engine oil prices

[rodgernbama]

Went to the parts store to get a quart of oil today and couldn't find a quart of oil under $4.00. The store brand was 4 bucks and name brand was 4.99+ Oil changes for the do it yourself-er like me has gotten expensive. Glad I don't have a diesel.

 

[Bob Huntress]

Have you considered the Super Tech at WalMart for $12.58 for 5 quarts. Since I have high mileage, I like to use the 20w50. I figure that the 10w30 and the rest of them are the same price.

 

[timcasbolt]

x2 on Walmart oil. Been using it for years with no problems. Sure has gone up a lot in price though.

 

[showcrop]

WOW! makes me really appreciate the Shell Rotella T that I get for $10.00 for 5 gal.

 

[JF in MI]

I was just thinking that yesterday. Had to service several vehicles at the same time. 14 quarts of ATF for the van transmission and 6 quarts for the engine. 4 for my small car engine and now I see my backhoe is due for a change. Costing me a small fortune.

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 05:39:18 11/21/12)
WOW! makes me really appreciate the Shell Rotella T that I get for $10.00 for 5 gal.

Where are you buying that?!!! Someones giving you an unbelievable break!

 

[Anonymous-0]

I just bought a new truck and it takes synthetic that is real expenive. It is $7 a quart and book says to change it every 5000 miles. I used to get Wolf Head Oil on sale for $2.50/qt. with my last truck at local store. This new oil is 0W-20 so must be thin as water?

 

[Dalet]

(quoted from post at 08:42:00 11/21/12) I just bought a new truck and it takes synthetic that is real expenive. It is $7 a quart and book says to change it every 5000 miles. I used to get Wolf Head Oil on sale for $2.50/qt. with my last truck at local store. This new oil is 0W-20 so must be thin as water?

My Sprinter and VW TDI use Mobil 1 0w-40 and it isn't cheap. The nice thing is that it requires changes from between 10-15000 miles so it evens out in the wash.

 

[LeoinMI]

Wal-mart and Meijers stores do have oil on sale at times and have 5qt jugs of valvoline for $15.50. You have to watch the ads close because it usually lasts for only three days on sale and then won"t go on sale again for a couple of months.

 

[Uncle Ernie]

WOW!! Where are you stealing that from???

 

[RamblinMan]

Big R farm store undersold Walmart on 5 quart jugs of several brands of oil. $15 at Big R and 17 at Walmart. Rather give $ to Big R whenever possible.

 

[Russ from MN]

Depending on your driving, changing oil at 5000 miles could waste a lot of good oil! Service shops push it, GM says 7,500-10,000.

 

[Jeff NWOH]

I got tired of shopping around for deals when it came time for oil changes. This spring I bought 55 gal drums of 15-40 and hytrans. I think they worked out to $9 & $8/gal respectively.

It hurt for a little while, but now its there when I need it and I'll save a few bucks in the long run.

 

[Revredneck]

I buy my oil from Farm and Fleet when they put it on sale for $1.99/quart (by the case). It's their house brand, but I've been using it for years with no problem, and I change at 3000 miles. I don't want to hear the arguments about the 7500 mile recommendations here. I've had oil analysis done and the problem is not the oil or additives, but airborne dust and contaminants.
Good Luck and God Bless

 

[edward will]

Hi all"
I think 5 -10 thousand miles far too long to go on an oil change. Especially on diesels, Ed will

 

[dhermesc]

Ever try to collect on a warranty using that oil change interval?

 

[Dalet]

(quoted from post at 11:15:13 11/21/12) Ever try to collect on a warranty using that oil change interval?

I have never needed to. My oldest TDI has 240k on it. It has the Sprinter ASSYST program that monitors the oil and recommends when it needs to be changed. This is what is recommended for the engine by the manufacturer, (Mercedes.)
The TDI's are on an oil interval sample program. The oil never wears out actually.

 

[Dalet]

(quoted from post at 10:43:29 11/21/12) Hi all"
I think 5 -10 thousand miles far too long to go on an oil change. Especially on diesels, Ed will

I'm not sure if you are familiar with TDI's or Sprinters, but it is well within the manufacturer guidelines. I change oil on the tractors at 150 hours. (They don't use synthetic oil either.)

 

[dhermesc]

What is the TDI in?

Most of the "Oil Monitoring Systems" actually monitor nothing internally. They are a computer program that takes into account your driving activity and calculates how long the oil should last. If you have a leaky headgasket that is contaminating the oil, or the engine is running hotter than it should the system doesn't have a way of knowing it. Ther is no sensor in the oil actually "testing" it.

In most cars and pickups the manual will have a "normal" maintence schedule and an extreme duty maintenance schedule. If you read closely you will find that any car being driven in North America should be on the extreme duty schedule.

Lots of people learned this the hard way with the Chrysler 2.7 engine. "Normal" use was 6K miles, extreme duty was 3K miles. When they began failing at an alarming rate it was pointed out that they should have been following the extreme duty schedule and Chrysler voided their powertrain warranty. It got to the point that unless you could provide receipts from the oil change place (they disallowed home oil changes) they refused to honor the warranty.

