This is the great debate. In all honesty, even non-hybrid modern cars don't need their oil changed every 3500 miles anymore. Some may think this is just the dealer trying to rake us over, but a hybrid is complex and the ICE and the electric motors run together more often then not. I agree with following the manual, at least until the warrantee period is over.

By the way, on our very first oil change we took it to Jiffy Lube instead of Nissan. Be careful, not all Jiffy Lubes have 5W-20 or 0W-20 oil. (The smaller Nissan dealers may not have them either.) If you just ask for Hybrid oil, you will most likely get 5W-30, which technically works in the Prius and regular Nissan engines. This will not kill your car, but is not the recommended oil in the Altima Hybrid manual and would be no good in the winter.

Ideally, you want 0W-20 in the winter and 5W-20 in the summer unless you have hot weather year round.