Advice needed

[Jords]

Hi everyone, just looking for some guidance as I've never bought an imported car so know very little but am thinking of buying an Alphard or vellfire. 

My biggest worry is if something goes wrong how easy are parts to get and can it just be taken to most garages or do you need to find someone who knows these cars? 

 

Many thanks 

[Phil59]

Hi Jords

I have just bought an Alphard and took delivery this month. Like you, I was concerned about parts but my local Toyota dealer, Snows, have so far been happy to service my van and will be changing the water pump and cam belt next week. These parts are shared by other models. In my case, I have 3 litre V6 which is used in the Camry and Lexus L300. I am advised the 2.4 litre Alphards share their drive unit with the RAV 4.

Hope that helps.

Regards

[Jords]

Thanks that's quite reassuring to know, maybe I could check with my local Toyota garage first as well to be sure. 

[Rojie]

12 hours ago, Jords said:

Thanks that's quite reassuring to know, maybe I could check with my local Toyota garage first as well to be sure. 

 

You need to check with your local garages. Most official Toyota Dealers will not work on imports.

Snows in Torbay and Plymouth will.

I use them myself.

 

As Phil says, there is a lot of commonality of mechanical parts. I have the V6 too.

Toyota Direct can source 'common' parts, genuine but not cheap !

 

Motor factors can supply oil filters air filters, oil etc. 

Do use genuine Toyota oil and antifreeze.

 

I believe as these vehicles become ever popular parts will be easier to get.

[Jezmond]

 I think that the most difficult parts to obtain are the body work. Say you smash your front bumper it's either getting one ordered from Japan or finding one from breaker. Most of the other non exterior parts are pretty easy to source I reckon. 

 

From my experience of getting Japanese imports I recommend that you try to find someone trustworthy fairly close to you that deals and repairs them. It's worth considering  paying a but extra to buy from a dealer near you.

[Thecorrection]

I've owned a few imports. For parts I used worldwide parts places like megazip. You can find most stuff on there, but knowing the part number helps. These kind of parts suppliers are usual based in the UAE so beware of import tax. I have also used Japanese auction sites like yahoo too. As previously mentioned it's usually the body stuff/keys that are the bugger to replace. Engine and drive trains are shared with domestic vehicles, but again you need to know your way around a parts catalogue. 

[Rojie]

2 hours ago, Thecorrection said:

I've owned a few imports. For parts I used worldwide parts places like megazip. You can find most stuff on there, but knowing the part number helps. These kind of parts suppliers are usual based in the UAE so beware of import tax. I have also used Japanese auction sites like yahoo too. As previously mentioned it's usually the body stuff/keys that are the bugger to replace. Engine and drive trains are shared with domestic vehicles, but again you need to know your way around a parts catalogue. 

 

Check toyotaalphardepc for part numbers.

 

All you need is the model type and year

 

[Thecorrection]

Thanks Rojie - that is very good to know!