Question: Where do you find the product codes for parts for your car? Say I want a brake booster? Didn't we used to have catalogues with info in there?. Because I ask Toyota, Aisin, Denso, and even internation parts supliers and it's really hard.
The reason is I had x1 OEM part number that showed up as discontinued from all suppliers. Then I stumbled on this site: "FiverBrakeBooster" and it gave me no less than x12 part numbers of which x11 were discontinued and x1 was not. And it wasn't even the latest version of the brake booster but I've confirmed it's compatible with my car.
These were all OEM part numbers by the way that were compatible with Japanese OEM part suppliers/internet sites.
And just some advice for anyone thinking of buying a JDM car that's 30 years old: you might think you're smart like me by looking up part availability for the whole brake system that you're gonna replace ('cause who wants 30 year old brakes) on Japanese auto parts sites, but THEY LIE. They tell you the part is available and you pay for it, but it's discontinued.
Then you go checking Aisin and Denso and you see they have a whole range of parts for your car. But you take your time fixing the car up and a year goes by and by the time you can afford the parts, Aisin and Denso discontinue them, or ignore your emails for the part numbers.
And now you gotta car with no brakes. Or you gotta buy brakes made in China. And with that option on the table, I think it's gonna stay a lawn ornament. 😉
I get my OEM part numbers from all data. It's an information system that I pay for. But any auto parts store can look up the same thing. Really. I would not advise buying the JDM car because those imported cars often have different parts on them and you can't get the correct information on repairing them. It can be a real hassle when they start to break down
Thanks Scotty. It's a bit of a dilema because finding parts in the UK as a citizen means you have to rely on the companies with your reg and they get everything wrong (tried to sell me power steering pump fluid once for electric steering) but in Japan and America you guys get the drawing of the car with part numbers. So it made sense at the time.
But now I might drive one of my cars to another country later this year and I need to get everything in order for at least one of them (20 and 30 years old) and it seems they're too old for parts. Lexus IS and Lexus LS.
What somebody needs to do is offer a service where we can pay them to find the parts for our old cars, and tell us if compatible. I've just bought this brake booster for £450 from Japan but it ends in 2 digits that are different from the latest one. But just have to take their word and my research that it's for my car. Or I can try to get it here in the UK where parts are typically 10 times more expensive. 🤔