Where to find deals on oil?

[FireFox31]

Thanks amblerman and everyone for the good tips. Before buying any commodity item, I like to determine the typical price so I know if I'm paying more or less for the one I choose. Thanks to you, I know the typical price. The BITTOG and farm store tips are super helpful.

The challenge now is using it up.

Oil and other automotive fluids have a shelf life. When I recently cleaned out a deceased relative's basement, I hauled almost a pickup truck full of old, unopened automotive fluids to household hazardous waste collection. My two almost-full Volvo coolant bottles say "3 year shelf life" on them and they're over 3.5 years old, so I'll recycle instead of use them.

[MoVolvos]

Thanks amblerman and everyone for the good tips. Before buying any commodity item, I like to determine the typical price so I know if I'm paying more or less for the one I choose. Thanks to you, I know the typical price. The BITTOG and farm store tips are super helpful.

The challenge now is using it up.

Oil and other automotive fluids have a shelf life. When I recently cleaned out a deceased relative's basement, I hauled almost a pickup truck full of old, unopened automotive fluids to household hazardous waste collection. My two almost-full Volvo coolant bottles say "3 year shelf life" on them and they're over 3.5 years old, so I'll recycle instead of use them.

Keep it and use. If the coolant can last 60K to 120K in the car how much more in the bottle unused. If in doubt just get a coolant tester but I doubt you'll need it.



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[MoVolvos]

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Super Tech motor oil is better than both 81 and 20 STP Treatment and close second to Redline.




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[amblerman]

The challenge now is using it up.

Oil and other automotive fluids have a shelf life. When I recently cleaned out a deceased relative's basement, I hauled almost a pickup truck full of old, unopened automotive fluids to household hazardous waste collection. My two almost-full Volvo coolant bottles say "3 year shelf life" on them and they're over 3.5 years old, so I'll recycle instead of use them.
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I personally have no issues using unopened oil that is 4 years old given that the containers were still sealed, and the spec is still SN which is newer than all my cars call for.

But yes, there are folks that are concerned about this. In that case just buying oil on sale close to when you need it makes sense.
Also, if this is a concern (age of oil) you then should learn to read date codes on bottles because I have purchased new oil that was already 2 years old . (which is why it was on close out... it wasn't moving well).

For some reason, some manufacturers choose really cryptic (imo) date codes.

[amblerman]

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Super Tech motor oil is better than both 81 and 20 STP Treatment and close second to Redline.




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I find the Project Farm videos interesting and with some tests, very informative.

With this particular test, I think he misses one particular reason someone might go with the RedLine over a typical oil.
The RedLine is an ester based oil and I believe one area it would excel over a typical Type III oil is in the area of cleaning engine deposits. I know June as mentioned this several times. She has seen a significant change in the sludge deposits in her engine over time when compared to a typical "synthetic" oil.


In the video the speaker (while showing the front of a SuperTech bottle) says "Why pay nearly $12/qt when you can buy a full synthetic oil like SuperTech as nearly 1/2 the cost."
The issue here is "full synthetic" is nearly meaningless. In north America, "synthetic" is merely a marketing term.

The whole story behind the term synthetic is quite muddy. The SuperTech is a good oil. It meets all the common specifications (SP now) that most people would want. However, it will be a predominately Group III oil. The redline has a lot of Group V as it's base stock. Might be mostly group V.
It's really hard to tell what an oil really is blended with as no one publishes exact percentages.

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[MoVolvos]

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Great Buy!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JGQLYP4?ps ... yp_imgToDp

Castrol Edge 0W-40 A3/B4, 5 Quart, 3 Pack

Price: $49.99

$16.67 per 5 Quarts

[amblerman]

As promised a current deal on oil.
Right now at Walmart, Mobil 1 10W-30 High Mileage full synthetic is on sale for 14.25 for 5 qts.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mobil-1-High ... t/17034353

Not bad to begin with but it gets better:
there's a $10 rebate per 5 qt jug (Walmart is an approved vendor)
https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants/pro ... 021-rebate

That brings it down to $0.85 a quart for "full synthetic" . (not counting taxes paid on the $14.25)

I know 10W30 isn't the most popular viscosity and some some people won't run it in winter depending on where they live, but for warmer climates and for a future spring time change leading into summer, this is a good choice.

Oh, I bought mine in the store. The price on shelf was still $22.xx. On my phone, I brought up the page above on walmart.com and the cashier price matched to the 14.25. They should price match so long as the site you are showing is walmart.com and not some other vendor's site.

[erikv11]

That's cheap oil! Even if you don't want 10W-30, this would be useful for something like rinsing after a solvent/flush treatment or after reaming out the PCV passage.

[MoVolvos]

this would be useful for something like rinsing after a solvent/flush treatment or after reaming out the PCV passage.

[FireFox31]

I settled on Leichtlauf from FCP. After first purchase, each oil change is about $20 for return shipping back to FCP to utilize their free replacement warranty. What sold me was that this also includes disposal of the used oil by sending it back to FCP. $20 for 6 Liters of the good stuff AND disposal is a sweet deal for me.