YES! The only time I use to ever buy stuff there was oil change deals. But it's been years since there has been a deal on them really. I have bought 99% of my oil at Walmart, it's the best deal on that type stuff.
I remember as a kid of 10 years old in 2008-2009 watching the grocery cart get less full and the price go up. Going to the parts store became another clobbering and all of the once made in USA parts and accessories were either discontinued or were made overseas. Hearing my dad swearing about all of this burned into my psyche that the powers over us will create and use any crisis to afford average people less comfort.
Once I started seeing "Made in China" on all the name brand parts I was buying from the local auto parts store I lost all loyalty and decided to start buying online and cutting out the middle men.
Yeah used to be $100 would be a cart maybe two of groceries. Gotta love when the rat's are in office. Clinton killed the country's auto industry Obama and now potato are here to finish what he started.
Walmart has become the only place I buy consumables like oil, brake clean, RTV, shop towels, common filters, etc. it’s so much cheaper than anywhere else, even online. Funny thing is I hardly buy anything else there.
Same here, everywhere else is unaffordable unless you make a TON of money but wages have not gone up. Things are nuts, house prices are so inflated and with a 6% mortgage most decent homes around me are 4,000+ a month payment and you couldn't even rent it out for that. CRAZY
We all say that now....but the Auto Parts store has more cashiers than Walmart. Walmart cherry picks what to carry/sell....but you expect the autopart store to have million dollar inventories, but not make enough money to pay the rent, lights, heat, and labor. What happens if they close up? Car will be down for days waiting on parts.
Under Trump couple years ago, Walmart motor oil was $12.99 for 5 quarts, full synthetic only$13.99 !!! Nearly double that now and the jugs have Security Devices on them now...
It's funny how most of everyone i know runs their daily driver to 200,000 + and never once worries about the oil in their transmission. I buy cars with the fluid black in the transmission. I take off the trans line, start it up and let it run out while i fill it. Easy and cheap
UT, I worked in a tiny little privately owned gas station, way out in the country as a kid and teenager. It was so backwards the driveway was dirt, and we had a grease pit for working under the car. New can of oil was 50 cents, and Rev Oil brand recycled oil was 25 cents. We pumped gas, cleaned windshields and checked oil and coolant levels for free. The owners name was Alvin, one day Alvin told a lady in a Chevy she needed a quart of oil. She paid a quarter for the Rev Oil and Alvin put it in, closed the hood and away she went. Then Alvin says, "Man I've been working too hard, I need some rest, I just put a quart of oil in that lady's radiator!"
In the early 60's my dad was working late when a customer came in with a Falcon that was a slow crank and wouldn't start. He swapped in a battery and it still wouldn't start. Then he replaced the starter. I was an 8yo parts kid so I looked at the car and went to the shelf for the starter. Confused, dad finally asked the owner what year the car was...64. Dad pulled out the 6 volt battery he just installed, set it on the ground next to the 6 volt the car came with and installed the proper 12 volt battery. Fired right up! As soon as the customer left dad said Close it up... I'm going to bed.
I know exactly what you mean. In my state 1990 average hose cost $54k, average income $26k. Now its house prices average nearly $300k, but the average salary now is around $50k. So wages doubled and prices increased 5x-6x. Back in around 2000 you could still by a decent car for $1000, that car now is 3.5-4K.
I recently ran into a similar issue, on my 65 f100 the starter solenoid went bad, so I went to the parts store to pick one up, when I got the one I had a little over 2 years ago it was around 15-20. Well when I went to buy it, they wanted 40+ for the cheapest starter solenoid... I then went to a local feed store that sells tractor parts. They had the starter solenoid that the ford tractors use, the same one that is used on the F100.. 15.00. So I grabbed that one, working like it should.
Yeah, some creative thinking will sometimes get you a big discount. It doesn't work with everything, but knowing your parts and whether they are interchangeable can save you a ton of money.
My '98 F150 uses the same part. It's called a starter relay, because the starters now have a selenoid, like GMs. Mine gave out across the street from O'Reilly. I replaced it and the ignition switch. The switch failed after a couple months. The weight difference was noticably lighter and the plastic wasn't as rugged, compared to the original. And the selenoid was worse, weighing half as much. I went to NAPA when I could, and got a new selenoid, which weighs MORE than the original! (At double the price)
@@rosslefave5877 Junkyards are one of my happiest places. So many parts all begging to be combined in unique and fun ways. Alas I have seen most of the salvage yards around here closed. 10 years ago I had 9 yards within 20 minutes drive from my home. Today I have 2 that are within an hour an a half drive and those are expensive and do not let you roam the yard(you have to stand at the counter while the staff goes and gets your part).
@@rosslefave5877hardly any left anymore. They made the insurance to hard to maintain for the average joes salvage yards. We lost 5 in less than a decade near me. Only 2 left now in 100 mile radius
One perk of working in a automotive shop is that we always have half-full jugs of all kinds of fluids. A kind of unspoken shop policy of ours is that once a container is opened it's either used on that job, the remainder offered to the customer (most don't want it), or it's disposed of. Whenever it needs disposed of, it goes home with me. I don't remember the last time I bought any kind of ATF, PS fluid, gear oil, or coolant.
I worked in a dodge dealership as lube tech years ago I got probably 3 gallons of atf 3 and 4 and every time we emptied a barrel of 10w30 or 15w40 I would take them home stand them onto a 5 gallon bucket fer a week then pour that into a barrel. I left with bout 20 gallons of oil I scavenged over a 2 yr period. It was a 10w30 15w40 blend but that ol 318 did not care either way.
Now that's being resourceful and I do the exact same thing working in my own garage on customer vehicles. If they don't want the left over fluid, I take it. Extra nuts and bolts? I'll take it. Extra length wiring? Yeap I'll take it too.
@@carrsllccarrillo6507 All of these stories are great for the individuals, but not real smart on the part of the owners/managers. If you have all your techs taking home all this free stuff, something is wrong with your system.
In my experience, O'Reilly's is and always has been, consistently far more expensive than any other auto parts store. They came to my area about five years ago, and their price for a fuel pump module for my 07 2500HD was nearly 3X that of Rock Auto for the exact same Genuine GM part - even the local dealer was less. Price shopping has been the foundation of my car hobby, and for at least the last fifteen years, you will get hosed walking a brick and mortar auto parts store. It used to be that NAPA was the priciest shop around, but the chains have run the local guys out of business, and then jacked their prices up when the competition was gone. It's a sad state, but you MUST price shop, you MUST order online and use coupons, and you MUST plan ahead for big projects.
I really try to shop local. If the locals go out of business there will be no "fix it today" option available. But recently the price disparities between online and local are just too much to justify. My two most recent encounters were a simple fan belt, and a set of NGK plug wires. At O'Reilly's, they were $32 and $94 respectively. At Rock Auto they were $9 and $33. Basically TRIPLE as you said. I love O'Reilly's and I have been lazy over the years and just gone there for stuff, but no more.
You just wiped out the LOWE's AFT supply! LOL. Last year when it was really hard to find Rotella, I was grabbing gallons from ACE Hardware. Just like you said: ACE isn't really known for automotive. All the jugs were dusty from riding the shelf. But, there they were.
Exactly, now they are going to raise the price because it's such a good selling product... He could have just said shop around or something, cause a lot of us bargain shoppers already know where to get the good prices...
Spent an hour last night at a local car cruise with some 19-20 yr olds who wanted to buy my truck. They were lamenting that even though I was selling it below market, they still couldn't scrape together the money to buy it. I was telling them about when I was their age I made about $4 an hour and the 69 Dodge Charger I owned took about $8 to fill the tank. I got the car for less than $1000 back in 1976. SO for 2 hours of my labour I could fill the tank and drive for a week. That truck now costs about $130 to fill and if I was making minimum wage ($15 per hour in Ontario Canada) took a days wages BEFORE TAXES. I had to service the transmission on that ruck last month when I lost reverse. Simple fix. Retaining ring on the Overdrive Unit (46RE) $8 for the ring. $20 for the tail stock and pan gasket/filter kit and $80 for the fluid. Would have been a $1500 repair if I'd gotten someone else to do it. I have the tools and knowledge. But I've been wrenching for 50 years. The kids now adays are NOT going to enjoy the sport like we have.
About 5-6 years ago, I purchased 2 cases of Royal Purple synthetic oil @ 99 cents a quart. The business had discontinued the brand. I quit doing my own oil changes after I moved to a condo. I recently gave the 2 cases to a friend, knowing I would never use them. I had no idea the price had gone up so much. No wonder he was so grateful.
@@timsullivan9642 also oil has a shelf life of about 5 years according to google.when stored properly,Who knows how long it sat there before OP bought it
@@guido4231 some places are super anal about working on your car in the parking lot. Most won't care if you look like you know what you're doing, but my last apartment complex came under new management and was super strict about that and a bunch of other nonsense.
Dex Merc Transmission fluid gallons Here in Yakima Washington State, is $29.98 the cheapest is Walmart at $17.98 per gallon! Godspeed from the beautiful North West, be blessed! 🕊️🙌🏾🙏🏽🕊️✝️😇
In the early 70's I worked at a department store in that had a huge tire and service dept. They had sale and sold Quaker State 10W30 oil for 33 cents a quart, and it cost them 43 cents a quart and normally sold it for 69 cents a quart. We would sell an entire 44' trailer out from 8am to noon. The 10 cent loss was calculated against the other departments like appliances, men's clothing, housewares, etc. They would do that sale quarterly.
