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My wife and I (seniors) average 5000 miles/year on our 2007 RDX. The mechanic at a local shop charges $49 for a Castrol Magnatec full-synthetic oil change compared to $74 for a Mobil 1 oil change. His opinion is that the Castrol Magnatec is well suited for our RDX and driving habits. While it would be nice to save the $25 difference, I don't want to do that if the Castrol Magnatec is not 'good enough' for the RDX, so please advise.
I'm surprised he charges more for the Mobil 1 considering the two oils are nearly the same price off the shelf from Walmart. Either way, even though the RDX is turbo, either of those oils will be more than sufficient. I'd go with the $49 Castrol.
I'm surprised he charges more for the Mobil 1 considering the two oils are nearly the same price off the shelf from Walmart. Either way, even though the RDX is turbo, either of those oils will be more than sufficient. I'd go with the $49 Castrol.
I believe you may be confusing Castrol Magnatec with the more expensive Castrol Edge (which is in the same price range as Mobil 1 at our local Pep Boys). Castrol Magnatec sells for about $2.50 less per quart than Edge or Mobil 1 (at Pep Boys).
Both oils are synthetic and both will give you plenty of protection. How often / how many miles do you change your oil?
I simply do it when the 'Maintenance Minder' says that service is 'Due Now'. That typically appears when we've driven only about 4000 miles (and that's while using Mobil 1)!
Last edited by pvsurfer; 10-05-2018 at 11:37 AM.
Reason: ...to qualify comment.
I believe you may be confusing Castrol Magnatec with the more expensive Castrol Edge (which is in the same price range as Mobil 1 at our local Pep Boys). Castrol Magnatec sells for about $2.50 less per quart than Edge or Mobil 1 (at Pep Boys).
$4 difference for 5qts yet a $25 difference at the shop
I'm surprised he charges more for the Mobil 1 considering the two oils are nearly the same price off the shelf from Walmart. Either way, even though the RDX is turbo, either of those oils will be more than sufficient. I'd go with the $49 Castrol.
Originally Posted by thoiboi
at 5000 a year.. sure just do whatever is cheaper
Originally Posted by Jakes_tl
Both oils are synthetic and both will give you plenty of protection. How often / how many miles do you change your oil?
Originally Posted by thoiboi
it's fine..
I think the question has been answered.
Being a smart-ass aside, the subject of oil is a long one. There are miles of threads on bobistheoilguy.com about oils. The factory does recommend synthetic, which is usually the case for any turbocharged engine. But the attempt to get conclusive evidence for what synthetic oil is better is difficult. There are so many tests that have mixed results. On the subject of Mobil 1, there's tests where it's had the best results, and another test I've seen done by Amsoil that put it at dead last:
Does this change my opinion of Mobil 1? No. This is clearly a biased test by a rival oil company. Plus, there's thousands of cars that have gone hundreds of thousands of miles with Mobil 1 that look brand new when you open the valve cover (I use Pennzoil Platinum BTW, not Mobil 1). But......there are cars that have used nothing but the cheapest conventional oil available (as long as it meets api standards) that have also gone hundreds of thousands of miles.
Moral of the story is that any reputable synthetic oil is going to do the job. Use Redline @ $12 a quart or use the Walmart Supertech @ $18 for a 5qt jug. The difference for a standard consumer vehicle is going to be negligible.
Being a smart-ass aside, the subject of oil is a long one. There are miles of threads on bobistheoilguy.com about oils. The factory does recommend synthetic, which is usually the case for any turbocharged engine. But the attempt to get conclusive evidence for what synthetic oil is better is difficult. There are so many tests that have mixed results. On the subject of Mobil 1, there's tests where it's had the best results, and another test I've seen done by Amsoil that put it at dead last:
Does this change my opinion of Mobil 1? No. This is clearly a biased test by a rival oil company. Plus, there's thousands of cars that have gone hundreds of thousands of miles with Mobil 1 that look brand new when you open the valve cover (I use Pennzoil Platinum BTW, not Mobil 1). But......there are cars that have used nothing but the cheapest conventional oil available (as long as it meets api standards) that have also gone hundreds of thousands of miles.
Moral of the story is that any reputable synthetic oil is going to do the job. Use Redline @ $12 a quart or use the Walmart Supertech @ $18 for a 5qt jug. The difference for a standard consumer vehicle is going to be negligible.
Notwithstanding being called a 'smart ass' (I truly didn't mean to offend you), I thank you for that info.
Just a point regarding the "four-ball" test; in relation to how automobile engines operate, this test is utterly and completely irrelevant. The thing is, it is one of the few, if not the only, test Scamzoil could come up with which shows their oil is better than Mobil 1/Castrol Edge/Pennzoil Platinum/Valvoline Full Synthetic, et-al.
I only use mobile 1 fully synthetic oil and mobile 93 gasoline in my truck. Anytime I used other oil or gas ⛽️ in my truck I didn’t get the same results. I take my truck to the dealership for everything now. It’s more of a budget thing for me. Buy what is recommended and save on matinence later on. Don’t get what recommended and spend more on matinence later. If you can’t budget for it get the best you can afford. That’s all you can do, don’t worry about it.
