Need less costly oil suggestions

wavinwayne · Jan 12, 2005

I just found out yesterday that my wife is pregnant with our second child.

I am now looking for feasible ways to save money on our oil changes.

Our vehicles are:
1) 1997 Ford Expedition 4.6L V8 ~ 105k miles
2) 2000 VW GTI 1.8L Turbo ~ 42k miles
Both vehicles engines are 100% stock.

I currently use Quaker State 5w30 conventional + Motorcraft filter in the Expedition & Mobil 1 0w40 + Mobil 1 filter in the GTI.

In your opinions, are there less expensive oils and/or filters that would still do a good job protecting these engines? I would like to keep both vehicles until they hit the 200k mark.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Mystic · Jan 12, 2005

You should be able to find motor oil on sale for 69 cents a quart or so. But if you want for those vehicles to last a long time you need to be sure to use motor oil of acceptable quality. Some motor oil brands are a lot more expensive then other brands. Look for sales of name brand acceptable quality motor oil.

To make a vehicle engine last for 200,000 miles you probably need to clean the engine at least occasionally. If you can't afford Auto-RX then maybe use Neutra every 50,000 miles or so.

haley10 · Jan 12, 2005

Congratulations.

Well a man has to cut cost, but I don't see how you can do it on oil. If you get Motorcraft oil a bit cheaper than QS then that would be a few cents, but beyond that you will risk your vehicles long term health. No cheap oil in the turbo.

You'll have to find some other ways to economize. Your selection are already good and I don't see any real cost saving here. Wouldn't change a thing based on $$$'s.

Other area's of the budget will have to be attacked such as food, clothing, entertainment, etc. and additional income (part-time job). Not a subject for bitog.

Again Congratulations.

[ January 13, 2005, 02:32 PM: Message edited by: haley10 ]

dkcase · Jan 12, 2005

If the Expedition worked with one child, maybe you can step up to this International when the new little darling comes. Congrats....

Navistar pickup

Gary Allan · Jan 12, 2005

You didn't mention your OCI or typical annual mileage ..typical consumption...typical service duty??

If you want the absolute cheapest method for oil maintenance ..go get a Motor Guard from Ralph and swap out the tp every 3k/3m and get away with between $6-10 a year in oil changes. That assumes that you can find a dino for your GTi ..which given your location, should not be hard. A 15w40 HDEO should do fine.

If you are set on a synthetic...then the Motor Guard will still work, but your may not lower your costs per se`. The proper synthetic can take you a year if applied to the right driving conditions. In my case, with an 18k vehicle, I'd be changing 5-6 quarts of oil out in one year ...which is the entire sump. The stuff will go one year anyway on its own. Now the oil, and the engine, will not be as clean ...but I will incur no additional costs because of it for probably 200,000 miles.

That all said...Swap the GTI over to Rotella synthetic 5w-40 @ $12.84 a gallon. For the explorer I think that any 5w30 would work for 5k OCIs.

For filters ...anything except a Fram or rebadged Fram will work just fine, IMHO.

Al · Jan 13, 2005

Congrats. Make sure the oil is G-4 rated and SuperTech filters.

And the couple of pennies you are gonna save here is gonna' be zero compared to raising two kids. Ask me-raised two and put thru college=its like climbing Mount Everest.

javacontour · Jan 13, 2005

Just how much do you spend on oil changes that you think you are going to save.

Let me think a bit. I drive about 40K miles/year and if I did Mobil 1 changes every 5k miles, that's 8 changes. One car takes 3 quarts/change, the other 5. So let's say 4 quarts/change and $4 for the filter or about $20/oil change. So that's $160/year or something around $14/month.

I don't see how you are going to really cut major costs.

Skipping five cups of premium coffee or a couple of brown bagged lunches each month (if you eat out) should cover the $14/month.

Heck, just running M1 out to 10K miles would cut my oil change costs in half.

I'm sorry, I thought the people complaining about the price of gas while driving an Expedition were a bit touched, considering the cost of a $35K vehicle vs a $2 gallon of fuel.

The best way to cut motoring costs is to cut the cost of the vehicle.

So, I have a 94 Geo and a 95 T-Bird. The Geo costs me about $0.12/mile to operate and that includes all costs including insurance and the purchase price spread out over the 50K miles I've driven it in the past 21 months.

