used auto parts

I had a weird minor collision about three decades ago in which a pickup truck came around a corner in back streets on the wrong side of the road, and though he slowed never stopped until he actually hit my car at very slow speed (maybe 2 mph?). He backed up, adjusted position more toward the sidewalk and tried again, hitting me once more before his next try actually got him around my car by going up on the sidewalk.

The collision was very slow, so pretty minor damage, but the shop I went to and the claims adjuster decided I needed a replacement front bumper--though all I could see on it was a minor smudge.

When I went to pick up the repaired car, the proprietor chatted with me a few minutes. A major topic was his recounting of the ways his competitors routinely cheat the insurance companies.

Given that I was a bit surprised when I looked at the car in his lot to see the same smudge on the bumper--it had not in fact been replaced. I was more surprised when I mentioned this to the proprietor, and he "found" he had the replacement bumper ready to install, and did so in about 15 minutes.

This was in Albuquerque, where much of the population seems to think that extracting money from insurance companies is a favorite indoor sport.

up until the directional tire thing. Seriously, I think you have a good idea there, although, I believe that I would find another tire. I have found junk yards a great place to find replacement parts. For example, I had a 2006 GMC Canyon and it needed a windshield cowling. It was old and weathered and had seen better days. I called GM. The parts guy looked up the part and asked if I was sitting down. The part is made out of plastic, but it was $45.00. Now keep in mind, this was at least 5 years ago. The parts guy said that $20.00 would have been a big price. So, I told him that I would go to a junk yard and check if they had one available. He said that’s what he would do. I called a big junk yard north of where I live and asked if they had the part. The guy said that they did. I asked the price. $15.00 the guy said. I will be up to get it, I said. Went and picked up the part while stopping at one of my favorite places to eat. Nice enjoyable ride. Saved $30.00. And, had the part installed in about 30 minutes after I got home.

I have since gotten 2 more OE rims, from CT--one was $56 shipped, the other $60 shipped. Most again are well over $100 so if I can find another for $60, I'll get it and have 4 spare (there are 4 @ $65.55 but I already made the guy 2 offers at $60 and $63 and he didn't want my money so good riddance lol). All 3 have center caps and TPMS. Whether the TPMS functions is not known, I only have the relearn tool not a full blown tool.

The Crossclimate 2 while a great deal was a poor choice, live and learn. I got lucky it has no patches and it has a 1 year return policy if not used i.e. label is still on it. Seems the used tires "can" be professionally patched and the descriptions will not say if they were or not. Since I don't need the tires immediately, I'll keep looking from time to time.

On the autoparts, again....my BMW 335 pass button broke off the driver's power window switch. $210 list for OE, best online was $156. Got a $23 part on amazon and it was identical and works great! Feels the same, even has the red leds and looks identical to original when side by side.

So this got me on a power window switch kick. I learned that when auto up, and auto down, each switch actually has 4 positions. Auto down, down, auto up, up.

Now I noticed on our Lexus the pass side can only do auto down--there is no down, not working. It prefers up, and has to be forced to do auto up.

This part is $626 list, and no aftermarket. But it's not Lexus, it's Toyota. Every car has the same "master" power window switch. 4 buttons, a disable window, and a door lock. A Corolla is $700, but has an aftermarket. It only has auto for the driver's window so pinout is different.

I've ordered a aftermarket for a Lexus RX and it looks identical except for black, not gray, $35 on amazon. Says does not fit but I'll see I say it does.

And I know a picture is worth a thousand words here are links to Toyota pricing, it's a dirty little secret imho. They may be super reliable, but expensive to repair. 3X the price on many parts when compared to BMW. Again, these are nothing more than power window switches in the driver's armrest--why would a Toyota be 5X a BMW? The business model. Remember, BMW spent a decade+ where free maintenance was included with vehicles (including brake pads and rotors done at the same time), this meant zero upsell from the service department.

Corolla $696.67 list
https://www.oemgenuineparts.com/oem-parts/toyota-window-swit...

RX350 $1152.79 list
https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-master-switch-assy...

RX350 aftermarket part $21.95 so you can see exactly what we're talking about, pretty sure if my experience is same as BMW, this part works identically and is fine

https://www.ebay.com/itm/404927226965?itmmeta=01HWZ6NYB1F6BQ...

BMW 7 series $231.91 list

https://www.getbmwparts.com/oem-parts/bmw-window-switch-fron...

Another thing I learned is dealer to dealer is marked up 10%, so there just has to be room to make a huge profit. Can you even imagine taking a Corolla in for a switch replacement and driving out $850 poorer, when this could have been done at home for maybe $30 and 15-20 min? It's a business model at Toyota imho, the mythical car co!

