*This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
When you go to change the oil in your car, you want only the best oil and parts. Otherwise, you can’t guarantee that your car will last as long as you’d like. But there are so many choices for oil filters! You could choose a FRAM oil filter, a Mobil 1 oil filter, an AC Delco oil filter, or one of any number of others, and that’s in addition to having to choose the best brand of oil for your car.
Where do you begin?
Mobil has extensive history and experience in this very area. If you’re considering buying a Mobil 1 oil filter for your car, you should know what you’re getting into. The last thing you want to do is start a trial-and-error process on a car you need to keep running at peak levels.
What Is a Mobil 1 Oil Filter?
An oil filter is an oil filter, right? Maybe. ExxonMobil has a long and storied history, which includes the introduction and development of the entire Mobil 1 product line. That experience means a lot of research and development has gone into their oil filters’ designs.
History of Mobil 1 products
Mobil 1 got its start in 1974 when Mobil introduced a synthetic engine lubricant and called it Mobil 1. In 1978, Mobil 1 got its first sponsorship opportunity with the Williams Formula One Racing Team.
From there, they entered the Grand Prix and helped propel the Williams team to five wins in 1979.
In 1987, Mobil 1 broke onto the NASCAR scene as an associate sponsor for Rusty Wallace. That year gave Mobil 1 its first-ever NASCAR win. Afterward, Chevrolet decided to put Mobil 1 synthetic oil in their Corvettes, and Mobil introduced a new formulation for their oil geared towards better performance at high temperatures.
Their success in the racing world and with automakers snowballed throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, even after their 1999 merger with Exxon. It was only natural for them to build an oil filter made explicitly for their oil formulas.
Today, Mobil 1 oil is the number one engine lubricant in the world.
Who uses Mobil 1 products?
Almost everyone uses Mobil 1, it seems. They’re the official factory oil for luxury auto brands like Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac, and starting with the 2012 auto year, earned “original equipment status” with select models of Porsche, Nissan, Lexus, and others.
Besides that, many mechanics prefer Mobil 1 over any other oil brand. They feel it protects engines better and provides superior lubrication to everything else on the market.
What is a Mobil 1 oil filter made of?
That’s all well and good, but does a Mobil 1 oil filter meet the quality of Mobil 1 oil? What’s it made of? For all we know, ExxonMobil doesn’t care much about the filters so long as they keep selling their oil.
It turns out that they take great care in making their oil filters. All oil filters have these parts:
- Tapping plate, where your oil enters the filter
- Anti-drain back valve, which keeps oil in the engine even after you shut it off
- Pleated filter medium, which filters your oil
- Center core, which holds the filter together
- Bypass valve, which opens under pressure from your engine and allows oil in when it’s cold or when the filter is clogged
- End disc, which prevents oil from leaking into the center core and out of your car
Mobil 1’s filter medium uses synthetic material, as opposed to the cellulose that cheaper filters use. That material makes this filter over 99 percent efficient, meaning it screens out over 99 percent of the particles that make your oil dirty.
As such, your oil will last longer and so will your engine. It doesn’t have wire backing like other oil filters. The wire backing provides extra stability for the filter medium but isn’t 100 percent necessary.
They manufacture their anti-drain back valves out of silicone instead of rubber. That’s one of the ways that a Mobil 1 oil filter can withstand high temperatures. Silicone is simply better suited to high temperatures than rubber. The center core is metal, as are the tapping plate and end disc. Its bypass valve is metal and plastic.
Pricing
You can find a Mobil 1 oil filter just about anywhere, including your local auto parts store, Amazon, and Walmart. Prices will vary depending on where you live, what type of vehicle you drive, and from whom you buy your filter.
In general, you can expect to pay anywhere from $9 to $35 for a Mobil 1 oil filter.
How Do Drivers like the Mobil 1 Oil Filter?
It seems that Mobil 1 is a rather well-liked brand. Amazon has hundreds of reviews on most of the Mobil 1 filters they sell, and drivers overwhelmingly like having a Mobil 1 oil filter in their vehicles. Some are happy that they can go for 7,000 to 10,000 miles before having to change their oil.
Others find themselves pleased with how easily they can replace these filters.
Not all is well, though. As with every product, you’ll find customers who are unhappy with it. Some complain that the filters won’t seal properly, so they leak (or spill) oil. A few don’t like how expensive they are and feel cheaper filters are just as good. Overall, though, customers think that they’re getting a great deal for their cars. Mobil 1 oil filters enjoy ratings of 4.3 to 4.8 out of 5.0 stars on Amazon.
How Does the Mobil 1 Oil Filter Stack up Against Its Competitors?
So far, all you’ve read boils down to, “Rah, rah, Mobil 1 oil filter is awesome!” But what about the competition? How does Mobil 1 compare to other oil filters?