So if you really wanna cut cost, drive a beater. If the Expedition was about $35K, (IIRC) taking that vehicle out to 200K, we can assume it has very little value, you are talking about $0.175/mile just to buy the vehicle before you maintain it, insure it, fix it, or fuel it.

TB

ps congrats on the new kiddo

wavinwayne · Jan 13, 2005

Thanks for all the info, everybody. You all make good points as it relates to the $$$ savings.

I guess I'll play it safe & stick with exactly what I'm currently doing.

FWIW, I only paid $15k for the Expedition (purchased used in '00) & I've always done 5k mile oil changes on both vehicles, per Ford & VW's recommendations.

railball · Jan 13, 2005

I used my free Max Life from Valvoline. They are always offering $5 or $10 rebates on their oil .I got a rebate for Shell 10/30 my cost .49 a qt. So shop around. I am sure the 10/30Max Life would do well in the Ford.I get Pureolator filters 2/$5 too so if you need to buy on sale its out there.Baby's are kool

The_Jeff · Jan 13, 2005

Pick up a supply of Advance autos filters for the Ford, and wait for name brand oil to go on sale. Hopefully the VW is on a ~7k OCI with the expensive synthetic you've got to run for the turbo. Maybe you can mail order its filters a dozen at a time. There's got to be something a little cheaper than Mobil 1 filters that's still pretty good.

vwoom · Jan 13, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by railball:
So shop around...

Thats the key. On anything(besides oil, gas, etc.)..when the savings add up, you'll be fine.

cryptokid · Jan 13, 2005

the easiest way is to work an hour longer once a week.

javacontour · Jan 13, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by wavinwayne:
Thanks for all the info, everybody. You all make good points as it relates to the $$$ savings.

I guess I'll play it safe & stick with exactly what I'm currently doing.

FWIW, I only paid $15k for the Expedition (purchased used in '00) & I've always done 5k mile oil changes on both vehicles, per Ford & VW's recommendations.

Great news, that means you've probably already saved as much as you can

Buying domestic used is usually the best bargain.

TB

msparks · Jan 13, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by wavinwayne:
Thanks for all the info, everybody. You all make good points as it relates to the $$$ savings.

I guess I'll play it safe & stick with exactly what I'm currently doing.

FWIW, I only paid $15k for the Expedition (purchased used in '00) & I've always done 5k mile oil changes on both vehicles, per Ford & VW's recommendations.

baring oil changes come on over the by-pass filter forum if you want to really cut costs.

May I also recommend a good book for you.
Total Money Makeover

wavinwayne · Jan 13, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by msparks:
May I also recommend a good book for you.
Total Money Makeover

I have one of Dave Ramsey's books, "Financial Peace" Great read! The guy's strategies are very simple & they work.

Bagger_Matt · Jan 13, 2005

Wavinwayne, I know how you feel, I might be a daddy too. I'll find out after to doc. visit. But its my first so I'm happy,scared,worried and excited all at the same time. But I'll keep doing Toyota filters and Mobil 1 5w30 every 5k.

Al · Jan 13, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by wavinwayne:

quote:

Originally posted by msparks:
May I also recommend a good book for you.
Total Money Makeover

Click to expand...

I have one of Dave Ramsey's books, "Financial Peace" Great read! The guy's strategies are very simple & they work.

I didn't read the book, but I know the drill. You basically do without toys (yours) for about 22 years=age graduates from college

. I'm into toys again

benjamming · Jan 13, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by cryptokid:
the easiest way is to work an hour longer once a week.

Of course in my situation (salary) all that will get me is less time at home & more tired.

wavinwayne · Jan 13, 2005

benjamming, I just noticed you're from Huntsville. I work over there & live in Scottsboro.

Amkeer · Jan 13, 2005

Just use Mobil 1 and change 12 months/ 12000 miles. One filter change at 6 months if you feel the need and keep the oil at the FULL MARK on dipstick.

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner,2.7 liter, 4 cylinder, Mobil 1 5w30 ODO 12500
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner,3.0 liter,6 cylinder, Mobil 1 10w30 ODO 93500
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer

Need less costly oil suggestions

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