Hello all, A few moments ago I was on the revamped parts.toyota.com site (now actually autoparts.toyota.com) and all the local dealer sites near me (Orange County, California area and San Diego, California USA) are stating that oil filters are not available for purchase at this time and to contact the dealer for availability. I think this is really odd, as I previously could order oil filters and just pick them up at the dealership, and almost always the prices online are discounted versus buying directly at the parts counter. Just wondering if others are seeing the same issue, and also hoping this is a temporary thing as I do love the convenience of ordering parts online so easily.
When I get my parts at Longo Toyota, I just go in and ask them to match their online price. I don't do an order online and go pick up.
I just like the convenience that I can place an order for certain parts and pick them up when ready. I'll have to check next time and see if they'll match the online price, which I'm sure they will. My usual go to dealers in the area are Tustin Toyota, Anaheim Toyota, and Toyota El Cajon (these have the best discounts of all the local dealers).
You can call the dealership and have them get everything ready. I do that as well before going in to get my parts. I do speak to an actual person when ordering, he makes sure I get the right part based on my VIN number. I prefer doing that than searching for my parts online.
There's a thread here about a scarcity of Subaru oil filters. Online or at the parts counter. This is troubling...
I think the main thing that concerns me is not so much if I can order them online still, but why all the sudden I can't? It does seem a bit odd in that aspect. Well, I'm almost due for my 2.5 month regular oil change lol so I will give them a call and see what is going on. And yes, I do change my oil on average of every 2.5 months because I drive about 1000 miles a week, give or take.
The fram ultra synthetic version the filter does a better job of filtering than the stock and is readily available for pick up at your Walmart on most days.
I think when the car is new, you may be able to get away with 10k miles oil changes. But as it gets older, you may want to bring that interval down to about 5000-7000 miles. Not sure why you can't order online, unless it's your specific website. Luckily were just talking oil filters, those could be interchangeable with other brands, it's only an oil filter afterall
I do use aftermarket filters sometimes, but with the price and the amount of times I change my oil, the OEM ones are a good deal. I am running an oil change every 5000-7500 miles, but again, driving 1000 miles per week, I'm looking at oil changes every 2.5-3 months max, so I was thinking about buying a few extra OEM filters but alas, can't online. I tried 4 different local dealer websites, and all of them state not available for purchase online now.
Believe it or not, many times the higher end Frams, or even the Mobil 1 or K&N filters are always out of stock locally for me, so that's why I just end up getting the OEM ones.
You can always go to rockauto.com and order the Denso filter for $4.39 and pay a modest shipping charge. Just order a bunch of them (including air filters), it'll end up cheaper than the dealership (even online pricing)
Just keep in mind you can never know if this guy is being sarcastic or not. For all we know he just watched a Youtube video called "fram ultra synthetic is the worst filter in the world" then came here and posted that for a laugh. Or, they could be great filters.
I do use Rockauto frequently for other items, as well as stuff for my wife's Hyundai. Amazon can be a good choice too, as long as I do a bit of research first because of potential for fake items being sent.
I would agree with that... again, it's mostly just odd that all the sudden they are not orderable online... just seems odd for that particular item to be unavailable.
