Mr M
The answer to your question is - I doubt it at UK prices. How much is it now ? £45 a tub ?
However I have used it (and continue to use it) in both our cars for the last seven years and I've never had any problems. I think it's very good stuff. However, I buy it in French supermarkets, 4 tubs at a time for £179 Francs or whatever that is in Euros now. ie £18 a tub. Now that makes it worthwhile !!!
It's not how you vote that matters .......
it's who does the counting.
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Why is engine oil so much cheaper in France? I can understand diesel cheapness there (less tax) but is oil taxed the same? And what about the other things? - wiper blades, tyres, for instance, and virtually anything automotive, even British made things (Champion spark plugs & glowplugs etc) Is it just rip-off Britain? Why is everything half price in France?
PhilW
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My belief is that it is rip-off Britain, driven by high UK tax.
After all, if fuel, a petroleum product, is expensive at the pumps then you are not so surprised if oil prices are in the same league.
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Yes but so far as I know the ruinous levels of tax are not applied to lube oil but perhaps they are. I used to buy Mobil 1 at $2 a litre in US military shops in Germany. I bet it all comes out of one refinery (probably in Rotterdam), gets different language labels on it and is sold all over Europs at whatever price the market will bear ie a great deal in UK!
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I think the problem is that people expect to pay a lot more and often WANT to pay more...
My oil cost £20
Well my oil cost £45
Did it? It must be good!
Happens all the time.
Kev
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Why is engine oil so much cheaper in France? I can understand diesel cheapness there (less tax) but is oil taxed the same? And what about the other things? - wiper blades, tyres, for instance, and virtually anything automotive, even British made things (Champion spark plugs & glowplugs etc) Is it just rip-off Britain? Why is everything half price in France? PhilW
Disregarding tax levels, the answer to your questions is mainly: "The French Economy as a Whole".
Specifically, you have to look at lower: Wages, Cost of Capital, Rents, Rates, Cost of Property, and so on. All this lower cost base feeds in to lower prices. The better State Benefits in the UK (which add to our overall expensive economy) and the attraction of illusory high wages (illusory because the standard of living is lower due to higher cost of living) are factors which contrive to make London appear attractive to bogus asylum seekers. They would of course be better off in France but for the fact that they cannot earn a living or get benefits without ID cards.
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I think you will find that Champion spark plugs are American!>> Why is engine oil so much cheaper in France? I canunderstand diesel cheapness there (less tax) but is oil taxed the same? And what about the other things? - wiper blades, tyres, for instance, and virtually anything automotive, even British made things (Champion spark plugs & glowplugs etc) Is it just rip-off Britain? Why is everything half price in France? PhilW
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I've mentioned this before in the old forum - You don't have to pay full retail for Mobil 1. I buy direct from a Mobil 1 wholesaler at £19 inclusive for a 4 litre tub. What's more he delivers to my door from his van. I do tend to order 4 or 5 tubs at a time to make it worth his while, but two of us club our orders together. Try finding out from Mobil where your nearest distributor is and give him a call.
Shall be putting another order in tomorrow as it happens...
Rich
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£19 sounds good. How can i find out where my local distributor is, do u have a contact number for mobil? BTW where do u live, im interested and in the south east.
Ben
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to find your nearest Mobil 1 Distriutors, try doing a search on www.teoma.com or www.google.co.uk
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Ben,
I got the name of my distributor from the Mobil UK website (www.mobil.co.uk) - However, that was nearly three years ago and I know that they've now removed the contact details (due no doubt to pressure from Halfords etc). There is a Freephone number - 0800 040111 - but I suspect they'll only put you in touch with your nearest retail stockist. Try a scan through yellow pages for oil/lubricant distributors and make a few calls.
I live on the South Coast, although my supplier is at least 70 miles away, but he does deliver to the trade in my area and has always been happy to drop off a few tubs of the amber nectar at my house.
Incidentally, the last time I asked for a quote, the price per litre from him was the same for buying a 50 litre tub as a 4 litre tub. But if he's happy to sell to me at £19/4 litres and Halfords etc are knocking the stuff out or nearly £40, then that's a considerable mark up - and not down to government taxation...
