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  • Hacker News
  • I started buying some this year when Slickdeals would post something, whether it was from Amazon or closeouts at the auto parts stores. Even grabbed some $18 Walmart Supertech.
    by bluedino
  • I wonder if this will change how often people in the USA change their oil.

    Comparing BMWs (which are worldwide cars), the oil change intervals in Europe are literally 2x what they are in the USA.

    E.g. my previous 2019 M240i (B58 i6):

    Europe: every 30,000km or 2 years, whatever comes first.

    USA: every 15,000km (~9,000 miles) or 1 year, whatever comes first.

    I get that fuel is dirtier in the USA. I get that engines work harder in the USA because of the heat, but a 2x reduction in lifetime?

    And this is applicable to ALL the BMWs I've seen.

    by OptionOfT
  • FYI, $58 is the price delivered to your front door, it is cheaper in stores, and the mid $30's quoted old price was when on sale. I don't remember exactly but I can't imagine that 20 years ago I paid much less than $5 for a quart of synthetic.
    by hnburnsy
  • What kind of vehicle takes 10 quarts of oil for a single oil change?
    by pjdesno
  • 2018+ Ford Mustang V8 for one.

    GM V8's take 8 quarts

    by bluedino
  • My BMW M8 with the S63TU4 4.4L V8 takes 10 liters.

    Previous one one which had a B58 took 7 liters.

    by OptionOfT
  • My old Mercedes C240 (W203) took about 8qts for a single oil change. I'm glad I got rid of that car.
    by Vitamin_Sushi
  • The 3L diesel in my car takes about 8qt per change. The 5.9L diesel in my truck takes 12qt.
    by 27183
  • Patriots love their big trucks. More oil = owning the lib vegans.
    by chneu
  • That's 11.3L for the civilised audience.

    For reference, my 3.6L 6-cyl boxer needs about 6.5L according to my service notes.

    by dietr1ch
  • Most often diesel engines (I used to be an auto mechanic). Even passenger car diesels can take 10+ quarts. Gas engines typically take less oil but big engines can still take 5-7+.
    by mdesq
  • 20 qts every 7 days is far more than any home consumer needs -- this must be to prevent shops from just buying out their entire stock.
    by loeg
  • YouTube channel Regular Car Reviews also predicted this ca 3 months ago.

    So now it's here. Or.. there? How's the situation in the EU?

    by hypfer
  • I looked up the motor oil for my car; it's still about the price I would expect (high compared to US normal, not exorbitant) and allegedly available at the nearest branch of a large German retail car parts chain, as is the transmission oil.

    ... think I'll pick some up if they do indeed have it.

    Our gasoline is well into the 2.20+ EUR/liter range, and diesel is even more.

    by MandieD
  • Ram Shortage, SSD shortage, CPU shortage, GPU shortage, diesel shortage, now motor oil shortage.......

    Are we going to have shortage of everything now ......

    by cute_boi
  • And the promise is that we will have a shortage of shortages!
    by readthenotes1
  • Dont forget beef
    by walt_grata
  • We should have been hiking rates all year to drive a spike in AI hyperinflation, but now that the AI hyperinflation is going to cause real inflation, it will be too late. Some people think its a brilliant idea to strangle rates until they are nothing, ignoring the impacts.
    by CrimsonCape
  • Well, we already had the toilet paper shortage last time around, but round #2 of this administration just keeps on giving.
    by vkou
  • Yes, pretty much. Have you seen that the houthis took the bab al-Mandab strait?

    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/09/11/world/middlee...

    Food production is also at risk

    by dgellow
  • Yes but it’s fine we have way too much of everything anyway
    by icantevenhold
  • We're an energy civilization entirely built around fossil fuels, mostly petrol, on top of that we "optimized" everything to the max, which means any little inconvenience will now break several systems/sub systems.

    We're about to realize what it means to have a globalized economy addicted to petrol

    by toasty228
  • I realize the shortages you enumerated have different reasons , but a highly respectable French engineer, Jean-Marc Jancovici , has been repeating for years that we are heading into an inevitable age of "degrowth".

    It is not an "if". It is now inevitable.

    He is very pro alternative sources of energy but he clearly explains nothing can replace petroleum right now. Petroleum is used to build everything. Gas for your car. Your clothes. Plastic bags. Our beloved computers. Everything uses petroleum one way or another.

    We are doomed.

    I’m just happy I’m too old to go through all the bad times that are coming.

    by LeBit
  • My son bought 144 bottles of Castrol 10w40 on closeout for $110. This was 2 or 3 years ago. We drive old iron and have been steadily using them up.

    What felt like a wall in our garage now feels like a security blanket.

    by WarOnPrivacy
  • Kind of an odd viscosity unless you have classic cars or live in a hot climate
    by bluedino
  • This is because of the Pearl refinery in Qatar going offline after being attacked by Iran. That was the source of a lot of synthetic oil base stock.
    by ungreased0675
  • Not having to deal with oil changes is one of the many benefits of driving an EV
    by medler
  • Is there really nothing that has oil in it that at some point needs changing?
    by sschueller
  • Things are really about to hit the fan. The world has been surviving off of strategic petroleum reserves, but those are quickly hitting the bottom. The US last reported at 285M barrels[0]. There is a legal floor of ~250M, after which it is reserved for government national defense. Usage has been all over the place, but the drawdown has been somewhere in the region of 1M barrels per day. Public analyses have said that the cavern integrity becomes threatened once levels fall below 300M. Current government claims the "real" floor is at 70M, but I believe this is a transparent ploy to assuage markets.

    The Saudi pipeline that was attacked had a capacity of 7M barrels per day. Gone for who knows how long. That 7MBPD that needs to come from somewhere.

    Edit: Should add - the big tankers require ~month to move oil to most consumers. So, there is one month of breathing room before the new pipeline loss materializes.

    [0] https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=W...

    by 3eb7988a1663
  • Trump will 100% ignore the defense reserve. Congress won't stop him either.
    by WarmWash