You bring up a great point. There are no "loss leader" oil sales like this anymore. It never goes on sale anywherewhere you would make a trip just to get a case. I had to recycle cases of brand new qs, motorcraft, Pennzoil, etc from my grandfathers house when he passed because every time there was that sale he would get more. There were a few 2000 ish era cases of qs I felt ok using up in my plow truck but the rest of it was cardboard cans.
@@Nationalminer84 This is because online resellers will go in and clean out their stock. Then they're not loss leaders any more. They're just losses. It's not like the old days for us penny pinchers. There's competition now.
It is like Costco selling the food for dirt cheap. It brings you in, and then you realize you need some TP, and a chicken... and some salad mix... That brings the $$$ in. The cheap items bring you in the door.
I would always change my own oil for my cars. My cars were always older and proven mechanically. I took my wife's car to get the oil changed a couple of years ago and was shocked as to much it takes to pay for a simple oil change on a car (Toyota Camry) that is 11 years old. It was like close to 80 bucks! My old girls would at max cost me 30 to 40 bucks total.
It's going to be interesting times ahead. I'm keeping things simple and reliable... stocking up on points, condensors, etc all the stock replacement stuff. Hope fuel will still be available at reasonable prices, governments here in Europe are going full retard on the EV's
It will be like my Porsche 944 if you need a part you don't go to the auto parts store you go online and then wait a week for it to be delivered and it's not cheap but you can get the parts
@@TwoDollarGararge haha people look at me funny when I mention I get nos parts from Greece for my mk2 Jetta coupe 😂 Can't beat the quality though obviously,I'm grateful that I can still find stuff.
I typically spend little to no money at the corporate auto parts stores. Orilley wanted $12.99 for 1 quart of Mercon LV. Ford Dealer charges $7.50. Oil, 5 quart jug $40. Menards, I get Pennsoil full synthetic for $19.99 for 5 qts. Walmart also sells consumables at a fair price. I reuse stuff as well. Run antifreeze through a paint strainer. Catch 1/2 used oil if it was drained for repair and put it back in.
Not only are things more expensive now, What You Do buy is junk and it doesn't last! A friend of mine had to buy three ignition coils till he finally got one that lasted.
I found out that ignition coils are now packed with fiber class instead of oil. It gets hot & burns out. If you can find one packed with oil the price is triple.
The weaponization of the prices of things has been a long term trend. This as also true with making everything specialized, where in some cases the type of fluid is specific to just one brand of vehicle. The major auto parts chains are taking advantage of their marketing that makes people mostly think of O'Reilly's, AutoZone, Advance Auto as the only place to shop - then they are charging a premium for their convenience. There are some things with lifetime warranties that I buy locally so that if I need a warranty replacement I can get the part the same day, but if that comes at too high a cost I'll wing it with online parts and put up with the downtime. It used to be that the cheap online parts were less reliable manufacturers than at the auto parts stores, but now it seems they are the same brands or manufacturers just with different package labels.
This is so true. They move production overseas at the same time they're pinching consumers for more money. The executives then grab huge bonuses. Lack of competition gives us no choice. Wish there were something like Mark Cuban's pharmacy but for auto parts.
I just had this happen again buying latex disposable gloves few years ago $8.00 then $14.00 yesterday $25.00 a box same brand and everything Grant it I were 2XL but same brand and amount in box. Ridiculous
I just ran into this same thing. I ended up buying the 5 gallon pail of ATF for $100 but I ordered it online and got 20% off. It ended up being about $4 a quart from O'Reilly's. Now I have extra fluid for next time. I couldn't see spending $30 a gallon otherwise.
You hit the nail on the head when you talk about how many hours you have to work. Its the first thing that that goes through my head before I buy anything.
O’reilly’s does price match, so I always go on my phone and find the Walmart price for oil. Just because i live in a remote area and Walmart is considerably farther
Whenever we part out and scrap cars I used to just let good fluids go in the waste oil heater. It’s gotten so expensive, now I save every fluid out of them in jugs for myself.
Good thoughts here...thanks for getting the heart of the matter. Devaluation of the dollar is very serious and 100% a man-made problem. We need to bring manufacturing back to the US, and throw out any politicians claiming it's not possible. It IS possible and critically important.
In the 90s Chrysler started using it's own special fluid ATF+3. The last year Ford used Type F was 1980. GM suck with the "standard" Dexron until 04 05 ish. Ford also used Dexron from 1981 until late 90s
The local Case dealer used to buy a couple truck loads of Fleetguard filters a year, and had a big sale in February. Don't know if Titan is still allowing them that much independence.
I just went to my small town auto store last weekend. Bought a quart of oil for $10! I also bought fuel line, and a filter for my lawn mower. I couldn’t believe it when the bill was $45. Unless I have something that I need right away, I find part stores can be double the price of rock auto or Amazon and usually avoid auto stores. Thanks for your videos they always make me think.
Hi from the UK! I run 2 cars and 2 motorcycles as my 'toys' if you like. Yes parts are getting more expensive, but what makes it affordable for me is I do 95% of my own spanner work. Over here a regular garage would charge the equivalent of $80/hr and main dealers $140/hr. So what I save in not paying labour is my biggest saving and makes my hobby possible.
I agree. I always maintained my on vehicles typically older motorcycles and cars because coming up I couldn't afford newer cars. I'm 72 now and don't really enjoy fiddling anymore on my 'toys' as well especially since I hadn't bought oil for a while and got sticker shock when I bought some last week. Unfortunately it seems whenever it's mentioned that people have more money in their pockets prices for products go up. I think less and less people perform their own maintenance these days and just pay whatever to get it done. As long as people are willing to purchase things like vehicles and homes and pay thousands over MSRP or market value cost will continue to rise.
We can thank Uncle Joe Uncle Tony. The best bang for the buck on oil and filters is the local Walmarts. Even with Autozone Rewards it still doesn't offset most times.
I'm always watching for deals and comparing prices .I even took a part time job at an auto parts store so I could get the employee discount. Every little bit helps make the hobby cost less. When I'm at a wrecking yard, I fill my pockets with bulbs, fuses, relays and small clips and fasteners. They never sell these items so why not, but to buy them new can really add up.
Those parts aren't even in their pos system usually. Ive tried to buy clips and relays before but if I can fit a few in my hand they usually tell me it's not even worth the time to ring it up...
TOTALLY ON POINT!!! Shits Fucked up Nowadays!! My 08 ford Explorer has a major leak every time I run it ,, I think it’s the torque converter.. And I gotta fill it from underneath because some DOUCE BAG engineer figured out NOT to put a fill tube under the hood ‼️‼️‼️😤.. O .. happy Independence Day 🇺🇸
I remember my first car in the late 1980s. Penzoil was 99 cents per quart and a Fram oil filter was around a $1.50. A new car batter around $40. I also noticed that O Reillys seems to have done away with the free oil filter with whatever oil they are promoting that week.
I and my son did some standard work on a 4x4 truck,seals, balljoints ujoints and so on and the cost a brake clean and normal supplies are crazy..this hits home..it's crazy how high these standard products we need and use
I've been buying my oils at Walmart because they're so much cheaper but also have noticed the parts stores rarely run oil change specials with filter anymore, there use to be multiple oil change packages to choose from at every parts store
Yep. Ive recently changed trans fluid and filter AND oil in my daily driver. The Oil i get free from where i work (unwritten job perks) but the trans fluid.. forget about it! For Orieleys store brand Dex/Merc it was right at $7 per quart. lol i stood there at the oil rack for at least five minutes complaining out loud about how i remember buying the same thing for 89 cents a quart!! People may dismiss such complaints citing how prices change with time. BS!!! Back then min wage was $4.50ish an hour. so one hours worth of work was enough for 4 quarts of oil... min wage in 2023 is a paltry $7.25 i think.. thats enough to buy ONE quart of oil. See the problem? Case in point, the economy has been WRECKED by a gang of incompetent fools.
@@w41duvernay Peoples complacency and ignorance is one of the reasons why this gross overpricing remains a thing. LOL sitting here justifying price gouging and runaway inflation. Same people that ignore the fact that were deep within a recession. A recession due to gross incompetence and a lack of competent leadership. LOL "the rage".. As if we havent had synthetic oil since 1929. HAHAHAHAHAH!! they are literally clueless and think they know everything. 🤣
This video hits close to home. I worked for a nationwide auto parts chain in college in the early 2000s. Our store brand oil was 94 cents a quart, an even dollar with tax. Today it's $5.79 plus tax. I bought a set of OEM brake rotors in 2018 for ~$80 each. Bought the exact same part number last month for ~$174 each. Insanity.
Biggest rip on the market lately is the premixed antifreeze. 13-15$ a gallon , where a straight gallon is 16-18$. Get yourself a gallon of distilled for 2-3$ and mix it yourself.
*I was at Walmart about a month ago and I couldn’t believe that they didn’t have, and don’t even stock a single gallon of conventional 10W30 everything is full synthetic/synthetic blend*
It's not just inflation. There is alot of greed involved as well. Inflation is getting used as am excuse to over raise the value of products. When start seeing products more then double in value, then you know their is more to it then just inflation.
