The deal really does vary and can be hit and miss.
I bought 8 CARQUEST filters. I received 5 Wix made Blue for my car, 3 Red (2 Fram made, 1 Wix made) for my truck. I was happy with what I bought.
I knew that the ones for my truck would be reds (just not the maker), since it had the "R" in the part number.
The Blues, I did not know who would be the maker. I think Puro had just taken over the contract, which is why I think these were on clearance. Regardless, both the Wix and Fram made CQ Blue are great filters.
I think my cost ended up being around $2.50/filter.
An OK deal for the Reds at that price, cheaper than any name brand filter I could buy at the time (Supertech were not around at that time).
For the Blue, an equivalent Wix filter was around $7 at the time, so about 1/3 the price.
I have used all the reds, still have 4 of the blue. They are stored inside the house in a box, so I have no concerns for how long they will last (2 years at my current 6 month OCI).
For those doing a lot of changes, it can work out to be either just an OK deal or a really great deal.
For me, I am done with them. My truck gets Supertech filters from now on since they are < $3.
My car, I have ~3 years worth of filters (the CQ Blue and then 2 Bosch D Plus). After that, probably ST3600 every oil change.
Originally Posted By: copcarguy
All closeout RA stuff comes out of Sugar Land, TX. The shipping cost from that warehouse is the highest of any of their warehouses.
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What is funny is I am 25 miles from that shipping facility (I used to work right by it). Even for me shipping kills the deal on less than ~8 filters. It would be nice if they had a Will Call window there, I could get some really decent deals that way, and just not accept the "bad" filters. But as said, I am done with them for just filters (if I am buying something else from them and can get a filter for no extra shipping and is on sale or clearance, I might).