Originally Posted By: Nyogtha
Originally Posted By: KennyJB
I think I've just been overthinking it then, thinking I need exactly the 5.5 qts and of the same brand and blend.
I have a 04 H6 Outback. It has 130k miles on it but doesn't consume any. I run 10w30 in it during the summer and 5w30 in the winter.
Unless you're getting some big discount on 10w30 relative to 5w30, why not run 5w30 (or even 0W-30) year round? That would eliminate half the issue.
There should be some individual quarts of 5w30 and 0w30 left at the AZ clearance sales as others have mentioned. I haven't seen any 10w30 on clearance at the AZ's I've visited the past few weeks.
There is always more 10w30 to choose from and my manual recommends it for the warmer temps, and yeah is usually cheaper. I just switch to 5 in winter because it can get below 0
I don't try to squeeze out huge OCIs though, 4k is about it. I do too much stop and go trips where the car never warms up. Plus with the weather extremes (gets above 100 in summer and super dusty). I know it's probably a waste of oil but that's why I get the cheap stuff, and because I don't drive a lot, I probably do two changes a year even at that interval.
I was also trying to keep Qs Defy going for three OCs so I could do a UOA and then maybe I'll stretch the OCI if things look good.