@@Soundsofthewood yeah. and it works as people still think that a 25 dollar peach cobbler is worth it and not thinking if there's a difference between uncle bens and store brand rice (and people still keep complaining that they're eating for 40 bucks a day at mcdonalds because they can 'only afford to eat at mcdonalds').
tony, as a leprechaun i can tell you that currently we are paying more for oil products than we are selling them for. if you want to know the markup, ask an employee HIS price over the retail price. the company is actively price gouging consumers. when I can buy a Bosch wiper blade for $15, and the same is $35 to a retail customer and $30 to a commercial customer. we (employees) do not get that big of a discount, it averages out to around cost + 20%. its like the prices have gone up 4% for us, and 35% for customers, but its like that at every store, not just the leprechaun
I used to work for a company in Selmer TN called Spectrum (Phillips 66 now) that bottled Motor Oil, Transmission fluid and Bar & Chain lube. A lot of these "specifically designed for the motor or transmission" is BS. We'd be bottling say Nissan and on the label it would say "specifically designed for Nissan Transmissions." Then we'd finish the order, change the bottle color from silver to black and change the roll of labels from Nissan to Acura. That's it... Start filling with exact same trans fluid and on the Acura label it would say "specifically designed for Acura transmissions." and this was the same process for several name brands. Same for oil and lube too. Now if a order did call for a different formula we'd have to shut down and flush the lines several times with the new fluid and have it tested in a lab and the lab will tell us when it passes specifications then we'd be given the ok to run and start filling and packaging the bottles.
Just the parts I've bought the last two years have gone up in price. A Weiand Stealth cost like $325 a year ot two ago when I got it, over $400 now. The Summit K6900 cam kit I got early this year was $150, now its $250. My advice, if you're thinking about buying something for later, buy it today! By the time I get the 318 put in the 68 D200, I'll need to borrow money for the damned fluids! 😂
Right at the beginning of '20 I started a project and knew I'd need a lot of 3m structural adhesive. It was 40-43$ a tube ,so I got 6 before the announced price increases. I had to buy one in late 22, and it was 58$ 🤬
Yea auto parts store are like the wild west last couple years..can't get the correct part from someone who is in the know..and the pricing is wild compared to years past..oil is crazy expensive..
Visited two local Autozone stores last week to replace a basic muffler/tail pipe saddle clamp. Neither store could provide me with a saddle clamp of any size. Female store manager who knows me, blamed the stock issue on me looking for parts for one of my classic 1960's Mopars. When told her it was for a plain Jane Jeep Cherokee, she quit talking.
I just found and bought (6) 5 gallon jugs or Rotella T5 for $65 each. Seemed so cheap I was headed to the other stores to continue the stocking. Then I got sketched thinking that there has to be a shelf life and I now have a 6 year supply. Same thought process as you had. If I was sure it wouldn't go bad I'd buy a 20 year supply. Local stores having to gouge may also be a sign that they are near the breaking point of competing with online shopping and this is the last hail Mary. Then once they are out the online dealers can stick it to us too.
I was changing the oil in my 335d recently, which takes a little more than 9 quarts of 5w-40. Best price I could find on Rotella T6 was Tractor Supply of all places. I had never considered TSC for consumables but I'll definitely be checking there in the future!
Be sure to browse a few aisles , especially the tractor parts there's things like solenoids and other items that can be considered universal fit and alot cheaper
TSC is selling 2.5 gallons of Rotella T-6 5w40 Synthetic for diesels priced @ $65.. curbside pickup only. Amazon selling is the same product by the gallon for $23.48 delivered to my door. (That works out to $58.70 for those who are math challenged).
I hear you. Back in the early 80’s when a litre of petrol (gasoline) was about 40c a four or five litre container of decent engine oil was about $4-5 so roughly ten times as much as a litre of petrol. When I say decent I’m talking about Valvoline XLD or Castro GTX as they were about the top of the tree back then Nowadays a litre of petrol is $1.75-$1.85 & 5 litres of engine oil is $40 upwards or over 20X a litre of fuel in cost. I know oil has improved but that’s a hike I’m price.
Thanks for sharing this. The ridiculous cost of fluid is just one more reason I am glad I swapped out a FMX for a 4 speed in my 69 Mustang (I mean, besides the fact it did not work right).
It's corporate greed today. Several of the private shareholders meetings have been released recently and they are bragging in the Zoom meetings how they raised prices and thus profits well beyond real inflation. American executives are obsessed with short term quarterly profits. So they simply raise prices as high as they believe they can get away with. Japanese companies would rather slowly capture a market with low prices and good quality. But CEOs in Japan only make 60 times more than bottom workers. American CEOs after 1970's demand 400 to 4000 times more compensation than bottom employees. The only way they can get paid that much is to screw over fellow Americans with ridiculous prices.
Speaking of Rotella. . All my cars are high mileage and vintage models. The thing is, im an OTR truck driver and my company has Shell Rotella literally on tap for us to fill out gallon Oil jugs to keep in our trucks. You may call it stealing if you wish, but i keep 3 - 4 gallons for myself. So all i need to buy is an oil filter. Wix, never Fram. I also have copius amounts of antifreeze and windshield washer fluid. Gotta do what you gotta do in potato brains economy
Just paid $16 a gallon for antifreeze. Have been watching the prices go up on everything. So I bought full break kit, pads, springs, wheel cylinders and brake shoes even though I don't need them yet.
What's crazy is, the pre-mixed antifreeze. I see they're trying to push that crap more and more. It was probably 14$ at your store. Thats the biggest scam ever ,get a gallon of distilled water and now ya got 2 gallons for around 18$ at your cost.
Yep, I've been doing that a lot especially on this project I just finished. I knew I'd need 3m panelbond from the beginning,so before the announced price increases I got 6 tubes at around 41$ a piece in late '20. Near the end of 22, stock was low so I got an extra tube. 58$. Buy it now ,even if you don't need it for a while.
So true. Currently building a ford 4.6 4v, and the price of a good gasket set (if you can find them, locally) is ridiculous. $500 for a decent set of valve springs. Not even the upper tier stuff. Crazy…
Thanks for the heads up! I too have been noticing the ridiculous prices lately. My thought on the transmission fluid is that Lowes probably marks their merchandise up similar to Costco.
Here in Australia, the price of basics like bread and milk is what gets me wound up. Every few weeks it seems to go up, which happened again today, $3.55 for 2 litres of basic whole milk.
It's the same in Australia. It's crazy. I buy online, went to buy a fuel pump, locally $365, same one on line $78 delivered, trailer plug locally $29, same one online $6.99 delivered. I just stocked up on about 10 gallons of oil as it was half price.
I had a local parts store closing in my area due to building owner getting greedy raising the rent on a old rundown building. Very disappointing since it was a real old style parts store that had real counter people and had everything. They had a one day moving out sale big discounts, I bought multiple cases of oil for everything I own, engine and trans. I have been watching oil prices for a couple years going up, big retailers generally have their house brand which is a bit cheaper.
I don't really understand these situations. I have seen a lot of places close down and buildings sit vacant for years while still asking for crazy rent. My guess is that lots of these places are owned by blackrock or something similar. A real anti-trust investigation has to be started into this sort of stuff.
I wish I would have stocked up on oil when it was on sale for about two bucks a quart back in about 2010. Oil used to be priced per quart somewhere near where a gallon of gas was priced. What happened?
Barry and the Potato happened. The idea is to make owning a vehicle so reprehensibly expensive that people move into big cities where hey can walk or ride the bus. Why would they do that? To control movement, to keep you from meeting someone else and talking without being observed. :)
Another thing that has gone up by crazy is the cost to get a decent shop to do any work for you. I recently had some minor work done on one of my cars because I just did not have the time to do it myself, and I was shocked at how much I was charged. This is by the most reputable shop in my area too. Beyond an alignment, I will never go to another shop again. I'll make the time to do my own work at these prices.
Oriellys has been price gouging on " need it now" stuff for a few years now. I don't mind spending a few dollars more to keep my brick and morter open, but i draw the line at near double. Fluids, Brake pads and rotors are good examples.
Try 3x, my brother inlaw had to buy 2 timing chain adjusters at Oreily's because he needed the now, they were literally 3x the price for the same part and manufacturer from rockauto.
@@member57 yup. Just got a brake hose from amazon yesterday for 12 bucks from Dorman for the wife's car. O'Reilly was 43 for house brand. Napa was 50. I said the car can sit until it gets here. Not taking that price hike on chin.
Go price a new vehicle. You can spend $100,000 buying a diesel truck now. The average house price where I live is getting to be around $500,000. Average house price in Vancouver, Canada, about 1.2 million. Their dollar is less than the US dollar but still a lot of cash
Good video, Tony. I don't know when folks are going to wake up to this stuff- shop around, shop ahead online and pay the lower price so you have it when you need it - or be willing to wait for whatever it is to be delivered at some point and realize the savings. Further, folks don't seem to fix their own stuff anymore - plumbing, mechanical, electrical....they don't want to do their own house maintenance, e.g. painting - and they don't want to do their own lawn care, they hire someone to do it. Are they printing money or something? Up to their eyeballs in debt? Don't know, but I know what I'm teaching my sons.....
There’s just a lot of really wealthy people I think. I do and have always done my own repairs on the house. Do my maintenance on the cars. I had a neighbor ask what’s the issue with my car. He didn’t know why someone would have it on ramps. Was just changing oil.
Way back, in junior high school, we made these R12 powered cars in metal shop. The motor was an aluminum cylinder with a 1/8” hole in the business end. Connect one end of the charging hose to the R12 can & the other end tightly in the hole. Once pressure inside the cylinder reached its max, the hose blew out and the car took off… leaving a mist of R12 vapor filling the hallway. We were setting so many of these things off you could not see the other end of the hall. If you were at the launch end your clothing was saturated. To get to the point… We burned through a crazy amount of R12. There was a local, small auto parts chain called Gatlings Auto. Normal price on R12 was three cans for a buck. On sale it was four. Once a year it was five. I was going through three or four cases (of 12 cans) per week. To have that in today’s money would be, not life changing, but life improving. I still have one of those cans.