Rich
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Yeah i couldnt find much on the web page when i looked prior to my previous post. Thanks for the info. If i have any luck ill post information about the supplier here in case anyone else is intersted.
Ben
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Please do.
The standard Halfords price is £34, but around Oct/Nov time each year they seem to have a "sale" on oils. In Oct last I got 4 x 4 litres Castrol RS from Halfords for £72 - the same amount of M1 would have been £82 which works out to £20.50 per 4 litre tub. Next time I spot these deals I'll post a thread.
Personally I think M1 is worth every penny. My Rover Vitesse has done 115k in 6yrs, mostly on M1. I recently had the cam covers off because one had a weep. The inside of the engine was spotless and the amount of wear on the cam lobes was imperceptable. There are undoubtedly other factors, but the oil must be a big help - after all no matter what else you do its that tiny film of oil that prevents metal to metal contact and hence prevents wear.
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With regard to my earlier post, I can confirm that the price for Mobil 1 from my distributor is still £19 inclusive for 4 litres (this hasn't changed for me in three years of ordering it). I've just had another three tubs delivered by him - best of all, he doesn't even want paying until he calls again (I was out when he called and he left it 'round the back') - That's what I call service!
Also noticed this morning that Motorists Discount Centres are knocking out Mobil 1 for £26.99 per 4 litre tub.
Rich
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Please do. The standard Halfords price is £34, but around Oct/Nov time each year they seem to have a "sale" on oils. In Oct last I got 4 x 4 litres Castrol RS from Halfords for £72 - the same amount of M1 would have been £82 which works out to £20.50 per 4 litre tub. Next time I spot these deals I'll post a thread. Personally I think M1 is worth every penny. My Rover Vitesse has done 115k in 6yrs, mostly on M1. I recently had the cam covers off because one had a weep. The inside of the engine was spotless and the amount of wear on the cam lobes was imperceptable. There are undoubtedly other factors, but the oil must be a big help - after all no matter what else you do its that tiny film of oil that prevents metal to metal contact and hence prevents wear.
I can report similarly subjective shinyness on a 6 year old fill of a 50-50 mix of Mobil Delvac MX 15W40 (cheap "quality mineral" truck oil, probably Group II) and cheapest-you-can-buy China Petroleum Corporation SAE 40 (Probaly Group I mineral)
The latter was about 2 quid a litre. Group 1 oils (which you probably can no longer buy in the UK) are less stable but contain polar groups which have high solvency, which may be why the varnish disappeared.
The high viscosity means that tiny film of oil isn't going to be quite so tiny.
Subjective shinyness pictures
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4884308/1
So no.
Wouldn't be worth it to me..
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A few things may have changed since 2002....
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A few things may have changed since 2002....
Mostly for the worse.
But fortunately for me my car is 1986, and I can still (just) get almost obsolete oil specs here (above oils are SJ).
So iin this context I can probably avoid the worst of those things,
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Ben,
Don't forget that any supplier you might find who's willing to supply the retail trade at a substantial discount might not want the fact advertised on the web. Might just get him into trouble with Mobil UK? Probably best to share this type of info by email.
Rich
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Is MB1 dramatically better than Halfords fully synthetic?
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How can you tell if ANY one oil is better than another except by running the car for probably 30K miles on the same oil and then stripping the engine to take a look ?? All I can say is that since running my last four cars exclusively on Mobil 1, I haven't had any trouble ...... but then again, I didn't have any engine problems with my previous cars which ran on Castrol GTX at £7.99 a tub.
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"How can you tell if ANY one oil is better than another except by running the car for probably 30K miles on the same oil and then stripping the engine to take a look ?? All I can say is that since running my last four cars exclusively on Mobil 1, I haven't had any trouble ...... but then again, I didn't have any engine problems with my previous cars which ran on Castrol GTX at £7.99 a tub."
Well said, Bob. Although I think you'd need to run the car for a lot more than 30K miles.
