Is Mobil pricing themselves out of the market?

[jsharp]

I'm glad I bought 30+ quarts of M1R for $4 a quart when it went on closeout. That's 50K miles worth of oil for me in one vehicle.

It will be interesting to see if Mobils price strategy works out for them. If a person is really running the EP oils 15K miles the difference between a $4.50 or $5 and a $6 oil over the life of the vehicle is insignificant. And if you're not running any of the synthetics 10K to 15K none of them are going to make much sense compared to the quality dinos you can buy for $2 a quart.

Same as it ever was it seems. Mobil and the other syns were always about 2.5 - 3X as much money as common dinos. The cheaper oils have just gotten so much better that it's not a sure bet that a good synthetic will run 2.5- 3X as long...

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

quote:

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I'm not as concerned with the costs as I am with making sure the engine is protected, but I revert to my prior agreement with toocrazy2yoo.

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THAT musta hurt to say!

Ok, ok, so fact is, I've watched the M1 go from a regular price around here of around 4.80 to around 6.38, and sometimes even 6.58. NAPA, joints like that put it on the shelf at 7 and more. For SuperSyn. Now I don't know who's doing the pricing and profiting here, but my point before was, there was ALWAYS a sale, pre-katrina that got this stuff out the door from SOMEWHERE, jug or bottle, for way under $4.80/qt., and many times for $3.99. I consider the sale prices the real price, and they aren't happening anymore with M1. We just got done with a sale of Havoline $1.58/qt, all grades. Now, it's back up to $1.99, the regular price before the sale.

Ok, so oil is high, but fact is, GASOLINE took a price drop for several months, but not M1. I hear of all kinds of deals from you guys all over the place for all kinds of deals for all kinds of blends, syns, and dino, but we rarely, if ever, see bargains here in the DC area. M1 only kept climbing. If that's the way it is, that's supply and demand, so be it. But Havoline went to $1.58 for the 5W20 (which I never see in M1 in anything but Qts, $6.38 on up to as much as $7.

So you can bet I'll run Havoline, use the difference on great filters, do 5-7.5K OCI and leave the M1 be. Brand loyalty my foot. How about a little loyalty FROM the brand for a change?

Tell brand loyalty to the Harley guys that supported Harley through 25 years of AMF and beyond only to see the firm deliberately keep Harleys so scarce that the Stealers can charge 30-50% premiums on the same old tech that's been out for 100 years. Mutts. Talk about robbing your following, eh?

But, I digress once again!

 

[John Hilmer]

All perspectives have value here in this discussion, no doubout about it. I can see all the points made in good faith as valid.

But can we bring this back to a base point about engine protection and what started this thread?

I'll *assume* a bunch of stuff here and ask; Is the dreaded Mobil dragon chewing up dollars of those that are not on this board? Will they continue? Does anyone here think that any of the big producers care about anything other than profits? Well given that they have to meet some qualifications to brag I'll back off on the last bit, but not by much.

Hum, maybe I should just start squashing mustard seeds and refining my own stuff, LOL! Er, make that corn and distil.... John

 

[got_titan]

i stopped using mobil about 6 months ago when i was getting crazy amounts of sodium im my uoa's. the price hike is terribly...i have several uoa's and in my apllication the $1.50 per quart chevron sumpreme did as good if not better than the mobil at 3-4000 miles intervals. ive changed 5 cars from mobil to chevron....eat that mobil...lol lol

 

[pzev]

Its interesting to get multiple views on the same subject. I can't help but feel I am finally catching on to what many on this board have been saying for the last couple of years.

It took M1s recent price hike for me to wake up and realise that I am just throwing my money away on an average synthetic.


The higher the prices go, the more Redline starts to look like a bargain. ****, I may even try some dino...that would be a first for me

 

[Hirev]

I used a lot of synthetics over the years especially Mobil 1. For me about $4.99 a qt was my price limit. So won't be buying any more Mobil synthetic or any other that exceed that limit. I've never gone over 7K miles on OCI even with good synthetics so for me its no longer makes economical since to me any more. Plus I now believe right or wrong the latest SM dinos have narrowed the gap considerably in deposit performance over synthetics from previous specification dinos.

I also think Mobil has totally messed up on there synthetic line up. Mobil 1, Mobil 1 EP, Mobil T&S ect. Why not make one with the best package at that price?

 

[Thermactor]

You guys also must be aware of the M1 ad campaign out right now. The moron in the GM car saying "you're darn right" to the questions "do you need a titanium driver when you golf? do you need a 500kW home theater system? do you need an ivory backscratcher? do you need a $500 hooker for a night? do you need a motor oil that will protect for 15,000 miles?"

 

[LouDawg]

FWIW, our local Wal-Marts have regular Mobil 1 in the 5 quart jugs for $21.94, which I believe is about $4.39 or so per quart, and that's after the increase. If I was going to consider something like Pennzoil dino at $2.20-2.30 per qt, I might consider the M1.

But no thanks! I'll just keep on using the good 'ol TropArtic and Motorcraft Syn Blends...$1.48 for TA and about $1.90 for MC (in the 5-qt jugs...yes we still have those around here)...

 

[sprintman]

RKAus05 Edge 5W30 is not a real syn. Mobil 1 10W30 is PAO (GroupIV) basestock oil andis the real deal. Not a fair comparison. Don't get caught out by Castrols dodgy product and marketing.

 

[Patman]

A lot of people on here are still changing their synthetic oil too often, so if you're bothered by the price increase, then just extend your intervals a little longer to make up the difference!

