Cost of oil change

[neil33]

11-27: I was surprised to learn that an oil change on a civic hybrid costs $45 rather than the usual $25 because hybrids "use a special kind of oil". Nothing in the literature or on the blogs foreshadowed this news. Can anyone enlighten me further about hybrid oil changes? Neil33

[Valiant118]

You appear to be in the process of being hosed. Yes, Honda and Toyota hybrids do use a somewhat unusual 0w-20 oil. However, the oil is so rare it is available at most Wal-Mart stores for about $5-6 a quart.

Your Honda hybrid probably needs about 3 of them ($18), plus a filter ($ 6) and an oil drain plug washer ($.20). That's $24.20 in parts, and it takes about 10 minutes. So, add $7.50 at $75 an hour and that's a total of around $32.

The rest of the $45 is "this customer is a naive dope and ripe for being hosed" money. Take your business elsewhere.

[trunkout]

i bring my own oil (mobil 1 syn) and honda charges me 22.50 for labor.

[Resist]

Originally Posted by Valiant118

However, the oil is so rare it is available at most Wal-Mart stores for about $5-6 a quart.

$5-6 a quart! I don't think so, it is much less. $5-6 a quart is the price for synthetic oil.

[Dougie]

Mobil 0w-20 oil IS synthetic oil.
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/Mot ... 0W-20.aspx

[Resist]

I understand Mobil 0W-20 is synthetic oil. But Valiant (the thread I responded to) didn't say it was synthetic.

Think yourselfs lucky guys, we can't get 0w-20 in the UK

[Resist]

Well you really don't need 0W-20. As 5W-20 works just fine. Remember 0W oil will will only make a difference for a few minutes after start up on a very cold days, until the oil heats up and then the heated oil weight is beyond 0W.

[brandon08mitchell]

It's too much for an oil change. What kind of oil hybrid cars are using? So they have different oil filter as well?

[ihonda Japan]

Good to know