Why do people buy the pre-mixed anti-freee?

[jw]

I dont understand why people waste their money buying that pre-mixed anti-freeze. It's half water. Are people that lazy that they cant mix the water with the AF themselves? Here are some figures. A gallon of the pre-mixed stuff sells for around $8. A gallon of the pure AF is selling for about $11. So, for $8 you are getting a half gallon of AF (mixed with a half gallon of water), or for $11 you get a full gallon of pure AF. If your car requires 4 gallons in it's cooling system, you will spend $22 for the AF and add 2 gallons of tap water which costs pennies at most.

Or, you can buy 4 gallons of the pre-mixed stuff at a cost of $32. Thus, you save $10 mixing it yourself. I dont know about you, but $10 is a decent saving for doing nothing but filling those AF jugs from the tap and adding it to the radiator. The only thing is you got to run the engine for a few minutes to get the stuff mixed in the engine, which is no big deal if you pour it in right before a trip to town.

Yea, I've heard the stupid excuse that "I might not get an even 50-50% mix. Well, I;ve been adding AF to cars for 40 years and it's not a precise science. I'd rather have a little too much AF than not enough. Too much water will freeze. Pure AF is supposed to freeze, but I've never had a jug in the garage freeze solid on even the coldest winter days. If you need 4 gallons total, add 2 gallons of AF and you'll use most of the 2 gallons of water, and will end up with 50 to 60% AF, and that will work just fine.

Not only do you save money mixing your own, but think about all the extra plastic bottles that haveto be made, transported, and recycled, just to sell a half gallon of water. People who buy this pre-mixed stuff are not very intelligent if they cant figure this out....

The only winners are the companies that laugh on their way to the bank, for selling a half gallon of water for a hefty price.

[The Daring Dufas]

Some people live in areas where the tap water may have minerals in it that may not be compatible with a vehicle cooling system. I don't have that problem where I live so I mix with tap water. You can also buy distilled water at most drug stores if you have hard water from your home's city or well water supply.

TDD

[jw]

I have a well, and there are minerals. Mostly calcium, which tends to build up in the toilet, causing me to use "The Works" to clean it every month or so. But how much calcium is really going to get in my engine from 2 gallons. I dont really worry about it. Not enough to cause any problems. For a battery, I do buy distilled water, but that's a lot more critical.

By the way, "The Works" is a great product. (No, I dont work for them). I used to spend an hour scrubbing that calcium in the toilet, now I just spray "The Works" and 10 minutes later I run the brush around the bowl a couple times and flush. Looks like a new toilet.... Sure makes that job easy.

[Ed Pawlowski]

You are very perceptive. People pay a lot of money for convenience. This is just an extension of the prepared foods sold at the grocery store.

[gfretwell]

Some cars, like Honda require that you use their antifreeze. If you look on the Honda newsgroup they will tell you the silicates in Prestone and other usual brands will kill a Honda water pump. Honda antifreeze is premix. Bullshit? probably but that is what the Honda dealer will tell you.

I like the "bad water" answer better. There are a lot of places that have horrible tap water and I would not use it in my car. OTOH why not just use distilled water at less than a buck a gallon instead of paying "antifreeze" prices for it.

[notbob]

I'd hafta say so. I used plain water and any ol' generic brand of AF for 20 yrs in my Honda Civic. Never had a cooling system problem, ever, and this in sub-freezing to 110F+ CA.

Never heard that. Maybe on the newer ones. Mine was an '87.

nb

[micky]

And why do they buy pre-mixed windshield fluid?

It's 90% water, and you have to store a gallon containter of the pre-mixxed stuff until you use it up, at which time you have to buy anot her gallon. When the concentrated clearer is only a pint or less.

[Stormin Mormon]

As the old circus guy, PT Barnum said, "ïf you build it, they will come" and so I guess if you market it, they will buy. Not me, though. Oddly enough, I also havn't been to the circus in many years, so maybe I'm not typical consumer.

I view it, like this. To buy a gallon of glycol, you'd need to spend $16 on the two jugs of premix. So, the gallon of water cost you $5. That's expensive water. Also, if I just finished flushing my system wtih the hose, I want the 100% stuff, as there is already water in the engine.

I have to read labels carefully, so I don't accidentally get the half water stuff.

