Oreilly Motor Oil for a 97 Buick Park Ave?

Carlostrece

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I've been relying on Valvoline Maxlife High Mileage oil for my 97 Buick Park Ave. I need this car to last the rest of my life because it's interior is customized to accommodate my special needs. I'm handicapped and 56 years old.

My neighbor is a sweet young woman in her early/mid 30s. An older male friend of hers (not romantic, like a grandpa to her) lost his ability to drive 6 months ago. He had a beautiful, low miles, 2019 Toyota 4 Runner Limited that he loves. He recently gave her that car (free & clear, no car loan). She continues using it to chauffer him around when she's not working at one of her other 2 jobs. She also has use of it for her personal use. The title is in her name now. It was his idea to give it to her. She politely refused for 3 months, but he continued wanting her to accept the gift.

She doesn't know anything about maintenance, but she knows it's important. She loves that car and wants to take good care of it, and she promised him she'd take good care of it. She's relying on me for advice so the 4 Runner will last a long time.

I have been relying on Valvoline Maxlife High Mileage Synthetic 5w30 for my Buick. I think it's a good oil, but slightly expensive and I have a slight oil leak (coming from I don't know where).

I was considering switching my car to Maxlife Blend 5w30 or maybe Penzoil Platinum High Mileage 5w40 to (hopefully) eliminate oil leak. Also, I purchased a bottle of Blue Devil Oil Stop Leak, but haven't yet poured it in.

I noticed at Oreilly Auto Parts that namebrand oils (like Valvoline, Pennzoil) are expensive these days. Oreilly brand oil cost 35% less. I'm tempted to save money on oil and buy Oreilly HM oil for my 97 Buick, and recommend to her to buy Oreilly Synthetic for her 4 Runner.

We love these cars and need them to last for another 15+ years. Is Oreilly oil good enough to do that? Another factor is she's poor. So the $ savings from lower cost oil would be a big help to her financially. I can afford any oil, but I'm frugal.

So what do you guys think? Should we get Oreilly oil which is low cost and conveniently obtained from an Oreilly store 10 blocks from my home, or drive further to Walmart, stand in line, and buy Valvoline or Pennzoil from Wally?
 
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Buy Valvoline, Pennzoil, or Mobil 1 online from Walmart.com. Shipping is free over $35. Cost should be less than the O'Reilly store branded product, and you'll have no question with regards to quality. Standing in line at Walmart is not required this way.
 
Buy Valvoline, Pennzoil, or Mobil 1 online from Walmart.com. Shipping is free over $35. Cost should be less than the O'Reilly store branded product, and you'll have no question with regards to quality. Standing in line at Walmart is not required this way.
+1
 
Whatever oil meets SP spec and is cheapest.

Ive heard Orileys motor oil is made by Valvoline. Plus it meets alot of the common Certs like Dexos. I would use it with confidence in a Buick Park Ave.

Cant comment on the cost perspective, your results will vary.

Even the cheapest stuff these days will be superior to oils from 1997.
 
for a good low priced oil Quaker State ultimate 5w-30,or the full synthetic high milage 5w-30 can be purchased at Walmart for a reasonable price and even super tec filters are fine, Oreilleys oil is good also blended by Omni specialty packaging though you may spend more there,,,,watch the sales and rebates on other brands of oils also, good deals come and go, keep your eyes open for them.
 
I’d grab this and keep it moving…


O'Reilly® Full Synthetic 5 Quarts and a MicroGard® Filter³



O'Reilly® Full Synthetic 5 Quarts and a MicroGard® Filter³

$29.99​

Prices effective Nov 27 - Dec 24
Promotion Available In Store Only

+ $2 upgrades to the MG Select.
 
O'Reilly house brand oils are just generic API oil. Nothing special about them, but nothing wrong with them either. Blended by a reputable blender (Omni).

The main problem with them is the crazy-high prices. Their house brands may be less than the name brands in the store, but that's only because those name-brand oils are priced even crazier high. No one who is highly price sensitive (as I am) should be buying any parts store house brand oil as a way to save money (especially if purchased in-store).

The only way these oils make any sense at all (cost-wise) is when there is an oil+filter combo deal, there is a 20% discount code for online/ship to home purchases, and you are able to take advantage of any rewards the store might offer.

For example, the cheapest such deal I see at the moment is at Autozone: their house brand (STP) oil is currently bundled with what has been considered to be a good STP XL filter for $29.99.

I'm not seeing any limits on how many combo packages you can buy, so if you order four of them, it will get you over the $100 limit to get a 20% discount for online orders.

4 x $29.99 = $119.96 - 20% = $95.97 for 4 oils changes or $23.99 for one oil change (oil and filter). In addition, that purchase will count as one of five needed to get a $20 reward, which is a significant reward if you shop regularly at Autozone.

However, a jug of Super Tech 5W-30 + ST filter is $18.64 + $3.84 = $22.48

The STP filter is a little better than the ST filter (though probably equivalent if you change at 1 yr or 10K mi), but the WM total is a dollar less. So, basically a wash-- no real savings over Walmart.

O'Reilly is known to be the more expensive of all the parts stores-- for oil, their bundle deals are a couple of bucks more expensive, their rewards rate is lower, and they currently have no online discounts available.

So, as you can see, in the best-case scenario of maximizing bundles + online discounts + rewards, Autozone tends to be the cheapest, O'Reilly is the most expensive, and even the best deals tend to just get you in the ballpark of Walmart everyday prices.

TL;DR is that if you're a savvy shopper, you can get parts-store oils in the ballpark of Walmart prices, but if you're just walking into the store and buying even their house brands, it's pretty much a complete rip-off.

I say that if you are serious about saving, follow the Rebate/Sale/Promotion forum here and jump on the blowout clearance deals that regularly come up. These deals will seriously undercut the price of both parts store discount combinations and Walmart regular prices, will ship straight to your home, and will be about the cheapest way to get the materials for an oil change.

Good luck to you and your friend!
 
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I’d grab this and keep it moving…


O'Reilly® Full Synthetic 5 Quarts and a MicroGard® Filter³'Reilly® Full Synthetic 5 Quarts and a MicroGard® Filter³



O'Reilly® Full Synthetic 5 Quarts and a MicroGard® Filter³

$29.99​

Prices effective Nov 27 - Dec 24
Promotion Available In Store Only

+ $2 upgrades to the MG Select.

This $29.99 deal is directly equivalent to WM ST 5W-30 + ST white can filter = $18.64 + $3.84 = $22.48.

He describes himself and his friend as being very poor-- paying $7.51 extra/per oil change (x2 including his friend's car = $15.02 per oil change) for the exact same oil and filter just doesn't make sense from a pure cost perspective.
 
Buy Valvoline, Pennzoil, or Mobil 1 online from Walmart.com. Shipping is free over $35. Cost should be less than the O'Reilly store branded product, and you'll have no question with regards to quality. Standing in line at Walmart is not required this way.
That's brilliant advice! I didn't know Walmart offers free shipping on orders over $35.
 
This $29.99 deal is directly equivalent to WM ST 5W-30 + ST white can filter = $18.64 + $3.84 = $22.48.

He describes himself and his friend as being very poor-- paying $7.51 extra/per oil change (x2 including his friend's car = $15.02 per oil change) for the exact same oil and filter just doesn't make sense from a pure cost perspective.
My friend is poor. I'm not poor, but am frugal.
 
AZjeff had a slight leak that he eliminated with pennzoil high mileage. They sell it at home depot and also in a 10w-40 which is acceptable in a 5w-30 engine if it has some oil consumption.

 
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