Toyota parts web site getting a revamp

"Work in progress" is an extremely charitable way to describe the new site.

 

Like "Windows Vista or NT" Good?

 

..

 

Was that for a thread about the parts web site?

 

Hoping for good things.

 

It's back. And still awful.

Has anybody found a way to select parts via diagrams? That was how I mainly used the old one, and I have not found even a possibility to do so with the new one. You can select a part by name off a list, and then it shows you a diagram (or more than one!), but I see no way to select other parts shown on the diagram. If it's even the right diagram. Which it often isn't.

If there's a way to do a search by diagram and I just haven't stumbled on it, somebody please spill the secret!

If I select 2010 and Prius to get in, and then Parts / Electrical / Switch, Relay & Computer, pretty much any part I select off that list will show me a diagram of an engine and manifolds and knock and oil and temperature and O₂ sensors.

My favorite so far is PULLER, FUSE from that category, which comes with a choice of 85 diagrams. Most of them have nothing at all to do with a Prius; they are just engine and manifold diagrams from 85 cars that have fuse pullers. And I'm pretty confident (without studying every one of 85, I'll admit) that none of those is a diagram a fuse puller appears on.

I can give a link, but the URL doesn't include the filter selections I made to get there (those must be in cookies), so it may be less tightly filtered when you look at it. If that's even possible. I'm guessing it won't say "exact fit for your 1010 Prius" after just following the link, without making the filter selections first.

Fuse Puller | Part #8261658010 | Toyota Auto Parts

And "What this fits" still only shows what the old system showed as summary information:

This product fits 2845 vehicle variants.
TOYOTA : 36 models, 2768 variants between 2000 and 2023
SCION : 5 models, 77 variants between 2008 and 2016​

The old system had a "show more" you could expand if you were, for some reason, you know, interested in what 2845 vehicle variants those were. But not this new one.

 

* 2010

 

Maybe they should invite feedback regarding the new website, say on the home page. Maybe better not...

 

I'm just hoping they haven't somehow decided it's in their strategic interest to field what looks like a consumer-facing parts website but make it practically useless, putting customers at the mercy of the dealer parts counter (which uses a different system).

But I suppose I shouldn't attribute to malice what could be adequately explained by some IT manager in the parts org thinking they were paying too much for simplepart, and having a 12 year old who said "Dad, I just wrote a fully-universal e-commerce system that works for any kind of product that anyone sells, and my teacher says it was the best in the class".

 

Ok. Back in the days before the old, usable parts.toyota.com came online, I used various Toyota dealer websites to look up parts. The best one I had found back in those days was the one at Village Toyota (apparently in Homosassa, Florida). They had their own part search site that had diagrams and showed part numbers and worked well, and after looking up the part I would sometimes buy it from them too, just to support them for providing the usable service.

Metro Toyota in Ohio was another good one, and in early Prius days they distinguished themselves with some special focus and deals on Prius parts.

With the mothership parts site now being useless, I went back to try some of my old standby dealership sites.

Now, all the ones I've tried simply serve up the same unusable system seen at the mothership. Individual dealers with working parts sites of their own seem to be a thing of the past, unless somebody can find one somewhere that hasn't been assimilated yet.

This seems like kind of a disaster-level event.

 

Can you explain what "working properly" means to you?

I am not seeing any change from the functionality (or lack of such) described in #11.

On the other hand, there still do seem to be some dealers running working sites of their own, rather than instances of the new broken mothership one. toyotaparts.lakelandtoyota.com, recently posted in another thread, appears to be one. I hope it lasts.

 

Well, you can get there in some instances, but it isn't pretty. Example:

Enter "drivers side front wheel bearing"

and the second entry is for the REAR wheel bearing.

Using the same syntax in the search enter "hub & brg assy fr axle"

and the fourth entry contains the desired bearing. In the diagram the bearing is labeled "43502C(LH)". Enter "43502C" in the search field though, and get "no suggestions found". That looks like the front part of a Toyota part number. I thought Toyota sold the bearing separately, but maybe not? The part number is 4351047012 for the assembly, and that is what is listed for bearings on Ebay.

The parts site still doesn't have an option to show prices all at once from the dealers it lists. Have to click each one to do a price comparison. Tedious and needlessly stupid. Also it now only shows a fraction of the dealers. On the search above it only showed 3, leaving out Longo (biggest dealer in the area) and Pasadena Toyota (nearest dealer). Zoom out and it shows a triangle with vertices at Santa Clarita, Santa Ana, and Ontario with 10 dealers. Google maps shows at least 20 in that area (hard to count exactly because it drops some when zooming out far enough to get the entire region into view. Zoom in and the ones it dropped reappear. I wonder how Google decides which ones to keep? Bribery probably!

 

I noticed that I can no longer find any HV battery on the site.

This is sad as my Avalon is about due for a battery, and I'd rather just keep track of what it will cost online even if I call to have it ordered than to keep calling to see what the current price is.

That is, if they still even sell HV batteries to customers instead of only offering it only alongside an install.

Last I remember my Avalon's battery was something like $5,000! I think when it dies here soon I'm not going to get another Toyota, and maybe not even another car.

 

You could get an LFP battery pack for the Avalon here:

https://projectlithium.com/

To find a Toyota (OEM) pack you will need to find the part number and then search using that number on the parts sites of each of the Toyota dealers close enough to you that you can go pick it up. Unless you want them to install it, in which case there isn't much choice but to call all the service departments and get a quote on the work.

 

I tried with the part number, but either I don't have the right number or it still won't show it.

I'm still a bit concerned about the LFP's being damaged in cold weather. I've seen -52 °F -46 °C here, and it gets below zero quite often. If they have heaters or I could figure out how to add one I'd be all for them.

 

HI Isaac... Here's my affiliate link if you change your mind: https://projectlithium.com/?ref=9qLPw

I know we've talked about this before and your concern was valid at the time. But there's been some changes in an updated version of the circuitry in the batteries.

This Version 2 circuit uses excess battery charge to optimize battery temperature so they never get too hot or too cold. So for example, if you were facing a really cold night of weather, you'd simply get in the car and put it in drive with your foot on the brake and press accelerator to the floor. This will force charge the pack to maximum and the extra voltage available will not only be used to balance the cells more precisely, but it will also heat the cells to the optimum temperature of 100' Fahrenheit. That heating process will keep them that warm for up to 4 hours... The temperature optimization in V2 boosted my Mpg on the freeway from 48 to 52mpg.

Also there's room to put battery powered socks underneath the chassis to help maintain heat as well.

Let me know if you have any further questions...

 

Thank you! Yes, I never got around to replacing the HV battery in the Prius because it needs so many other things and trying to find all the parts for it has been nuts. I think I'm just going to sell it as is instead of sinking any more time and money into it.

But the Avalon is still going good, but getting there to the point of needing a battery. So when it does, well, it will need a battery.

 

I got a Prius parts rack... Hit me up with what you need.