Since my life is more than shoes...

I thought I'd share it with you

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Synthetic Motor Oil

I want to talk about oil because people are still under the impression (helped along by places like Jiffy Lube) that you have to get your oil changed every 3,000 miles. Now, that is certainly true of my dad's old VW Beetle, where almost everything has to be changed every 3,000 miles, but most cars just don't need that kind of thing, especially if you use synthetic motor oil. Andy and I were discussing the Mini's next (well, really first) oil change on Sunday, and one of our friends overheard us. He said, "no oil change until 10,000 miles?! That doesn't sound right!" Well, in fact, it is right, and it's what the dealer recommends. Why? Because, depending on the type of driving you do, 10,000 miles give or take, is fine, and safe, for most cars. Now, if you do a lot of stop and go, you probably don't want to wait until 10,000 - maybe 7,500 max - of course, if you have a Mini, it has a computer that analyzes that kind of thing and tells you pretty much when you should go in for a change.

Anyway, my dad has been using Mobil1 (synthetic oil) almost since its inception who knows how many years ago. Knowing my dad, I know that he did as much research as could be done and asked every car guy he knew within hundreds of miles. He never changes the oil more than once per year, even when our now 10 year old truck was brand new. Now you might be thinking, well, that's just your dad, but let me tell you that even the guys from CarTalk agree, although I couldn't exactly find what I was looking for. In this article, they comment that you can go 5,000 miles before an oil change, and they don't appear to be mentioning synthetic oil.

So the next thing you might be thinking is cost - yes, Mobil1 and other synthetic oils do cost more. I don't know how much "regular" oil costs because I don't buy it - I did, however, buy a quart of Mobil1 at KMart just the other day for $4.99. 4 quarts at $5 is $20 vs., say, 4 quarts at $1.50 each - that makes $6 - seems like a lot, eh? Well, when you change your oil 1/3 as often, now you're up to $18 for the regular stuff and just $2 more for the synthetic. But, then think about this: do you change your own oil? I would if I could, but our apt. complex doesn't allow such things in its parking lot (understandably so)... Anyway, so you go to Jiffy Lube and spend $30 for an oil change each time (I have no idea how much it costs there - that's just an estimate) - well, assuming that the cost ratio for synthetic vs. regular oil is the same as it is in the store (you know they jack up the price of a quart at the dealer, don't you?), then you're saving almost $60 per year and not hurting your car one little bit. And, you're helping the environment by using less oil!

We always get our oil changed at the dealer - sure it costs more, but when it comes to genuine brand name oil filters, that's not such a bad thing - apparently, at least with Saab, they have a special valve that does something to prevent the dirt from going back into the engine. You'd have to ask my dad about the specifics. Anyway, spend a few extra bucks, go to the dealer, and tell them you want synthetic oil. My dad uses Mobil1, but a lot of companies have synthetic oil these days, and I'd imagine that the difference is pretty small. It's worth it.

Or, get someone to show you how to change your own oil. You'll be glad you did. It gets a little messy, but it is one of the easiest things to do on a car - definitely easier than changing a tire - and it's really cheap. If you're like my dad, you even pre-buy the oil when it's on sale, and you get it for much less than $5 a quart. But be sure to buy a new oil filter - you don't want to go through all the trouble to change the oil but not put on a new filter! Of course, when you do that at a dealer, sometimes they look at you a little funny - you just want a filter, but no oil change? Just say yes, thank you, and have a nice day. :)

By the way, Andy says I talk about cars and the weather too much - I'll try to come up with something better soon.

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