Re French hypermarket prices, the Mobil 1 they sell is not the same as the UK oil. It is a cheaper viscosity (5-40 or 10-40 I think)and probably differs in other ways. In the USA, they sell 3 grades of Mobil 1 so they obviously market the stuff by country, not worldwide. Be interesting to know whether the packs @£19 are the genuine UK 0-40 oil
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Re French hypermarket prices, the Mobil 1 they sell is not
the same as the UK oil. It is a cheaper viscosity (5-40 or 10-40 I think) and probably differs in other ways.
In the USA, they sell 3 grades of Mobil 1 so they obviously market the stuff by country, not worldwide. Be interesting to know whether the packs @£19 are the genuine
UK 0-40 oil
About a month ago I was in a motor discount store in the next town as the proprietor was discussing Mobil 1 with another person in the trade. They mentioned the different qualities of Mobil 1 that can be bought and were discussing downgrading in order to buy more cheaply. I found it hard to believe that Mobil would market two qualities of oil with identical branding but it looks as though this may be the case.
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Keith,
I can most definitely confirm that sitting in my garage even as I type are three tubs of Mobil 1 0W-40 full spec, standard UK packaged lubricant which I had delivered by a Mobil wholesaler at £19 inclusive per tub.
Rich
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I contacted the main distributor suppling my area looking to buy 4 cartons. They wanted £28 a tub. I didnt bother haggling as the price was so far off the £19 i wanted to pay. Im going to buy 5ltrs of Vauxhall 5W-40 fully synth for £11 with my frineds special trade club card, unless i can find soemwhere else to get the mobil.
Ben>> Keith,I can most definitely confirm that sitting in my garage even as I type are three tubs of Mobil 1 0W-40 full spec, standard UK packaged lubricant which I had delivered by a Mobil wholesaler at £19 inclusive per tub. Rich
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Rich, would you be prepared to email me the contact details for this distributor. My email is in my profile which you can get by clicking on my name in red above.
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I did a 24k stint (four changes) on Halfords Fully Synth in my Rover Turbo. The car ran fine on it. No noticeable difference to economy or anything else that I can percieve compared to the Mobil 1 it had in when I bought it and the Castrol RS it's using at the moment (see above).
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same happens with beer
sometimes they charge artifically higher prices and people buy more
"look at me im drinking the most expensive stuff"
marketing is a strange art because people are strange
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Stella Artois is actually marketed that way in the UK ("reassuringly expensive") even though in its home country of Belgium, it is regarded as pretty ordinary (especially alongside the Trappist stuff!)
WRT oil, does anyone know if Magnatec is actually any different to any other synthetic, i.e. is that blurb about 'polarised molecules' anything other than hype? If molecules weren't polarised, wouldn't the world fall apart?
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Why not buy a good grade (but relatively cheap) and change the oil twice as often as recommended. That way any bits would also be removed, rather than left to potentially damage the engine?
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Graham - Quite agree. That's what I do, and if I've got my thinking head on, I get a slightly lighter grade for the winter (but then I'm old enough to remember single grade oils). If anything needs replacing, of course, it's the filter, and I don't see how any improvement in the oil can extend the interval very far for that...
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JBJ
Magnatec is semi-synthetic.
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ST
I doubt there's anything in it. It's been commented here that Halfords fully-synth is actually Esso Ultra.
Regards
John S
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I did a search on wwww.google.co.uk for suppliers.
The following was the first url it came up with:
www.county-oil.co.uk/mobil-lubricants-automotive.h...l
The following is from that url, and it tells you what the different grades of Mobil 1 are:
Grade Name; SAE Viscosity; Application
MOBIL 1; OW-40; Unsurpassed performance synthetic motor oil particularly recommended for high performance engines.
MOBIL 1 FUEL ECONOMY; OW-30; Recommended for use in all types of modern cars and light commercial diesel including high performance engines.
MOBIL 1 MOTORSPORT; 15W-50; Mobil 1 Motorsport is a 100% synthetic lubricant developed for the highest performing engines. Recommended for owners of modified and high performance cars.
