Originally Posted By: Tobin
Well pete.. Its like this, you can do the math in several ways and I guess regular oil is still going to be cheaper but not by much. So i get that now.
How is using regular oil cheaper?
Say you do 10k miles a year - that's one oil change using synthetic or two oil changes using mineral.
Cost of synethetic oil change - $100, as you noted. I'm guessing about $60 of it is materials, $40 labor.
Cost of mineral oil change - about $30 for materials (using quality mineral oil) and again that $40 labor, so $70 total; $140 for the year.
Not only is the mineral route more expensive, you also waste twice as much time.
Quote:
And no I dont run my car on premium.
I've been using regular gasoline since last november and havent noticed any problems or symptoms of engine knocking. So i assumed what I read was true. Am I wrong on this?
You're right that it's not going to cause problems, but your reasons for doing it are flawed. You're probably thinking you're saving money by running regular. You are not.
Because the engine adjusts timing based on lower octane gas, two things happen:
1. the car's performance is negatively affected
2. the car consumes more fuel
So, there go your savings.
Now, I know you will say that you don't notice any difference in performance. In which case we go back to the previous question: do you notice any difference between driving a BMW and a KIA? If not, again, there is a potential for you to save a lot more money there.
Well pete.. Its like this, you can do the math in several ways and I guess regular oil is still going to be cheaper but not by much. So i get that now.
How is using regular oil cheaper?
Say you do 10k miles a year - that's one oil change using synthetic or two oil changes using mineral.
Cost of synethetic oil change - $100, as you noted. I'm guessing about $60 of it is materials, $40 labor.
Cost of mineral oil change - about $30 for materials (using quality mineral oil) and again that $40 labor, so $70 total; $140 for the year.
Not only is the mineral route more expensive, you also waste twice as much time.
Quote:
And no I dont run my car on premium.
I've been using regular gasoline since last november and havent noticed any problems or symptoms of engine knocking. So i assumed what I read was true. Am I wrong on this?
You're right that it's not going to cause problems, but your reasons for doing it are flawed. You're probably thinking you're saving money by running regular. You are not.
Because the engine adjusts timing based on lower octane gas, two things happen:
1. the car's performance is negatively affected
2. the car consumes more fuel
So, there go your savings.
Now, I know you will say that you don't notice any difference in performance. In which case we go back to the previous question: do you notice any difference between driving a BMW and a KIA? If not, again, there is a potential for you to save a lot more money there.