duralast = toyota oem?

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s20004runner

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This is summary of text messages that I had with a guy who was trying to sell me a CV axle.

I was looking for a cheap oem cv to rebuild it myself.

________

Me: looking for a used oem 4runner cv axles

Guy: I have one and I am looking get $80. I bought it for $160. It’s a top of the aftermarket cv axle. I off road my 4runner and these are great parts.

Me: what brand is it?

Guy: It’s made my Duralast.

Me: no it’s ok. I was looking for used oem Toyota cv axles.

Guy: This is an oem 2000 toyota 4runner cv axle. What do you not like about it?

Me: Duralast is not oem, that’s autozone brand

Guy: It is oem replacement it’s great. But I also have another brand which is oem quality that I paid $300. I will give it to you for $180.

Me: (attached a pic of camelback Toyota selling reman cv for $150)

Me: Dude. Please stop, oem reman cv sells for $150 at a Toyota dealer. NAPA sells brand new lifetime warranty cv for less than $100.

Guy: What you think I am making up or something? Duralast is the same as the oem. The second set is heavy duty cv and I paid over $200 for them plus shipping. I am certified mechanic and went to automotive school. I specialized in Honda and Toyota. I am giving you a good price. I am just trying to help you out.

Me: (have not responded since)
 
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Toyota doesn't manufacturer every component. They have suppliers that supply them with these parts. While I can't say if duralast supplies Toyota with their CV's I can say that it is quite possible that they do. Going direct with the supplier is nice because you escape the dealership mark up and gouging on the price and get the exact same part.
 
s20004runner said:
This is summary of text messages that I had with a guy who was trying to sell me a CV axle.

I was looking for a cheap oem cv to rebuild it myself.

________

Me: looking for a used oem 4runner cv axles

Guy: I have one and I am looking get $80. I bought it for $160. It’s a top of the aftermarket cv axle. I off road my 4runner and these are great parts.

Me: what brand is it?

Guy: It’s made my Duralast.

Me: no it’s ok. I was looking for used oem Toyota cv axles.

Guy: This is an oem 2000 toyota 4runner cv axle. What do you not like about it?

Me: Duralast is not oem, that’s autozone brand

Guy: It is oem replacement it’s great. But I also have another brand which is oem quality that I paid $300. I will give it to you for $180.

Me: (attached a pic of camelback Toyota selling reman cv for $150)

Me: Dude. Please stop, oem reman cv sells for $150 at a Toyota dealer. NAPA sells brand new lifetime warranty cv for less than $100.

Guy: What you think I am making up or something? Duralast is the same as the oem. The second set is heavy duty cv and I paid over $200 for them plus shipping. I am certified mechanic and went to automotive school. I specialized in Honda and Toyota. I am giving you a good price. I am just trying to help you out.

Me: (have not responded since)
Click to expand...

He about sums it up for you right there, OEM replacement is not OEM. However for CV's I remember one OEM CV being the price of two aftermarkets.
 
cashmoney said:
Toyota doesn't manufacturer every component. They have suppliers that supply them with these parts. While I can't say if duralast supplies Toyota with their CV's I can say that it is quite possible that they do. Going direct with the supplier is nice because you escape the dealership mark up and gouging on the price and get the exact same part.
Click to expand...

I didn't know Autozone manufactured anything, let alone OEM Toyota parts. To the best of my knowledge Duralast is nothing more than the name Autozone uses when they repackage parts they buy from others.
 
I do remember reading somewhere that the new napa axles are the same ones that the dealers normally use if they were to replace them. While that's not oem, in my opinion if that's pretty close for me, plus lifetime warranty.
If you are still looking for old oems i have mine, but i think they may have some damage. I can take pics when i get home if you'd like
 
Thanks, but currently, I am only looking from locals only (los angeles). I am hoping to find a dismantled 'mall crawler'.

If I can't find one, it will be either napa or camelback toyota reman oems.
 
Don't buy duralast. Those are crap!

Buy OEM youota from a dealer (camelback is a good option), Find a good used youota part or NAPA.
 
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s20004runner said:
Thanks, but currently, I am only looking from locals only (los angeles). I am hoping to find a dismantled 'mall crawler'.

If I can't find one, it will be either napa or camelback toyota reman oems.
Click to expand...

