Hi,
Just thought I'd share my experiences today.
Decided through reading the posts that a 20k service/oil interval on my 2.2 Vectra was too long given the risk to the cam chain failing so decided to go for an interim change today.
Hopped to Halfords this am to source fully synthetic c£26 and filter £7 - Total £34. However was only charged c£25k - don't know whether there was a promotion on today or just a mischarge ...?
Getting home found out that the new filter which was basically the same size and shape, had different plastic mouldings top and bottom - it is the new type 'cartridge' filter for the new all alloy engine in the Vectra. Didn't want to risk it however so was forced to get along to the local Vauxhall dealer for a "real" filter - this was £4 .... what are Halfords up to ? It was definitely the correct filter from the datasheet.
To cut a long story short, what should have been a <20 minute job turned into a 2 1/2 hour nightmare after "losing" the sump nut in the oil drain can ...
Steve
PS Respect to the crew and families of Columbia.
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Hi steve, must say if you were "only charged c£25k - don't know whether there was a promotion on today or just a mischarge ...?" then synthetic oil is a LOT more pricey than I thought! (or the k on your eyboard is quite sticky)..
gave me a laugh though...
pat :)
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Hi Pat,
Of course my mistake - I only deal with BIG numbers at work !
Steve
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well steve, there you were saving your 25k (or thereabouts) by DIY servicing, I took my car to a franchised dealer once for the (full price) oil change and discovered a rapidly expanding pool of oil on the drive when I parked afterwards - yes, they had forgotten to replace the relevant plug, so how silly did I look then?
pat
(about this silly
www.dfcom.freeserve.co.uk/hbw/wacky/03.htm )
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Hi steve, must say if you were "only charged c£25k - don't know whether there was a promotion on today or just a mischarge ...?" then synthetic oil is a LOT more pricey than I thought! (or the k on your eyboard is quite sticky).. gave me a laugh though... pat :)
Halfords have been doing promotion on Fully synthetic for a while now £17.31
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...or you could have popped into your local Kwik Fit for a £26 oil and filter change (semi-synthetic) or £34 for fully synthetic. Cheaper/cleaner than doing it myself plus they dispose of the used engine oil in the proper manner.
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...or why not try National
www.national.co.uk
Duckhams semi-synthetic QXR Oil and Filter Change ~ only £15
which includes the following and oil disposal.
Drain off old engine oil
Fit new oil filter and refill with new Hypergrade (subject to manufacturers specification) or premium QXR oil
Any car or van up to 2300CC (excluding Diesels)
Max. of 5 litres
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I've used their oil and filters for years with no problems. Unfortunately they don't do the big capacity filter for my current car though.
Like anywhere else Halfords are not beyond making mistakes. Might be worth writing to them to let them know you think they have an error in their application catalogues.
I wrote to them about their bulb application guide which listed the Rover 800 CHMSL as an LED unit - it is not, it takes five 5W bulbs. They haven't changed the guide yet.
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I was quite surprised to find the oil filter for my 2.2 Vectra was cheaper by 3 quid at my Vauxhall dealer. Made a change from usual!
To all those suggesting various outfits who do cheap oil changes, this poses some problems for modern day cars. I always used to use ATS to do oil changes on my Maestro. The only oil they used at the time was semi-synth 15/50. Fine for the Maestro (though technically even then not the correct oil) but certainly not appropriate for some of todays synethetic only engines.
For Steve and anyone else with a 2.2 147PS engine the following may be of interest...
There are conflicts in the car manual, dealerships and other Vauxhall/Opel documentation as to the best oil for this, the pre-new model 2.2 Vectra engine.
The manual states that it is okay to use non fully synth oil if the car is not subject to prolonged idle use, otherwise 20k is an acceptable change. Apparently 20k is fine for any type of use if fully synth is used - not quite the case as Vauxhall is finding out with snapped cam chains... You'll notice in the service book, where the dealer stamps his mark each time, it has a space for the dealer to comment on the amount of A3/B3 i.e. specifically fully synthetic oil he has used when servicing the car. Interesting then that most Vx dealers only use fully synth at additional cost when the service guide suggests synthetic oil only.