According to Discount Tire, I've gone just shy of 45,000 miles since last July which is when I got a new set of Conti DWS06's (got them on @ 122K, now have about 167K). Just put on some new ones. The tires are rated for 50K miles but I drive like I have Michelin SS's on so it's a surprise they made it past 40K. I go through an oil change about every 6-8 weeks.
Hey guys, thanks for your input. I'm going to switch our 2007 RDX to using Castrol Magnatec. Hopefully the turbo engine (with just 50K miles on it) won't 'mind', and the $ saved will buy dinner!
Hey guys, thanks for your input. I'm going to switch our 2007 RDX to using Castrol Magnatec. Hopefully the turbo engine (with just 50K miles on it) won't 'mind', and the $ saved will buy dinner!
The 2007 RDX requires a synthetic oil that satisfies the Honda/Acura HTO-06 spec., so if Castrol Magnatec qualifies you are safe using it. If not, I'd strongly advise using an oil that meets that spec!
My first oil change, the shop (Goodyear Tire Franchise) advised that the 1 gen RDX used Dyno oil... Still got him to use mobile1, but his computer said that it wasn't necessary, but I knew better...
Anyway, the RDX's manual has Moble1 only, and even has a brochure all about mobile1, idk, mobile1 seems like it...
I also furnished the shop w/ the Honda filter... They still charged $70, from then on, I go to a Hobda dealer and it's about $40, out the door...
Mobil1 5w30 5qt. is $22 @ walmart including shipping. if castrol magnetic is not HTO-6 certified, I would not use it.
You are missing the point there are no 0W-20 oils on the market which are HTO-06, and yet, that is the oil Honda recommends for most of their late model cars. Long story short, HTO-06 is an out of date oil spec for older Hondas.
Why would anyone use 0w20 in first gen RDX? The factory fill oil is 5w30 Mobil1.
Sorry, I mistook this conversation with a recent thread where the discussion was focused on an individual's attempt to find an HTO-06 oil for a late model Honda/Acura.
My oil cap, owners manual, and matinence minder system says to use mobile 1 fully synthetic oil only...
it needs to be 5w30 hto-6. Mobil1, penzoil, Castrol are the ones you can buy in stores. There might be few others including a soil.
I personally like Mobil1 ep.
Mobile 1 fully synthetic oil is recommended because it’s Acura’s first turbo engine and they don’t want it to have problems. Otherwise, they would never be able to sell a turbo motor and be a reliable brand again. That’s why they make us use that specific oil and everywhere we look it tells us to use it. Even the dealership uses it instead of their own Acura oil. If that doesn’t say trust that oil I don’t know what does...
Though I am not a senior at age 53 (but AARP thinks I am), I too only drive limited miles in the RDX (4K per year). So only one oil change needed per year plus going into 15 months. I went to the Acura dealer once, and they used Pennzoil Platinum. I made a comment about the oil cap saying Mobil 1 only, and they pretty much said something to the effect that Pennzoil is the same and used in all the Acuras at their dealership. So much for abiding by Factory directions I guess. Anyway, since then, I have changed the oil three more times on my own and flip between Pennzoil and Mobil 1, depending on what is the cheapest at the time. Really folks, when is the last time you heard of someone keeping their car long enough and the engine blowing because they used the wrong oil. They may not be checking their oil levels, and use the wrong viscosity, but as most of you have said, use one that meets the specs and you should be fine.
There really is no need to stick with Mobil 1; back when HTO-06 came out, I believe Mobil was the launch oil used for that spec, since then any number of oils have come out which meet or exceed HTO-06.
There really is no need to stick with Mobil 1; back when HTO-06 came out, I believe Mobil was the launch oil used for that spec, since then any number of oils have come out which meet or exceed HTO-06.
Any 5w30 HTO-6 oil is fine.
Eventhough its probably OK to use no HTO-6 synthetic, I dont see any reason to do that. Both Mobil1 and Penzoil are very cheap at walmart.
Though I am not a senior at age 53 (but AARP thinks I am), I too only drive limited miles in the RDX (4K per year). So only one oil change needed per year plus going into 15 months. I went to the Acura dealer once, and they used Pennzoil Platinum. I made a comment about the oil cap saying Mobil 1 only, and they pretty much said something to the effect that Pennzoil is the same and used in all the Acuras at their dealership. So much for abiding by Factory directions I guess. Anyway, since then, I have changed the oil three more times on my own and flip between Pennzoil and Mobil 1, depending on what is the cheapest at the time. Really folks, when is the last time you heard of someone keeping their car long enough and the engine blowing because they used the wrong oil. They may not be checking their oil levels, and use the wrong viscosity, but as most of you have said, use one that meets the specs and you should be fine.
penzoil is hto-6 certified, so your dealership is correct.
My car seems to like the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum more than Mobil 1. It usually consumed a half quart between oil changes when using Mobil 1. And it runs noisier. Quieted down and no consumption with Pennzoil. Same weight (0W-20).
The J-V6 and this turbo 4 are different animals though.
That’s weird my dealership uses mobile one for the first generation RDX only. They charge literally triple the price for it too. They use only mobile one filters too for my first generation RDX. For all other vehicles they use their own Acura brand oil and filters. Which they literally charge one third of the price of on all the other vehicles.
10-05-2018, 10:45 AM
Castrol Magnatec Synthetic Oil?
I go through an oil change about every 6-8 weeks.
