I've got about 36k miles on my 05 Equinox and I am thinking about switching over to Synthetic after hearing about how good it is.
Problem is, the dealer wants to charge $70 for Synthetic vs my usual $25 for bulk oil.

So if I switched to Synthetic, I'd end up doing my own oil changes. I am very capable of doing it, it's just a nusense changing oil without a lift. What takes maybe 10 minutes at the dealership would prob take me 30-40mins.

What are you guys running in your cobalts? I saw a post about someone thinking about change the viscosity of their oil and it made me think of this.

 

my car came with it stock

its a must for me!

 

I run valvoline durablend synthetic. It's supposed to be good for 5000 miles I change ever 4000 or so. On my old car I ran Valvoline's max life for cars over 75k.

 

mobileone synthetic is what everyone should be running. It cost me 72 bucks at jiffy lube. That will be the last time I pay someone else to do it.

 

I use mobil 1 in my fiance's Equinox, the same as I put in my car, less confusion and I only have to buy one type of oil! IT's been just fine!

 

if you have an equinox i would think it would be pretty easy to get under there. will be half the price, and shouldn't take more than 10 or 15 minutes max to do your oil.

 

I use royal purple gets about 20 miles more per tank

 

Ya I was thinking of either using Purple or MobileOne

The Oil+K&N Filter comes out to about the same price as I pay for a regular oil change, they only thing I'll be giving up is about 20mins or so. I think from now on I'll do my own and use synthetic

 

I use mobilone as well. Quick question, where do you guys take the old oil to after you get it out of your car?

 

On my old Z24 I used to change my own oil, I would bring it to the local quick lube oil change place. They would just let me pour it in one of the collectors they have that they use themselves. It's free and I don't have to worry about old oil sitting around. Don't know if theres a special procedure with synthetic though. If I decide to change my own oil on the SS i'll probably just throw it in there anyways.

 

I'm not preforming my own oil changes with this car because they're free........so it gets Mobil 1 at the dealership because GM has a deal with EXON. I'm sure it's just fine as I'm not aware of any crappy lubes sold under any common label.

My previous car was a heavily modified turbo MIATA that I autocrossed twice a month.
Given that it was driven very hard, I used Red Line 5-30 syn. Not once, was an engine failure due to poor lubrication qualities. So if your looking for the best of the best, that would be my pick. It worth mentioning that the oil pulled double duty in that it cooled and lubed a very large turbocharger in addition to the mill. Tough stuff.

 

this thread reminded me that i need to change my oil thanks

 

llittle word of advice... buy the 5 gallon jugs at walmart... much cheaper

 

good idea!

 

I thought our cars came with synthetic. I always use Mobil One synthetic in mine.

I usually take the old oil to Autozone b/c they have a free oil recycling program. I just pour it into jugs and take it there.

 

DoOd it is so easy you barely even have to move the oil pan, you can almost let both drain without moving it! It's awesome!

 

i do ful synth oil changes my self nd it normaly cost me about 30 dollars nd 20 min of my time... if the girlfriend is around it takes about 15 min....


go full synth u save money in the long run

 

My only concern is, do I have to use any type of 'oil flusher' or anything when I switch from regular bulk oil to full synthetic? I've got close to 36.5kmiles for reference

 

no just let it drain normally and pour in the new oil.

 

I use Mobil 1 Extended Life. I change the oil at 15,000 and change the filter every 5000 miles.

 

go buy a case of mobil 1 extended performance... lasts 15k miles $85.

Change your oil once a year. Oh and yes it works my oil looks great after 9k miles.

I change mine every 9k

plus synthetic feels really cool too

 

there's no need to do that, it's an old myth. just change like you normally would, nothing needs to be done differently. i do agree though, buy one LARGE jug of oil instead of quarts. i get a 5 quart jug which is enough for my 2.2 and you save like 10 dollars vs. buying individual quarts.

 

Depends on my mood, I either run Royal Purple or Mobile 1.



Car came with regular oil, after about 2500 miles, i switched to synthetic.

 

what i do is buy an extra quart then i let the old oil drain.... when it gets down to dribbles i start to poor the extra quart in when i start seeing clean new oil i stop nd throw the drain plug in..



i just put it in to see how it works... so far i have no complaints... btw u should switch ur filter half way though if ur going to run it that long..

 

My Jetta 2.0T ran Mobil 1 0w-40. I'm planning on switching to Mobil 1 soon. The car has about 2,800 miles. My question, I've heard that you shouldn't use synthetic in the break-in period. Is this true? And if it is, when is the best mileage to switch?

When I count prep time (finding tools, towels, setting everything up, putting on clothes), changing the oil, and cleanup, it takes about 40 mins. But I'm not one to ruch things, and I give the car a good once over at the same time.