From experience, most engine oils you can buy in UK are available in the French Supermarkets, at about 2/3rds of the price or less (i.e. Mobil 1 fully synthetic is about 20 quid there, 33 quid here !!! ). The only difference will be theirs is 5w40 as against ours 0w 40. This isn't worth worrying about.
Similarly Wiper Blades, Oil & Air Filters, etc., etc. Rip Off Britain is revealed again.
Depannage is breakdown service, Carosserie is bodywork, Tolerie is panelwork and Peinture is paintwork.
Thanks for that tip! I've just been to tell the hubster & this year we'll be bringing back engine oil instead of 5 litres of olive oil (after all, what's wrong with good old English olive oil?). Our car is "seen to" by a remarkably surly man but he charges half the price of the local main dealer and by gosh he's good, so I don't think we'll be risking an unknown garagiste on either side of La Manche any time soon.
You can run a diesel car on 50/50 diesel/veg oil--just the cheap stuff 40p/litre from Tesco----so works out about 65p/litre for the mixture--if you pay tax on this its not worth the bother--but I think the government is removing the need to pay the tax soon---only problem -it waxes in cold weather--& still no word whether it damages your engine long term--I aint riskin it--
"best to buy the stuff over here, as I am sure it is a better product"
Erebe.
You are taking the mickey aren't you?. Do you really think that Elf and Total send the better stuff over here and keep some "off" stuff for the French market? And that Mobil, Castrol, Esso etc send their lower quality stuff to France and reserve their good stuff for Britain. Tell you what, go into a French supermarket and buy supermarket own brand semi-synthetic oil for about £7 for 5 litres- it's good stuff and kept my old BXs and Xantias going for over 170,000 miles each.
By the way, if you have a modern diesel, HDi, or PD please don't run it on olive oil, extra virgin or not. You will require a new high pressure pump in short order at a cost of several thousand quid.On the other hand if you have an older XUD or similar indirect injection engine it may run very well on Tesco's best veggie oil (or even stuff from your chippy - but you will smell like a mobile chip shop)
For my sins, Erebe is my other half and I can guarantee that he is taking the Mickey and trying to wind people up. Best advice is to just ignore him and not rise to the bait! I have developed a real knack of doing this over the years. I can also confirm that he has every intention of getting our car serviced in France while we are there using perfectly good French oil (but leaving me to do all the talking in the garage as usual!)
If he really thought that French products were inferior to British ones then we would have a lot more room in our car coming home from our hols every year. Take anything he says with a pinch of salt
------------- Pixie
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Just a thought was that price at your main dealer if so why not try a small local garage.
Erebe
On the point of veg oil in diesel cars i have used it in both my cars and no problems my mondeo covered over 100k and my frontera has covered 30k if you get a form it cost you 17p per l tax so is still a good saving but if when you buy some veg oil you keep the reciept in the car and the police stop you if you produce your receipt and tell them you have tried it for the first time and wont be doing it again then you will be ok just pay the tax on that lot. (not that i do this just letting you know). As for what it does to your engine i have to disagree with billie there are loads of research done on it and what it will do to your engine.
I run mine 50/50 for the summer and about 70/30 begining and end of summer i dont use any after oct or before mid march incase it freezes.
The £300 was at the main dealer but we have tried a couple of independent ones too and they are still charging a lot. I think we will look into getting it serviced in France this year just to see what it is like. I will report back and let you know how it went when we get home.
------------- Pixie
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Car Servicing in France
