Synthetic for me...and I think it's definitely worth the extra cost. Done a lot of research on it and I think the benefits are just far numerous. If you have ever seen a flow test when the temps get really cold between the two it would shock you how thick conventional oil gets. Burn off, sludge, acid buildup protection all far superior to conventional.

 

I usually use a high quality off the shelf synthetic that you can get from most auto parts stores, wal-mart, etc, but I think I am going to start going with Amsoil, they finish first in most every test done to check the qualities of motor oil, so among the best oils, they are king.

Synthetic now in my new vehicle. In the cold climate I am in I think it is needed. Plus I am only recommended for an oil change every 10,000 miles, so that is nice!

I think a lot of it depends on the vehicle.

 

I use synthetic because the previous owner did as well.

With vehicles with 290K & 195K miles on them, dont matter what I use, I burn it all up.

A lot of European cars (BMW, VW, etc) require synthetic oil nowadays.

 

I use Liqui Moly Synthoil premium every 6-8k miles.

I use whatever the dealer puts in it.

I pay $100 for an oil change, guess I'm funding Germany's economy.

I pay $100 for an oil change, guess I'm funding Germany's economy.

 

Yikes!!

With vehicles with 290K & 195K miles on them, dont matter what I use, I burn it all up.

 

Well, if you are burning oil, that's one thing, but I have a vehicle with over 230,000 miles and sold one a while back that had over 200,000, both 1996 vehicles...I run/ran nothing but synthetic, so age and mileage have no bearing just in and of themselves on using synthetic or not. But yeah, if you are having to add a half quart every week or two, then might as well just use what gets you by I guess.

Yikes!!

 

I thought the $70 I had to pay for the car I bought in April was expensive. It looks like I only have to do 2 per year though, so I'm not really paying that much more a year for oil changes.

A few years back, I put synthetic in my '96 Buick and noticed that I was leaking oil at the oil filter. Problem got better at the next oil change when I went back to regular 10W30. Seems this has something to do with the molecular structure of synthetic ... flows more easily but also can leak more easily. So be careful using it in older cars.

I thought the $70 I had to pay for the car I bought in April was expensive. It looks like I only have to do 2 per year though, so I'm not really paying that much more a year for oil changes.

 

Yep, another benefit of synthetic is longer intervals between changes, which mean fewer changes. Heck even many new cars the owners manuals suggest 7,500-8,000 miles oil change intervals under normal driving conditions, IF using the recommended synthetic oil (my new Sonata does). And you can really go longer than that if you do a lot of highway driving and use a good quality filter.

I think I get the blends in most of my fleet. The Equinox requires some special blend that's about $60.00 before the coupon they always give me at goodyear.

Yep, another benefit of synthetic is longer intervals between changes, which mean fewer changes. Heck even many new cars the owners manuals suggest 7,500-8,000 miles oil change intervals under normal driving conditions, IF using the recommended synthetic oil (my new Sonata does). And you can really go longer than that if you do a lot of highway driving and use a good quality filter.

A lot of mechanics say you can go 10-12K easy on the newer cars between changes with synthetic.

A few years back, I put synthetic in my '96 Buick and noticed that I was leaking oil at the oil filter. Problem got better at the next oil change when I went back to regular 10W30. Seems this has something to do with the molecular structure of synthetic ... flows more easily but also can leak more easily. So be careful using it in older cars.

 

Yes it flows better and is "slicker" than conventional, each individual molecule is more standard across the spectrum and on average is smaller than in conventional oil. Actually it's not recommended in really older cars especially if they have a lot of miles on them...say mid 80's and older simply because the tolerances are so much greater in those cars. However, in a 96 Buick you should have been ok unless you had an issue with your oil filter sealing correctly. I know I had mine changed one time, oil was leaking like a sieve when I got home...took it back and found out the pervious filter gasket had somehow come off the filter, was stuck to the engine and the guy changing it didn't notice it and put the new one on over top of it. Of course it didn't seal correctly and caused a huge issue. Luckily I noticed it before it became a problem.