I noticed this price gouging trend at least 20 years ago. Ridiculous prices on any kind of common thing. It's like they don't care if you're a return customer, they got you hard this time. Now, more than half the population lives off the government like a parasite. They buy things with their government benefits and don't equate the cost of things in relation to how much work or time it took to earn the cash. I think of things the same way you do Tony.
1972, I was 16 in Rapid City SD. GAS was 22.9¢ a gallon. Motor oil (30w) was 29¢ a quart, 20w was 19¢ a quart. It cost $1 - $2 to have your greased/lubed. You rebuilt not replaced generators, alternators, and starters. You can't get starter solenoids separate anymore.
Good video, Tony. Great topic with great analysis. One additional observation: Beware of lower quality that sometimes comes with lower prices. E.g., I had a string of bad 6 volt voltage/current regulators that I got online. I finally bought one at NAPA and it has worked properly SO FAR. It's the first one I've had in several years that works properly.
My nephew owns a repair shop and he was paying $2 for an oil filter. Now his cost is $9. I bought one at a parts store and it was $14. It's crazy. Thanks for sharing 👍. 3:59
I think one of the things I've noticed is now that all these " parts stores" have popped up, they are mostly for the do it yourselfers more than the professional mechanics like in the old days. You'd go into a parts store and get your professional discount whereas now it's the same price no matter what , and it has been creeping up. I still feel I get the best price and quality from Napa. O'Reillies has always shocked me with the prices and for that reason is the last place I will go.
You have to walk into the jobbers with shop cloths on. I do that with one of the old Chrysler dealership mechanic shirts that they discontinued around 2010. It always gets me better prices than at those mainstream parts stores, though still more than if I had a wholesale account like shops have.
The parts guy at my local O'Reillys said my 71 Charger didn't exist because he was new and couldn't find it in the computer. 😂 I said the phantom car is parked in front of the store 😂😂😂
Great video! That's what I've done for years. It the only way I can stay in the hobby. Stock up and watch prices! And I'm 70 now. I have many projects. Thanks for your time. You're always interesting.
Napa sells bulk boxes that are a decently good deal. It’s a bag of oil in a box with a spigot. If you’ve got room to store it getting stuff in bulk is almost always cheaper. And, if you’re watching price it can give the ability to stock up when it’s cheaper. If all Tony’s stuff uses the same trans fluid and engine oil I’d be looking at getting it in drums if the math works out. Sometimes can even get it in 5 gal buckets for cheaper if you don’t want drums.
@@Ufos4dahoes I don't think gas stations get deals on oil since they're only really getting bulk fuel. You'd about need to make friends with a repair shop and maybe they'd sell you stuff at cost. Might even try to see who is the oil distributor for you area and see if they'll sell to a private person. I doubt they would, but it's worth a shot.
Big business AKA federal government doesn't give a damn about your hobbies unless they can control them . Hunting , fishing , hotroding. Ect. People control is the name of the game 😮😮😮
Almost $7 here in the USA for just the "burger" anymore...and it ain't really a "Big Mac" anymore...definitely a LOT smaller than it was in the 1980's... just a couple thin pressed "wafers" for "meat"..and LOTS of shredded lettuce and a little bit of thousand island dressing....
Ford's earlier Type F ATF simply does not include the typical ATF friction modifiers. Therefore, it is grippier, which is why automatic drag racers loved it. Mopar and GM early ATFs were friction modified for smoother shifts. It has absolutely nothing to do with shellac, at all. No one puts shellac in their ATF.
My manufacture recommends Dexos engine oil. Instead I use the cheapest oil that I can find on the shelf, change it every 10,000 miles and have been doing so for over 200,000 miles now. No burning, no leaks, no sludge, drive it to work 5 days a week. This may give you an idea on how to save money.
I can change my oil for just under $25. $16.97 for a 5 qt. jug of oil, and $4.22 for a filter at Walmart. I also generally use most of a can of brake parts cleaner when doing an oil change.
I noticed several years ago that all of the frequently bought little items like washer fluid etc. seemed to be priced by sleazy speculator bean counter types in the auto parts stores(Oreillys to be specific.) They tag $100 on to every item it seems down to a relay I found online for $12 instead of $118 that they were asking. Buddies terminal clamp was loose and I priced an alternator prior to “having a look at things” in the off chance that was what it would wind up being.. They were asking $385-$500. I found it online for $97. They are slipping under the waves in my opinion. I don’t appreciate being rawhided like that. Thanks Tony.
Please keep doing these economic videos. I really dig them and I think they are helping more people stay in this hobby than you realize! Or you could start a second channel called “the Mechanical Ninja” (economic ninja spin-off) I think it would do well as our economy deteriorates more and more.
Tony, One of the benchmarks I use is some of my friends play golf. a round of golf is $100. My car hobby driving and event participation is cost averaging at about $65 per interaction,, fuel, insurance registration. This is a very valuable economic discussion. The car hobby right not has become a moving target. One significant issue here in the west is registration by states DMV on older cars since the governments are clawing to stay afloat and grabbing any money from the disposable income community like old car enthusiast. Keep up the great content..
Uncle Tony, I’ve been saying this for years and all my friends and family say I’m nuts you go to work every day and give your life away to a company and then you trade that life for stuff you want to do and the people that want to do it for you want double your life that’s why I try to do everything myself even if I lose some time on the weekends, it didn’t cost me nothing but time that was my own to give When you start looking at life traded for work done for you. It looks totally different no matter how much money you put in it you’re absolutely right.
Yes he needs to do a secondary backup channel that is all about the economics of this hobby and maybe even life in general. I think he has some good knowledge to share.
When I price shop, the best price is NEVER at the “auto parts” store.
Yep, just about any other retail store is going to be less.
Worst place to buy oil, for sure.
My local napa beats TCP prices on oil
YES! The only time I use to ever buy stuff there was oil change deals. But it's been years since there has been a deal on them really. I have bought 99% of my oil at Walmart, it's the best deal on that type stuff.
Apparently you don't shop at the dumpster or garbage can picked up some brand used wipers work great
"People don't value value in a debt based economy" So true, and so scary.
I remember as a kid of 10 years old in 2008-2009 watching the grocery cart get less full and the price go up. Going to the parts store became another clobbering and all of the once made in USA parts and accessories were either discontinued or were made overseas. Hearing my dad swearing about all of this burned into my psyche that the powers over us will create and use any crisis to afford average people less comfort.
The “once made in USA parts” were long gone by 08-09.
You can thank Bill Clinton’s dumbass for that.
Once I started seeing "Made in China" on all the name brand parts I was buying from the local auto parts store I lost all loyalty and decided to start buying online and cutting out the middle men.
Yeah used to be $100 would be a cart maybe two of groceries. Gotta love when the rat's are in office. Clinton killed the country's auto industry Obama and now potato are here to finish what he started.
I opened my car repair shop in 2010 FML lol
Took me til 2020 to mentally recover.
After reading your post...I realized I'm that "old guy".
Videos like this is why I like uncle tony. The old car uncle I never had teaching me valuable lessons
Auto parts stores gouge their prices terribly. Walmart has transmission fluid for $17.97 a gallon for Valentine's dex/merc.
Walmart has become the only place I buy consumables like oil, brake clean, RTV, shop towels, common filters, etc. it’s so much cheaper than anywhere else, even online. Funny thing is I hardly buy anything else there.
Same here, everywhere else is unaffordable unless you make a TON of money but wages have not gone up. Things are nuts, house prices are so inflated and with a 6% mortgage most decent homes around me are 4,000+ a month payment and you couldn't even rent it out for that. CRAZY
We all say that now....but the Auto Parts store has more cashiers than Walmart. Walmart cherry picks what to carry/sell....but you expect the autopart store to have million dollar inventories, but not make enough money to pay the rent, lights, heat, and labor. What happens if they close up? Car will be down for days waiting on parts.
Under Trump couple years ago, Walmart motor oil was $12.99 for 5 quarts, full synthetic only$13.99 !!!
Nearly double that now and the jugs have Security Devices on them now...
It's funny how most of everyone i know runs their daily driver to 200,000 + and never once worries about the oil in their transmission. I buy cars with the fluid black in the transmission. I take off the trans line, start it up and let it run out while i fill it. Easy and cheap
UT, I worked in a tiny little privately owned gas station, way out in the country as a kid and teenager. It was so backwards the driveway was dirt, and we had a grease pit for working under the car. New can of oil was 50 cents, and Rev Oil brand recycled oil was 25 cents. We pumped gas, cleaned windshields and checked oil and coolant levels for free. The owners name was Alvin, one day Alvin told a lady in a Chevy she needed a quart of oil. She paid a quarter for the Rev Oil and Alvin put it in, closed the hood and away she went. Then Alvin says, "Man I've been working too hard, I need some rest, I just put a quart of oil in that lady's radiator!"
In the early 60's my dad was working late when a customer came in with a Falcon that was a slow crank and wouldn't start. He swapped in a battery and it still wouldn't start. Then he replaced the starter. I was an 8yo parts kid so I looked at the car and went to the shelf for the starter. Confused, dad finally asked the owner what year the car was...64. Dad pulled out the 6 volt battery he just installed, set it on the ground next to the 6 volt the car came with and installed the proper 12 volt battery. Fired right up! As soon as the customer left dad said Close it up... I'm going to bed.
