Again, not necessarily Maverick, but would be relevant for them. Wife's 05 Mustang V6, says to use semi-synthetic, but she only puts 1500 miles every six months on it, and I feel that it is pretty expensive for that kind of driving. I hear that there isn't very much "synthetic" in the semi blend, so is it even worth it, or should I just use regular oil? Car has 45,000 miles on it now, using semi-synth, as far as I know, at least since I got it at approx 30,000 miles.
You can buy Ford Motorcraft Semi-Synthetic at WalMart for $2.88 a quart. it is cheaper than the Dino stuff they sell.
Why not just run full synthetic and change every 3 years? My mother's 2002 Toyota is the same story, she puts 3,000-4,000 miles a year on it. I fill it with Mobile 1, change the filter once a year and keep it topped off. At 8,000-9,000 mile intervals I change the oil.
I have been raised to think that regular oil changes prolong the life of the car. I would be freaking out if i didnt change it at least once a year. Does the full synthetic resist becoming acidic?
As long as you heat the engine enough to burn off the moisture and keep the oil level topped of to bolster the additive package you're good to go.
I just had the oil in my 2010 GT changed at the dealer ... they run $17.95 oil changes all the time .... Not even worth the hassle of doing it yourself. I have read that the semi-syn is only about 3% synthetic ... not the 50/50 that you would assume ...
A good mineral based oil is fine. I personaly wouldnt bother with a semi-syn, id go one or the other.
At the store I work at we use a Kendall 30% synthetic blend. Works well and at 29.99 it isn't very expensive either.
The newer cars need the synthetic stability because they run at higher temps than our old cars do. It has acid neutralizers in it and it is stable over a very long time.
The WalMart by me has the Motorcraft oil in the 5qt containers as well. I run full synthetic in several of my vehicles with extended drain intervals.
