Cheaper Synthetic - Any Ideas?

[z917990]

Hello All:

With prices for PP and M1 going through the roof, I have been thinking about transitioning to less expensive synthetic oils. Specifically, I am interested in Peak Synth (2.99 per quart when on sale at Farm and Fleet), Mobil Super Synth (3.99 per quart at the same place) or Napa Synth (currently 3.49 per quart). I plan to continue 5000 to 6000 mile OCI in mixed city/highway driving. The cars are listed in my signature below. I know that the Napa is Valvoline Synth with a weaker add pack. I have not been able to find any UOAs or much other info about Peak and Mobil. I hope to get over 200,000 miles out of each car. All cars are immaculately maintained. Do you good folks have any suggestions or guidance? Should I bite financial bullet and go back to PP? Thank you in advance.

 

[Quattro Pete]

I'm sure the oils you mentioned will work just fine. But I'm curious - how much are you going to save on an annual basis by using them vs. PP/M1 when bought while on sale?

 

[CATERHAM]

That's fine.
In fact 5W-20 dino's are so good I personally wouldn't pay any more for a 5W-20 synthetic.
If you are going willing to pay more for a synthetic oil then I'd suggest upgrading to a 0W-20 and get the advantage of the grades inherently higher VI.

 

[z917990]

How much would I save? I don't know - probably not a lot. I guess that in addition to the price increases of PP and M1, I am sick of these darned oil change deals with the rebates. I have to buy 5 quarts (I need nine for two changes); I am compelled to buy a filter of some ilk (usually one I don't want); rebates take forever to get and they get rejected for trivial reasons. I used to be able to buy PP at a reasonable price without the other bothers. I can't do that anymore. The oils that I listed are available without rebate; I can buy 9 quarts and two filters of my choosing (usually a Pureone or a Honda A01 for around $5.00 a piece). So I guess my concerns are price, convenience and the viability of these less expensive oils.

 

[daves87rs]

Even with that lower TBN, I've had pretty good success with Napa's syn.

Even though I have an engine that is easy on oil (Ecotec), I've having no issues with the twice a year oil changes for my Balt. It's gone between 4-7k with no problems....

 

[addyguy]

You could look into the cost of Amsoil OE.

 

[jmsjags]

QSUD is the same price as mobil super synthetic and IMO a better oil. why not try that? very similar to PP also

and CATERHAM, synthetic oils are sometimes not even $5 more for a 5 qt container. i have the exact opposite train of thought..why NOT buy a synthetic for that little bit extra?

 

[abycat]

I just got off the phone with my local toyota dealer and they have 1L of their full syn 0w20 for 5.93$ I almost fell over. That might sound high for usa prices but up here that is a steal. Especially since 5w20 full syn from ford is 15.96 per liter.

 

[Artem]

Why not continue to purchase the good oils and simply running then slightly longer to make up the cost difference? All the cars in your Sig have Honda's MM (Maintenance Minder) and should be able to get 6-7k outta the oil before the Maintenance light comes on.

If you've done any UOA, i feel you could easily extend further, esp with the older 2.4L Accord and CR-V since those engines are easy on oil from what i've seen.

I've seen decent quality oil filters offered with oil change deals on the quality oils, with a decent price but i too have noticed the rebates trend nowadays.

I personally stock up while an oil is on sale from a regular store like Kmart or the like and that keeps me and 3 of my cars going until the next deal comes along. Haven't paid more then $5 a quart for top of the line synthetics of the shelf in a while.

Regardless, the oils you mentioned should be able to handle 5-6k with ease and keep the engines turning until you decide to dump them.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: jmsjags
and CATERHAM, synthetic oils are sometimes not even $5 more for a 5 qt container. i have the exact opposite train of thought..why NOT buy a synthetic for that little bit extra?


You haven't bought oil in Canada lately, I see.

These are good approximations of my local, Canadian Walmart's regular (non rollback) pricing:

QS GB 5L - $24.97
QS HM 5L - $29.97
QS UD 5L - $44.97

The same goes for PYB, PHM, and PP. If we have a rollback, the synthetic might go to the $35 range, the HM will go to around $20, and the conventional will go under $15, sometimes down to $10.

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: abycat
I just got off the phone with my local toyota dealer and they have 1L of their full syn 0w20 for 5.93$ I almost fell over. That might sound high for usa prices but up here that is a steal. Especially since 5w20 full syn from ford is 15.96 per liter.