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Just checked in the garage - the Mobil 1 I buy in French supermarkets is 15W - 50 and I'll settle for that description from Mobil for my Carina and the wife's Focus. Especially at £18 a tub. Still wouldn't bother to pay UK prices though ... it'd probably be Magnatec.
Bt B
Remember - it's not how you vote that matters ...it's who does thre counting.
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BtB
I think you'll find that 15W -50 is not recommended for a Focus. Ford's recommendation is 0W-30 or 5w-30 I believe. You could have problems with the hydraulic tappets.
Regards
John S
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I just checked in my garage too! having bought some Mobil 1 in a small town in France recently at about £17/£18 per 4 litres (strangely it was cheaper in 2 x 2 litre bottles):
The label clearly states "0W/40". I doubt even Mobil would dare pull a stunt like selling 15W/50 as 0W/40...
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If my manual suggests 10-40 oil for 'optimum protection,' will Mobil 1 or similar be better still, if flushing oil is used first?
The car is a 1.4i 309, 1993K build.
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I notice that GS&F Car Parts are selling 5L of Quartz 9000 fully synthetic ( I think this is Total ) for 17.50 at the moment
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Kwik Fit do a Mobil 1 Oil and filter change for £34. So if you drive a big car that works out less than £5/litre and you get the filter and labour for free.
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Does anyone trust Kwik Fit? I've heard many bad rumours about them such as cleaning the old oil filter in paraffin.. and how do you know for sure its Mobil 1 they put in?
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They have a sign up saying that your old parts are always available for examination... why would they not use Mobil 1, presumably part of a deal with Mobil.
My local one was very good... ATS said I needed new rear brake discs, there was some scoring but I thought they looked fine. Kwik fit changed the pads no problem, but said as the discs had some wear I should bring it back if there was any vibration problem and they would fit new discs, and put another set of new pads on for free (lifetime warranty on brakepads).
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Kwik Fit do a Mobil 1 Oil and filter change for £34. So if you drive a big car that works out less than £5/litre and you get the filter and labour for free.
Their web site confirms this. No mention of a maximum quantity of oil. Just changed the oil on my 330d. 7 litres of Mobil 1 cost £59.50 at Halfords (in 4 litre packs) + £6.99 for the BMW oil filter. Even allowing for bulk purchasing, it's difficult to see how Kwik Fit can do it for half price. Not that I'd let them near my car of course.
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Going to France next week.
Can I get the VW505.01 oil in supermarkets?
In the UK only VW dealers sell it - at £7 a litre.
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Shell Helix Ultra 5-40 is specific in its equiv to VW505.01 about £15 for 5L in a french Hyper near you (Mind you so does Mobil 1)
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I've just checked and my french Mobil 1 is 5-50 at £18.50 per 4 litres. I'm a bit odd but I prefer a 5-50 rather that a 0-40 as imho the 0 is more marketing than reality and the extra protection of a sae 50 is better reassurance.
I used this in my wifes 2nd last car, a Honda Civic vtec and sold it on to a friend at 55 thousand miles with neg oil consumption, he has just passed 150 thousand with Mobil 1 and had the cam cover off to correct a gasket weep, there was no decernible wear on the cam lobes. I used it in my last Diesel Alhambra (French Mobil 1 Diesel) and the same friend has now passed 90K and still no top-up between services.
I believe that all of the top oils will provide this level of protection. I have now moved on to Silkolene 4 Plus 10-50 (£100 for 25 l) and have used it on my old 944 for 6 years since rebuild with nil oil consumption between services (at 6K) and would use it on the Boxster except that with the Warrentry I'm sticking with Mobil 1(French naturally)
thats my penny worth
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Sounds good. Do you remember where you bought your Mobil 1 diesel? I don't recall seeing the diesel version in the Calais hypermarkets but there are so many oils on sale that I could have missed it.
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For reasons only known to the french the always seem to split their oil display into petrol and diesel, I know its obvious but confused me the first time and Mobil 1 Diesel is in a Black container and odd thing is that in July at LeClerc & Carrefour the 2x 2Litre was about 75p cheaper.
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