I was changing the oil in the Corolla the other day when I discovered to my dismay I didn’t have enough bottles of oil on hand to finish the job. So I let the oil continue to drip, and got in my truck and mosey’ed on down to the auto parts place. They had a deal there where you buy a big 5 quart container of original-version Penzoil 10-30, and they throw in a $5 oil filter for free. So I pony’ed up the money ($22 plus tax) and bought it.
But while driving away I’m thinking $22 seems a lot of money for just 5 quarts of oil and an oil filter. Especially as the oil isn’t in separate bottles, which makes it less convenient to use.
Gas, even the expensive type, is less than $4 per gallon. How could engine oil be close to $4 per quart? What do you folks pay per quart for non-synthetic oil these days?
IMHO you got snookered. But it’s no big deal. It wasn’t by much. It was a cheap education.
I just bought 5 quart of 5W30 and a filter for my Scion. I didn’t pay a great deal of attention, but I think it was about $2-1/2 a quart for the oil and $3-1/2 for the filter. About $16+/- total.
I rarely visit the DIY/discount type auto parts store so I’m not sure my opinion matters much but it doesn’t sound like either a bad deal or a good deal. I think the 5 quart jug is great if you’re doing an oil change and your engine holds 5 qts. Last time I was at Costco I think they had Chevron motor oil for less than $30/case of 12.
Does the deal also apply to other weights of oil? I mean 10W30 is kind of a dinosaur (pun intended) when it comes to motor oil. There are very few cars out there that still use it. In round numbers, I would say almost half of the cars that we see use 5W30, 25% use 5W20, with the rest being a mix of 0W20 and 10W30, with a handful of diesels thrown in as well.
I still wonder, at $22 for your oil change kit, you’re jacking up your car, buying supplies, laying on the floor changing your own oil and filter, disposing of the oil, filter, and empty bottles, and cleaning everything up. All to save $10?
BTW, what do you (and others) do with the old filter?
The recyclers pick up the old oil filter when they come by for the garbage cans. I have to place it in a clear plastic bag on top of the garbage can. I don’t know what they do with it after that. Same with the old oil, I just put it back into the bottles, label it “used oil”, and they take it away.
The Corolla uses 3.4 quarts, so 5 quart container worked out ok as I needed an extra 1.6 quarts at the time, so now I have 3.4 quarts and a new filter left for the next oil change.
Costco. Yes, good idea. Tomorrow I’m going to check at Costco to see how much they charge for a case of Penzoil. I think I’ve purchased it at Costco before, come to think of it. Costco has good tasting watermelons too, so if they are in yet, that’s an added benefit! Plus there’s the pizza …
Other weights? Yes, $22 for a various assortment of dino-oil weights. 5-30 and 5-20 seemed to be the most common they had in stock. But about half of it in stock was 10-30. 10-30 apparently still is selling well. They had some 10-40 too as I recall. The same free filter deal applied to other types of oil, synthetic blends and the like. But those oils were a little more expensive, $24-28 I think.
All to save $10? Well, probably saved a little more than that. But a person could reasonably argue it isn’t a good way to save money. But while I change the oil, I also vacuum the grill under the windshield to remove all the debris so it doesn’t get into the HVAC system, and I carefully clean and inspect the four CV boots, and do a general under-car assessment of the condition of things down there. This time I noticed my inner CV joint boots were starting to show some signs of deterioration so I have made a note that this summer it is time to remove both axels, replace the boots, and repack the CV joints with new grease. I might cheap-out and only replace the inner boots … lol …
I don’t do it to save $10. I do it because I don’t trust anybody else to touch my baby. It would kill me dead to stand there and hear someone tell me “your threads are stripped. We’ll need to replace the oil pan for $600.” And then have to fight with them. Or to drive away with a loose plug and find out when I get home. It’s a risk I’m not willing to take.
For years I religiously took my used filters to the recycling center. But we have a new system now. Some contractor drives around with a big friggin truck with a fork lift on the side and dumps everything together then takes care of it all at his facility. I don’t like the new system, but every town is doing it.
I paid $32 for a 5 quart jug of Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 and K&N oil filter (I won’t use the orange Fram oil filters, though the Fram Ultras are quite good). That’s about what I usually pay. My car takes 6 quarts, but I have an extra quart on hand.
