Expensive Oil Change Question


degabiw

New member
Sep 13, 2023
2
Hi everyone,

I recently took my car in for an oil change, and I was shocked by the cost—nearly $100! This seems much higher than what I’ve paid in the past.

The mechanic mentioned it was due to synthetic oil and a full service, but I'm wondering if this price is standard or if I got overcharged.

Is there a significant difference between synthetic and conventional oil?

Should I be looking for different service options or oil change deals to save money?

Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.
 

degabiw

New member
Sep 13, 2023
2
Hi everyone,

I recently took my car in for an oil change, and I was shocked by the cost—nearly $100! This seems much higher than what I’ve paid in the past.

The mechanic mentioned it was due to synthetic oil and a full service, but I'm wondering if this price is standard or if I got overcharged.

Is there a significant difference between synthetic and conventional oil?

Should I be looking for different service options or website for oil change deals to save money?

Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance for any help
 

Joe Dozzo

Well-known member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
May 22, 2006
777
Canon City, CO
Seems like a pretty good deal to me.. Have to remove / replace diffuser and other under car aero, plus oil and filter.

Not too difficult to do your own...
 
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fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jan 4, 2006
11,686
Belleville, IL
What kind of oil did you use? Usually the cost is $250-300 with filter. If you did not use the Ford Motorcraft synthetic 5-50 you are asking for big engine problems. Look on eBay and you can see the exact oil necessary.
 

Howard

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 26, 2007
1,150
Florida/North Jersey
I'm guessing this is not a Ford GT question. You couldn't find a $100 Ford GT oil change.
 
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nota4re

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 15, 2006
4,284
Figure closer to $400 if you were going to have us do it. For labor, it's probably closer to two hours than it is to one from the time we roll the car onto the lift to the time it rolls off. Need to remove both the mid-pan as well as the rear pan. Often we'll find missing or incorrect fasteners that we will need to replace. Occasionally we'll find a stripped nutsert that we need to replace. Then we inspect the top-side of the pans for any "tells" - mostly any leaks or rodent activity. Now it's time to lower the car back down and change the oil filter. With a new filter and o-ring installed, back up we go. Then we remove the 3 drain plugs. I should note that this is where I am typically cursing - accusing the whole world that know one knows what a torque wrench is. I swear, if I had a dime for each time we've had to use an impact gun to remove a drain plug, I'd be a rich man! For this reason, I am a BIG ADVOCATE of placing a Fumoto valve on the aluminum oil reservoir. I've seen TOO MANY oil reservoirs damaged by over-tightened drain plugs. While the oil is draining, we're taking the opportunity to look around. Typical candidates for inspection are the power steering pump, the power steering return hose, the oil pressure sending unit and the air conditioner compressor. After we have a look-see at these components, we'll look at the belts and likely inquire about the last time the oil pump belt was changed. Finally, we'll look at the rear shocks and suspension components to see if we see any leaks or wear that may need to addressed at a future service.

With the oil drained and the plugs cleaned, re-installed and TORQUED TO SPEC, we can move on to re-installing the pans. The mid-pan is first up with careful attention to correct fastener placement. There's 3 slightly longer T30 fasteners on each outer edge that secure both the pan and the side skirt. These fasteners are often misplaced/mixed with the other fasteners if a non-GT shop did the work previously. The aforementioned nutserts on the back edge of the mid-pan are inspected for tightness and we'll replace them if loose. (Over-torquing yahoo's will all-too-frequently damage these nutserts.) Finally, the rear pan/diffuser is installed.

All of this done, the car is once again lowered and we'll add 9.5 quarts of Motorcraft's finest. We'll check the level of the power steering fluid as well as the engine and intercooler coolant levels. It is common to have to add an ounce or so of power steering fluid. With the fluids all topped off, we'll make sure we are clean and then we'll do the priming procedure before firing up the car and letting it idle for a couple of minutes.

If you think $400-ish is too expensive for this kind of focused attention and service, well, there's a Jiffy Lube right down the street!
 

twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,198
Las Vegas, NV
I was going to say that if you've got a Ford GT oil change for $100 using the Ford oil then I want to go there! They lost money on that one. My dealer quoted me $400 in 2019. I did it myself - it's really not that hard. I tightened the mid pan down before putting the back pan in and found that you need to leave it loose so they can be properly "stitched". From then on I just put the pan screws in finger tight until both pans are in then tighten all.
 

Specracer

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Nov 28, 2005
7,155
MA
$100? I'm all in to call them to ship me the oil for that (ive got a ton of filters so I dont need any more). I'll still change it myself, just the oil for $100 is a deal.

This a spam thread (even thought the OP had been a member for a year, but the only 2 posts, that are this thread)?
 
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white out

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jun 22, 2011
108
$100 on a Prius seems like a deal at this point.
 
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Oct 14, 2009
386
Alberta, Canada
This is why I change oil in all my cars. The 06 GT, the 13 Boss 302s race car, my trucks, my personal vehicles, everything. I'm sure I have saved 10's of thousands of dollars in my lifetime simply changing the oil on all my cars and I get a ton of satisfaction doing it. Guess I'm "super freaky" as my generation would say.

QSS
 
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extrap

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 16, 2020
1,901
Gainesville FL
This is why I change oil in all my cars. The 06 GT, the 13 Boss 302s race car, my trucks, my personal vehicles, everything. I'm sure I have saved 10's of thousands of dollars in my lifetime simply changing the oil on all my cars and I get a ton of satisfaction doing it. Guess I'm "super freaky" as my generation would say.

QSS
And I bet you didn't cross thread a single drain bolt (y)
 

texas mongrel

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 3, 2009
1,676
Houston Texas
Changing oil on the new GT is way easier and cleaner than the 05/06 cars,
 
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Gene Cassone

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 3, 2005
1,019
way upstate NY
I am wondering on the original post there is a mistake. $1000 versus $100. Then for sure you overpaid! With these cars heading north of $400,000, sure some garages would try!
 
Oct 14, 2009
386
Alberta, Canada
And I bet you didn't cross thread a single drain bolt (y)
No man, I've never cross threaded a drain bolt. I always finger tighten first :).

QSS
 
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twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,198
Las Vegas, NV
No man, I've never cross threaded a drain bolt. I always finger tighten first :).

QSS
And go out until the threads catch then in