I bought a 2005 Avalon brand new. At around 6000 miles, I noticed a clunk in the front end. Took it to Toyota; couldn’t find anything wrong. Same thing at around 12,000, 17,000, 24,000, and 31,000 miles. Always the same. Can’t find anything wrong. While at work one day, I ran across an article about steering column problems on Toyota Avalons. I did a search and found out that there were several TSB’s regarding this very same issue that I was having. Now mind you, the date on the first issuance of the TSB corresponded with the date that was on the paperwork for the 17,000 mile visit to the dealership. I called them and explained what was happening. They said to bring the car in. 15 minutes after getting the car in the service bay, the service manager came out and said that the steering column needed to be replaced. I asked him why hadn’t they discovered this problem earlier since a TSB had been issued on it. He just gave me a dumb look and said that they would take of it, but since it was out of warranty, I would have to pay $250,00. I asked why do I have to pay when you should have found the problem 20,000 miles ago. He mumbled something about Toyota policy and said that I could call California and maybe they could help. I called. No dice. Still had to pay the $250. I told the lady that it wasn’t the money but it was the principle of the whole thing and that if I had to pay $250.00, then I would never buy another Toyota. She replied that I could do whatever I wanted to do. Three months later, I traded the car in on a Hyundai Sonata. I sent Toyota an email telling them that I was following through on what I had said. Their response, ‘Thank you for the kind words’, They didn’t even read the email. It was just an automated response. Fast forward; the Sonata’s warranty had expired; 5 years or 60,000 miles. I had around 74,000 miles on the car and was taking it in for an oil change. Upon pulling into the dealership the battery light came on. 30 minutes later the service rep came out and said that he had good news and bad news. The good news was that it needed a new valve cover gasket which was going to cost $6.95. The bad news was that it was going to cost $300.00 to replace it. The other bad news was that as a result of the valve cover gasket leaking, the alternator was going to have to be replaced. Another $350.00. And it was going to cost $300.00 for the labor to replace the alternator. Total amount; over $1000.00 including taxes. Less $100.00 for a veterans discount. I told them to go ahead and fix it. They gave me a loaner car at no charge and said that it would be done the next day. The next day I am on the way down to the dealership and my phone rang. It was the service rep informing me that the car was ready and that he had good news. It had turned out that one of the other service rep’s had heard him talking about the problem with the car and told him that Hyundai had an issue with valve cover gaskets about 3 years ago and he should call them and see if they would cover this repair. He called and they said that it would be covered at 100%. He told me that the only thing that I owed them was for the oil change. Great customer service. That’s why I drive Hyundai’s now instead of Toyota’s.

how policies shape human behavior.

Being risk averse as people, we are able to be influenced by such.

I've only purchased 3 new cars (just junked the 1998 at the start of 2023, still have the other 2), and 1 used car (for over $2k).

What I've noticed is GM and Nissan have poor warranty support (maybe this has changed we are talking 2011 and 1998).

BMW had the best support (2007 and this HAS changed).

Why BMW? It was free maintenance and 4/50 bumper to bumper. This means you basically drove your car in as if you were in the royal family, everything is covered down to a free loaner. the behavior side? The dealer has ZERO upsell, because everything is going to cost the owner $0. For 2007 this included brake pads and rotors. The gosh darn car cost $40,600 base, one can't even get a minivan for that today. Then, the level of the techs, they are just as dishonest, but they are more highly skilled.

Many systems are broke if you ask me, healthcare, auto repair, all types of insurance, etc.

But going back to human behavior, there are going to be people who also do the right thing. I bought a used Lexus for $14,000, 10 years old. Shame on me, I rushed to get it as it was a FLA car and no accidents. The brakes shuddered and the power door lock didn't work on the driver side. I didn't do a pre-purchase inspection. The useless used car salesman never returned my calls (he's thinking what does this guy want for $14k I bet), so I simply made an appt. The service mgr was gruff on the phone, I'll have to look into it. Got there, they fixed everything for free--THEY DID THE RIGHT THING. Took 2 trips because the door actuator was not in stock. Brakes they used OE and returned all the used parts to me, and I even saw caliper bolts which is part of the Toyota job (car has fixed calipers). I still have this car and amusingly YouTube says the values have gone up since I got it 7.5 years ago.

Almost all of my reading here is done using the "unread" feature, yet sometimes I find myself re-reading messages and have been puzzled. I think I've found a the beginnings of a explanation. I've extracted the timestamp, userid, and subject for the last four messages and they are in the order presented:

Wed, 05/01/2024 - 8:06am maddog67 Everything was good,
Sat, 05/04/2024 - 2:55am johnnatash4 yep
Fri, 05/03/2024 - 7:47am maddog67 Another thing about Toyota
Sun, 05/05/2024 - 4:51am johnnatash4 it's amazing

How did they get out of order?

That when you do a quote, it may throw things out of order. That’s the only thing I can figure. Good question for JM.

I've always assumed that the read/unread bit relied on cookies somehow. Maybe want to take a look at them to shed light on the question.

They either replied to a message, or they chose Add A New Comment. A reply can insert into the thread, or New will add to the end.

I bought 3 aftermarket Toyota power window switches and 0/3 worked.

I think they do work on some toyota (unknown to me), but not mine, even though the plug fit. My door locks started clicking as soon as I plugged them in.

I thought I was a goner at $626. There is a Japanese online parts provider called Amayama, maybe I'd try them. Nobody wants to spend $600 or $1000 for a part for a 2006 car.

A lightbulb turned on--what if I open up these switches into their halves.

I'll take the switches from the aftermarket, and use them (a knub broke off so the switch doesn't rock, same as the other car).

Basically used the circuit board that's original, silicone insert that's original as 4 of the contacts are gold on the original, not the aftermarket, put it back together and voila, fixed!

I can say this now that I've taken the components apart....aftermarket isn't exactly the same as OE. But very close. It's not worth paying anywhere near $600+. I'm out $24 and happy....

this is the OE part
https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-master-switch-assy...

This should illustrate what I was dealing with, and you can see they are the same layout for almost all Toyotas of the era, from Corolla, to flagship Lexus

https://www.ebay.com/itm/386709542634?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid...