Replaced Spiral Cable, Now Have an Airbag Light!

+1

Adding to what the Eric said, I don't have a problem with alternate parts, but my problem with any aftermarket or (particularly) knockoffs from China, is how do I evaluate the quality?

With some systems it might be only a matter of a shorter life or unreliability, and you can probably get away with it if the system is not critical and you don't mind doing the same job over.

In terms of price, yes, $346 does seem a lot. A quick search just now I turned up (on fleaBay) what looks like a genuine part for $199. Further offers for parts that look like aftermarket for between $48 and $65.37. The next price bracket has them for between $8.11 and $13.90. Genuine part from Toyota Parts eStore was $209 (marked down from $295) plus freight (choose one) Ground (+) $25.14 | UPS 3 Day Express (+) $52.38 | UPS Next Day Air (+) $73.33. This part originates from Chicago, IL so tax may be a consideration, you don't say where you are in the US. There are Toyota online parts stores in other states (e. g. Camelback AZ, Olathe Toyota or San Bernardino CA), so there is choice.

Looking at the price range and assuming Toyota marked up its cost price by 100% to get the wholesale and then marked that up a further 100% to make retail, then those $48 - $65 part may make sense. But $8.11 - $13.90? That makes no sense.

But with a critical safety system, such as airbags, waiting until a crash (which by definition, would be serious to set off the airbags) to find out if the cheap spiral cable was good enough just isn't something I can live with. I realise other people have a different outlook on risk, so will make a different call.

I'm not making any judgements, just challenging the paradigm of using the cheapest parts possible. For me personally, thankfully, I haven't had to do this repair, but if I were faced with this decision, I'd probably go with a genuine part (the $209+25.14 one not the $346 one). Primarily because of the safety issue and my experience with aftermarket parts. Both my Prii have more than 100,000 mi/10 years service, so on that basis I expect to get the same with the genuine Toyota new part and I only want to do this repair once.

All I am saying is, at the very least it worth seriously thinking about.

Sorry about the long post, I tried to keep it short. lol.

 

I guess that is what I'm trying to get at.
If it says $8 and the real price is $200, that seems, "Too good to be true".

I'm all for getting a good deal, but that just don't seem right.

 

Agreed, if my dealer wants $346 for the part how could another "dealer" possibly have the "same genuine part" for $220?
I know which is the counterfeit knockoff!
Much thanks to all who posted I will only trust my local dealer since it is a life safety issue.

 

dolj- I appreciate the long post!.
Can you elaborate on what a genuine and an aftermarket part look like?

 

My post #19 had a the link to Camelback Toyota, copy/pasted in it. Camelback is a legitimate Toyota dealership in Phoenix, Arizona. They, like a few other Toyota dealerships have established an online presence for an additional revenue source. It would be nice if all the dealerships just charged the lowest price instead of having to go online.

Call your local Toyota parts dept, and ask to speak w/ parts manager, to see if he will match Camelback's price. Some managers might, some will come close, you just need to ask. this is a great tacit to do for a repair where you can't wait for the shupping and for coolant and ATF-WS.

You can always search "genuine toyota parts." Some of the search results are non-toyota dealers, and you will have to keep clicking the many results over a couple pages to find the Toyota Dealers online.

Smart move in deciding to go OEM. Don't forget, the fakes don't last long, so you have to do the repair again costing you time/money.

You could buy the $8 genuine counterfeit clockspring from crapBay and report the comparison findings with pictures and details? Disassemble the fake and original failed clockspring, to see the difference in internals.

 

Unfortunately the clockspring does not appear to be offered for sale online, for example I looked at Autonation Toyota Gulf Freeway in Houston.

 

Well, the person who needs to do the repair can exert some minimal effort, and findout if the clockspring is truly unavailable. All the work has already been done, and exact info provided (website, partnumber, phone number).


Camelback link: 2007 Toyota Prius Parts - Camelback Toyota Parts - Genuine OEM Parts - Free Shipping
AutoNation Gulf Toyota: Toyota Parts - Genuine Accessories | AutoNation Toyota Gulf Freeway Parts

 

So I got a refund for the cheap part that gave me the airbag light. I found a genuine oem toyota part on eBay
(item number:162103346442) installed it and my light went off! Hooray!
Looks like the cheap ones are made in China and the genuine Toyota parts are from the Philippines. Other than that they appear identical.
I changed my spiral cable because some of the controls on my steering wheel had stopped working. I originally posted to this thread because I wasn't sure whether changing the spiral cable always triggered an airbag light which had to then be reset somehow. In answer to my own question; no.

If you have a constant airbag light after installing a new spiral cable (and you didn't have one before) then you did something wrong or you got a bad part.

I also disconnected the battery using a method I found elsewhere here on Priuschat. This method involves popping the plastic cover over the left half of the battery and unplugging the power supply to the car. I found this method easier and safer than playing operation with a 10mm wrench to disconnect the negative terminal clamp.
In conclusion, this was an easy fix that took me 45 minutes.
And no, my life is not worth $346 plus $180 labor for the dealer to do it.
Much thanks for all who responded!

Heres a video of the battery disconnect method I used.

 

Glad to hear the better quality part took care of things.

It's OK to save a buck here and there but these ultra-cheap spiral cables have proven themselves to be a bad deal.

 

I actually replaced my clock spring today for a super low price.

Yesterday, I went to the junkyard and went hunting for prii. This gave me some experience in how to take everything apart before I performed it on my own. I find actually doing it while watching YouTube vids makes me more confident in tackling an unfamiliar task.

Anyway, all buttons work, no airbag light for the low price of $3 admission fee and $15 for a used, but genuine Toyota part.


Cheers,
Goki

 

Way to go!