 

[Dalet]

For the armchair experts:
As taken from the Sprinter Service Manual:
Oil Service intervals:
10,000 miles or as indicated by the ASSYST indicator (optional equipment); except:
A) every 12 months regardless of mileage, or
B) ½ of the indicated mileage if the diesel used is in excess of 0.05% sulfur
ASSYST oil quality sensor:
The oil quality sensor is grouped with the oil temperature and oil level sensors.
“Oil quality is detected for indicating the need-based oil change interval. The oil quality
is detected on the basis of the capacitance of the engine oil (dielectrics, does not conduct
electricity), this being as much as six times greater in case of poor quality.
Oil level and oil quality are separate of each other. The information is first of all
compensated in the ECM before being transmitted over the CAN bus.
Faults at the oil sensor are detected by the ECM and entered into fault memory. The
voltage for the oil sensor (approx.5V) is supplied by the ECM.”

 

[dhermesc]

Who uses the Sprinter system?

 

[Dalet]

(quoted from post at 12:45:08 11/21/12) Who uses the Sprinter system?

Me because its on a Dodge Sprinter as I said before. About the time everyone was telling me that I can't run the oil change intervals I run on my diesels.

 

[dhermesc]

Not that many people in the US have Mercedes diesel. And even fewer will in the future.

 

[Dalet]

(quoted from post at 12:54:07 11/21/12) Not that many people in the US have Mercedes diesel. And even fewer will in the future.

We have 2 semi tractors on the farm that have Mercedes diesels in them as well.
Freightliners. You can get them new with the Mercedes engines in them currently.

 

[dhermesc]

So you agree?

 

[MSD]

Last Mobil Delvac 10w40 I bought I got for $35.00 for 5 gals. Limit of 2 with a rebate. Mobil 10w30 was .99 gt. in 5 gt. container with rebate. Limit of 2. That was a month ago. I always watch for sells on mine.

 

[Dalet]

(quoted from post at 14:28:31 11/21/12) So you agree?

hat's the point I am to agree to?

 

[farmer boy]

I bought some Castrol GTX 10W30 for 11.88/4.4L at Walmart. Also bought some Valvoline synthetic for 19.88/4.73L. Regular price is much higer(double) but I try to stock up a bit when it comes on sale.

 

[farmer boy]

Where are you getting oil for $2/gallon? I pay $60-70 for Rotella Triple Protection.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 16:24:46 11/21/12) Where are you getting oil for $2/gallon? I pay $60-70 for Rotella Triple Protection.

I have a friend that hauls bulk oil to a Shell distributor. Before he can pick up a load at the terminal in New Jersey he has to open his valves and remove caps to show that there is no residue in the tanks. Thus after each delivery he has to let the tanks drain into buckets under the discharges. During cold weather this amounts to a fair amount. He may have increased his price to some guys but I did him a favor during a major storm a few years back so he takes care of me.

 

[Bryan in iowa]

I service a fleet of Sprinters . 10,000 mile oil,air and fuel filters .14 quarts of synthetic meeting 229.51 or some spec,can"t recall off top of head , but Mobil One meets it . Pretty expensive service bill but them things run smooth and good power for a 3.0 v6 diesel .

 

[barnE]

Got a Honda book for accord 2004. Says 10K miles oil change. Any they really run. Don't have one now got re poed. Dave

 

[Anonymous-0]

Buy the cheap oil and change it often. With the plastic chain tensioners and multi cam engines streatching an oil change to save $25 a year can cost you thousands. Ask anyone that's got a GM 3.6 sitting in their yard waiting for a new engine.

If the Mercedes oil monitoring system never says to change oil why bother? You could get the same information without any monitoring system.

 

[GordoSD]

Trop Arctic black Friday for 2.12 per quart.

 

[bobs old iron]

worked in a gas station, years ago, when gas had lead in it, old cast iron blocks, etc, needed to change oil every 3k, now with the different styles of blocks, heads, etc, and unleaded gasses, and for diesels, about the same thing, and fuels, [lower sulfer], now they say to extend the mileage between changes,, every thing i own, i've running oils [2x] that been recomended by mfgr,, [like a timex], lol, "still running, takes a licking, and not ticking",, i've check on c-list, where sometimes previous owners of car/diesels, selling the oils they bought for them,, got them cheaper than stores....

 

[hd6gtom]

The price of oil today is just theft by the oil companys, same as gasoline and diesel fuel.
Start contacting the oil companys and complaining, it cant hurt.

 

[egbinor]

Retired 12 years ago. Managed a fleet of about 50 Freightliners with Cat, Cummins and Detroits. Took oil samples for about a year and ended up going 20K between oil changes. I would just about wager you could bump it up to 30K now. Ran Gaurdol 15/40 and started to buy new trucks at 500K about the time I retired. Just sayin!