Does synthetic oil worth the cost for all the hoopla it get?

Question

One can get crazy looking over the many variations of automobile oil on the shelves of auto parts store - oils ranging from extented use to high mileage oil to semi[]synthetics. What's the difference and is it all that beneficial. I own a regular car in good working order which I use to drive around town and outskirts. I've always used the standard 5W-30 oil by Pennzoil, Quaker State, or Castrol changin it every 3 thousand miles or 90 days whichever comes first. will it benefit me to use a type oil costing three times as much but claims my engine will perform better or last longer?

Answer 1

The synthetic oil is more thermally stable at both hot and cold temperature extremes. If you live in moderate climate conventional oil is fine. Many high performance cars, especially those fitted with turbos recommend synthetics.

Answer 2

There are varying opinions about synthetic motor oil. I used it once and had a bad experience so I don't use it at all. The positive note on sythetic oil is that it lasts longer so you don't have to change it as often. The negative, of course, is the price. I just use petro-based motor oil and change it every 3000 miles or 3 months. The chain auto parts places put this stuff on sale all the time so it's relatively cheap, no excuse for not changing it regularly. If you don't wish to change your own oil, there are many places that will do it for twenty bucks or so. I don't like to leave oil in an engine too long, synthetic or not. Acids and combustion byproducts contaminate the oil and make it less effective over time and, if you have a turbocharged engine, oil should be changed even more often due to the intense heat generated by the turbocharger. I have no experience witht the partial synthetics.

Answer 3

In the near term, no.
If you intend to keep your car for another decade, yes.

I tend to buy "beater" cars that I drive for 2-4 years, until they wear out or fall apart. I use the least expensive oil I can find.

But if I had a newer, nicer car that I wanted to keep for awhile I'd go for the full synthetics.

Look at it this way, you're spending around $20 X 4 times a year ($80) for oil if you do it yourself, $30 X 4 ($120) if you go to a quick-change place; assume an extra $20 charge per oil change for synthetic, that's $160- 200 a year for synthetic; in 10 years, which would be 120,000 miles, you will have spent $1,600 to $2,000 on oil changes.
If, during that 10 years, you had to have the engine overhauled, you may have spent an additional $1,500 to $2,000 on engine repairs.

If the difference between synthetic and regular oil is $20 per change, you will have saved $80 per year, or $800.
Is the $800 savings worth the risk of spending $1,500 to $2,000 on an engine rebuild?

I can't answer that for you.

Answer 4

FIRST THINGS FIRST, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SYNTHETIC OIL AND REGULAR OIL IS THAT THE SYNTHETIC OIL IS BETTER ABLE TO LUBRICATE AND GET INTO ALL AREAS IT NEEDS TO BE AND REDUCE FRICTION DUE TO ITS SYNTHETIC STRUCTURE. AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED MOST OF THE HIGH MILEAGE OILS ARE AT LEAST SEMI SYNTHETIC. THE BENEFIT OF A SYNTHETIC OIL IS THAT IT CAN RESIST THE CHANGES IN HEAT AND COLD IN YOUR ENGINE BETTER THAN REGULAR OIL AND IF YOU WERE TO HAPPEN TO MISS AND OIL CHANGE AT 3000 MILES YOU HAVE MORE LEEWAY WHEN YOU GET AROUND TO CHANGING YOU OIL.

SECONDLY, CHANGING OIL TYPES CONSTANTLY DOES NOT CAUSE LEAKS IN THE SEALS AND OTHER RUMORS YOU MAY HAVE HEARD. WHAT DOES THAT IS SEALS WEARING OUT DUE TO WEAR, FRICTION AND LACK OF CHANGING OIL WHEN NEEDED. THE REAL CULPRIT FOR THIS IS OIL WEIGHT. IF YOU HAVE A BASIC VEHICLE THAT REGULARLY USES 5W-30, DO SUDDENLY CHANGE TO 15W-50 FOR EXAMPLE. THE HEAVIER OIL WILL PUT PRESSURE ON THE SEALS AND HELP CAUSE A LEAK.

SEEING AS HOW YOU CHANGE YOUR OIL AS REGULARLY AS YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO, THERE WOULD BE VERY LITTLE BENEFIT FROM USING A SYNTHETIC OIL UNLESS YOU ARE STARTING TO GET INTO THE VERY HIGH MILEAGE PERFORMANCE. IN THAT CASE A SYNTHETIC OIL WILL HELP TO PROTECT YOUR ENGINE. BASICALLY SYNTHETIC OIL ISN'T NECESSARY FOR YOUR CAR BUT IT CAN BE NICE IN CASE YOU MISS AN OIL CHANGE HERE AND THERE

Answer 5

Yes. The difference being its molecular structure allows it to slip over itself and therefore seep into every porous surface it contacts. This limits friction, thereby reducing wear. It also keeps gaskets from drying out and becoming brittle-which keeps oil where its needed, inside your engine and not on the street. The drawback? it still gets filthy, just like regular oil and must be changed. However, synth oil can keep 'dirt' suspended within its molecules for a greater amount of time than conventional oil.

Answer 6

all the above is good stuff but some advice i learned... if you have an older car synthetic may night be good for you since as someone said synthetic will get into every pore available, it will also find any holes and leak more than conventional oil...

Answer 7

No it isnt worth it unless the car is new. Synthetic oil is good but it isnt made for older cars it has cleaning agents that can destroy seals and gasket on older cars stick to what you have been using but i would use 10w-30 or 40

Answer 8

Wether it does or doesnt it a useless debate, its all in peoples opinions.

The best ive heard on the subject is that if you start a car on natural oil, keep it on it, if you start it on synthetic, keep it on it, changing them can cause oil leaks, and all kinds of crazy crap.

And dont run penzoil.

Answer 9

check out Amsoil synthetic: http://www.amsoil.com/redirect.cgi?zo=1463115&page=performancetests/g1971/index