Where to find deals on oil?

Post by **FireFox31** » 22 Jul 2021, 17:40

Where do you find good prices on quality engine oil? And what prices per quart or liter are you paying? I'm brand new to buying my own oil so trying to learn all of your tricks.

Currently, I see:
Amazon has Shell Rotella T6 5W-40 synthetic for $5.50/quart. Best deal is to buy a gallon.
FCP has Liqui Moly and Pentosin for about $8.50/L. Do they sell any other motor oil??
RockAuto has Liqui Moly 4605 (like FCP) but for $9.50/L. I assumed they'd have low prices.
AutoZone locally has the Rotella for $7.50/quart. Their other prices were higher than RockAuto.

I'm trying to balance price and quality. I'm reluctant to shop at Amazon considering how they treat their warehouse workers and drivers. One reviewer claimed they got a bottle full of water which ruined their engine. I like FCP and AutoZone because they accept my old oil back as a means of disposing of it (at a big discount in the case of FCP).

Post by **cn90** » 22 Jul 2021, 18:57

I keep it simple...

- NAPA synthetic is made by Valvoline.
They have synthetic oil on sales a few times a year.
For 5-qt jug, normal is $25, but right now it is on sales for $19.00.
Single quart, normal is $6, right now it is $3.80.
I use NAPA synthetic most of the time but I wait for it to be on sale, then stock it...
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NO_75521
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NO_75520

- Another place that keeps my life simple is Walmart.
A 5-qt jug of Castrol Edge is $24.50:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Castrol-Edge ... s/34039135

- Then of course you have Costco Kirkland synthetic oil, which is roughly $33 for two 5-qt jugs.
Or about $16.50 for the 5-qt jug.
My brother uses Kirkland synthetic and says it is fine.
I have no experience with Kirkland oil.

Post by **erikv11** » 23 Jul 2021, 00:19

For the Rotella T6 5w-40, do any of these "Farm Store" companies have outlets in your area, to take advantage of the substantial rebates?

https://rotella.shell.com/en_us/promos- ... 3JtMi5jZm0
or
https://www.goodmoneysense.com/shell-rotella-rebate/

Often you can pair up a sale price with the rebate. I recently paid like $12/per gallon by purchasing in 2.5 gallon jugs.

Post by **abscate** » 23 Jul 2021, 02:53

A $30 jug of oil will last 7500 miles in a P80 in good condition , that’s 0.4 cents per mile

I remind my self if I drive 5 miles out of my way get a better deal, I just spend $5 doing that.

I share your concerns over buying from bad actors like Walmart and Amazon but at least Mvs gets a kickback from amazon.

Post by **amblerman** » 23 Jul 2021, 08:41

Oh boy..

In a previous thread, i mentioned I have a 30 year supply of oil because of seeking out deals.

I think my average cost of oil is about $1/qt for synthetic oil. Well what we call synthetic here in the states at least.

Before I explain how I did it, the general consensus is if all you care about is price, then Walmart will be the place to go for oil.
~ 4.00/qt for Mobil 1/Castrol/Pennzoil synthetic

I regularly read this forum: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/forum ... otions.33/

From time to time people will discover price errors, crazy deals or magical combinations of sales and rebates that result in extremely cheap ,free, or even for profit oil.

For example, I recently took advantage of PepBoys closing out their Rotella Gas Truck oil . They were selling it as $30 per jug but offered a $30 rebate. The only cost to me was tax.
I maxed out the rebate rules and ended up with 6 jugs of "synthetic oil" for ~ $.40/qt.

In general, the crazy deals happen in oct-dec of the year because common auto parts stores (Advanced Auto, Autozone, Oreilly's etc) figure out what oil isn't selling and close it out. Often without changing the on shelf price in the stores which is why that link above is important. some times you can find out about the deals and find fully stocked shelves because the price on the shelf is still the regular cost. There have also been crazy close outs just due to packaging design changes or stock going from an SN rating to SN+ or SP.

For example, pre-Covid, I took advantage of deals such as:
Advanced Auto: I was able to stock on on Mobil 1 Annual Protection for .96/qt vs the crazy 11.00 cost that was the norm before the close out.
Advanced Auto: Quaker Stage Ultimate Durability (their synthetic) for a net positive of +$7.00 to me per jug because of the combo of closeout and rebate.

I have also taken advantage of pricing errors on Walmart and Amazon's sites. For example, Walmart for some reason priced a 3 pack of 5 qt jugs of Castrol 10W30 Synthetic for less than the price of one jug. I ordered 3 of those to get free shipping and they actually sent the shipment overnight from Houston . It was nuts.

