Weblog - Lubrication

Putting together a Dan Watson article comparing petroleum oil vs synthetic oil, I came across this summary comparison that looks at the cost savings of synthetic oil vs petroleum oil in terms of direct savings as well as the indirect savings realized by increased fuel economy.

Cutting to the chase, you can save over $500 a year ($100 less if you spend time to change your own oil) using Amsoil Synthetic Oil vs Petroleum Oil in your diesel truck. The following figures are based on a Duramax diesel truck driving 24,000 miles annually.

Weblog - Lubrication

Thanks and appreciation to all the readers that have stuck with us in our transition to this new online format.  For the print folks, we will be explaining how you can get a print version of the magazine.  But in essence, we are following the growing number of magazines that are using the amazing web to reduce or completely eliminate print.  Stick with us and you won't regret it, we have many great things coming down the pike.

Here is a Cost-Versus-Price lube example:

Always remember to analyze cost vs price when purchasing lubricants.  The price is on the product when you buy it, but the cost is the price distributed over time (miles).

• Price: Product A price is $3.00 per quart and Product B price is $9.00 per quart. The price of Product B is three times the price of Product A.
• Cost: Product B is rated for 15,000 miles and Product A is rated for 4,500 miles. So, the cost of Product B over 15,000 miles is $9.00 per quart while the cost of Product A is slightly higher at $10.00 per quart over a 15,000-mile period.

The important thing to take away from this example is that even though the price of Product A is significantly higher per quart ($9 vs $3), the cost of Product A is actaully lower over 15,000 miles because Product A will only have to be changed once in 15,000 miles while Product B will need to be changed more than three times in the same 15,000 miles. A dollar per quart may not seem like much but my comparison only accounts for the oil costs and not the additional labor necessary to change the oil more than three times for Product B instead of just once for Product A. When you factor in that labor, the cost savings of Product B becomes significant.

This is a simple principle but a critical thought process for smart buying.

This note is the beginning of a running commentary on items of interest in all aspects of lubrication, filtration, fuel additives, and automotive care and upkeep.  If anyone has a comment or question on my post here you will be able to pick up that question in the Forums as an existing thread or start a new one to solicit my response.  In the Forums you will also be able to see opinions or comments by other readers.  In this blog area I will simply post informative info or make comments on automotive / lubrication topics.