Originally Posted by Farnsworth
Originally Posted by ToadU
Buy cheap jobber filters. I can't help but chuckle at the folks wasting money on boutique oils and overpriced filters. Over the years my shop has used a variety of filters but mostly Fram jobbers and orange cans. I buy the cheapest bulk filters and oils that meet proper specs. My shop has the city and county contracts for government vehicles including police, sheriff, ambulances and most school buses. I also have a fleet contract w a rental car company. We are high volume and maintain many fleets for companies.
I use a $1.75 filter on the wife's Land Rover and my personal vehicles too. I always go over 100k miles on my personal vehicles and never have an issue. Fleet vehicles go over 100 always, almost always over 200 and many 300k miles or more before being retired. Most of the law enforcement cars are over 100k and many over 200k and still going...and most I've maintained since new.
All of my tow trucks get jobber filters...gas and diesel units...and we get 300-500k miles before retiring them.
Again...I buy to meet spec but in bulk and as cheap as I can.
Every fleet is maintained the same way. Taxies ect. No one that makes money and / or has a huge fleet is buying Fram Ultras or boutique oils. No one.
I have never seen an engine or tranny failure due to using bulk filters and fluids that meet spec. Never. It doesn't happen. I have never seen anything compelling that proves you actually get any return for spending more money on filters and expensive oils. Just meet the min spec and happy motoring.
Fleets also don't get early oil changes when new and intervals are set to the max as spec'd by manufacturer. Keep in mind fleet vehicles are driven by many different people and driven hard. Very hard. Law enforcement and ambulance / fire (cars and regular suv trucks) idle and run 20 plus hrs a day. They are used in a way a personal vehicle never could be used. They still last and last..gas engines in cars....for hundreds of thousands of miles on bulk filters and oils.
So buy cheap. Have a beer w your savings.
A Ford Fiesta will get from one place to the other as well as a Rolls Royce. Good you noted your motivation to use cheap products, even on taxpayers very expensive vehicles. I wonder if you tell the government agencies you use the cheapest products you can find and pass all the savings on to them. It must save $3 on each oil filter. The labor is the same so the service should be $3.21 less for a $1.79 filter versus a $5 filter to the taxpayers. Just an observation.
Why would he tell them what he uses?? It's a BUSINESS and the guy is maximizing his profit margin and the products MEET spec so there is not problem. The fact he takes these cars upwards of 300k miles is all the proof needed that he is doing it right.
