Oil costs and recommened OCIs?

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Is there a direct relationship between the cost of motor oil in any given market and the OCIs that makers recommend?
Here, motor oil is famously cheap and the longest drains typically recommended are around 10K or a year.
On the other side of the pond, where motor oil is famously expensive, recommend drain intervals are about double what we see here. One also sees longer recommended drain intervals in places like Australia, where motor oil is also quite dear.
I know that if I were looking at M1 AP prices here as the lower end of the scale for a decent synthetic I'd want longer recommended drain intervals.
Cause and effect?
 
Also, Australia doesn't see the cold winters we have here.
Plus foreign oil is held to a higher standard it seems.
REAL, according to some, synthetic oils.
Then too, they don't see the long vacation trips nor are their
'stop and go' trips as common as in our larger cities.

My 2¢
 
Here in Southern Ontario the maintenance handbook for my Yaris recommends the first two changes at 8000km then after that every 16,000km. There is no mention of synthetic only for those intervals. The supplemental dealer maintenance booklet recommends changes every 8000km. Of the later I'm not sure if that's based on our climate or the dealers pocketbook.

Cost for a change at the dealership in 2015 was $45 for dino 5w30 and $89 for synthetic 0w20.

Cost for a change at our local oil changers (Mr. Lube) would be appox. the same but their recommended interval is 5000km

Cost to purchase oil is around $7 per litre/quart for dino. Synthetic is 80 to 100% more.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Is there a direct relationship between the cost of motor oil in any given market and the OCIs that makers recommend? Here, motor oil is famously cheap and the longest drains typically recommended are around 10K or a year.
On the other side of the pond, where motor oil is famously expensive, recommend drain intervals are about double what we see here.


You'd have to research government regulations. That might have something to do with it.

I've always wondered why oil is so expensive everywhere else - Here, I can get Harvest King 5W-20 Full Synthetic Motor Oil (Dexos approved) for just ~$2.50 a quart ($12-13 for a 5 quart jug)

Where else in the world can you get oil that good for that cheap?
 
Sulphur content in fuel used to be a big driver of OCI, exchange rates and wage gap make the cost seem bigger than it really is, and the size of the market in NA compared to any country in Europe allows them to sell more volume at less margin.
 
Gas is was $4.38 (AUS) on average in June for Australia.

Perhaps, as mentioned above, cultural driving habits create a smaller demand, and therefor command a higher price to balance out the lower consumption, and higher transport costs?

Or the higher import costs cause a higher price, and therefor have pushed oil companies to create more robust oils capable of being used for longer periods in order to grab market share?
 
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
Also, Australia doesn't see the cold winters we have here.
Plus foreign oil is held to a higher standard it seems.
REAL, according to some, synthetic oils.
Then too, they don't see the long vacation trips nor are their
'stop and go' trips as common as in our larger cities.

My 2¢


Agree that we (thankfully) don't experience the cold temperatures of the Northern Hemisphere, but your points about Aussie driving conditions are not correct. Not sure why you think Aussies don't drive long distances? Interstate drives are a regular thing for most of us. As for stop and go city traffic - yep, got plenty of that too!
 
Originally Posted By: exShuttlemech
Why would oil be more expensive in Australia, their gas is relatively cheap-hence the v-8 cars such as the Holden Monaro.


Well, Monaro went out of production over 10 years ago, but I get your point. Fact is though, very few Aussies have a V8 as their daily driver. The homegrown, RWD sedan is dead. The best selling passenger cars here are Corolla, Mazda 3, Hyundai i30 and the like. Overall best sellers, and commonly used as family cars, are the dual cab utes like HiLux, Ranger and Colorado - and 99% of them are diesels, chosen for their grunt and economy.

As to why oil is expensive here? Good question!
 
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