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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