Syn cheaper than conv during holidays

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wemay

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The reason i buy synthetic, even for the Sonata?
Every year around this time, auto parts stores have ridiculous clearance sales where the syns on sale are less than conventionals.
Last year - AutoZone sold Kendall GT1 syn for $1/qt

This year i bought at Pep Boys, 50 quarts total:

MAG1 dexos 5w30 - $1.80/qt
Mobil Super Syn 0w/5w20 - $1.50/qt
Peak Syn 0w/5w20 - $1.00/qt

No conventional was cheaper.
 
I agree. Look, I hate rebates but when I can drive two minutes to Autozone and AAP or 10 to Pep Boys and get deals like this, I will buy enough synthetic to last me until another ridiculous sale comes around. Without BITOG I never would have known these sales existed.
 
I wonder if an independent garage could approach these retailers and offer to take everything off their hands that they don't want.

I'm sure they could charge upwards of $50 for a full syn oil change which would turn it into a profitable service instead of a pia.
 
Originally Posted By: aa1986
I wonder if an independent garage could approach these retailers and offer to take everything off their hands that they don't want.

I'm sure they could charge upwards of $50 for a full syn oil change which would turn it into a profitable service instead of a pia.


I think it works the other way around, AZ actively chases the good business accounts and gets them sweetheart deals on their best clearance oils.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
But who want to use synthetic oil in last year's bottles?


Meee!
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: aa1986
I wonder if an independent garage could approach these retailers and offer to take everything off their hands that they don't want.

I'm sure they could charge upwards of $50 for a full syn oil change which would turn it into a profitable service instead of a pia.


I think it works the other way around, AZ actively chases the good business accounts and gets them sweetheart deals on their best clearance oils.
That's what AZ in KY was doing when they closed out the M1 TDT-I was practically racing from store to store buying it up as fast as I could for $1/quart before they gave it away to some garage to use in their wrecker, or customer's diesel pickups.
 
What if it turned out that a mono-grade group 2 "dino" cost more to manufacture than a "synthetic" 5W30? How often do you see SAE40 on sale?
 
Not too likely.

The reactors required for hydrocracking are quite thick-walled, and hydrogen is a real cost in petroleum refining, especially with low sulfur gasoline and ultra low sulfur diesel. So hydrogen consumption for hydrotreating and catalytic dewaxing is lower than hydrocracking.

A straight-weight would have zero (or very little) VII, while a multigrade would have some quantity of VII though, right? So there's another incremental cost for a synthetic multigrade.
 
I stocked up on PPw/PPT and QSUD this year.

Between SOPUS rebates, Menard's rebates, and FRN Rewards, my average price of SOPUS full syn 5W-20 is $1.14 / qt. this year.

I have not found a similar price for conventional or synthetic blend in my area this year. I still have 8 qts. of National (Pinnacle) conventional 5W-20 I bought at Menard's last year for $1.60 / qt. to use up so I'm not hunting conventional oil at this time.

And I also don't care which year's labels are on the bottles / jugs, like wemay.
 
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It does make me wonder why synthetics and not conventional go on sale like this. Or at least most of the time. Who knows, maybe they did but were bought up before I got to the stores.
crazy.gif
 
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