A common complaint for Toyota owners is the cost of genuine parts. If you’re looking for body parts etc, sometimes there isn’t an aftermarket option. For common mechanical components, the quality of aftermarket parts through retailers has significantly dropped over the last few years meaning you’re compromising reliability for price. Sometimes this isn’t an option – for me at least.
What if there was an alterative way to search for genuine parts and more importantly, order them online for close to half the price.
Well hold onto your hats because it’s not fiction – it’s real.
Parts Catalogue
When you visit a Toyota dealership, you supply them your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) so they can browse a visual parts catalogue. What’s not known to most people is that this is available online through a Russian website.
Toyota Market RU
On this website you can navigate to your vehicle via the region’s. However I’ve found this difficult because of the Rusish nature (Russian and English). To be confident that I have the right path, I enter the VIN for my vehicle and it goes straight to the correct vehicle model. It may give you a choice between General and USA. I select General (for right hand steer) and you can start browsing the vehicle sections. This takes some getting used to as parts may not be listed where you might expect.
Toyota Market RU – Sections
When you select a seciton, it will take you into the exploded view. When looking at the exploded view you should note that there may be more than one image, as seen in the “Side Member” view below.
Toyota Market RU- Exploded View
Something to consider. When talking to Toyota or a online parts provider, the part number that appears here may be slightly different because it’s been super-seeded. But when they order from Toyota overseas, they work this out and sent the current version of the part. I.e. Rear sliding window rubbers between the 78 series and current Troopy – you’ll order the current Troopy part number. So far I haven’t experienced an issue when ordering this way. It also helps when you can screen shot and highlight the parts in an email. These images are intereactive so as you hover over a part it will highlight on the left hand side.
While this website is great, occassionally, it’s not available and I’ve not been able to work out a pattern. Should this happen, come back and try the following day. When it’s up it’s fantastic. When I want to understand where wiring etc goes I always use the exploded views on this website to help me visualise it.
Getting Parts
So you’ve got the part numbers and now you’ve got a couple of options;
- Run down to Toyota and get them (leave your arm and leg behind)
- Look at buying them from someone who imports them with less margin
- Purchase aftermarket
I came across these websites while trying to fix my car after it was hail damaged. I couldn’t afford to do it via Toyota because the parts were too expensive, and for some of them I wanted Genuine. For instance, the steel quarter glass frames in the passenger and drivers doors had almost rusted through and there weren’t aftermarket options available – they were $600 from Toyota.
In my quest to find aftermarket parts I came across the following websites that import and sell genuine Toyota parts;
All Four X 4 are based out of Newcastle, NSW. For parts advertised on their website they actually carry stock (most of the time) for the Troop Carriers. Most of the parts they carry are genuine Toyota (be careful as some are aftermarket). This was great for getting new rubbers for the doors, windows, winders, door covers etc. I could go on. 🙂
I ordered quite a few different parts from these guys (large and small) and I was impressed with how they packed up the material to ensure that it arrived without being damaged. I would highly recommend them.
Sometimes due to demand, they run out of stock and it can take a while (up to 2 months) for it to be imported. So may not work if you’re on a tight timeline.
http://www.tojo4wdcentre.com.au/
Tojo 4WD Centre is based out of Toowoomba, QLD and also stock a large number of parts for the Troop Carriers. They have a similiar range to All Four x 4 but also some additional parts. What impressed me is how the owner would arrange for parts not listed on his page to be ordered. He spoke about having options to import from Dubai and Malaysia and he could get parts in approx 2-3 weeks. He was really helpful sourcing a few things I couldn’t get easily elsewhere and prices were good.
Tojo doesn’t seem to carry as much inventory but is able to bring it in much quicker. A couple of odd pieces I asked for he ordered and delivered to my door in 2 weeks. This might work better if you need something more urgently but not immediately.
Summary
Obviously it comes down to how urgently you need to get bits and pieces, and what you need to get. Fortunately a lot of parts between the different models haven’t changed which means they are still available.
If you’re unsure, it’s worth giving both of these places a call as the staff were friendly and willing to help.
Know of other locations that import genuine parts without marking them up to Toyota prices! Please comment and I’ll update the page to include them. These are the only two I came across (and needed) for what I did.
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This is an independent view and I am in no way associated with any organisation mentioned here and I don’t receive any payments from them