 

[buster]

Maybe the question should be, are synthetics really worth the extra cost? Especially when you consider M1 is on par with Amsoil.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:
Maybe the question should be, are synthetics really worth the extra cost? Especially when you consider M1 is on par with Amsoil.

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The prices of dinos are rising faster than synthetics. So really .. the price gap is narrowing.

Synthetics have more more money value today than a year or two ago.

BTW.... I am a new, former Mobil-1 user. I've converted to the Pennzoil Platinum religion....

 

[i]

I wouldn't take M1 for free.

 

[jsharp]

quote:

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Originally posted by Patman:
A lot of people on here are still changing their synthetic oil too often, so if you're bothered by the price increase, then just extend your intervals a little longer to make up the difference!

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quote:

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Originally posted by buster:
Maybe the question should be, are synthetics really worth the extra cost? Especially when you consider M1 is on par with Amsoil.

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This concept seems difficult for people to grasp for some reason. They see oil at $6 a quart and freak out, thinking it far too expensive versus their $2 dino. There may or may not be any additional costs by using synthetics. It depends on the OCI they're comfortable running.

Ultimately, it *may* be cheaper to run one or the other if they use UOA's to determine and tune the maximum mileage they can use with a given oil, but using common OCI numbers synthetics cost little or no more than cheap dinos, even when they're $6 a quart. Do the numbers on your vehicle and see for yourself. Don't forget to include the cost of filters.

Sure, you can always use the "I can get dino for $.79 a quart on sale with a free filter" but it's not realistic IMO. What's also not realistic is using a $40 UOA to "tune" the OCI to maximize it, just so you can use a $1.50 a quart oil and claim you're "saving money."

People should actually sit down and calculate this instead of claiming X is just too expensive" - Use $1.60 - $2.50 for the dinos and $5.50 - $6.50 for the synthetics and $3 - $6 for the filters. Use 5K or even 7.5K OCI's for the dino and 10K-15K miles for the synthetics and see where you come out over the life of the vehicle.

I think you'll find the differences aren't nearly what you think, may in fact be the opposite of what you thought they were, and mostly are lost in the noise of car ownership.

[ June 04, 2006, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: jsharp ]

 

[TooSlick]

I paid $6.00/qt for the Amsoil 10w-40, when I first started using it in 1978. So from that perspective prices have been remarkably stable.

I'd say 95% of synlube uses are changing oil too often....Sort of like buying a new set of michelins every 10,000 miles.

TS

 

[LouDawg]

quote:

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Originally posted by jsharp:
People should actually sit down and calculate this instead of claiming X is just too expensive" - Use $1.60 - $2.50 for the dinos and $5.50 - $6.50 for the synthetics and $3 - $6 for the filters. Use 5K or even 7.5K OCI's for the dino and 10K-15K miles for the synthetics and see where you come out over the life of the vehicle.

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In concept, I agree. But in practice, for me, M1 is 3X the cost of TA. My numbers are $1.48 vs. $4.40, assuming same filter. I would have to run 3X the OCI to pay for it (this is of course excluding my labor for doing the change myself, which I don't consider to be a "cost" since I enjoy doing it). If my UOA ($30) comes back okay on the TA at 5K miles, I would have to run 15K miles on M1, and I don't feel comfortable with that (how many BITOGers who love M1 run 15K or more miles?). I could do a few UOAs on the M1 to see if will go that far, but how much would that cost, only to perhaps "break even"?

To me, it doesn't just boil down to which one costs more, but rather which one has a lower cost of ownership, all against a backdrop of excellent engine protection, which will not be sacrificed by this owner to save a few $$. If the TA has good numbers at 5K, then I believe the cost of ownership is lower. Of course all of this can change if I get an "itty-shay" UOA - then all bets are off!

 

[m2200b]

I agree TA is 3x M1 for me and I have been able to buy Chevron at 1/6 M1 consistently. I'm just not buying into Mobil Exxon's business plan to pay a very fat margin for oil that delivers only slightly better performance.

 

[Dick in Falls Church]

Well, let's take a look at what has gone up.
Oil (crude)
Transportation
Containers
Additives
Base stocks
Packaging

And hang on, ExxonMobil distributer has announced another 10% hike in packaged products effective 16 June.

AMSOIL will have another price increase 1 July for the same reasons.

Most non-synthetics are ranging about $2 a quart, up a bit from last year. A 55 gal drum has almost tripled in the past year.

In my opinion, Mobil 1 is still an excellent choice if you figure in the small details like protection and extended drain (for the EP).

Never have been able to figure the thinking of the owner who puts 50 cent a qt oil into a $3-5,000 engine to save money.

Of course, some folks prefer Dixie Belle gin to Beefeaters, too.

 

[buster]

Ted and **** are right. When you consider the fact that oil has risen from $34 a barrel to over $70 within 2 years, it's no wonder all oils have seen a dramatic price increase. Plus, people are simply changing the oil too often. If you run Mobil 1 EP or Amsoil to 15k-20k miles, your getting your money's worth. On a side note, I still think Mobil is cluttering their product line with 2 Mobil 1's. I would have simply made the GF-4 M1 EP and stated if under warranty, follow owner's manual otherwise capable of 15k miles...etc.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:
Ted and **** are right. When you consider the fact that oil has risen from $34 a barrel to over $70 within 2 years, it's no wonder all oils have seen a dramatic price increase.

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That's 21 cents per quart raw material increase in cost. Where is the rest of the price increase coming from?