What is a fair price for a oil change

ExxonMobil is the supplier for Toyota and Lexus dealers, however there are 15 different Mobil 1 products. With the great volume of oil distributed, might a vehicle manufacture have their own oil specifications?

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GM does with their Dexos standard. Most use the API standard set by the oil industry. The current standard for Gasoline engines is SP which was introduced in 2020. A new oil came out recently for hybrids, but I just find that to be a thin oil like 0w-16 or 0w-8. Many manufacturers will recertify an engine to run on a newer/lighter oil. My Highlanders oil recommendation is 0w-20. Wifes 07 Lexus (same engine) recommendation is 5w-30. A few years ago they recertified the Lexus engine can use 0w-20. I recently bought a 2017 Vette (stingray). Oil recommendation is 5w-30 Dexos, or 15w-50 if running on a track (which I will never do). Then I was reading a couple years ago there’s a new oil from Mobil-1 called 0w-40 Supercar and the Corvette has been recertified to run on that oil. I may try that in the spring when I take it out of storage.

It costs me about $80 just for oil and filter. And that’s catching the oil on sale. My car takes 8.5 qts. 5-40 Syn.

Doesn’t it also call for the Euro specific (5w40 full syn)??

Yeah, it does. The price for having nice things. LOL

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It depends on where you take your car to for an oil change. My vehicles only see the dealerships and what amazes me is that one Toyota dealership charges $120 for full synthetic oil change and the other charges $109, meanwhile my friend from South Carolina pays $75 for the same service.

Lexus on the other hand seems to charge less for an oil change but everything else more expensive, such as an alignment costing nearly $200 compared to $89 at other places.

I think back 46 years ago when, with a mail in rebate, my total cost for Valvoline 10W-30 heavy detergent oil was 25 cents a quart. Even better than that, Citgo had a special with the a mail in rebate, the 10W-30 oil was 0 cents a quart. I had an oil change for the cost of a postage stamp.
At my age, I don’t feel like getting under the car. I just go to the dealer and pay the price.

Man bites dog moment! If you think that the less expensive Toyota dealer does a good job, continue going to them. As for South Carolina, consider the cost of living difference between SC and NYC. The labor rate is much lower there. SC is a favorite landing spot for retirees in Central Maryland because the cost of living is much lower. Your cost of living is higher than mine.

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Labor prices vary a lot from state to state. A good mechanic in Central NY might earn $80k. I personally know a couple good mechanics in the Boston are who make wll over $150k.

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I took my new Mazda CX-5 into the dealer for the first oil change. I asked how much it would cost for just the oil change, they told me $119. I decided to have them do it just for warranty reasons. I got the car back with a bill for $145. They had added in “shop materials and oil disposal…$12” and then tax. While I am in the waiting room, a service “advisor” comes out to talk to a woman who wanted just a state inspection. They told her she needed windshield wipers and then gave her a long list “recommendations” (such as a brake fluid flush) with exorbitant prices. I got out of there as quickly as possible and will never return.

That’s certainly a valid response, and sends a message. Me, I would probably give them a pass on the misc costs the first time, just pay up, and ask them to be sure include all costs when I asked for a price the next time.

Funny, I don’t understand why when people ask for the price of something at a car shop that they expect the out the door price (w/tax), but go into Best Buy, Walmart etc and ask for a price, you know you have to add the tax to that price…

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The thing I find humorous, on some replacement items (not oil changes) there is a core charge, but if the core is submitted there is a state mandated disposal fee.

Though it has been more than forty years since I have seen a itemized medical bill, those bills are amazing. Each item used was charged: 4X4 gauze pad, $X.XX.

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I have only seen in TN & KY, core charges for rebuildable parts and disposal fee’s on waste oil/oil filters and tires… Never a disposal fee on parts cores…

I am curious what parts have both…

Now most/all states do have a State Tire Fee for new tires… Not sure about online orders though…

Was at fleet farm yesterday. Cheapest jug was $28. Where’s the dang tractor oil? I think even the resolute house brand was $28. No 0-30. Seems only Mobil 1 has that. At WM. Qts are about $10. Saw a YouTuber stop at gas station and oil was $13? Wtf?

IMO the shop should include disposal fees and any other mandatory fees short of taxes. They are easy to calculate. If it’s. Written estimate, then the fees should be itemized.

+1
But, the appearance of these extra fees is not necessarily a new thing. I recall being startled by those extra charges on an invoice from a Lincoln-Mercury dealer, circa 1968.

I couldn’t agree more, and I always gave the customer the OTD price cause I hated dealing with other peoples, including higher up management, base prices, when/if I had to cash them out, but most company’s want to give the customer the basic price, not the price with all the fees… You know, the whole $29.99 sounds wayyyy better than $30, I always rounded those up also, found out real fast, nobody (used loosely) ever hears the change, only the dollar amount…

Cell phones do it, as well as other things, heck I get a bill for city and county taxes, they give a total price, once you start to pay it then it ads in processing fees, and a few others… Same with tags for the cars…

However with buying online, it is getting harder and harder to do it since you are looking right at the bill compared to phone call price and or brick and mortar prices…

Batteries have both

TN does not have a disposal fee, only a core charge, KY is the same way IIRC…

Most any place that sells battery’s here will take old battery’s free of charge for proper disposal, and the shops are not charged either when returning old battery’s…

Interesting that some do…