Those same stories but 2023 prices and Trump shows up and eats a baby to death
Hahaha good one
I know exactly what you mean. In my state 1990 average hose cost $54k, average income $26k. Now its house prices average nearly $300k, but the average salary now is around $50k. So wages doubled and prices increased 5x-6x. Back in around 2000 you could still by a decent car for $1000, that car now is 3.5-4K.
I recently ran into a similar issue, on my 65 f100 the starter solenoid went bad, so I went to the parts store to pick one up, when I got the one I had a little over 2 years ago it was around 15-20. Well when I went to buy it, they wanted 40+ for the cheapest starter solenoid... I then went to a local feed store that sells tractor parts. They had the starter solenoid that the ford tractors use, the same one that is used on the F100.. 15.00. So I grabbed that one, working like it should.
Yeah, some creative thinking will sometimes get you a big discount. It doesn't work with everything, but knowing your parts and whether they are interchangeable can save you a ton of money.
My '98 F150 uses the same part. It's called a starter relay, because the starters now have a selenoid, like GMs.
Mine gave out across the street from O'Reilly. I replaced it and the ignition switch. The switch failed after a couple months. The weight difference was noticably lighter and the plastic wasn't as rugged, compared to the original. And the selenoid was worse, weighing half as much. I went to NAPA when I could, and got a new selenoid, which weighs MORE than the original! (At double the price)
Junkyard is #1
@@rosslefave5877 Junkyards are one of my happiest places. So many parts all begging to be combined in unique and fun ways. Alas I have seen most of the salvage yards around here closed. 10 years ago I had 9 yards within 20 minutes drive from my home. Today I have 2 that are within an hour an a half drive and those are expensive and do not let you roam the yard(you have to stand at the counter while the staff goes and gets your part).
@@rosslefave5877hardly any left anymore. They made the insurance to hard to maintain for the average joes salvage yards. We lost 5 in less than a decade near me. Only 2 left now in 100 mile radius
A few years ago spray paint was 3-4 a can. Now it's $12-15
One perk of working in a automotive shop is that we always have half-full jugs of all kinds of fluids. A kind of unspoken shop policy of ours is that once a container is opened it's either used on that job, the remainder offered to the customer (most don't want it), or it's disposed of. Whenever it needs disposed of, it goes home with me. I don't remember the last time I bought any kind of ATF, PS fluid, gear oil, or coolant.
@jewsrbad Nah, recycling is good, and everyone is square.
I stopped working in an automotive shop 3 and a half years ago. Im on my last 6 quarts of 0W-20... :(
I worked in a dodge dealership as lube tech years ago I got probably 3 gallons of atf 3 and 4 and every time we emptied a barrel of 10w30 or 15w40 I would take them home stand them onto a 5 gallon bucket fer a week then pour that into a barrel. I left with bout 20 gallons of oil I scavenged over a 2 yr period. It was a 10w30 15w40 blend but that ol 318 did not care either way.
Now that's being resourceful and I do the exact same thing working in my own garage on customer vehicles. If they don't want the left over fluid, I take it.
Extra nuts and bolts? I'll take it.
Extra length wiring? Yeap I'll take it too.
@@carrsllccarrillo6507 All of these stories are great for the individuals, but not real smart on the part of the owners/managers. If you have all your techs taking home all this free stuff, something is wrong with your system.
In my experience, O'Reilly's is and always has been, consistently far more expensive than any other auto parts store. They came to my area about five years ago, and their price for a fuel pump module for my 07 2500HD was nearly 3X that of Rock Auto for the exact same Genuine GM part - even the local dealer was less. Price shopping has been the foundation of my car hobby, and for at least the last fifteen years, you will get hosed walking a brick and mortar auto parts store. It used to be that NAPA was the priciest shop around, but the chains have run the local guys out of business, and then jacked their prices up when the competition was gone. It's a sad state, but you MUST price shop, you MUST order online and use coupons, and you MUST plan ahead for big projects.
NAPA is more, I'd bet.
@@joeaverage7791 Not usually..definitely not on oil...
I really try to shop local. If the locals go out of business there will be no "fix it today" option available. But recently the price disparities between online and local are just too much to justify. My two most recent encounters were a simple fan belt, and a set of NGK plug wires. At O'Reilly's, they were $32 and $94 respectively. At Rock Auto they were $9 and $33. Basically TRIPLE as you said. I love O'Reilly's and I have been lazy over the years and just gone there for stuff, but no more.
On oil yeah, but wholesale pricing they're usually close to the best
Here lately I've been surprised on some parts because our NAPA here was actually cheaper than Oreillys!
You just wiped out the LOWE's AFT supply! LOL. Last year when it was really hard to find Rotella, I was grabbing gallons from ACE Hardware. Just like you said: ACE isn't really known for automotive. All the jugs were dusty from riding the shelf. But, there they were.
I did the same thing with the 15W40 Rotella T4. I was grabbing 5 gallon pails from ANYWHERE I could find them. Probably have 15 or 20 now. 😆
Exactly, now they are going to raise the price because it's such a good selling product...
He could have just said shop around or something, cause a lot of us bargain shoppers already know where to get the good prices...
Spent an hour last night at a local car cruise with some 19-20 yr olds who wanted to buy my truck. They were lamenting that even though I was selling it below market, they still couldn't scrape together the money to buy it. I was telling them about when I was their age I made about $4 an hour and the 69 Dodge Charger I owned took about $8 to fill the tank. I got the car for less than $1000 back in 1976. SO for 2 hours of my labour I could fill the tank and drive for a week. That truck now costs about $130 to fill and if I was making minimum wage ($15 per hour in Ontario Canada) took a days wages BEFORE TAXES. I had to service the transmission on that ruck last month when I lost reverse. Simple fix. Retaining ring on the Overdrive Unit (46RE) $8 for the ring. $20 for the tail stock and pan gasket/filter kit and $80 for the fluid. Would have been a $1500 repair if I'd gotten someone else to do it. I have the tools and knowledge. But I've been wrenching for 50 years. The kids now adays are NOT going to enjoy the sport like we have.
About 5-6 years ago, I purchased 2 cases of Royal Purple synthetic oil @ 99 cents a quart. The business had discontinued the brand. I quit doing my own oil changes after I moved to a condo. I recently gave the 2 cases to a friend, knowing I would never use them. I had no idea the price had gone up so much. No wonder he was so grateful.
I work for a large automotive company and about 4 months ago we clearanced Mobil1 ATF for 1.05 a quart. He’s not lying, it happens.
@@timsullivan9642 clearance is not really the price. That’s basically giving it away and has nothing to do with the price of oil
@@timsullivan9642 also oil has a shelf life of about 5 years according to google.when stored properly,Who knows how long it sat there before OP bought it
@@TH-camcensoredmyusernameconventional oil can last 6+ years but you gotta filter out the chunks.😂 Synthetic penzoil lasted 11 years no chunks!
@@guido4231 some places are super anal about working on your car in the parking lot. Most won't care if you look like you know what you're doing, but my last apartment complex came under new management and was super strict about that and a bunch of other nonsense.
Dex Merc Transmission fluid gallons Here in Yakima Washington State, is $29.98 the cheapest is Walmart at $17.98 per gallon! Godspeed from the beautiful North West, be blessed! 🕊️🙌🏾🙏🏽🕊️✝️😇
In the early 70's I worked at a department store in that had a huge tire and service dept. They had sale and sold Quaker State 10W30 oil for 33 cents a quart, and it cost them 43 cents a quart and normally sold it for 69 cents a quart. We would sell an entire 44' trailer out from 8am to noon. The 10 cent loss was calculated against the other departments like appliances, men's clothing, housewares, etc. They would do that sale quarterly.
You bring up a great point. There are no "loss leader" oil sales like this anymore. It never goes on sale anywherewhere you would make a trip just to get a case. I had to recycle cases of brand new qs, motorcraft, Pennzoil, etc from my grandfathers house when he passed because every time there was that sale he would get more. There were a few 2000 ish era cases of qs I felt ok using up in my plow truck but the rest of it was cardboard cans.
@@Nationalminer84 This is because online resellers will go in and clean out their stock. Then they're not loss leaders any more. They're just losses. It's not like the old days for us penny pinchers. There's competition now.
It is like Costco selling the food for dirt cheap. It brings you in, and then you realize you need some TP, and a chicken... and some salad mix... That brings the $$$ in. The cheap items bring you in the door.
I would always change my own oil for my cars. My cars were always older and proven mechanically. I took my wife's car to get the oil changed a couple of years ago and was shocked as to much it takes to pay for a simple oil change on a car (Toyota Camry) that is 11 years old. It was like close to 80 bucks! My old girls would at max cost me 30 to 40 bucks total.
It's going to be interesting times ahead. I'm keeping things simple and reliable... stocking up on points, condensors, etc all the stock replacement stuff. Hope fuel will still be available at reasonable prices, governments here in Europe are going full retard on the EV's
Like the cars we drive, we are dinosaurs and like history we will eventually become extinct. Enjoy them while you can.
It will be like my Porsche 944 if you need a part you don't go to the auto parts store you go online and then wait a week for it to be delivered and it's not cheap but you can get the parts
@@TwoDollarGararge haha people look at me funny when I mention I get nos parts from Greece for my mk2 Jetta coupe 😂
Can't beat the quality though obviously,I'm grateful that I can still find stuff.
@@MrTheHillfolk The only issue is when you don't know where your parts are coming from it could take a week or it could take a month
You do realize condensers go bad on the shelf the longer they sit, right?
