Oil change in GTA - Price?

[Edders]

... and keep the receipts and a record of when oil was changed - for warranty purposes.

Yes, I was planning to. This is a very good tip that can never be overstated!

 

[I Stung U]

I've been doing lots of reading and comparing of synthetic oil performances.
Yes, Amsoil seems to be the best, for their top of the line version, but it's way to expensive and if you're not tacking your car to the track and revving the crap out of it, you're wasting your hard earned $$$
For every day drivers who just gear down to 3rd on off and on ramps and revver up and normal driving, All synthetic brand names will do just fine, including the Big Red brand in Pickering..

That said, if you agree the Amsoil Signature is not necessary, their O.E. version has very very similar to Mobil 1, Vavoline, Pennzoil, Castrol, etc.. Some of these (upper version of all these name brands, not their base synthetic options) have bit better performance result #'s for TBN, TEOST, 4 Ball wear test, but very close, so basically, buy what's on sale, and you're all good.

From the Above, the Pennzoil has overall better numbers form a 5 category test I've seen and tallied their total scores and tallied their total score for 3/5 categories (the wear related ones only), etc. and found that Pennzoil and Vavoline were 2-3 place, Castrol titanium 4th, after Amsoil Signature at # 1.

Mobil 1 ext. perf. version, I found to be good too, but it doesn't seem to be all the hype. Its higher version will likely be a bit better and closer to Pennzoil Ultra and Vavoline Synpower.. I found Royal Purple had a higher score than this Mobil version used. NOT Saying Mobil is not good oil, it is, just saying it's not really better than the other good brands.
Mobil 1 and Castrol 4 ball wear test was very much lower score than their counter parts, which means it doesn't protect against wear as good. and Mobil 1 TEOST Test (oxidation and deposit-forming tendencies of engine oils) was also much lower as well. So, it's not my first choice.

Mobil 1 is 50% off at crappy tire right, pretty much all their models, so not a bad choice to grab the Ext. Perf. one, if are o.k. with just average performance and will change your oil every 6-7K kms max... and you don't drive your car hard at all.. why not save.
but Not their 3000 formula D1, cause it's not SN PLus rated, for helping with LSPI).this version is not good for gdi engines.

But for this same price as, I'd go with the Amsoil O.E. oil options. it's about the same as this current sale price, if a member or know an amsoil member to get you oil. or the other brands mentioned above, when they go on sale.
Personally, I'm leaning towards Amsoil O.E. (not the highest scores compared to Pennzoil or Vavoline in some categories, but close enough), or the Pennzoil, if I can find on sale or if their head office has member deals, etc.

And I do like the performance or our local Big Red oil brand in Pickering, but their Noak score (related to % of oil that burns away) is a bit worse than most of these, so better chance of needing to top up, if run it past 6k kms....of which I will report back on, cause I have Big Red in their now and almost 6K kms on that oil... I'll report if any was gone or still 100% full when I take it in for next oil change, likely next week.

1) Amsoil Signature
2) Pennzoil Ultra/VAvoline (super close but chose Pennzoil cause vavoline noak test was worse and may need top up) otherwise, Vavoline being 2nd is a wee bit better on the 3 wear/deposit related tests.
3) Castrol/Royal purple..
4) I'd put the Amsoil O.E. just after and in general comparable.
5) Big Red at similar level or just bit lower but very close and if better price, again, worth considering if not driving hard and plan to change oil on the sooner than later of the kms side of things.

There's a lot more type of test involved, of which are not mentioned in here, that I have seen and I get dizzy thinking about them.
Basically, any brand will do, since even Conventional oil is approved for this engine. and if you drive normal, buy whatever is on sale.
If drive hard, then buy what's better to protect your engine.
If drive crazy on the track every weekend, get Amsoil Signature, or the Pennzoil/Vavoline and save a few bucks.

 

[I Stung U]

Even Crappy Tires Motomaster formula 1 Premium is on sale. It's probably just fine, as it is their top of the line, and is rated for Turbos and GDI. For $25/jug
Again, if not taking it on the track, it's all good. Just don't wait till 10k kms to change the oil, even in the summer months, if buy the lesser stuff.

Correction re: comparing pricing with Amsoil. I forgot the Amsoil jugs are 3.78L only, and other brands are usually 4.7L to 5L. So you get a better deal per $ on these other brands.... so only like $35 of oil in a 3.3L and 3L left for next oil change. So Amsoil O.E. is still more expensive than these other options, when they're on sale for the $24-$30 range.

