Overpriced Oil

ION08

Wanting to service my car this weekend so I priced 4 litres of Castrol Edge 5W30 on Halfords website, came up at €53.99

Grand, knowing how much of a rip off Halfords is, I decide to pop down to my local motor factors, you know to stimulate the local economy, only to be quoted €59 for 4 effing litres of the same oil!!!

I genuinely thought you could never get worse prices than in Halfrauds.

Voodoomelon

I bought the same yesterday in Halfords, €53.99.

biko

Oil isn't cheap. You can check more places but Halfords is probably as cheap as you'll get.
edit, mick's has it for 49.50

You may want to look into the specs for your car. Perchance another brand will work too.

BrianD3

Halfords is good for oil particularly if you have an AXA discount card. Sometimes there are additional special offers coming up to bank holiday weekends.

I use the Halfords own brand 5w40 synthetic diesel oil that meets the RN0710 standard. In my experience "bricks and mortar" motor factors cannot compete with the price.

However when it comes to bulbs, Halfords = Halfrauds. Last time I checked they wanted 11 quid for an own brand H7 bulb.

wandatowell

BrianD3 wrote: »

However when it comes to bulbs, Halfords = Halfrauds. Last time I checked they wanted 11 quid for an own brand H7 bulb.

Best pun I've heard all week,

Dubwat

I know it won't help you now but, for the last 2 years, Halfords have a sale around Xmas/NY where they sell their own brand oil for approx €12/4litres. It might be worth making a note in your diary for next year...

Bpmull

Depending on your car vw main dealers sell quantum oil which is very good I got it in 5w30 guise a few weeks ago for my golf and I can't remember exactly what it cost but it was definitely less than 40 euro inc vat. It meets a good few vw standards 507 etc and some BMW ones too. Low ash content and all that too. I suppose it depends on what car you have. An other one I would use is Mobil I always found it better than castrol I don't know why but when I changed to it with the focus it ran better and better mpg. But then I suppose. Any of the main brands should be fine.

ION08

Dubwat wrote: »

I know it won't help you now but, for the last 2 years, Halfords have a sale around Xmas/NY where they sell their own brand oil for approx €12/4litres. It might be worth making a note in your diary for next year...

I know that yeah i always pick this oil up for the missus car

For my Audi I like using Edge.

I know its very expensive but my point was that my local "friendly" irish owned motor factors was a bigger ripoff than Halfrauds.

When I mentioned this he just shrugged his shoulders.

biko

He wasn't overpriced. Places like Halfords can afford to undercut smaller shops to corner the market.
Places like Mick's can further undercut because of less overhead.

Don't worry, soon there will be only Halfords shops left.

ION08

biko wrote: »

He wasn't overpriced. Places like Halfords can afford to undercut smaller shops to corner the market.
Places like Mick's can further undercut because of less overhead.

Don't worry, soon there will be only Halfords shops left.

Wouldve bought in Halfords but they had no air filter!

Gonna try another motor factors tomorrow.


Also im pretty sure 59 for 4l of Edge counts as overpriced

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

George Dalton

biko wrote: »

He wasn't overpriced. Places like Halfords can afford to undercut smaller shops to corner the market.
Places like Mick's can further undercut because of less overhead.

Don't worry, soon there will be only Halfords shops left.

Exactly. I would be willing to bet that Halfords are making more out of that can of Castrol Edge selling @€;53 than the local guy @€;59.

George Dalton

Patww79 wrote: »

Always get a price from the dealers. I'm not sure what they're like here, but up in NI I could get the Quantum from Audi cheaper than the Castol was in Halfords. They may surprise you.

Yes but it's not fair to compare Quantum with Castrol. Quantum is just a brand name that VWUK invented. VW dealers don't use Quantum oil in their own workshops. They use Castrol...

Bpmull

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

+1 on this.
Ring 2-3 of your nearest audi or vw garages. As you'd be shocked in the price difference between some of them even though they are all selling the same parts. My local vw garage you couldn't deal with they have genuinely been looking for twice the money for parts on a few occasions compared to what other vw dealers prices for the parts.