I typically spend little to no money at the corporate auto parts stores. Orilley wanted $12.99 for 1 quart of Mercon LV. Ford Dealer charges $7.50. Oil, 5 quart jug $40. Menards, I get Pennsoil full synthetic for $19.99 for 5 qts. Walmart also sells consumables at a fair price.
I reuse stuff as well. Run antifreeze through a paint strainer. Catch 1/2 used oil if it was drained for repair and put it back in.
Not only are things more expensive now, What You Do buy is junk and it doesn't last! A friend of mine had to buy three ignition coils till he finally got one that lasted.
I found out that ignition coils are now packed with fiber class instead of oil.
It gets hot & burns out.
If you can find one packed with oil the price is triple.
Its not just coils. I bout a new blower motor for my subaru. Brand new and it squeals lime its 20 years old
Any shop that uses bulk amounts of transmission fluid buy in 55 gallon drums they typically spend between 2.50 and 3 dollars a quart.
The weaponization of the prices of things has been a long term trend. This as also true with making everything specialized, where in some cases the type of fluid is specific to just one brand of vehicle. The major auto parts chains are taking advantage of their marketing that makes people mostly think of O'Reilly's, AutoZone, Advance Auto as the only place to shop - then they are charging a premium for their convenience. There are some things with lifetime warranties that I buy locally so that if I need a warranty replacement I can get the part the same day, but if that comes at too high a cost I'll wing it with online parts and put up with the downtime. It used to be that the cheap online parts were less reliable manufacturers than at the auto parts stores, but now it seems they are the same brands or manufacturers just with different package labels.
I'm seeing that too-same things with different names
With ATF...Wolfs Head Universal covers everything.
I buy all my oil at Walmart, have so for years. I only buy the filters elsewhere, because Walmart usually only carries Fram.
Jegs High Performance has been known to sell high quality products online for years.
This is so true. They move production overseas at the same time they're pinching consumers for more money. The executives then grab huge bonuses. Lack of competition gives us no choice. Wish there were something like Mark Cuban's pharmacy but for auto parts.
I just had this happen again buying latex disposable gloves few years ago $8.00 then $14.00 yesterday $25.00 a box same brand and everything Grant it I were 2XL but same brand and amount in box. Ridiculous
I just ran into this same thing. I ended up buying the 5 gallon pail of ATF for $100 but I ordered it online and got 20% off. It ended up being about $4 a quart from O'Reilly's. Now I have extra fluid for next time. I couldn't see spending $30 a gallon otherwise.
I recently started buying the pails of trans fluid. Doesn't hurt me so much financially and I run nothing but mopars. So all the same stuff.
You hit the nail on the head when you talk about how many hours you have to work. Its the first thing that that goes through my head before I buy anything.
It was maybe 10-15 years ago the O'Reilly's was doing the 9.99 oil change special. It's crazy just the store brand oil is over 20 a jug now.
Walmart full synthetic is $20 for 5 qt. About $5 per individual qt . It's tested favorably against Mobile One full synthetic.
@@outlawbillionairez9780$20 divided by 5= $5 🧐
@@freebehindbars8654the outlaw billionaire wouldn't do well behind bars 😅😂
@@freebehindbars8654maybe he could give us some change for a few 20s
O’reilly’s does price match, so I always go on my phone and find the Walmart price for oil. Just because i live in a remote area and Walmart is considerably farther
Whenever we part out and scrap cars I used to just let good fluids go in the waste oil heater. It’s gotten so expensive, now I save every fluid out of them in jugs for myself.
Good thoughts here...thanks for getting the heart of the matter. Devaluation of the dollar is very serious and 100% a man-made problem. We need to bring manufacturing back to the US, and throw out any politicians claiming it's not possible. It IS possible and critically important.
In the 90s Chrysler started using it's own special fluid ATF+3. The last year Ford used Type F was 1980. GM suck with the "standard" Dexron until 04 05 ish. Ford also used Dexron from 1981 until late 90s
I remember back in the 80s when they gave rebates on oil and anti freeze. My dad was always well stocked and got lots of rebates!
I still do occasionally get oil rebates. Up until a year or two ago (like many things) mobil did them every summer.
O'Reilly has sales on Oil and filters pretty regularly...
Most of the time the oil companies used to give away a free jacket or hat with the rebates too.
The local Case dealer used to buy a couple truck loads of Fleetguard filters a year, and had a big sale in February. Don't know if Titan is still allowing them that much independence.
I just went to my small town auto store last weekend. Bought a quart of oil for $10! I also bought fuel line, and a filter for my lawn mower. I couldn’t believe it when the bill was $45. Unless I have something that I need right away, I find part stores can be double the price of rock auto or Amazon and usually avoid auto stores. Thanks for your videos they always make me think.
The worst part about auto parts stores is they will sell the same part to a garage for less than half what they want from you.
@@thatv8life186mattresses are a complete scam now unless you buy a basic one. The high end ones have fiberglass in them
I been paying close to that for royal purple for 5+ years lmao
Hi from the UK! I run 2 cars and 2 motorcycles as my 'toys' if you like. Yes parts are getting more expensive, but what makes it affordable for me is I do 95% of my own spanner work. Over here a regular garage would charge the equivalent of $80/hr and main dealers $140/hr. So what I save in not paying labour is my biggest saving and makes my hobby possible.
I agree. I always maintained my on vehicles typically older motorcycles and cars because coming up I couldn't afford newer cars. I'm 72 now and don't really enjoy fiddling anymore on my 'toys' as well especially since I hadn't bought oil for a while and got sticker shock when I bought some last week. Unfortunately it seems whenever it's mentioned that people have more money in their pockets prices for products go up. I think less and less people perform their own maintenance these days and just pay whatever to get it done. As long as people are willing to purchase things like vehicles and homes and pay thousands over MSRP or market value cost will continue to rise.
In 1980 Florida the Chevrolet garage posted $99/hr labor, $129/hr for Corvettes.
We can thank Uncle Joe Uncle Tony. The best bang for the buck on oil and filters is the local Walmarts. Even with Autozone Rewards it still doesn't offset most times.
I'm always watching for deals and comparing prices .I even took a part time job at an auto parts store so I could get the employee discount. Every little bit helps make the hobby cost less. When I'm at a wrecking yard, I fill my pockets with bulbs, fuses, relays and small clips and fasteners. They never sell these items so why not, but to buy them new can really add up.
Those parts aren't even in their pos system usually. Ive tried to buy clips and relays before but if I can fit a few in my hand they usually tell me it's not even worth the time to ring it up...
Glad to know I'm not the only one who does that. I'll offer a dollar but they usually don't ask for anything
TOTALLY ON POINT!!!
Shits Fucked up Nowadays!!
My 08 ford Explorer has a major leak every time I run it ,,
I think it’s the torque converter..
And I gotta fill it from underneath because some DOUCE BAG engineer figured out NOT to put a fill tube under the hood ‼️‼️‼️😤..
O .. happy Independence Day 🇺🇸
I remember my first car in the late 1980s. Penzoil was 99 cents per quart and a Fram oil filter was around a $1.50. A new car batter around $40. I also noticed that O Reillys seems to have done away with the free oil filter with whatever oil they are promoting that week.
No, that promo is still active
We need more shows like the one you just put on about economics
I and my son did some standard work on a 4x4 truck,seals, balljoints ujoints and so on and the cost a brake clean and normal supplies are crazy..this hits home..it's crazy how high these standard products we need and use
Good advise Tony. Keep on smiling.
I've been buying my oils at Walmart because they're so much cheaper but also have noticed the parts stores rarely run oil change specials with filter anymore, there use to be multiple oil change packages to choose from at every parts store
Thanks for guaranteeing Lowes will now be running out of stock/raising prices on that ATF
Can't find oil for under $5 a quart. I remember for years it was $1.25 for years.
Dollar store and Walmart
Yep. Ive recently changed trans fluid and filter AND oil in my daily driver. The Oil i get free from where i work (unwritten job perks) but the trans fluid.. forget about it! For Orieleys store brand Dex/Merc it was right at $7 per quart. lol i stood there at the oil rack for at least five minutes complaining out loud about how i remember buying the same thing for 89 cents a quart!! People may dismiss such complaints citing how prices change with time. BS!!! Back then min wage was $4.50ish an hour. so one hours worth of work was enough for 4 quarts of oil... min wage in 2023 is a paltry $7.25 i think.. thats enough to buy ONE quart of oil. See the problem? Case in point, the economy has been WRECKED by a gang of incompetent fools.
THAT was regular oil. NOW synthetic oil is the rage.
@@w41duvernay Peoples complacency and ignorance is one of the reasons why this gross overpricing remains a thing. LOL sitting here justifying price gouging and runaway inflation. Same people that ignore the fact that were deep within a recession. A recession due to gross incompetence and a lack of competent leadership.
LOL "the rage".. As if we havent had synthetic oil since 1929. HAHAHAHAHAH!!
they are literally clueless and think they know everything. 🤣
@@Smoketownedc 59 cents a quart at auto zone. (it was Auto Shack at the time.. Radio Shack sued them)
Keep rambling. I am 100% with you uncle tony. Our lincoln mkz takes a Toyota atf. It is like $15 a quart.
This video hits close to home. I worked for a nationwide auto parts chain in college in the early 2000s. Our store brand oil was 94 cents a quart, an even dollar with tax. Today it's $5.79 plus tax. I bought a set of OEM brake rotors in 2018 for ~$80 each. Bought the exact same part number last month for ~$174 each. Insanity.