That's Canada for you; our oil pricing is a lot different than States side. It's hard to get even dino oil for under $5/L.
BTW, the Toyota 0W-20 is is even cheaper in a 5L jug and the cheapest of all is the Idemitsu made Honda/Acura 0W-20 at under 5 bucks/L on a 12L case.
The Petro-Canada made Mazda 0W-20 lists for $5.95/L and is also cheaper by the case.
In Canada it makes no sense to buy 20 wt oil from anywhere other than a Japanese OEM source.

 

[jmsjags]

Originally Posted By: Garak
You haven't bought oil in Canada lately, I see.

These are good approximations of my local, Canadian Walmart's regular (non rollback) pricing:

QS GB 5L - $24.97
QS HM 5L - $29.97
QS UD 5L - $44.97

The same goes for PYB, PHM, and PP. If we have a rollback, the synthetic might go to the $35 range, the HM will go to around $20, and the conventional will go under $15, sometimes down to $10.



wow i didn't even pay attention to the fact that he's in canada. i had no clue y'all got gouged that badly on oil up there!

i haven't been in a walmart in the past couple months but the last time i was in there QSGB was $14 or so and QSUD was $19. and if you look at the difference between PYB at $16 and the QSUD it doesn't make sense to go conventional

 

[LeakySeals]

A 5 qt jug of M1 at Walmart was $24.50 2+ years ago. Its $27.19 now. That averages out to an increase of 54 cents a quart in 2 years, 27 cents a quart per year, approx 5% increase a quart per year. Pretty good considering groceries are up 20% this year alone.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: jmsjags
i haven't been in a walmart in the past couple months but the last time i was in there QSGB was $14 or so and QSUD was $19. and if you look at the difference between PYB at $16 and the QSUD it doesn't make sense to go conventional


The conventional rollbacks here are pretty decent. Synthetic rollbacks are fairly common, but synthetic is still fairly high, even on sale.

In fairness, though, Walmart, Canadian Tire, and the like aren't exactly great indicators of oil prices up here. When those guys are on special, it's fantastic. Their regular prices, however, are easy to beat at truck stops, distributors, wholesale clubs, and large hardware or farm supply stores. And as CATERHAM pointed out, the Japanese dealers have reasonable prices on 20 weights.

 

[mongo161]

IMO....Keep your eyes open for sales at your local auto parts stores for "Store Brand" oils. Last summer, I scored on 9 cases, 6 quarts per case, of a local APS that had their store brand synthetic on clearance. The oil grades were all 5w-20, 5w30 and 10w30, SM, GF-4, Full Synthetic.

I picked up the oil for $2.22 a quart, after tax and discount, and the oil is a very good synthetic. In fact, I had a sample sent to Black Stone before committing to using it full strength.
The results from their analysis.....really good quality oil with a real stout add pack. In fact, they had the oil mistakenly labeled for Castrol Synthetic before I let them know it was store branded oil.

I'm running it now in my sump and the engine is running smooth. It seems that not may people had an interest in paying over $5 a quart for high quality oil when the national brands have oil on sale at a much lower price than $5.50 regular price store brand oil.

IMO....I'm glad that I pulled the trigger on this load of oil....so don't forget about your local Auto Parts stores for "Store Brand" quality oil. You never know what gems you may find.....

 

[ottotheclown]

QSUD is as mentioned many times, $20 at Wally. My 09 Civic responds best with this oil. Today temp in 20s turn key = running. Hardly any start just running. Been like that last year. Cannot find any big difference between this and all the others except the starting. So at $4 a qt. for me no brainer. Not up to fixing things that work this well.

 

[Ken2]

"Synthetic" is a marketing term, not a technical term. I'd rather buy a top quality conventional oil with its top quality add pack than a cheapo "synthetic" with a lower quality add pack. I'd run that top quality oil the full length of the oil life monitor or the owner's manual recommendations.

Why buy syn anyway? If you need better protection when very cold, very hot, or running very hard & hot, go syn. Otherwise, maybe it's just a nice thing to do for your car???

 

[teddyboy]

Several times a year Autozone and Advance sell 5 qts of M1 and a M1 EP filter for $32.99. Surely you can live with M1EP filters? Stretch your oci out to 7500(assuming that you're out of warranty) and you're still well within the limits of that oil. A very nice aspect of M1 is that it's available in every viscosity known to man. I'll bet that what I'm proposing costs no more than what you're considering, you're under the car less often and you're generating less waste oil.

 

[z917990]

All excellent points. Thanks! Keep 'em coming, please.

 

[tig1]

If you do 10K OCIs as I do then the cost comes way down per 5K miles. Using M1 0-20 from WM and MC filters it's about $16 per 5K.