AC Delco
AC Delco is, perhaps, one of the more well-known auto parts companies out there. They manufacture a wide variety of oil filters including aftermarket filters, and their filters are certified original equipment for several different GM makes and models. However, their filters also fit non-GM vehicles, meaning they’re more versatile than they sound.
AC Delco uses a nylon core in its filters, while most other manufacturers use a plastic or metal core, including Mobil 1. Nylon is one of the most durable materials out there, so having a nylon core makes their filters more durable than others. Their filters are also smaller but have the same amount of filter medium as other filters on the market.
You can buy AC Delco oil filters for anywhere between $4 and $40, making them a little cheaper than Mobil 1 filters.
Customers like AC Delco’s oil filters, saying that they only need to hand-tighten them, and they enjoy the smaller size. However, some complain that it doesn’t filter oil properly or doesn’t allow enough oil into the engine. One customer complained that their engine developed a tapping sound after just two weeks.
When they replaced the filter, the tapping went away. Nevertheless, AC Delco enjoys ratings of 4.8 out of 5.0 stars on Amazon.
FRAM
FRAM filters are popular because they’re cheap and easy to install. They manufacture three consumer-grade filters designed for different times in an engine’s life cycle. However, FRAM engineers them differently than Mobil 1 and AC Delco, with cardboard end caps on two of their filters instead of the metal that everyone else uses.
As such, FRAM filters can’t handle the same temperature extremes or long distances that other filters can. Still, though, it’s an oil filter, and when you find yourself on a budget, these will work. You can buy them from both Amazon and Walmart. They cost between $4 and $35.
People who buy FRAM oil filters like their affordability, and many say that they work well despite their cheap construction. Some say that the filter’s non-slip texture makes it easy to install and remove; something that many other filter brands don’t have.
Those who don’t like FRAM filters complain that it doesn’t filter oil very well because there’s minimal filter medium inside. However, FRAM remains popular, getting 4.8 out of 5.0 stars on Amazon.
Royal Purple
Royal Purple oil filters are among the highest quality brands on the market. They make their filter medium out of synthetic micro-glass as opposed to cellulose, putting them on par with Mobil 1’s oil filters when it comes to efficiency. Furthermore, the shell on Royal Purple filters is thicker than those of other filters.
This gives them better protection against punctures from road hazards. Royal Purple oil filters cost considerably more than anyone else, running from $15 to $40. You get your money’s worth because of the superior durability and filtering capabilities inside this filter.
Customers rave about Royal Purple’s quality. Despite its higher cost, many feel that you just can’t beat the quality, making these filters an excellent value for your car. Some like the fact that Royal Purple keeps their oil clean and their older engines running at the best possible efficiency for their age.
A few say they can go more than 7,500 miles between oil changes with these filters. Most of the complaints about these filters center around Amazon sending the wrong size or the wrong product entirely. One person complained that the filter was rusty on the inside.
Royal Purple still enjoys 4.8 out of 5.0 stars on Amazon.
Bosch
You may not be very familiar with Bosch’s auto parts, including their oil filters. Bosch makes its oil filters with a blend of micro-glass and other synthetic materials, giving it a 99 percent efficiency rate. That, too, is on par with Mobil 1’s oil filters.
They note on their website that their filters can hold up to 14 grams of dirt and particulates before you need to change it. This is a metric we haven’t seen on anyone else’s website, so we can’t say whether that’s good or not. However, they’re cheaper than Royal Purple and comparably priced to AC Delco and Mobil 1, running between $7 and $18.
People who drive Fords like these filters because they cost less than Ford’s original equipment filters, but work just as well, if not better. Many say that they seal very well, keeping their engines’ oil where it belongs, even after hundreds or thousands of miles.
They feel that they’re getting a good value for their money. Those that complain about Bosch oil filters mostly say the one they ordered doesn’t fit their cars. One person says that the filter cracked as soon as they put it on their car.
A few also complain that their filter wrenches don’t work with these filters, making them difficult to remove. Amazon customers give Bosch oil filters 4.7 out of 5.0 stars, though.
How We Reviewed
We went to ExxonMobil’s website to learn about the history of Mobil 1 products and discover who uses them. For pricing information, we used Amazon, and we gathered our customer reviews from there as well.
To find out what materials go into a Mobil 1 oil filter, we went to CarsNToys’ YouTube channel because they made a video in which they dissect a filter. We also went to Mobil 1’s competitors’ websites to make our comparisons.
Finally, we used Amazon for customer reviews and pricing for the competition.
Our Verdict
If you’re considering a Mobil 1 oil filter for your car, we feel that you won’t be disappointed. Mobil 1’s prices are reasonable, their quality is excellent, and their experience in the industry ensures they manufacture solid products. They even stack up well against their competition.
You should use Mobil 1’s oil with these filters since they manufacture their filters to go with their full-synthetic oil. If you do that, and you purchase the proper size and install the filter correctly, a Mobil 1 oil filter will help you keep your car running smoothly for years to come.
You won’t even have the hassle of having to change your oil every 3,000 to 5,000 miles.