 

[Edders]

UPDATE - I managed to do the oil myself and NOT save money lol.

First, I decided if I were going to follow the 2020 manual's guideline of 5000km an oil change for severe weather climates, that I would change the oil myself.

I made sure I bought all of the equipment I need. And, since I was going to save money doing it myself from now on, I made sure I got all of the stuff on my wishlist:

1) 4x 2 litres of Motul 300v Racing Oil @ $50 each ($200 total)
2) Mityvac 7201 oil extractor @ $169
3) Wix Oil filter @ $30 (it was cheaper at other places, but I bought with other stuff from Amazon)
4) Rhino Ramps @ $65, needed to take off oil filter only, and possibly drain oil if extractor was no good (although the extractor turned out to be awesome)
5) Low-profile Fuel Filter socket @ $25

So, yeah, not the cheapest endeavor. Plus, I bought the super-expensive oil. But, I'm happy to report that the oil change was a cinch!

The extractor pulled almost 7 litres, which is how much oil is supposed to be in the car in the first place. When I took off the filter underneath, not much more oil came out, meaning the extractor took out most of the oil. I didn't have to take out the drain plug at all.

The only iffy part was under the car when it was on the Rhino Ramps. The ramps are rated to 12,000 lbs, but they are really just plastic, and if they failed while I was under I'm too thick to clear the space; the car would crush me!

 

[I Stung U]

I was gong to use amsoil or really good stuff and then talked myself out of it, as it's really not necessary at all, if not taking it to the track every week. Just a daily driver with maybe regular 3rd gear high revving on on/off ramps to enjoy a bit, is not killing the oil.

My next oil change is going to be the same, the big red full synthetic, as I got one free worked out at my local dealership, but after that, I'm going to do a test with good quality conventional oil and compare how dirty the engine oil is at 5k, 6 k & 7k kms to compare.

So far, I have just over 7K kms on the current oil and the oil (cheked a week ago) and it looks dirty, but not crazy dirty. I'm going to take it in any day now, anyways to be safe and take care of the car. 7.5K kms or so isn't bad w/full synthetic and warm climate driving.

 

[RedCal]

Send your used oil to blackstone labs if you really want to see how it is holding up...

Oil Analysis | Blackstone Laboratories

Learn what's going on in your engine with oil analysis. Our free kits are easy to use and we explain the results in plain English! Since 1985.

www.blackstone-labs.com

 

[Edders]

I was gong to use amsoil or really good stuff and then talked myself out of it, as it's really not necessary at all, if not taking it to the track every week. Just a daily driver with maybe regular 3rd gear high revving on on/off ramps to enjoy a bit, is not killing the oil.

Definitely not necessary, but I'm the kind of guy that has always put the best oil I could source, in all of my vehicles.

I fully admit I am totally over-killing it, pretty much how I've done with every vehicle I've owned. I've never successfully talked myself out of it lol!

My original oil that I changed out looked a lot dirtier than you'd expect on 4600 km, so that will just reinforce my spending habits. Motul 300v was described to me as the sort of oil you should change out often, so that also fits my schedule of 5000km / 6 months.

Send your used oil to blackstone labs if you really want to see how it is holding up...

Oil Analysis | Blackstone Laboratories

Learn what's going on in your engine with oil analysis. Our free kits are easy to use and we explain the results in plain English! Since 1985.

www.blackstone-labs.com

I'm interested in this, but I'm not clear exactly what this could tell me. Would I use this info to direct me to buy oils with certain attributes, or to put additives? I do have still have the old extracted oil, so this is an option.

 

[RedCal]

It will tell you about the oil, (contaminants, breakdown, flashpoint, etc) to help guide your oil change intervals and what's going on in the engine as well, for example if it comes back with high aluminum or chromium content in the oil, there is probably some high engine wear going on... and yes this would give you an idea on what oil, or additives you may want to look at. Standard test is $30(USD) The report explanation will give you an idea of what you get... and if you do it on an ongoing basis it should help catch anything major early

 

[Edders]

It will tell you about the oil, (contaminants, breakdown, flashpoint, etc) to help guide your oil change intervals and what's going on in the engine as well, for example if it comes back with high aluminum or chromium content in the oil, there is probably some high engine wear going on... and yes this would give you an idea on what oil, or additives you may want to look at. Standard test is $30(USD) The report explanation will give you an idea of what you get... and if you do it on an ongoing basis it should help catch anything major early

I'm sold, if anything just to test and see if this expensive oil holds up after 5k

 

[Hockster]

Rockauto carries Wix filters for $9 each.