Biggest rip on the market lately is the premixed antifreeze.
13-15$ a gallon , where a straight gallon is 16-18$.
Get yourself a gallon of distilled for 2-3$ and mix it yourself.
*I was at Walmart about a month ago and I couldn’t believe that they didn’t have, and don’t even stock a single gallon of conventional 10W30 everything is full synthetic/synthetic blend*
this inflation thing is out of control . it cost me around 25 dollars to make a peach cobbler from scratch , yesterday .
How did it taste?
Peaches are ridiculous, I heard there was a freeze that messed with the crop yields. I’m hoping the late season peaches come in ok.
It's not just inflation. There is alot of greed involved as well.
Inflation is getting used as am excuse to over raise the value of products.
When start seeing products more then double in value, then you know their is more to it then just inflation.
GREEDFLATION !!!
@@Soundsofthewood yeah. and it works as people still think that a 25 dollar peach cobbler is worth it and not thinking if there's a difference between uncle bens and store brand rice (and people still keep complaining that they're eating for 40 bucks a day at mcdonalds because they can 'only afford to eat at mcdonalds').
tony, as a leprechaun i can tell you that currently we are paying more for oil products than we are selling them for. if you want to know the markup, ask an employee HIS price over the retail price. the company is actively price gouging consumers. when I can buy a Bosch wiper blade for $15, and the same is $35 to a retail customer and $30 to a commercial customer. we (employees) do not get that big of a discount, it averages out to around cost + 20%. its like the prices have gone up 4% for us, and 35% for customers, but its like that at every store, not just the leprechaun
Just being able to fix our cars keeps us a little ahead of the curve.
I used to work for a company in Selmer TN called Spectrum (Phillips 66 now) that bottled Motor Oil, Transmission fluid and Bar & Chain lube. A lot of these "specifically designed for the motor or transmission" is BS.
We'd be bottling say Nissan and on the label it would say "specifically designed for Nissan Transmissions." Then we'd finish the order, change the bottle color from silver to black and change the roll of labels from Nissan to Acura. That's it... Start filling with exact same trans fluid and on the Acura label it would say "specifically designed for Acura transmissions." and this was the same process for several name brands. Same for oil and lube too.
Now if a order did call for a different formula we'd have to shut down and flush the lines several times with the new fluid and have it tested in a lab and the lab will tell us when it passes specifications then we'd be given the ok to run and start filling and packaging the bottles.
Just the parts I've bought the last two years have gone up in price. A Weiand Stealth cost like $325 a year ot two ago when I got it, over $400 now. The Summit K6900 cam kit I got early this year was $150, now its $250.
My advice, if you're thinking about buying something for later, buy it today!
By the time I get the 318 put in the 68 D200, I'll need to borrow money for the damned fluids! 😂
Welding supplies is insane now, especially wire and filler rods
Right at the beginning of '20 I started a project and knew I'd need a lot of 3m structural adhesive.
It was 40-43$ a tube ,so I got 6 before the announced price increases.
I had to buy one in late 22, and it was 58$ 🤬
Yea auto parts store are like the wild west last couple years..can't get the correct part from someone who is in the know..and the pricing is wild compared to years past..oil is crazy expensive..
Visited two local Autozone stores last week to replace a basic muffler/tail pipe saddle clamp. Neither store could provide me with a saddle clamp of any size. Female store manager who knows me, blamed the stock issue on me looking for parts for one of my classic 1960's Mopars. When told her it was for a plain Jane Jeep Cherokee, she quit talking.
I just found and bought (6) 5 gallon jugs or Rotella T5 for $65 each. Seemed so cheap I was headed to the other stores to continue the stocking. Then I got sketched thinking that there has to be a shelf life and I now have a 6 year supply. Same thought process as you had. If I was sure it wouldn't go bad I'd buy a 20 year supply. Local stores having to gouge may also be a sign that they are near the breaking point of competing with online shopping and this is the last hail Mary. Then once they are out the online dealers can stick it to us too.
I was changing the oil in my 335d recently, which takes a little more than 9 quarts of 5w-40. Best price I could find on Rotella T6 was Tractor Supply of all places. I had never considered TSC for consumables but I'll definitely be checking there in the future!
Be sure to browse a few aisles , especially the tractor parts there's things like solenoids and other items that can be considered universal fit and alot cheaper
TSC is selling 2.5 gallons of Rotella T-6 5w40 Synthetic for diesels priced @ $65.. curbside pickup only.
Amazon selling is the same product by the gallon for $23.48 delivered to my door.
(That works out to $58.70 for those who are math challenged).
I hear you. Back in the early 80’s when a litre of petrol (gasoline) was about 40c a four or five litre container of decent engine oil was about $4-5 so roughly ten times as much as a litre of petrol. When I say decent I’m talking about Valvoline XLD or Castro GTX as they were about the top of the tree back then
Nowadays a litre of petrol is $1.75-$1.85 & 5 litres of engine oil is $40 upwards or over 20X a litre of fuel in cost.
I know oil has improved but that’s a hike I’m price.
Thanks for sharing this. The ridiculous cost of fluid is just one more reason I am glad I swapped out a FMX for a 4 speed in my 69 Mustang (I mean, besides the fact it did not work right).
How about this one. A copy of a key used to cost $2. Now it costs $200.
Batteries and fluids are extremely overpriced at these automotive box stores. I usually purchase mine at Rural King.
RK is also my go to for that kind of stuff. Long live the King!
It's corporate greed today. Several of the private shareholders meetings have been released recently and they are bragging in the Zoom meetings how they raised prices and thus profits well beyond real inflation. American executives are obsessed with short term quarterly profits. So they simply raise prices as high as they believe they can get away with. Japanese companies would rather slowly capture a market with low prices and good quality. But CEOs in Japan only make 60 times more than bottom workers. American CEOs after 1970's demand 400 to 4000 times more compensation than bottom employees. The only way they can get paid that much is to screw over fellow Americans with ridiculous prices.
Come to England. It costs me they equivalent of around 70usd to do an oil change on my xj cherokee. Shell rotella and lucas
Speaking of Rotella. . All my cars are high mileage and vintage models. The thing is, im an OTR truck driver and my company has Shell Rotella literally on tap for us to fill out gallon Oil jugs to keep in our trucks. You may call it stealing if you wish, but i keep 3 - 4 gallons for myself. So all i need to buy is an oil filter. Wix, never Fram. I also have copius amounts of antifreeze and windshield washer fluid. Gotta do what you gotta do in potato brains economy
This is why I always buy a few of components shared by many of my cars, or ones I expect to be rare or expensive when NOS drys up.
Just paid $16 a gallon for antifreeze.
Have been watching the prices go up on everything.
So I bought full break kit, pads, springs, wheel cylinders and brake shoes even though I don't need them yet.
What's crazy is, the pre-mixed antifreeze.
I see they're trying to push that crap more and more.
It was probably 14$ at your store.
Thats the biggest scam ever ,get a gallon of distilled water and now ya got 2 gallons for around 18$ at your cost.
Yep, I've been doing that a lot especially on this project I just finished.
I knew I'd need 3m panelbond from the beginning,so before the announced price increases I got 6 tubes at around 41$ a piece in late '20.
Near the end of 22, stock was low so I got an extra tube.
58$.
Buy it now ,even if you don't need it for a while.
@DarthShibby
Wondering if it might get bad enough to use oil analysis,if that would be cheap enough.
So true. Currently building a ford 4.6 4v, and the price of a good gasket set (if you can find them, locally) is ridiculous. $500 for a decent set of valve springs. Not even the upper tier stuff. Crazy…
Thanks for the heads up! I too have been noticing the ridiculous prices lately. My thought on the transmission fluid is that Lowes probably marks their merchandise up similar to Costco.
I wanna hear and see more about this GRUDGE Race stuff. When’s that video coming
Here in Australia, the price of basics like bread and milk is what gets me wound up. Every few weeks it seems to go up, which happened again today, $3.55 for 2 litres of basic whole milk.
It's the same in Australia. It's crazy. I buy online, went to buy a fuel pump, locally $365, same one on line $78 delivered, trailer plug locally $29, same one online $6.99 delivered. I just stocked up on about 10 gallons of oil as it was half price.
I had a local parts store closing in my area due to building owner getting greedy raising the rent on a old rundown building. Very disappointing since it was a real old style parts store that had real counter people and had everything. They had a one day moving out sale big discounts, I bought multiple cases of oil for everything I own, engine and trans. I have been watching oil prices for a couple years going up, big retailers generally have their house brand which is a bit cheaper.
I don't really understand these situations. I have seen a lot of places close down and buildings sit vacant for years while still asking for crazy rent. My guess is that lots of these places are owned by blackrock or something similar. A real anti-trust investigation has to be started into this sort of stuff.
Inflation isn't an increase in the amount of goods its a devaluation of your dollar.
I wish I would have stocked up on oil when it was on sale for about two bucks a quart back in about 2010. Oil used to be priced per quart somewhere near where a gallon of gas was priced. What happened?
Barry and the Potato happened. The idea is to make owning a vehicle so reprehensibly expensive that people move into big cities where hey can walk or ride the bus. Why would they do that? To control movement, to keep you from meeting someone else and talking without being observed. :)
What happened? It's called "gouging". Someone has to pay for the yachts these rich bastards float around on about this time of year.
People want to change the oil instead of waiting 20kor30k like I do
@@SweatyFatGuyit's the left!
