The hunt for the cheapest coolant/anti-freeze

avantra

It is time again to replace the coolant in my beloved Almera (every 30k).
Did some shopping around for 5 litre concentrated bottle and found some BIG differences in prices for what is essentially Propylene Glycol.

Halfords own brand £15.98
The local parts shop : £16.12
Motoquip: £12
Pat Williams (Barnstaple) : £9
Tesco (mixed) £1.47/litre (£7.35 for 5 litres)
BP Connect (mixed): £15.6
Wilkinson (Wilko brand concentrated) £7.5

Someone told me you can get it for £1/litre in the £1 shops like poundland etc’ but I have no experience of those, did anyone tried the anti-freeze from poundland? I used both cheap and the top brands from Valvoline and Shell but the radiator seems to like any brand, or is it the car build quality?

Are we paying too much for such a basic product when we buy the brand name just to get a fancy name and a nice designer bottle?

bunking_off

There are some things in life that I'll save money on. There are others where I'm prepared to pay the extra : car tyres, oil, petrol, anti-freeze. Think of it this way...if it is a "utility" product you'll have saved yourself a tenner - but if it does make a difference, you could cost yourself a new engine. To me, that's not a bet worth taking.

Anti-freeze is no longer just to stop the coolant freezing. These days, it has all sorts of additives, rust inhibitors etc etc.

Others will undoubtedly say I'm wasting my money and I'll have no evidence to rebutt them, but it isn't worth taking the risk IMHO.

avantra

I know what you mean , but when you read the small print on the bottle (even on the Tesco £1.47) they all contain rust inhibitors and other additive not just pure Glycol. In my experience there was no diffrent in the condition of the cooling system when using cheap or expensive brand (and I have this car for 9 years now from new).

boogiemaster

I’ve bought my oil antifreeze from the main dealers and I’ve found it cheaper than the shops.
Antifreeze stops the water in the engine from freezing up and the heater in the car, also the radiator.
It also stops the core plugs from popping out and leaking water everywhere! I would buy from the main dealers then you have a come back?

I wouldn’t be tight on service parts and you don’t know if the antifreeze is watered down? Cheap oil is recycled from garages and has some chemicals added and the iron filings taken out?
Decent oil lubricates the engine and makes the pistons slide up and down easier, it’s also made for high temperatures and made for your type of engine, cheap oil is not.

If its an old banger then it doesn’t matter because you can always scrap it later, but if it’s a new car why put in cheap parts to have problems later????.
Decent oil keeps the cam cool and well lubricated and also collects all the crap, cheap oil wont and you will end up with a worn camshaft.

Its up to you guys but I won’t knacker my £2500 engine just for the sake of a few quid, it’s a 2.4 turbo diesel land rover discovery.