But I've found a really sound one and the discounts they give is unbelievable you couldn't buy a lot of the parts in a motor factors for what they sell them to you. Also at the end of the day OE parts are the best you can buy for the car the motor factor will only ever match the quality of the OE parts at best and they often won't be as good depending on the brands there selling you. I think people seem to automatically think main dealers will rob me for parts but it's often not the case just depending on the dealer and brand of car.

OldMrBrennan83

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George Dalton

I would take that with a pinch of salt if I were you

OldMrBrennan83

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Bpmull

George Dalton wrote: »

I would take that with a pinch of salt if I were you

Do you not think that the quantum oil is as good ? It meets the vw specs and I wouldn't of thought they'd be selling oil that wasn't fairly decent.

George Dalton

Bpmull wrote: »

Do you not think that the quantum oil is as good ? It meets the vw specs and I wouldn't of thought they'd be selling oil that wasn't fairly decent.

It's an approved oil so it's fine to use.

But I don't think it is the same as Castrol Edge though I have been told as much "off the record" as it were.

Call me cynical but I've heard too many of those kind of tall tales to believe them any more.

You won't find Quantum oil being used in any VW dealer workshop. That is enough evidence for me.

rex-x

ION08 wrote: »

Wanting to service my car this weekend so I priced 4 litres of Castrol Edge 5W30 on Halfords website, came up at €53.99

Grand, knowing how much of a rip off Halfords is, I decide to pop down to my local motor factors, you know to stimulate the local economy, only to be quoted €59 for 4 effing litres of the same oil!!!

I genuinely thought you could never get worse prices than in Halfrauds.

If you can get a trade card you will get a fairly large discount on oil in Halfords, I think its about 40 quid on trade instead of €53.99

db330

I just bought some in the UK for £32,

I've stopped going to local motor factors as the price difference between them and UK stores is huge.

Also my local handed me the wrong invoice before for a wheel bearing showing the cost price (EX-Vat I know before someone jumps in), and their mark-up is absolutely ridiculous for the public. Since then I haven't gone back

K.Flyer

Mick's Garage currently advertising 4l of Edge @ 29.95
http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=4227441&gclid=CPSFi7Cl_cACFctt2wodnVYAkg

corkgsxr

Motor factors are like any other trade place you have to know them.

I get castrol 5w40 fully syth for under 40 a bottle.

Voodoomelon

ION08 wrote: »

Also im pretty sure 59 for 4l of Edge counts as overpriced

Not just Edge, 5W30 Edge which you wanted. It's the most expensive grade of oil in their range.

I'm in the same boat, used to use 0W30 in my last car which was cheaper.

db330

K.Flyer wrote: »

Mick's Garage currently advertising 4l of Edge @ 29.95
http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=4227441&gclid=CPSFi7Cl_cACFctt2wodnVYAkg

Thats 10w40 OP was looking at 10W30 which is 50 on Micks

debabyjesus

K.Flyer wrote: »

Mick's Garage currently advertising 4l of Edge @ 29.95
http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=4227441&gclid=CPSFi7Cl_cACFctt2wodnVYAkg

Doesn't meet 507 spec.

If you go onto the airport group scheme website you can print out a 10% off voucher for halfords. Trade card is easy get too, either for yourself or borrow one. Gives a good discount off the own brand oil but not so much off the castrol.

George I presume you buy castrol by the barrel? How much is a barrel, are they about 200litres?

pudzey101

ive always used http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=1214867 TOTAL QUARTZ 9000 5W/40 FULLY SYNTHETIC ENGINE OIL 5 LITRE on my car with no probs , cant go wrong with 5w40 fully for less than 30 quid for a 5litre tub

George Dalton

debabyjesus wrote: »

George I presume you buy castrol by the barrel? How much is a barrel, are they about 200litres?

We use Fuchs oils. We used to use Castrol but Fuchs are better value and at least of equal quality as they are the main German manufacturer OE first fill supplier along with Castrol.

We use 208L barrels for our most common types of oil. We stock 6 types of engine oil, 4 in barrels and 2 in smaller quantities.

