One of my favorite sites to visit is Bobistheoilguy.com. Why may you ask?
Well, it isn’t because of the riveting commentary on various forms of vehicular lubrication. It isn’t the 475th Amsoil ‘associate’ visiting the site to hawk their premium priced wares. It’s not even the never-ending flame wars on Lucas oil products and “fuel treatment” fix-em-ups in a four ounce bottle.
It’s because of the deals on stuff I use. Namely motor oil.
One company called G-Oil has been a perennial coupon clipper’s dream as of late. With their $20 rebate on 5 quarts of oil the out the door deal comes to only a visit to Walmart, an envelope with a stamp, and tax. Not bad if you do your own oil changes.
Then you also have the Valvoline, Quaker State, and various store brand oils that always see fit to couple their rebates with clearances to remove old inventory at the parts stores. I average about 30 gallons of oil a year for top-off’s and such. Net cost per quart is usually right around $1.
There is a lot more to the site than motor oil if you’re looking to cut your costs. Want $40 off a $100 order from Advance Auto Parts? Keep track of the AAP Codes in this forum. Free car wax and cleaning products? Turtle wax and Armor All tend to throw a lot of their older product into the discount bin.
Over the course of the year I’ll typically go to three places that are accessible for most folks.
1) Car-part.com
2) Bobistheoilguy.com
3) The discount and clearance bins at the nearby parts stores.
In my business this activity turns into a healthy mid-four figure amount of savings. For most car owners, you can pretty much save at least a c-note’s worth for what amounts to minimal browsing.
I just got 10 quarts of oil and two oil filters for $20, with a $10 mail in rebate at O’Reilly Auto Parts. I’m no fan on the MicroGuard filter, but the cheap kind of Mobil 1 is pretty good in this deal. It always pays to shop around.
I guess that deal has changed, it’s now Valvoline’s NextGen oil and MicroGuard filter for $20 with a $20 gift card when you recycle your oil.
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/ValvolineNextGenOffer.oap?icid=bnrValNextgenOcsOfferV1D02152012
I saw that today when I was in O’Reilly today getting a Wix oil filter. I’m tempted to try the NextGen oil as I like the idea of recycled oil. It’s usually the additive pack that wears out, not the oil itself. I’ve been using Pennzoil Platinum for the last couple of years after Mobil 1 seemed to be changing to a group III rather than a ‘real’ synthetic group IV. I guess when it’s hydro cracked enough times, it really is synthetic either way. It just peeved me that they’d charge the same price for a group III oil.
Are there motor oil rebates in Canada? Lately I’ve been buying Shell oil by the case at Costco because oil at Walmart and Canadian Tire have gotten rather expensive.
Been buying the Shell oil at Costco also. Oil and filter combo rebates at Advance Auto here in U.S. went from instant to mail-in, and I prefer not to bother.
I’ve been buying the Chevron motor oil at Costco with the discount coupons in their monthly mailer. This last time, it was $9 off per case, bringing the price down to under $2/quart. I’ve got around 12 cases of oil on hand so I’m good for the next few years.
Try to find Mobil 1 0w40 – I drive a GTI, on sale. Like looking for a honest politician.
I hear you. I take my VW to a German mechanic locally and he fixed an oil leak and used genuine German brand oil to the tune of just under $50 for five quarts. I gasped and when I checked for that brand, well, that’s what the stuff is going for. Sheesh, I won’t complain about paying for Mobil 1 0W40 anymore.
I get it at Amazon. Check often — there are often good rebates, too. Right now it is $51 for a 6-pack.
I’m with you on the M1 0W-40 hunt. Keep an eye on AutoZone- they run Mobil1 oil change specials where you get 5 qts and a filter for around $35. Then you pick up a few extra quarts (at least in my case, where the car needs almost 7 qtz) and throw away the cheap Mobil1 filter or give it to a friend. Combine with the AutoZone rewards ($20 credit for every 5 purchases of $20 or more) and you can build a nice little oil change discount system.
AutoZone runs that sale about twice a year.
Motor oil has gone past ridiculous into the obscene for price. And if you need an unusual weight like 0w-20 the choices are between arm and a leg.
The trick is to buy those on clearance and stock up with one of the rebate coupons.
I have an Insight that requires a 20 weight. Been doing this for years.
My Focus takes 5w20, but I buy 0w20 Mobil 1. The cheapest I’ve seen is about $4 a quart at Pep Boys on Black Friday and I would always buy the maximum. I no longer do this because I’d rather sleep in and eat a nice warm piece of apple pie on the day after Thanksgiving, than wait in line while it’s still dark outside.
Wal-Mart has many weights of Mobil 1 available, including 0w20, that’s cheaper per quart than Pep Boys or O’Reilly’s regular price. Wal-Mart also has a 5 quart jug that’s an absolute steal of a price…if you can ever find one in stock!
As much as I dislike Wal-Mart, there are things I have to pick up there…
O’Reilys has really good M1 deals lately. I prefer not to to mail in rebate as I get enough junk mail as it is.
Not a big fan of BTOG as most are Amsoil sellers. Especially perturbed when Honda Odyssey owner was glad to see a good oil analyst…after topping off his 3.5 oil burning motor. That was the last straw.
I also went in on the G-Oil rebate about 6 months ago, and when the check finally came in about 6 weeks later i was relieved. however, it will not last, that is a high flying penny stock that wont take much to go up in flames. Get it while you can. I am personally not really comfortable with the idea of the formulation of G-Oil anyway and wouldnt trust it on a shelf past a few years.
