Hi! My mechanic is OK for me to buy the part myself, however I'm a little at a loss when it comes to which part exactly is compatible. I'm looking for the steering rack (I'm translating so bear with me, the axle+movement transformer that steers the wheels.. just an example however). I identify the OEM number thanks to websites that specialize in that : https://partsouq.com/en/search/all?q=4551047020&qty=1 (2nd result) I get 2 OEM numbers. OK, I guess either are good. But then, when I look at my dealer sites (ebay, and French stuff like Oscaro.fr and many others), I find slightly different parts for the same OEM number. In my case, there are electrically assisted or purely mechanical steering racks, AND some have a synchro bar, some don't. I noticed my car has one and I read somewhere (can't recall) that it's eletrically assisted (are some cars really still mechanically assisted for turning??). Any idea on how to procede? (Hopefully I'm not doubling a post, the Search doesn't work right now)
Often, that will mean that one of them is good for a particular trim level / configuration of the car. For example, the car may have had a trim level with larger wheels and different steering specs. I would be reluctant to assume "either are good" without checking with a Toyota dealer (or on a Toyota dealer website) with the VIN of the car needing the part. I think you may have found some sites with bogus information. I don't think any Prius ever existed that did not have electrically-assisted steering. (I confess I do not know what a "synchro bar" is on a steering rack.) On marketplaces like eBay, the accuracy of part listings all depends on the sellers. Many have a used part to sell, and they looked up (or thought they looked up) the right part number, and they list the part using that number. Sometimes they find a number marked on the part itself and use that as the part number in the listing, which can be bogus because Toyota parts often have numbers visibly marked on them that are different from their part numbers. I would recommend using a Toyota-specific site to find the part number of the part you need. Then, if you look for that part on general marketplaces, it is (sadly) kind of up to you to make sure the part being sold is the one with that part number.