As for price, well that would be telling but it's into 4 figures for a barrel of the more expensive grades...

debabyjesus

George Dalton wrote: »

We use Fuchs oils. We used to use Castrol but Fuchs are better value and at least of equal quality as they are the main German manufacturer OE first fill supplier along with Castrol.

We use 208L barrels for our most common types of oil. We stock 6 types of engine oil, 4 in barrels and 2 in smaller quantities.

As for price, well that would be telling but it's into 4 figures for a barrel of the more expensive grades...

Good stuff, I seem to remember a guy telling me his castrol 507 barrel was just under 2k. If thats right there can't be much margin on it?

George Dalton

debabyjesus wrote: »

Good stuff, I seem to remember a guy telling me his castrol 507 barrel was just under 2k. If thats right there can't be much margin on it?

It's not that expensive these days. It would have been about that maybe 5-6 years back.

mickdw

George Dalton wrote: »

You won't find Quantum oil being used in any VW dealer workshop. That is enough evidence for me.

A vw dealer (may not currently be a dealer ) wanted to sell me quantum with 505 00 spec when I wanted 505 01. When I queried this, he said this was all they were using in their workshop. Now he was either lying or they were not only using quantum in the workshop but using the wrong spec quantum.

Why not buy the Mobil equivalent?....... 5litre drum as opposed to 4.

JohnBoy26

Augeo wrote: »

Why not buy the Mobil equivalent?....... 5litre drum as opposed to 4.

This. The Castrol only comes in 4 litres and is around the same money as other good main brands 5 litre equivalents. It's is nothing special over other good brands either imo.

The 5 litres are convenient in some cases, where top ups are necessary during the interval.

Halfords are decent enough with oils tbh, especially when there's a sale on.

For everything else such as wipers, filters etc I find the motor factors to be usually better.

OldMrBrennan83

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ShaunieVW

I got 5 litres of edge(4l+1l) for my car in my local motor factor for 45 euro. I think I got a discoubt but thats class.

Bogger77

Got 5L of 5w30 from Toyota last week for 30€, it was the Toyota branded oil.

ION08

Just rang another motor factors and price was €50 ... that's more like it!

George Dalton

I was in Bradshaws in Portlaoise this morning and saw their price for 4L of Edge 5w30 is €39.50.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

ION08

George Dalton wrote: »

I was in Bradshaws in Portlaoise this morning and saw their price for 4L of Edge 5w30 is €39.50.

So you agree that €59 is actually overpriced

Spudzzmurphy

Ever thought of looking into a Tesco Extra store,I got a bargain there a few months ago for the same oil,not to sure what I paid for it,but it was really cheap.

walus

Castrol in general is on an expensive side of price spectrum at the same time being a very average oil. Similar story applies to Mobil1. In local motor factors it is however hard to find anything different as these two brands have cornered the market. The internet gives a bit more freedom and say even on Amazon you can get very good Petronas for 30 euros delivered. Liqui Moly, Fuchs and Millers would also be excellent alternatives to Castrol and Mobil1.

corkgsxr

Maybe I'm the exception but I'd rate castrol very highly.

The ticking on my old trafic that eventually turned into a dropped rod. It kept going for 20k miles with the tick.

My gsxr made 89 hp with old oil. 109 with castrol. No other differences.

I'll always use castrol

cerastes

ION08 wrote: »

I know that yeah i always pick this oil up for the missus car

For my Audi I like using Edge.

I know its very expensive but my point was that my local "friendly" irish owned motor factors was a bigger ripoff than Halfrauds.

When I mentioned this he just shrugged his shoulders.

This is more the problem for me with motor factors, I go to one or two specific places but Im not in them anywhere near often.I'll buy filters and the like, but Halfords has been ok in my experience for oil price, more when there is a sale, but its that I can review the oil beforehand or even look at the label to check the spec without getting looks, huffs and sighs, thats put me off ever going into a motor factors for oil, rather than than just expecting to take whats given over the counter.

biko wrote: »

He wasn't overpriced. Places like Halfords can afford to undercut smaller shops to corner the market.
Places like Mick's can further undercut because of less overhead.