My mom’s MB CLK 430 takes 8.5 quarts of a full synthetic that meets MB spec in a 5W-40 weight. Pennzoil Ultra Euro generally goes for around $8-$9 a quart. So I just use Mobil 1 0W-40 Euro (it meets MB specs) , which you can get a the local wally world for around $25 per 5 quart jug. Up until tomorrow they are running a $12 per 5 quart jug mail-in rebate.
$22 for 5 quarts of PYB and a filter is a decent deal IMHO.
I haven’t used Pennz since about 1985 so no price for me would be a good price. I did notice they had five quarts of Mobil 1 and a Mobil 1 filter for like $35, but I don’t use Mobil filters either so no sale.
The filters now I just store until I take the used oil to the county recycling center once a year or so. They have a big tank of used oil and a barrel of filters.
If I don’t need synthetic it is $12 for the Walmart brand oil and ~$3.5 for the Puralator filter. I don’t really save money, but I like to do it properly. Also I like doing it on a Sunday afternoon and not having to wait in the lobby of some repair shop and keep declining different add on sales pitches.
My Fram filter is about three-and-a-half bucks. It’s the size of a peanut.
It seems like every time I’ve bought a new vehicle I’ve had to buy a smaller filter wrench. I have quite the collection now.
It seems like every time I’ve bought a new vehicle I’ve had to buy a smaller filter wrench. I have quite the collection now.
Wait until you have to start buying cap wrenches for the cartridge filters that are becoming the norm now. Opens up a whole new world.
They also make funnels that screw into the oil cap opening, so a guy can just fill the oil one-handed and not worry about the funnel falling out. Of course every car make has a different thread or size for the oil cap. I’ve got over $200 worth of funnels sitting at the shop.
I’ve had some cap wrenches for decades now. At one time some SAABs used cartridge filters and on some models there was simply no way of getting a regular oil filter wrench in there due to very confined quarters.
There was a time when a STANT cooling system pressure tester would fit every radiator outlet on the planet without having a crate full of adapters…
Many years ago my wife made the following comment after hearing me grumble a bit about buying an obscure specialty tool that I used once and would probably never use again.
“Are you telling me that a mechanic has to buy 10,000 dollars worth of tools to work on a car?”.
I am old lazy and make enough money to let the shop across the street from work do it for $37 for 7 qt of oil needed and filter. Decrease cost as every 6th change is free. @ 2 per year not a deal breaker, and yes still have 3 sizes of oil wrenches.
Yeah, but “many years ago” it probably WAS only $10,000. In the dollars of that year.
I figure I probably won’t have to buy yet another filter wrench. I figure that if I take care of this car, it’ll be the last. It’s in much better shape than my body is. If I do, I already have an entire collection of cap wrenches… but I’m sure the new car will come in a size I don’t have. I hate cap wrenches, by the way. Spring type (see image) are the best, and I have a few different sizes of these. http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA2MFgxNjAw/z/-tAAAOxyJ-FRmHGI/$T2eC16V,!)kE9s4Z+z±BRmHGG)zLg~~60_35.JPG
The tools are one thing, the toolboxes are crazy too.
15 years ago I worked for a guy who was a little nuts. Business was booming, he had money to throw around, and he loved Snap On. Once a year the trash cans–TRASH CANS–were sent to the paint and body shop to be color-matched Snap On red.
I guess my aging Snap On and Blue Point rollaways weren’t quite up to his standards, but he was happy with me. So one day he came out and said “If you want a new toolbox, pick a Snap On and it has to be red, and I’ll pay half.” So I go onto the truck and order the biggest box, the one on the cover of the catalog, stainless top, riser hutch, and storage cabinets. The price for all that was over $11,000, and that was in 2001 dollars.
I never wanted such a big setup, but I got $3500 trade in on my 3 old boxes and only had to pay half of the $7500, so it was too good to pass up. But I need to hire a tow truck to move my toolbox.
My son is a mechanic in the Seabees (reserves). He just sent a photo of himself in his fatigues standing in front of his toolchest between two fully armored-up Mastiffs. Thank God he didn’t have to buy those tools. There are no delicate parts on a Mastiff. Everything is supersized.
I dont see what the fuss is about… Thats a fine deal. Oil per quart is about 4 bucks per for conventional oil… It goes up from there actually. When was the last time you bought motor oil my man? What do you think this stuff is supposed to cost?
A friend of mine who asked me to change his oil provided the oil for me…and the price tags stuck to each quart was $6.97 per Quart! I have no clue where he bought the stuff but …OIL AINT CHEAP ANYMO Guys! LOL
I would be just fine with a 22 price tag for what you got… I would Hardly say you got “taken” on the deal.
