Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: JLTD
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
How about some real numbers then? Is it 10% better than Mobil 1 0w40? 20%? 50?
If you do the math and can get Mobil 1 0w40 for $12.88 for 5 quarts after rebate, can get you the same or more miles per cent/quart with amsoil?
I mean if it's 50% better, then maybe it'd make sense to pay about $20 for 5 quarts. But you know it's more than that. Isn't it way more? A quick search shows $12.80 a quart. So it's about 5 times more expensive than Mobil 1. So is there math that shows it's 5 times better?
I never said it was less expensive, but if cost is your only measurement, have at it and Godspeed!
But I do like your idea of doing some math:
So let's say you make $50k per year. Your time is worth approximately $25 per hour. Going to WalMart, we'll say, only takes an hour. You burn about $5 worth of gas (and other maintenance) on the way there. So now your 5 quart bottle is worth $42.88, or $8.57/quart. But you're smart and buy two 5 quart jugs, which brings your cost to only $55.76, which is $5.57 per quart after rebate. Not bad.
I get a case of 4 gallons of 5w30 Signature Series for $138.40, or $8.65 per quart. Delivered to my door there is no additional cost. More expensive per quart but ---
What's your OCI? You didn't say but if you are going 7500 miles and I'm going 15k, then cost per mile makes AMSOIL the winner. And if the SS is used to its full potential (arguably we'll need a used oil analysis or two along the way, initially reducing the advantage as we dial it in) then the disparity is even greater.
Then there's the environmental discussion, which I'll mention but won't get into.
Of course in order for an extended OCI to happen, each person has to decide for themselves if they're willing to extend their OCI, which many aren't comfortable with.
If I was doing short OCIs, I would also look for the least expensive oil I could find. But I'm not, so I specifically am trying an oil designed for longer drains. THAT's the advantage here. AMSOIL is not the least expensive oil at purchase time; the savings comes through using it to potential.
I'm actually still stocked up on Castrol 0w40 at $2/quart when Autozone did a clearance a few years ago. And when I go to Walmart, I'd never go there just to buy oil so your math is also off.
Your math is also a little off, if someone makes $50k a year, they're not going to walmart on company time, so either leisure time has a value of $0 or the actual value of time based on a 50k annual salary is either based on 24/7/365 or just waking time which is still lower than $25/hour.
Also you could easily just order the oil on Amazon, it doesn't qualify for the rebate, but it'd still mean you're paying double for the oil instead of 4-5x more. Mobil 1 was also spec for my car for 13k, but then later Mercedes changed it to 10k.
Ok I guess I'm wrong to value your time off; only you can decide how valuable it is to you. I might go least expensive if not going for longer intervals. And price comparisons between wally oil sales and a small company's synthetic aren't really meaningful anyway, since they are such different ends of the spectrum.