Don't worry, soon there will be only Halfords shops left.

That'll be unfortunate if its the case, but it's for the above reason, ie no or limited choice and poorer service that pushes someone to a cheaper, more informed option.

Spudzzmurphy wrote: »

Ever thought of looking into a Tesco Extra store,I got a bargain there a few months ago for the same oil,not to sure what I paid for it,but it was really cheap.

I was suprised to see they had some oil on a discount shelf on one occasion as I was passing it, I picked up some containers ridiculously cheap, but it was a one off, never saw it again even for sale normally. It was a ford spec which was needed, but was really only just lucky in passing, I couldn't make it a point to be looking for a specific deal like that all the time, when it only seems to come up rarely, nice if you can get it.

JohnBoy26

I remember years ago duckhams oil was the bees knees of oil, it was a lovely green color too

corkgsxr

It's rare but tescos can have extremely good deals.

Got 8 litre bottles of castrol fully bike oil for 2/3 Euro a bottle

Special Circumstances

cerastes wrote: »

This is more the problem for me with motor factors, I go to one or two specific places but Im not in them anywhere near often.I'll buy filters and the like, but Halfords has been ok in my experience for oil price, more when there is a sale, but its that I can review the oil beforehand or even look at the label to check the spec without getting looks, huffs and sighs, thats put me off ever going into a motor factors for oil, rather than than just expecting to take whats given over the counter.

Oh, "mr law-dee-daw" wants the fancy stuff, does he?

That or the blank looks as if you had pulled up in a spaceship if you dont want something for one of the 10 most popular models in Ireland.

The guy that laughed and said "waadsaa breaker baar??" when I asked about any deals took the biscuit altogether.

blackbox

From time to time Halfords have a good discount on oil. It's worth pouncing on a bargain even if you're not going to need it for a while.
I got good value there for Mobil 1 New Life (nothing but the best for my baby).

CJhaughey

I buy 20 drums of oil for mine, I'd get through a drum in a year easily and its way cheaper than buying 5 litres at a time.
5 litres won't even do a complete fill for me.

cerastes

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Oh, "mr law-dee-daw" wants the fancy stuff, does he?

That or the blank looks as if you had pulled up in a spaceship if you dont want something for one of the 10 most popular models in Ireland.

The guy that laughed and said "waadsaa breaker baar??" when I asked about any deals took the biscuit altogether.

10W40, be grand

CJhaughey wrote: »

I buy 20 drums of oil for mine, I'd get through a drum in a year easily and its way cheaper than buying 5 litres at a time.
5 litres won't even do a complete fill for me.

20! is that right? you said 20? drums of oil?? what do you call a drum? Ive always equated a drum to a barrel in volume. So about 200 or so litres, Id get about 45 oil changes a year for that. At 5k interval, that'd be nearly a quarter of a million miles of driving for me, in one year or more for a greater interval, for one drum.
What are you driving? a fleet of tanks? or is it a bus company?
How much is the drum? can you get it in specific specs? much saving?
At an approximate figure, 41 (to account for top ups between service and varying use per service) changes at €42 per service volume (4.5-5lts) used, it would have to be less than €1640 for a drum to match the cost of buying it service sized containers 4.5-5 litres or much less to beat it and make it worthwhile, is that estimate right?

TheBody

cerastes wrote: »

10W40, be grand



20! is that right? you said 20? drums of oil?? what do you call a drum? Ive always equated a drum to a barrel in volume. So about 200 or so litres, Id get about 45 oil changes a year for that. At 5k interval, that'd be nearly a quarter of a million miles of driving for me, in one year or more for a greater interval, for one drum.
What are you driving? a fleet of tanks? or is it a bus company?
How much is the drum? can you get it in specific specs? much saving?
At an approximate figure, 41 changes at €42 per service volume used, it would have to be less than €1640 for a drum to match the cost of buying it service sized containers 4.5-5 litres or much less to beat it and make it worthwhile, is that estimate right?

I presume he means 20 litre drums.