Even more interesting reading is on the link below. I found this a while ago and it assisted me beautifully in an argument with my own local Vauxhall outfit.
To summarise, this document states *very* specifically that the *only* oils to be used in their new engines are fully synthetic oils which meet their own standard GM-LL-A-025 (petrol) and GM-LL-B-025 (diesel). This oil is supposedly of even higher grade than the current fully synth A3/B3 standards and certain oils, such as Mobil 1, meet it.
Interesting to note then the Important note at the bottom of this document, stating that in an emergency you may use only up to 1 litre of fully synthetic A3/B3 oil.
Isn't it funny then that the 2.2 Vectra engine in the now discontinued model is absolutely identical in every aspect to the one used in the new Vectra yet will supposedly be okay with other oils and even Vauxhall dealers themselves will quite happily use oils other than fully synthetic - all a bit strange!
My car will be leaving me in approx 12 months before its warranty expires but I have also been taking no chances and changing the oil at more frequent intervals with fully synthetic.
vectra.opel.com/brand_sites/vectra/launch/uk/en/do...f
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I was quite surprised to find the oil filter for my 2.2 Vectra was cheaper by 3 quid at my Vauxhall dealer.
You'll find a lot of the service items from Vauxhall are cheaper than from other outlets. Also by using Vauxhall service items, such as oil filters, won't invalidate your warranty should the engine blow up and it was found you had fitted a Joe Bloggs filter.
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Cheers Dan, very interesting post.
Any ideas on what premium would be charged by a Vaux dealer for using fully synth, and afterwards how to prove that they actually did ? On my experience I wouldn't be surprised if they put any old rubbish in ...
Steve
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Any chance that the oil you buy labelled Fully Synth isn't?
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dan
Interesting link! A real plug for manufacturers fully synthetic oil, but it does refer to cars with variable service intervals - do the UK cars have this? However, they sure don't make their own oil, and it must be available commercially. Vx sell a range of oils in the UK, and these have been said to be made by Texaco.
The manual with my wife's Astra indicates the same as your Vectra. Either semi or fully synthetic oil to A3/B3 specification is OK for up to 20k miles, unless subject to extreme service. conditions, excessive idling, taxi work etc. However, fully synthetic is noted as OK for 20k under any operational conditions.
A3/B3 spec. doesn't mean the oil is fully synthetic - this spec. is met by most (if not all) semi-synthetics. As an example I've got Esso Ultra s-s and GTX Magnatec s-s in the garage, both of which meet A3/B3 specs.
It's just been in for the first year service (I know, it's not much more than an oil change but it will save any arguments on the warranty) and the 'normal' oil used is semi-synth, unless I wanted to pay the extra for fully sythetic. It's only doing 6k a year and from now on I'll change it at 6 months, so the semi-synth. is fine. Yes -I always by the genuine Vx filters - only £4, and their oil prices are very cheap too.
Regards
John S
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Thanks for the response John - Interesting comments re A3 and B3, I had obviously misunderstood what these meant. Still most odd that Vauxhall have changed their minds as regarding oil for the same engine fitted to newer Vectras!
The oil Vauxhall refer to is simply rebranded xxxx oil (prob Texaco or Mobil) but what was being stipulated wasn't to use their own oil, it just had to meet the new GM standards. The document states that the diesels would go up to 50000km between changes - unbelievable!
My original Vectra was bought 8 months old with 13k on the clock and I had requested that on buying the car the oil would be changed along with the Network Q service. My own fault for not checking but the garage failed to do this and it wasn't until 18k when that this was undertaken. You should have seen the state of the oil - black water with the occasional thick bit in it. What a car would be like 100k down the road after that kind of abuse I can only imagine.
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