You hear a lot of people talk about using oil additives in their own cars in order to improve the qualities of the oil they’re adding to their cars. People will tell you whether they are totally worth the investment and that they’ve helped their car tremendously, while others will tell you straight out that they think they’re a complete waste of time and money.
But what is the truth? Are oil additives something you should be looking into? And does their cost even offset what benefits they do provide? After all, some additives can be a little pricey.
The Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework
Yes, we are talking about oil additives here and not a new investment opportunity you may have heard of. But even so, the idea of using a cost benefit framework when looking at the dilemma of whether or not using oil additives is a good ‘investment’ or not can really make things more obvious than just taking someone’s word that they’re worth the money.
By looking at both expected costs (e.g., purchase price, labor costs) and potential benefits (e.g., improved engine performance, extended engine lifespan), and giving each factor a number, we should be able to get a clearer idea if whether additives are really saving you money, or costing you more than what they
are saving.
Costs of Oil Additives
Obviously oil additives aren’t free. Heck, what is? You’ll need to pay for them like any other product you’d want to buy. But this isn’t the only price you’re paying as far as monetary value. Since these additives are synthetic chemicals, their production is extremely dangerous and hazardous to the environment and anything that comes into contact with them. Even you!
So are the potential liabilities to the environment, workers who make the product, anything that comes into contact after use, and so on. Is it worth all of this?
Benefits of Oil Additives
The way manufacturers advertise their products, they of course want you to feel their additives far outweigh any potential drawbacks and will save you multiple times the amount of money you spend to buy them. The problem is, I it all true? How much of what they advertise is even based on some sort of scientific testing? And what specifically are these additives even supposed to do?
Improved performance and longevity – If an additive works to help reduce friction then the wear and tear on an engine’s internal parts should be kept to a minimum, thus improving the engine’s overall performance.
Reduced friction, heat and wear – Increasing an oil’s ability to reduce friction and heat equates to less wear and tear on all the internal parts of your motor.
Enhanced fuel efficiency – Your engine must use fuel to fight inertia and the more lubricated it is, the less friction which equates to less gas needing to be used in order to produce the same mileage.
Reducing emissions – If your car is using less fuel due to an additive, then it should also be emitting fewer emissions if all else is equal.
Comparison of Costs and Benefits
The initial monetary cost of oil additives is not at all cheap. In fact, when you take into consideration the cost of adding them to each and every oil change over your car’s entire life span, you can see how this investment can be a lot larger than you originally thought it might be. After all, you don’t just use one can and magically they work forever.
And although if you do crunch all the numbers and find even a small savings in the end of it all, on a business level where you may have a fleet of cars or trucks, However, businesses can potentially benefit when you multiply even a small savings to a much larger number due to the improved engine performance and fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, extended life of engine parts, and reduced need for repairs or replacements.
Other Considerations
Of course when you’re evaluating the cost benefit relationship between anything, there can literally be thousands of variables to consider than just the money you’re paying out.
Things like how old your car is, how well maintained is it, is it showing signs that the engine is getting dirty inside and needs a good cleaning like smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe? All of these factors need to be taken into consideration even for something as simple as deciding on whether or not the additives are worth it.
And don’t forget where it all starts? The actual quality of the oil you’re using matters too. If you’re starting with super low quality oil that’s cheap, don’t expect an oil additive to make it supercharged. You need to always use quality in everything.
Conclusion
It may seem all of this is complicated, or even overwhelming. But you just need to list out what you expect, the actual costs your paying out and all of the other factors we’ve outlined above like the impact on the environment and anyone or anything that comes into contact with these chemicals.
If you have a pretty solid understanding of the long term commitment and costs, either monetary or environmental, associated with using oil additives wisely, it should be obvious enough to know whether you feel comfortable with starting to invest in them.