Engine oil

[Kwakazaki]

Hello all,

My 2012 LR4 is the best truck I have owned (5 before the LR), but the costs do scare me a bit. I see quite a lot of comments admonishing those the buy an LR and then complain about costs, but as an ex pat Brit, have always thought of LR's as a combination of luxury and utility... wasn't quite prepared for the level of financial absurdity!

Am I entirely alone?
Maybe I won't want to hear it, but at least I'll know!

Luckily I'm an avid DIYer, and quite prepared to do oil and filters. So given the silly and obviously exclusionary oil spec, and to preserve the warrantee, off I trot to the dealer... fully understanding I'm going to get fleeced.... but $150 just to supply the oil!!! Really? Is that right or even vaguely sensible?

Is there any other oil spec that is understood to meet the LR4 5.0 requirements?
What are other people doing?

THANKS,

 

[umbertob]

The Castrol oil Land.Rover.wants you to use should be priced around $10 to 12/quart, depending on how greedy your dealer is. You need 8 quarts. If you were quoted $150 for the oil alone, run to a different dealer (try a Jaguar dealer as well, they use the same engines, oil and filter in many of their cars and are often cheaper than Land Rover's.)

 

[Kwakazaki]

thanks a bunch Umbertob, appreciated!
I'm thinking I need to stay with their oil spec (not that it's mechanically necessary) just to maintain the warrantee.
Is that what/how others are thinking?

 

[roverman]

I don't have an LR4 yet, my LR3 just won't break. But I'd never buy into it. I need a reason why, as in exactly why all the other oils that have worked for years in every single car somehow won't work in this one. But I'm just an anonymous guy on the internet.
For years, the BMW motorcycle dealerships made up some reasons (can't remember what, but some exotic coating on the cylinders or something) why I had to use their oil for my bikes. After a while they pretty much gave up. It's a money grab, IMO. But again, anonymous guy. Internet.

 

[ricker]

I bought 2 cases (18 qts.) of the OEM spec oil (re: Owner's manual) on eBay for about 30% below dealer cost. I did the same for an OEM filter and got it for about 50% off. Auto parts stores are also beginning to carry filters (oil, air, & cabin). O'Reiley's sells Wix brand, which I have had good luck with in the past. As Umbertob said, the Jaguar dealer also is a good source. I bought a couple of litres of OEM spec antifreeze from a Jaguar dealer for almost half what the LR dealer was selling it for. Googling around for parts is easy, and decent prices can be found.

 

[PaulLR3]

roverman, I totally agree. I'm running Mobil 1 5w-20 in our LR4 and taking my chances. And I'm changing it every 5000 miles since my wife only drives about 6000 miles per year.

 

[Iron oak]

I find it weird that the oil spec is so thin. Especially when the factory interval is 15k miles. Dealer recommends every 7500 miles but I was thinking about going the full 15k miles or one year with Amsoil. My family has had exceedingly good success with Amsoil. Between the quality of the oil and the amount they use in the engine(volume), there should be no problem going the full 15k interval.

 

[srschick]

remember, it all depends on how you use/abuse your LR.
If you do nothing but highway driving at sane speeds, longer intervals seem fine.
Lots of city driving with jack rabbit starts? some off roading? change it sooner.
I myself change mine between 5-7k, depending on what use it's gone through.