugs , cap,rotor and starter that is money well spent. When it runs almost as good as new and is that old it has more then paid you back in the form of low maintence and great quality of life. My Dad's Tacoma is just under 200,000 miles and that engine is as tight as a frogs arse. It looks like new and runs like new. The parts spec. out like new. He had to have one shim the thinnest Toyota makes for one valve. All the rest where still within factory new specification. Other then cap,rotor,spark plugs and brake pads and shock's that truck is all origanal. All the ball joint's and tie rod ends are OE as are the hub bearings,etc..... It is starting to weep a little at the rear of transfer case and the front springs are saging a bit and one light bulb in the cluster is burnt out. That vechile has been ran on synthetic engine oil it's entire life but my Dad has slacked on the axles and t/case maintence schedule and used dino. I was adjusting his rear breaks the other day and I decided to check the rear end for drive-line lash and that rear end is as tight as a new rear end. I have already told him I want to make him an offer on the truck when he is ready to get rid-of it. So in my mind synthetic definately extends the useful life of the vechile by reduceing wear and keeping the insides clean wich helps seal last longer.