The pricing error loophole hasn't happened in a while. These were more common when Walmart and Amazon were battling each other for web dominance a few years ago. These days when there are pricing errors most people see their orders cancelled before shipment which I understand. Also, on recent "pricing errors", people found they were actually shipped 1 jug vs a 3-pack of jugs. That's another risk of trying to take advantage of these deals because there frequently is bad information on the sites. ie: The description clearly says 3-pack but shipping weight is more in line with a single jug.

The downside to all of this is:
a) sometimes you might not get the rebate and find you bought oil at potentially regular price. This hasn't happened to me yet.
b) you do have to have some storage and the ability to buy more than you need at one time.
c) your wife/partner/friends look at you funny or don't believe you when you tell them you have a 30 year supply of oil

I can't help wonder what will happen this fall due to Covid. People haven't been driving.. I"m sure sales are low all around.. Stock might be harder to get etc. Not sure what the stores will do.

-A

Post by **amblerman** » 23 Jul 2021, 08:52

abscate wrote: ↑23 Jul 2021, 02:53 A $30 jug of oil will last 7500 miles in a P80 in good condition , that’s 0.4 cents per mile

I remind my self if I drive 5 miles out of my way get a better deal, I just spend $5 doing that.

I share your concerns over buying from bad actors like Walmart and Amazon but at least Mvs gets a kickback from amazon.

This post reminded me of something I did that I neglected to mention in my previous post about my quest for savings.

Pre-covid I traveled a lot for business. There were times that I had to drive instead of fly and I mapped out several auto parts stores that were along my trip route that had the deals I wanted. This allowed me to hit a number of stores without really going out of my way to get the deals. Filled my trunk on way to and from client.
Yes this is extreme. Yes it makes little sense (cents) when you can just buy oil when you need it.

Part of it was the fun in finding the deals and taking advantage of them.

The challenge now is using it up.

Post by **amblerman** » 23 Jul 2021, 09:01

cn90 wrote: ↑22 Jul 2021, 18:57 I keep it simple...

- NAPA synthetic is made by Valvoline.
They have synthetic oil on sales a few times a year.
For 5-qt jug, normal is $25, but right now it is on sales for $19.00.
Single quart, normal is $6, right now it is $3.80.
I use NAPA synthetic most of the time but I wait for it to be on sale, then stock it...
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NO_75521
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NO_75520

- Then of course you have Costco Kirkland synthetic oil, which is roughly $33 for two 5-qt jugs.
Or about $16.50 for the 5-qt jug.
My brother uses Kirkland synthetic and says it is fine.
I have no experience with Kirkland oil.

I took advantage of a number of the Napa discounts for that oil. Bought it by the case when it got down that low. That was before I got into finding close outs for even cheaper.

That Kirkland oil is made/blended by Warren Distributing. They are a big time blender here in North America and are the ones that create/blend a lot of the house oils for companies. Walmart's SuperTech? .. same thing.

What I've come to believe is that for 99% of the folks out there, it almost doesn't matter what is on the front of the bottle so long as :
a) it's a brand name (more chance it's a legit oil in general)
b) the back meets the specs your car needs

The exceptions to this is something June here on this board points out. She's had great success with a particular oil (RedLine I believe) because that is a true synthetic and one particular aspect to the base oils used in that is their cleaning capabilities .

There is definitely a use for finding an oil to address a particular use case if you need it. But most people just need the spec on the back of the bottle in my completely non-scientific opinion

Post by **erikv11** » 23 Jul 2021, 10:22

abscate wrote: ↑23 Jul 2021, 02:53 A $30 jug of oil will last 7500 miles in a P80 in good condition , that’s 0.4 cents per mile

I remind my self if I drive 5 miles out of my way get a better deal, I just spend $5 doing that. ...

Ummmm how does it cost $5 to drive 5 miles??? Maybe $1.00.

But sure, there may be more costs than the sticker price so factor them in.

befarrer · Post by **befarrer** » 23 Jul 2021, 11:55

Good deal on oil here is synthetic jug under $30. But I'm usually paying around $40 for oil. $15 for oil filter.

Post by **abscate** » 24 Jul 2021, 01:07

erikv11 wrote: ↑23 Jul 2021, 10:22
abscate wrote: ↑23 Jul 2021, 02:53 A $30 jug of oil will last 7500 miles in a P80 in good condition , that’s 0.4 cents per mile

I remind my self if I drive 5 miles out of my way get a better deal, I just spend $5 doing that. ...
Ummmm how does it cost $5 to drive 5 miles??? Maybe $1.00.

But sure, there may be more costs than the sticker price so factor them in.

We have to pay our tolls in cash, not potatoes . Don’t you have a Krebs Cycle to go ride?

#heart