Toyota parts prices

What's the website of the company you found online? :)

By the way, what's your opinion of parts from say, Napa Auto Parts? (Do they have a Napa in your neck of the woods?)

Napa parts are usually the gold standard for non-dealer parts. But Napa also sometimes sells more than one line. For example, buying a fuel pump for my Corolla, I was asked if I wanted the cheaper or the pricey pump.

I compared them and for the extra $12, the more expensive pump seemed much better. They have two different lines of filters, etc.

For ignition parts, my mechanic uncle told me never to buy anything but original Toyota. I also only buy Toyota-rebuilt water pumps, etc, as most of the rebuilt junk I have gotten elsewhere has been just that -- junk.

I'm debating whether to get genuine Toyota radiator hoses for my '96 camry, or go for Napa parts.

No more rebuilt junk for me, thanks... :)

My independent mechanic uses NAPA parts 98 percent of the time. I think the last NAPA hoses he put on my rig were GOODYEAR. They've held up well.

One caution, if you are talking about a "universal fit" hose, they only fit after a fashion. With Toyota, you might want to pay the extra few dollars to avoid the headache of wriggling a uni-fit into place. But for the Camry, I imagine Goodyear/NAPA has an exact fit.

About 7 years ago, not wanting to hassle getting a one-size fits all battery cable, I went to Toyota where they wanted $70-something for the official Toyota cable. I went to NAPA, got one that as a bit too long, but was $8.....Cable is still working fine.

On the other hand, the NAPA air filter "fits" my camry sort of, but it takes several minutes of fussing with it. Next time, for the extra $5, I'll go with Toy, which drops right in.

I suppose everyone has their favorites. I've been very pleased with Lincoln Frash at Butler Toyota in Indianapolis, IN, 800-692-6396,

--I'm sure there are many others, also good.Yes there is a NAPA nearby, and I have a NAPA water pump in my '77Toyota truck, installed by the radiator shop after the Pep Boys waterpump bearing fell out causing instant loss of coolant. The NAPA parthas been fine -- however . . . I don't think you're going to improve onToyota quality. I've seen people getting over 500,000 miles out oftheir Toyotas, and they use the factory parts. I did install a NAPAelectromagnetic fuel cutoff jet for the carburetor on that vehiclesince Toyota no longer carried it for that year, but personally Iprefer higher quality over lower price.Would especially recommend the Toyota coolant hoses -- although at140,000 miles and 12 years, the originals are still fine - I keepchecking them regularly, but there is no softness, swelling, splittingor deterioration of any kind.Generally if you look at parts side by side, you can spot thedifferences. For example, when I purchased the car, and learned how tocheck the air filter, the old part looked like accordion folded schoolnotebook paper. The Toyota part was vastly superior. I understand theyuse three gradients of filter media to hold the coarser particlesfirst, then progressively trap finer particles to maximize thecompromise between filtration and air flow efficiency. Since Iappreciate that sort of thing, I buy the Toyota original equipmentreplacements. If you trade in regularly, or only keep cars a couple ofyears, probably doesn't matter. Once had a college professor in acapital budgeting decision class that put forth the idea thateconomically, it is always less costly to perform repairs, than toreplace a car. Now if you were using our local dealer that may not holdtrue, but since I do all my own work, I have no doubt that keeping thecar in flawless condition, besides being personally rewarding to drive,is also a money saver.

Daniel wrote:

Wise professor of yours.

Good prices on air suction hoses at toyotadiscountparts.com ($72 vs. $96)... what's the shipping charge for orders less than $100? I might never go to the dealer again... :)

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

Last time I went to the dealer Parts department to get some Toy antifreeze, I asked them for a transmission pan drain plug. (I'd stripped mine slightly, using a 3/8" Allen wrench instead of the 10mm hex wrench, last time I changed my tranny oil.) Those guys showed me an engine oil drain plug, then when I told them that wasn't it, they showed me *another* engine oil drain plug.

Sigh.

along the same lines. been having troiuble with the starter on my 97 corolla. called my local toyota dealer, asked how much to relace the starter . after a couple of minutes came back and said with parts and labor $450.00. called a local garage with a good reputation thay said around $200.00. guess you know who got the work. of course if the starter gives out after 6 months that would not be good. but willing to take the chance. so far it is working great.

NAPA carries Gates. Gates belts and hoses are excellent prodcuts and I use them regardless of the car make.

Toyota belts and hoses are Dayco, Mitsuboshi or Goodyear. (look at what's printed on them). So I'd go straight to NAPA for belts and hoses.

I don't use remanufactured pumps, even from Toyota. NAPA's Airtex pumps have been fine, with a lifetime warranty..

I could be wrong, I could swear it was a Goodyear from NAPA, and maybe they vary regionally. I would not reject a Gates product, though....indeed, I might be inclined to think they might be better than a Goodyear.

I've not have any problems with remans from Toyota or Nissan, but lots of problems from other sources.

For rebuilds like alternators, steering rack, starters, NAPA is fine (often with 3-year warranties). Bosch makes a line of new alternators and starters with 2-year warranties and 24/7 roadside assistance. I'd chose NAPA for the price and warranty and they've worked fine. Sure, the $450 Toyota starter is good for 1-year/12K miles if they install it.

For domestics, NAPA often carries the exact same part you can buy at the dealer counter. I always use the "NAPA" line, which is the premium line instead of "Stop-rite", "Filter-rite" or something like that for the budget-minded consumers. But less expensive rotors such as Raybesto's Raymold line also work very well so far.

for a pair of hood support struts, from IN to CA shipping was $8

see other recent post: usually new solenoid contacts for around $20 will fix a Toyota starter

You know, I need a pair of those too. I've been using a block of wood to keep the hood up - my hood support cylinders are shot too.

But at $45 each (left and right)... let's see... block of wood, or $90... block of wood, $90... I think I'll stick with the block of wood for now. :)

2 starters at 200.00 = 400.00.... still 50.00 saving on the cost of parts in case the first one goes!

============================== Yes, I had the long stick of wood also - but what if I had to open the hood out on the road one day? When it got to the point that the hood began falling the instant it was raised I replaced the hood struts. Tremendous difference. Let go of the hood and it springs up into position near the end of travel.