Cheaper alternative for fully synthetic oil change

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Dec 20, 2020
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Just some food for thought for those who believe in using full synthetic.
So in canada penzoil platinum or ultra platinum regularly goes on sale at 50% off. This makes a 5L jug cost $22 - $30 (depending on which) for a very highly rated oil. The local oil change shop (great canadian oil change) charges $35ca for an oil change if I provide my own oil. This puts the cost of a fully synthetic oil change at about $60. It takes 15 mins and they also inspect all other fluids, inflate tires to proper psi, and do a visual inspection underneath for leaks, cracks, ect... this means if I do a change every 3 months (which is usually way less than 8000km's my total cost for a year is $240 and I always have good clean fully synthetic oil. I'm sure if you ask around where you live you could find a similar deal
 
Lol.. no I was trying to offer a cheaper alternative for being able to get a fully synthetic oil change done using a good name brand oil (which would usually cost $100 or more). I also live in canada so our prices might seem high
 
With F150 Ecoboost engines doing just fine on Motorcraft semisyn oil, I’d say semisyn oils are nothing to sneeze at. Cheap too. Some are actually quite robust. Another way to contain costs yet meet the needs of your engine provided it’s not a euro jobbie or ultra high performance.
 
im in canada too and i pay $33 at the local gm dealership for the labor and same stuff as you. filter is about $8-10
so yeah same price as ya basically
 
1. Change oil yourself. 2. 8000 km seems short interval for synthetic oil (unless you fall into severe service category). 3. Buy cheaper oil
Ya I drive a grand cherokee with the hemi engine. This engine is known to have potential problem with the lifters (due to the mds... cylinder deactivation system) causing early cam wear. It comes up in the rams more often and is apparently more likely to occur with excessive idling (so is worse in fleet vehicles, police, taxi,). But apparently one of the easiest and cheapest ways to combat this is to do more frequent oil changes and use a good quality oil (hence the penzoil platinum). I know alot of people don't use fully synthetic due to cost so I was just suggesting a way it can be used for a reasonable price
 
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I think that the OP is referring to having OCIs performed by others. We all know that doing it ourselves is WAAAAAAAY le$$ expen$ive than having someone else do it. But I'm sure that there are members here at BITOG that DO NOT perform their own OCIs, maybe because of where they live(apt or Sr living) or a physical disability(back/neck etc).

I have a good buddy that has been building old cars & motorcycles for over 40 yrs and still brings his DDs to the shop when they need repairs. I don't get it but I don't question it.
 
If you get to the states once in a while why not stock up on PP here and bring enough back for an entire year's worth of changes? Better yet go there when somebody is having an oil clearance and create your own stash like some of the posters here do. I loaded up last year for about $2/quart of various acceptable viscosities and brands with enough to last me two years. 🇨🇦🇺🇸
 
The issue is the people working at these places are wanna-be mechanics. I had one once ruin a MAF sensor trying to get the air filter housing apart so he could try and sell me a new air filter. Others have the oil filter gasket left on so there is two, Or super tighten the oil drain plug. Or the real cheats might keep your oil and fill with bulk.
 
So that works out to $47 US which isn't bad for full synthetic and you don't have to deal with used oil/filter to get rid of, sounds like a good deal to me. My mech charges $10 if I bring in my own oil/filter, although he did mention last time he may have to bump that up a bit.
 
Just some food for thought for those who believe in using full synthetic.
So in canada penzoil platinum or ultra platinum regularly goes on sale at 50% off. This makes a 5L jug cost $22 - $30 (depending on which) for a very highly rated oil. The local oil change shop (great canadian oil change) charges $35ca for an oil change if I provide my own oil. This puts the cost of a fully synthetic oil change at about $60. It takes 15 mins and they also inspect all other fluids, inflate tires to proper psi, and do a visual inspection underneath for leaks, cracks, ect... this means if I do a change every 3 months (which is usually way less than 8000km's my total cost for a year is $240 and I always have good clean fully synthetic oil. I'm sure if you ask around where you live you could find a similar deal
In my drive way I could do more than 10 of your changes a years. But ten would be a little over the top wouldn't it. I just picked up RGT for $14.76 for a 5 quart Jug at Home Depot. and its not trick to get a better oil filter than you are getting at the oil change Store for $6 and change. My guess is you can get away with an April October OCI easy in Canada. 8000 Km's is less than 5000 miles. I do my OCI's at 5 to 7K miles and my UOA comes in looking great. That comes to a total annual cost of under $50 US.
 
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Ya I drive a grand cherokee with the hemi engine. This engine is known to have potential problem with the lifters (due to the mds... cylinder deactivation system) causing early cam wear. It comes up in the rams more often and is apparently more likely to occur with excessive idling (so is worse in fleet vehicles, police, taxi,). But apparently one of the easiest and cheapest ways to combat this is to do more frequent oil changes and use a good quality oil (hence the penzoil platinum). I know alot of people don't use fully synthetic due to cost so I was just suggesting a way it can be used for a reasonable price

The failure has nothing to do with MDS. This subject has been beaten to death on here.

Cliff notes: the issue, while rare, occurs on both MDS and non-MDS engines. GM has a similar failure. It appears to be a lifter supplier issue (hence it affecting both GM and FCA) and the feedback from an FCA tech on here appears to point to inadequate or improper hardening of the pin that retains the roller and the needle bearings roll against which, when the defect is present, will "groove" and eventually lead to the the roller ceasing to roll. This can manifest as a cascading failure as metal from the failed roller contaminates others and causing them to fail.
 
The issue is the people working at these places are wanna-be mechanics. I had one once ruin a MAF sensor trying to get the air filter housing apart so he could try and sell me a new air filter.
I am with you on that. I bought 4 tires at Tirerack, shipped to me. I put them into my trunk and drove to a "chain store" for installation only. I told them I wanted all 4 mounted and balanced, thats all. They went through the suggestive sale routien. I clearly told them, no, do the tires only. Besides that I was on a bit of a tight schedual that day.

My wife was with me so we walked across the street to have lunch while we waited, further saving time. We ate and walked back, and I noticed my hood was popped up, and three of the employees were crammed up under it. What the...! I went inside and ask what on earth was going on. Seem like they had removed the engine cover and hooked up a diagnostic machine, and was having great difficulty reinstalling the cover.

I firmly told the desk guy that this was all wrong, no one listened to me, and besides that, my car was just two years old and under full warranty!!! Trouble for nothing.
 
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