2020 Oil Change thread

[Eggman]

It's interesting that the Champ PH2867XL sells for $14.35 on Amazon, & the Mobil 1 M1-110A is $9.75 on Amazon (same price as Walmart). Yet, Rock Auto sells the Champ PH2867XL ($3.27) for less $$$ than the basic Fram PH7317 ($4.73).

What can you say about pricing, and what can you do about it?

Once I found out Mobil doesn't make their own filters I was interested in learning more about their source, but not just pricing alone but performance. Last year, it was Champion Labs. Now it's MANN+HUMMEL.

Where filter manufacturers once published their performance specifications, now those figures are hard to find. I noticed WIX removed filtration capacity from their website and Champion Laboratories makes claims using weasel words like "Up to 98% efficiency." I don't want to know what a filter line is capable "up to" but what it actually does.

I found Mobil filters were expensive but made impressive claims on their performance. I didn't want to pay for the name (as you have suggested) or deal with the rebate circus. Here's hoping the Champ XL line is something of an equivalent to the Mobil filters of old.

Wonder why the Champ oil filter reflects a low price on Rock Auto, but not Amazon?

My guess is Greed. Thank goodness for the Sherman Antitrust Act and other competition laws.

It's good to compare prices of one vendor against another. Without doing an extensive search or opening accounts with too many sellers, I went with Rock Auto for what I see as honest pricing that still deserves to get paid for reasonable shipping and handling costs.

Remember that not everything sold on Amazon is sold *by* Amazon but through Amazon by some other source.

Do Champ oil filters make any mileage claims for their products?

Not that I can find. But I thought mileage claims were sketchy at best since the are so many variables. Driving conditions can vary based on location, weather, temperature, airborne particulates, driving habits, etcetera. That's why I'm more interested in filtration capacity and efficiency numbers.