I dunno – the stuff’s been around, what, 4 or 5 years now? And while I agree that it’s creepy, (not that the production of normal oil is particularly nice), it seems to perform well as far as I’ve read. I used it once last year (5w-30) after the rebate deal, and the stuff worked fine. I noticed no difference, but possibly a bit easier starting in the cold. Or maybe the winter was easier on the car, who knows.
Weren’t they running a ream or sponsoring American Le Mans last year? I remember reading something about it…
Timely reminder. I’m about to do my first home oil change in years tomorrow, and need 7 quarts of BMW LL-01 rated oil. If I can get a Mobil 1 or Valvoline rebate that would be a nice bonus.
Worthless opinion oozing out of the shanty.
For fake oil, the non-dino stuff…
the “full synthetic” SuperTech and a SuperTech oil filter (exact match visually with an A/C Delco that I would use if the exact match was not present).
When the occasional sale is on I grab some for future use.
Old Coot drives so little I base oil change interval upon time; every six months… pert-near half of a year between changes!!!!
It’s a subjective decision so whatever the herd hereabouts is fine with me.
Just change the dern’ stuff and don’t park over the storm drain and allow the old oil to flow away there as I saw too many times in the barrios and other outposts away from those “diversity is our strength” locales.
Yes, that IS true and a commonality.
Remember my uncle doing the storm drain thing when I was a kid.
When I was a kid in the 50s I remember my Dad changing the oil in his car then taking the waste oil out into the back yard digging a hole, dumping in the oil and then covering it up. His theory was “it came out of the ground, I’m just putting it back in”.
So we can bury all of our radioactive waste in his back yard too?
Pepboys is usually a reliable source of these deals. They tend to rotate many of the major brands and include Purolator filters in the deal. I dont buy a lot of oil each year, two vehicles on approximately twice a year schedule, but it helps.
I’ve always felt BITOG was 2 ounces of gold for every ton of swarf.
Occasionally I’ll go over there and try and sift it out.
As for oil bargains, it might make you feel good, but time probably better spent on more pressing economic matters.
I don’t trust the mail-in rebates, as I’ve found I only get about one third of them paid – Valvoline – you’ve owed me $10 for eight weeks now.
Me neither! If a clerk tries telling me what the final price is, I ask “what’s the out-of-pocket amount?” I don’t want to go in the hole for an indeterminate amount of time for a minuscule amount that may or may not arrive.
The last one I got was in the form of a pre-paid Visa card! SMH…
Auto Zone usually offers oil and filter packages for a reasonable price. On top of this they offer a customer rewards card program. Make 5 purchases of at least $20 per purchase, and get a $20 store credit. For that that I don’t need right away, I break up in small purchases of $21-$22.
I’m still kind of bent at the BITOG people because they denied my forum membership because I put “dad” under the occupation line, then didn’t fix it when I called them on it (I’m a stay-at-home dad). But there is some good info in there amongst the Amsoil shilling (the great thing about sketchy Amsoil dealers is that I’ve found nearly 10 gallons of their two-stroke oils over the years for about 50% off retail because retailers get angry at how flaky the “dealers” are and give up on it).
Don’t feel bad. One of my posts got censored because the lady now in charge of the site decided that “h – e – double hockey sticks” was too close to hell.
Seriously. I got censored for hockey sticks. I’m glad I never told her about my rooster.
Could someone explain, or possible idea for future column, what is the big deal with Amsoil? I had a friend that used it and to listen to him you’d swear it was created by Jesus and blessed by a dozen Popes.
Some people think Bud Light is a big deal. What’s to explain?
its good stuff if you go for loooong oil change intervals, Mobil 1 is good enough for me every 10k miles.
Multi-level marketing.
Wish I could find good discounts on oils with pre-EPA levels of ZDDP, needed for flat tappet engines. Certain weights of Mobil 1 and Valvoline’s “Racing Oil” have it, but I never see deals on them.
I get Brad Penn at a decent price from Amazon, with free shipping to boot.
Chevron Delo 400, Shell Rotella T, Mobil Delvac 1300, etc. with about 1200ppm zinc, are often on sale at the major auto parts chains. Not almost free with rebate, but reasonable. No need to mail order Brad Penn or buy expensive special formula full synthetic or racing oil. Unless you are in arctic winter areas, 15W-40 works fine in older engines.
I have to wonder: How much oil are y’all buying that it’s worth the time to scour for coupons and rebates to save $5? I can understand it in Lang’s case, but one jug and a filter or two is all I use in a year.
The FAR G-Oil deals were pretty sweet. I got myself 2 jugs. However, I usually don’t bother with chasing oil change special, coupons, etc, unless it’s FAR deal. Why? I change my oil once a year. One jug of Mobil 1 motor oil costs $26 at a local Walmart. The cost of 6 quarts and a quality filter is less than $40. I don’t really think this is expensive considering I buy it once a year, and Mobil 1 is one of the top quality oils.
My favorite motor oil store is Walmart’s motor oil section. They have all the major brands, and always low prices. What’s the point of chasing AutoZone’s or Advance Auto’s $5-10 off weekly oil change specials (always budled with a low quality filter) when I can just walk into W-M any day of year, and pick something as good or better for pretty much that price?