Another thing that has gone up by crazy is the cost to get a decent shop to do any work for you. I recently had some minor work done on one of my cars because I just did not have the time to do it myself, and I was shocked at how much I was charged. This is by the most reputable shop in my area too. Beyond an alignment, I will never go to another shop again. I'll make the time to do my own work at these prices.
Oriellys has been price gouging on " need it now" stuff for a few years now. I don't mind spending a few dollars more to keep my brick and morter open, but i draw the line at near double. Fluids, Brake pads and rotors are good examples.
Try 3x, my brother inlaw had to buy 2 timing chain adjusters at Oreily's because he needed the now, they were literally 3x the price for the same part and manufacturer from rockauto.
@@member57 yup. Just got a brake hose from amazon yesterday for 12 bucks from Dorman for the wife's car. O'Reilly was 43 for house brand. Napa was 50. I said the car can sit until it gets here. Not taking that price hike on chin.
Go price a new vehicle. You can spend $100,000 buying a diesel truck now.
The average house price where I live is getting to be around $500,000.
Average house price in Vancouver, Canada, about 1.2 million. Their dollar is less than the US dollar but still a lot of cash
Good video, Tony. I don't know when folks are going to wake up to this stuff- shop around, shop ahead online and pay the lower price so you have it when you need it - or be willing to wait for whatever it is to be delivered at some point and realize the savings. Further, folks don't seem to fix their own stuff anymore - plumbing, mechanical, electrical....they don't want to do their own house maintenance, e.g. painting - and they don't want to do their own lawn care, they hire someone to do it. Are they printing money or something? Up to their eyeballs in debt? Don't know, but I know what I'm teaching my sons.....
There’s just a lot of really wealthy people I think. I do and have always done my own repairs on the house. Do my maintenance on the cars. I had a neighbor ask what’s the issue with my car. He didn’t know why someone would have it on ramps. Was just changing oil.
I paid ~$10 for a single lug nut, only one auto part place had it in stock. That was an eye opener.
Way back, in junior high school, we made these R12 powered cars in metal shop. The motor was an aluminum cylinder with a 1/8” hole in the business end. Connect one end of the charging hose to the R12 can & the other end tightly in the hole. Once pressure inside the cylinder reached its max, the hose blew out and the car took off… leaving a mist of R12 vapor filling the hallway. We were setting so many of these things off you could not see the other end of the hall. If you were at the launch end your clothing was saturated.
To get to the point… We burned through a crazy amount of R12. There was a local, small auto parts chain called Gatlings Auto. Normal price on R12 was three cans for a buck. On sale it was four. Once a year it was five. I was going through three or four cases (of 12 cans) per week.
To have that in today’s money would be, not life changing, but life improving.
I still have one of those cans.
So that's where that ozone hole came from.
@@ProblemChild-xk7ix- Yes, I do feel somewhat responsible.
Hydraulic oil is miserably high. And when you need it, you need a bunch of it.
I noticed this price gouging trend at least 20 years ago. Ridiculous prices on any kind of common thing. It's like they don't care if you're a return customer, they got you hard this time. Now, more than half the population lives off the government like a parasite. They buy things with their government benefits and don't equate the cost of things in relation to how much work or time it took to earn the cash. I think of things the same way you do Tony.
1972, I was 16 in Rapid City SD. GAS was 22.9¢ a gallon. Motor oil (30w) was 29¢ a quart, 20w was 19¢ a quart. It cost $1 - $2 to have your greased/lubed. You rebuilt not replaced generators, alternators, and starters. You can't get starter solenoids separate anymore.
Good video, Tony. Great topic with great analysis. One additional observation: Beware of lower quality that sometimes comes with lower prices. E.g., I had a string of bad 6 volt voltage/current regulators that I got online. I finally bought one at NAPA and it has worked properly SO FAR. It's the first one I've had in several years that works properly.
My nephew owns a repair shop and he was paying $2 for an oil filter. Now his cost is $9. I bought one at a parts store and it was $14. It's crazy. Thanks for sharing 👍. 3:59
I think one of the things I've noticed is now that all these " parts stores" have popped up, they are mostly for the do it yourselfers more than the professional mechanics like in the old days. You'd go into a parts store and get your professional discount whereas now it's the same price no matter what , and it has been creeping up. I still feel I get the best price and quality from Napa. O'Reillies has always shocked me with the prices and for that reason is the last place I will go.
You have to walk into the jobbers with shop cloths on. I do that with one of the old Chrysler dealership mechanic shirts that they discontinued around 2010. It always gets me better prices than at those mainstream parts stores, though still more than if I had a wholesale account like shops have.
The parts guy at my local O'Reillys said my 71 Charger didn't exist because he was new and couldn't find it in the computer. 😂 I said the phantom car is parked in front of the store 😂😂😂
Lowes gonna be marking it up now lol Thanks Tony🤣
When it comes to oil, Amazon Basics did quite well in testing.
Super tech from Walmart also does really well too.
Great video! That's what I've done for years. It the only way I can stay in the hobby. Stock up and watch prices! And I'm 70 now. I have many projects. Thanks for your time. You're always interesting.
Napa sells bulk boxes that are a decently good deal. It’s a bag of oil in a box with a spigot.
If you’ve got room to store it getting stuff in bulk is almost always cheaper. And, if you’re watching price it can give the ability to stock up when it’s cheaper.
If all Tony’s stuff uses the same trans fluid and engine oil I’d be looking at getting it in drums if the math works out. Sometimes can even get it in 5 gal buckets for cheaper if you don’t want drums.
That makes me wonder if I just hit up my local gas station owner and see what kinda deals he can get from the oil company's themselves
@ufos5216 according to my neighbor who owned a gas station they don't get deals. He made his money in the convenience store and carwash bay.
Not all Napa's carry that box nor will they order it. They don't survive transport well and make a mess.
@@Ufos4dahoes I don't think gas stations get deals on oil since they're only really getting bulk fuel.
You'd about need to make friends with a repair shop and maybe they'd sell you stuff at cost. Might even try to see who is the oil distributor for you area and see if they'll sell to a private person. I doubt they would, but it's worth a shot.
Big business AKA federal government doesn't give a damn about your hobbies unless they can control them . Hunting , fishing , hotroding. Ect. People control is the name of the game 😮😮😮
Mate , ozzie's pay $9 for a Big Mac ! No fries , just the burger. Pitchforks anyone?
Almost $7 here in the USA for just the "burger" anymore...and it ain't really a "Big Mac" anymore...definitely a LOT smaller than it was in the 1980's... just a couple thin pressed "wafers" for "meat"..and LOTS of shredded lettuce and a little bit of thousand island dressing....
Ford's earlier Type F ATF simply does not include the typical ATF friction modifiers. Therefore, it is grippier, which is why automatic drag racers loved it.
Mopar and GM early ATFs were friction modified for smoother shifts.
It has absolutely nothing to do with shellac, at all. No one puts shellac in their ATF.
I'd love to be able to change my own oil for less than 100 bucks. Crazy prices these days.
I change my own oil for about 50 bucks, and that is too high.
No no no you’re just wrong there lmao😂
My manufacture recommends Dexos engine oil. Instead I use the cheapest oil that I can find on the shelf, change it every 10,000 miles and have been doing so for over 200,000 miles now. No burning, no leaks, no sludge, drive it to work 5 days a week. This may give you an idea on how to save money.
I can change my oil for just under $25. $16.97 for a 5 qt. jug of oil, and $4.22 for a filter at Walmart. I also generally use most of a can of brake parts cleaner when doing an oil change.
Both vehicles I drive daily are diesels. 13 and 16 qt plus filters.
I noticed several years ago that all of the frequently bought little items like washer fluid etc. seemed to be priced by sleazy speculator bean counter types in the auto parts stores(Oreillys to be specific.)
They tag $100 on to every item it seems down to a relay I found online for $12 instead of $118 that they were asking.
Buddies terminal clamp was loose and I priced an alternator prior to “having a look at things” in the off chance that was what it would wind up being.. They were asking $385-$500. I found it online for $97.
They are slipping under the waves in my opinion.
I don’t appreciate being rawhided like that.
Thanks Tony.
Please keep doing these economic videos. I really dig them and I think they are helping more people stay in this hobby than you realize! Or you could start a second channel called “the Mechanical Ninja” (economic ninja spin-off) I think it would do well as our economy deteriorates more and more.
You are absolutely right.
Tony, One of the benchmarks I use is some of my friends play golf. a round of golf is $100. My car hobby driving and event participation is cost averaging at about $65 per interaction,, fuel, insurance registration. This is a very valuable economic discussion. The car hobby right not has become a moving target. One significant issue here in the west is registration by states DMV on older cars since the governments are clawing to stay afloat and grabbing any money from the disposable income community like old car enthusiast. Keep up the great content..
Uncle Tony, I’ve been saying this for years and all my friends and family say I’m nuts you go to work every day and give your life away to a company and then you trade that life for stuff you want to do and the people that want to do it for you want double your life that’s why I try to do everything myself even if I lose some time on the weekends, it didn’t cost me nothing but time that was my own to give When you start looking at life traded for work done for you. It looks totally different no matter how much money you put in it you’re absolutely right.
2nd Chanel- Uncle economics!
Yes he needs to do a secondary backup channel that is all about the economics of this hobby and maybe even life in general. I think he has some good knowledge to share.
Same applies for wiring. Go to a tractor supply or country store. Prices are 1/6 the cost at an auto parts store.
You should do a guide for where to get the best price basic fluids for old cars.