[George]

At least around here if you are a true believer that big box is your friend you don't have a choice (I guess if they can get people to pay meat prices for water when they buy the adulterated "fresh" meat why not extend the feeling to other products?). They only stock the premixed for your convenience stuff. If you don't want to pay anti-freeze price for water you need to go to the local auto parts places.

[The Daring Dufas]

I use The Works also to clean toilets and it is a very good product. I also know that adolescent mad scientists use it for mischief. When I come across a toilet that's dried up because it's been unused for a long time, I've used Sani-Flush Crystals to boil it out and clean it up so it sparkles. Another product "Vanish Crystals" is pretty much the same thing.

TDD

[Harry K]

Exactly - convenience I keep a gallon of thie premix for topping off occasionally - has lasted so far for several years and that even includes a boil over on ht etruck. If I need a drain and refill I'll buy the unadulaterated and add my own water.

Harry K

[jw]

That's like my friend bought a chainsaw. They told him that he MUST use their own brand oil to mix in the gasm which costs twice what the common 2 cycle oil costs. He told me about it, adn I told him to use the common stuff, as long as it's 2 cycle oil made for chainsaws and other small engines. I bet it all comes from the same refinery and even the same vat. Just another way to rip people off...

[Jim Yanik]

Ed Pawlowski wrote in news: [e-mail]:

do you save any money buying unmixed antifreeze?

[The Daring Dufas]

I've only bought premix for convenience if I'm on the road working and have no time to mix a batch.

TDD

[dennisgauge]

99.9% of antifreeze sales are to people who simply want/need to "top off" their systems.

Top offs generally require less than one gallon of 50/50 mix, but the exact amount is not always known. Standard operating procedure is to make up a quantity of 50/50 pre-mix and add whatever is necessary to fill the system.

Problem is, I've got this fresh gallon of 100% antifreeze in a one gallon container. Now I have to hunt down another clean container to pour some of the antifreeze into so I can mix it. In typical shadetree mechanic fashion, I've filled most of my old antifreeze bottles with used motor oil, and tossed the ones I got sick of tripping over.

It's not an insurmountable problem, but it is inconvenient and usually aggravating.

The convenience factor of a bottle of premix when you only need a few cups here and there is worth a couple extra bucks.

I agree with you if you're going to flush and fill, but that's not what it's meant for. If people are foolish enough to buy the premix for a flush and fill, that's their problem not yours or mine.

[Stormin Mormon]

Outboard motor oil is different than air cooled engine oil. But, you're right, about the profit stream.

For the jug of pre mix I carry or have on hand, I magic marker 50/50 on the jug in big black letters -- don't bother to buy premix for that, even.

[N8N]

The last time I bought coolant, I bought a gallon of pre-mix. Why? The coolant in my truck was slightly low, but by the time it gets low again, it'll likely be time to have it flushed and changed - if I even still have the truck. So I bought more than I needed anyway, and didn't have to go find a measuring cup and funnel to top up the recovery bottle.

Now if you're doing a flush and fill, I agree, buying premix is dumb. If nothing else, when you flush, you're never going to drain *all* the water out unless you pull the block drains, and maybe not even then. So the correct procedure is to refer to the manual for system capacity, put in 50% (or whatever your desired concentration would be) of that amount of straight coolant, then top up with water.

nate

[larry moe 'n curly]

For only the second time in my life, I bought some pre-mixed antifreeze last week, but only because Pep Boys had a Black Friday deal where it was free after $5 rebate.

The first time I bought 50/50 was by accident because I didn't know here was such a thing as pre-diluted antifreeze. I don't like pre- diluted because it's hard to remove all the water from the cooling system, so with 50/50 pre-diluted I'd end up with less than 50% antifreeze.

[Sigmund Freud]

Agreed...It's sort of like why do people go to McD's for a hamburger. It would be a lot cheaper to make your own and we all know you don't have to be Bobby Flay to make a better burger than McDonalds.

And don't even get me started on Charbuck$ burnt coffee.

[George]

Seems to be just another big box way to cut the quantity of a standard package.

One pound coffee bags are now 12 oz, I have seen what were 16 oz cans as small as 10.5 oz. So instead of making a 32 oz "gallon" jug they dilute it 50% with water and sell you 2 quarts for almost the same price as a gallon.