Oil/filter changes – Southern Cal. Dealerships

You don’t need to get the popcorn out (yet), not those kind of questions.

In a couple weeks I’ll be driving my ’26 LE FWD from SE Louisiana to SoCal area, transferring ownership to my daughter, then flying home. I-12/I-10 all the way, car will have around 2500 miles on the odo at trips end. Plan on getting 1st oil/filter change right after I arrive. I’m not planning on trying to argue the case that this 1st OCI should be covered under the 2 yr. ToyotaCare scheme, I’ll pay for it and then query the dealership on (1) in future can my daughter get her ToyotaCare work done here even though didn’t purchase it here, (2) the whole “is it a 5k or 10k OCI that’s applicable for her expected driving regimen under ToyotaCare”. I won’t know what they’ll say until I get there. As long as they allow an 'adequate' drain time, use 4.4 US quart (not the 4.1 for plug-ins?) for refill, and reset the maintenance minder I'll be happy.

My daughter won’t be doing future DIY scheduled maintenance work (apt. dweller, disposal hassles, etc). My advice to her will be – forget about doing 10k OCI intervals, do 5k intervals, you may have to pay for some of them but do it anyway.

I’ve noticed a couple dealerships (of course not super-close to where she lives) advertise what they call AdvantageCare plans – pay in advance for 3 x oil/filter changes, tire rotations, etc. There is a cost benefit involved – one example I found (West Coast Toyota), $225 for a 3 pack using 0w-8 syn oil ($75/change vs. anywhere from $100-$150/single change using 0w-8 oil at other dealerships.

A question for anyone in the Los Angeles area that uses an AdvantageCare plan - is there a time limit (calendar year, other) that applies to these? Assuming she can find a somewhat close-by dealership that will do ToyotaCare scheduled maintenance (whether it’s 5k or 10k OCI’s remains to be determined), an AdvantageCare type scheme might stretch over a couple years for her. If she has to use all 3 x OCI’s within, say, a calendar year, well then it might not be a good deal.

On a somewhat related question – I’m ‘assuming’ that in an established hybrid area like Los Angeles, all Toyota dealerships have/use 55 gal./200 liter or 210 liter drums of 0w-8 oil for maintenance OCI work. I ask because the small dealership in Louisiana I bought the LE from had/has very few Toyota models that call for 0w-8 oil, sales types all swore my LE used 0w-16, even when shown the under-hood 0w-8 sticker. I wandered around the service area (they hate it when you do that), before I was ushered away I did see at least 1 drum of 0w-16 oil but saw no 0w-8 drums, so in my mind maybe/maybe not you’d get 0w-8 oil if called for (I didn't think they'd use a 5 gt. jug for an oil change, but who knows?).

 

1. Yep all I've seen is their website AdvantageCare coupon - no fine print details. My view of course is, if daughter buys the 3x plan, and wants to do 3 x OCI's every 100 miles then that's her choice. If it's bound to specific warranty OCI's then not that valuable.
2. Upselling - yeah it's always an issue. She's been good about contacting me whenever that happened with her current Honda ride (a lot was rubbish), hope she continues that.
3. Yep will stress sticking with 0w-8 for OCI's for warranty reasons (even though it will always rub me wrong from my Pavlov's Dog response to experience over 50+ years with oil changes - trying to keep an open mind as a non-tribologist).

 

Roger than. And @BiomedO1 gave me a good lateral thinking suggestion on a metric for determining the 'fair/current market value' to use on the REG 256 Statement of Facts form for my LE that's so new it isn't even in Kelley Blue Book/NADA Guide values system yet (it will be a "used" 2026 with ~2500 miles).
California - Fair/Current Market Value on Used 2026 Prius LE | PriusChat

 

AdvantageCARE | West Coast Toyota