2012 Toyota Camry 2.5 4 cylinder 125k miles.
Bought this used car and I'm going to replace the sparkplugs as recommended. Should I also replace the coils or wait until they actually fail? If and when coils are replaced, is it recommended to also purchase coils at chain stores or do I buy those at the Toyota dealer? I'm a bit skeptical of the Chinese electrical parts sold at chain stores (but I'm no expert).
do chain stores (autozone, oreilly, napa, etc) also sell OEM coils or only after market?
Most of those stores sell aftermarket parts unless specifically labelled as OEM. You can buy OEM parts at the dealer (most expensive), or from online suppliers at a discount. You can also elect to buy coils made for Toyota by the original manufacturer, which is most likely Denso. Avoid buying parts from eBay or Amazon since the parts sold there are frequently counterfeit.
Appreciate all your feedback. Thanks!
No need to replace coils if they're working OK. Use OEM parts when the time comes.
Forgive my ignorance @ChuckTobias, do chain stores (autozone, oreilly, napa, etc) also sell OEM coils or only after market? I only build up the courage a couple of years ago to started working on my own cars (minor stuff of course) but lack the experience, LOL.
Keep the current coils as long as they work. When you change the plugs, clean out any old grease, and install with fresh dielectric grease on the electrical connector.
PS: don’t ask if you should use antiseize on the threads. Go by the recommendations from the manufacturer of the plugs 😉
Appreciate the response. Yes, as Scotty says, new plugs no longer need added grease on the threads. Thanks!
do chain stores (autozone, oreilly, napa, etc) also sell OEM coils or only after market? I only build up the courage a couple of years ago to started working on my own cars
you can ask them. They won't bite. It probably depends on the particular part.
When I look for parts, I call about 5 different places and compare.
Keep the coils, change the plugs. NGK is a great Japanese brand. Not sure if they have them for your car but more than likely yes because it's a Toyota. I usually get my parts from rockauto and what you want to do is skip over anything labeled as "economy" for most parts and go with regular or premium quality. Consider the metal used too: in order of longevity from lowest to highest: copper, platinum, iridium, and apparently ruthenium is supposed to be even better but they're relatively new. Platinum and especially iridium are worth the extra money. idk about ruthenium. Scotty has mentioned that he's pulled original factory iridium plugs from some Japanese cars with well over 200k miles and the cars still ran like a clock. Not saying you should do that though; at a certain point they just wear out and the gap gets too big and your engine will have to work harder and you'll get lower gas mileage, etc.
