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About £34.00, and it's 4 litres, not 5 . . . which is why spending the fixed £34.00 at Kwik-Fit makes good sense if your car holds more than 4 litres, which many, if not most, do. Actually, it's an even better deal because the Kwik-Fit price includes the filter (I keep forgetting this because they don't stock the filters for two of my cars and I supply them, although they would get them perhaps at an extra charge).
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My car holds 8.5 litres, which would make Mobil1 nearly £80 a throw!
So I went to Kwik Fit, and unsurprisingly it went like this...
Me: Hello, I was wondering if you could do an oil change on my car?
K: What sort is it sir?
Me: Vauxhall Omega/
K: Sucks teeth, colleage shakes head slowly.
K: What engine is it (gets book out)
Me: 2.5 diesel, the BMW engine.
K: Don\'t think we\'ll have a filter for that
K: No, sorry try the RAC auto centre up the road
Me: Its OK I\'ll bring you one from the dealer
K: Is it a cartridge filter?
Me: No, paper element
K: DON\'T TOUCH \'EM. - \'av trouble resealing them mate.
Me: Bye
Went home, waited for the rain to stop and did it myself as usual.
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Betcha my local branch would do it. Are you anywhere near Herts?
However, I did encounter some resistance to doing the job using my filter on the most recent occasion. A new but experienced member of staff said he thought they couldn't do that, but relented when I told him that his colleagues had been happy to do it on four previous occasions. It's probably company policy to avoid using materials and components other than their own -- the good reason being that they cannot guarantee the result -- but it pays to get to know them.
I wonder what they would have done had you pressed them to show you their catalogue of filters. I can't imagine an Omega filter being absent from that, and if it's in the catalogue then they can hardly refuse to do the job. Since when has changing an oil filter of any type been something requiring main-dealer specialist skills and equipment?
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I've had pretty much the same experience as ST with Kwik-Fit, they refused to use my Vauxhall filter from the main dealer (2.2 petrol Vectra, needs 5 litres), so I refused to let them do the job! A friend has got me a couple of 4 Litre packs of Mobil 1 from Costco, £24.00 each I think.
Does anyone know what the going rate is in a French hypermarket? I don't think what was available in France used to be exactly the same as the UK but the new design bottles in the UK now have printing in most Eurpean languages, so must now be the same I think. Someone told me Tesco's sold Mobil 1 at half price for a while early this year but I never managed to catch that.
Also, what's happened to their Tracker scheme, no info about it on the bottles anymore and the website seems to have disappeared?
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As I was passing my local Kwik-Fit just now, I popped in to satisfy my curiosity about the Omega filter. They said that if the canister cap is large and "like a nut" (hexagonal or octagonal, presumably) then they don't have a tool large enough to get a grip on it. If the cap is smaller and has a serrated edge, they can do the job. The filters for both are in their catalogue anyway. The change took place in 1994 after engine number 34398417; they couldn't tell from the catalogue which came first. They also mentioned that one or other, or both, has to be torqued up on tightening.
So it does seem that a special tool is needed for one variant -- how daft.
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5 Litres of Shell Helix Fully Synthetic Diesel Engine Oil cost £19 in Carrefour in Cite Europe 2 weeks ago. Oil for petrol vehicles was about the same price.
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Thanks Roger, I'm in Nottingham.
The older diesels had a 19mm nut and the filter was in an aluminium chamber with a 19mm bolt , later ones were plastic with a eco-friendly incineratable element and the chamber is plastic, with a platic lid, the plastic lid has a 34mm hexagon built in for a 34mm socket.
Both filter types come with the seals, and are an excellent design.
I suspect quickfit are not equipped either in the toolbox or the head to deal with this. But I suppose that's their business, just as one can't expect a trip to McDonalds to be a 5 star dining experience.
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I did think about just getting them to do the oil, and I would do the filter on the road outside, or even at home. What would people think would be the best thing? Change the filter before the new oil or after the new oil? or just buy them a £4 socket 34mm socket with the £50 I would save?
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Macro warehouse stock 5 Litres Castrol Magnatec at about £15 including vat.
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Regular users of Mobil 1 may like to know that it can be obtained from
www.oil-store.co.uk/
at £5.51 per litre in 4x4 litre lots (£22.04 per pack, total £88.08, including shipping). Can that price be beaten in the UK?
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My local Kwik Fit didn't have the filter in for my 3.0 Omega MV6 on my last visit but sent one of the lads out to a local factors to get one while I waited.
I watched it being done and was a little concerned at the method of deciding when it's got enough oil in - pump in 4.5 litres then run the engine for a few secs. Then pump in small amounts until it shows correctly on the dipstick. It took quite a bit more than the manual suggested it would, but I re-checked it when I got home (and since) and it was fine.
They had some trouble getting the till to agree it was £34 but managed in the end.
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4 litres of Peugeot branded semi synthetic oil, and filter at my local Renault dealer (were Pug until about two months ago) - £15.99.
For that price it's not even worth considering getting my hands dirty.
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Road Devil - the answer is about £20 in French supermarkets. 189 FF or whatever that is in Euros now. I always buy 4 or 5 tubs when in Calais. Why more Brits don't do this is beyond me. Even if you don't get to Calais, someone in your family or a neighbour will be going on a booze cruise - get 'em to bring some back, it's well worth it !!
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Roger Jones.
Bravo for that post, I have currently run out of discounted M1 TD for my MB. That is a very good price indeed.Havent worked out yet how it is delivered. Many thanks.
Lucy T*s friend.
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Yep - Or at least it could the last time I purchased (about a year ago). £19 per 4 litre pack from a Mobil distributor. He delivered it to my door for that price too.
RM
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RM
Which Mobil distributor? Where?
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Roger,
I'm not going to publish his identity in a public forum as I'm unsure as to what attitude Mobil would take to him undercutting the r.r.p by so much (don't forget Exxon-Mobil have retail as well as petroleum and lubricant interests). I got his details originally from the Mobil website, but last time I looked they'd removed details of their wholesale distributors! I've purchased from him on four occasions (3 x 4 litre tubs at a time), but not for a while now. Price was the same each time, £19 including VAT & delivery. He's in the South West - If that's convenient for you then I'll let you have his details via email. Obviously he won't be interested in mail order. I think he was happy to supply me because he had retail customers near where I live so it didn't take him out of his way.
RM
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