Few random thoughts here, first off good on you guys who can change their own oil and can save some money.
What I want you to consider about cheap oil, not talking about the better brands that are sold in big box stores, IE, walmart, ff and such.
All oil sold in the USA has to meet a lot of specifications to be certified for use in any engine, consider this, those conditions have to be met when the oil is fresh in the jug, , think about this, will those conditions be met a thousand miles down the road? you get what you pay for and I have had too many vehicles in my shop that are full of sludge that plugs up cam actuators, phaser solenoids, and even bad enough to plug the intake screen to the oil pump, yep, you sure saved a ton of money!!
Here in my shop I use Schaeffer’s, I can tell you its worth every cent and then some.
We take a sample at every oil change and send them to a lab to be checked out,this is at no cost to our customers, I cant tell you how many vehicles with engines of every design that we service are running 8 to 16 thousand miles on a change.
Expensive? yes, sure is but when you consider you are getting two to three oil changes worth out of one oil change the cost goes down considerably.
What I like about the analysis is that they tell us when nitrates are high that indicates a fuel or emissions related issue, iron, copper content, etc etc that are wear indicators and we can be proactive in saving a motor if an issue arises, IE, timing chains and sprockets, rocker arm or cam issues.
So far using Schaeffer’s we are not seeing any wear issues other than in motors that used another brand before being switched to it.
We have had to purge motors with another Schaeffer’s product when sludge content is high in those motors, I have had several that had enough sludge build up to plug oil filters !! In my shop thread there are a few pictures of that stuff, it is sickening to think that cheap oil or lack of oil changes can cause this kind of thing, quit being cheap!!
I make about a buck and a half on each quart of oil, not worth it when you consider I am paying over fifteen hundred dollars per 55 gallon drum that I pay upfront for but I want my customers to have the absolute best oil in their vehicles so that they will last a long time.
Depending on the oil filter, cost to the customer runs from six bucks to twenty three bucks each.
I charge a service fee to do this, why?? time is money and there is no money in oil changes, that fee covers labor, disposal of oil and oil filter, shop rags, brake cleaner used to clean up any messes, oil dry,etc.
That fee buys you the customer the assurance that I have personally looked over your entire vehicle front to back, side to side, some of you call it looking for work, not here, we do it to ensure that your vehicle is safe to drive first and foremost, if something is unsafe I’ll show you so that you can see it with your own eyes, we also advise on brake wear and any suspension issue, tire wear is another thing we look at, axle seals, etc etc.
And I want you to think about this, every piece of equipment or tools that I have dont know how to pay for themselves and I am not working for nothing.
There are building payments, insurance, utilities, labor, taxes, on and on that have to be paid for everyday including when I am not here on the weekends, the furnace or AC is always running.
The cost to run a business is expensive!! I have to clear over two grand per month to keep the lights on, so please, dont biatch about what an oil change costs when its done the right way, its the cheapest thing you can do for your vehicle.
I could say a lot more but I have to get to work, I have had the lights on since 6:15 and I have a lot of work to do.