I used to have a friend at the service dept. at the dealer and the ONLY part that he didn't recommend buying OEM was the CV because it was so expensive and he knew I went off road a lot. He reccommended the napa and thats what I have always used since then and never had a problem.
 
I buy them on Ebay used when I need them, OEM CV's. The last two I got I paid $100 for both of them. Couple of OEM Rebuild kits for 30 bucks each and your good to go.

Those aftermarket shafts wont hold up....
 
cashmoney said:
Toyota doesn't manufacturer every component. They have suppliers that supply them with these parts. While I can't say if duralast supplies Toyota with their CV's I can say that it is quite possible that they do. Going direct with the supplier is nice because you escape the dealership mark up and gouging on the price and get the exact same part.
Click to expand...

Toyota hardly makes anything, they are primarily assembly and supplier management. They get most all of the "parts" from suppliers, but they typically have a very close relationship with their suppliers and are very involved with the design and testing of every component, so they do get very high quality parts.

Toyota may do their own in house engine design, but a lot of OEM's have outsourced that too to specialty companies that have more expertise. And also, for major components like the chassis and body, etc. Toyota likely designs it, but has a supplier manufacture it. That said, Toyota also owns alot of their suppliers, or at least has a majority share.

jhfleet said:
I didn't know Autozone manufactured anything, let alone OEM Toyota parts. To the best of my knowledge Duralast is nothing more than the name Autozone uses when they repackage parts they buy from others.
Click to expand...

Duralast is not a manufacturer except for maybe their core products like batteries and maybe alternators. It is a brand name for Autozone. They may have now bought some of their former suppliers (like they may "make" their own batteries now if they bought the company that was originally making their batteries, since they got so popular), but Duralast is just a brand name for branding contracted parts (they're basically a distributor).

Another example, according to wiki, Duralast brake pads are made by Bosch. Bosch also makes their own, but they also contract out product to other distributors to put their names on. This is the same model as most of the tool companies out there, like Husky and Kobalt don't make tools, they buy from Danaher, snap-on, and other tool makers.

D Farms said:
the oem toyota cv boots are made by toyoda, yes toyoda.
Click to expand...

Toyoda is the family name of the Toyota empire. They changed the spelling to make it fit with a better, more recognizable badge. Also there may be some lucky meaning to the spelling change in Japanese, though I think that was just a rumor. I think some of their smaller business units or side projects may use the original Toyoda name as I've seen it around too.

Bottom line, that guy is either a liar or devastatingly ignorant. If he's a tech, then never use him. There's no such thing as "OEM quality" that isn't actually OEM, and anything that a dealer uses better either be OEM, like actual OEM branded, or they better explicitly state that it isn't and give you a lower price.

Go with Napa. They aren't much if any more expensive than the big box "brands", and they have a Napa warranty with locations everywhere.

As I've said in other threads, even if the same company makes the OEM and sells their own branded aftermarket replacement that they say is the same OEM quality, that doesn't mean they actually are the same quality as OEM. It makes a difference to have a big customer looking over their shoulder and demanding verification of quality for every part they receive, and even for having to go through the trouble of installing it. Lots of problems are found at installation.
 
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Old thread yes.

Wells Vehicle Electronics makes Duralast for Autozone if I recall correctly. It was purchased by NGK a couple years ago. Just bought a new IAC valve from Autozone and the part is a genuine Toyota part by Denso....
 

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To everyone bashing on duralast cv axles. There is nothing wrong with none OEM axles or duralast cv axles. I've been running duralast cv axles for 3-4 years. And I beat on my truck in the woods hard. The cv axles are still good. Only thing I did was reboot it with all pro offroad extended boots before installing the axles.
 
kolelt said:
To everyone bashing on duralast cv axles. There is nothing wrong with none OEM axles or duralast cv axles. I've been running duralast cv axles for 3-4 years. And I beat on my truck in the woods hard. The cv axles are still good. Only thing I did was reboot it with all pro offroad extended boots before installing the axles.
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x2 get off your OEM horse for stuff. Ive been running NAPA cv's since 2013 with no issues and I rail on my 4runner.

The only real important OEM part is lower ball joints. thats only because they placed extra stress on them and require better components to take the beating.

I still get OEM for lots of things if price is realist but CV is def not one of them. especially when parts have lifetime warranty.

:deadhorse:
 
Autozone does what is called "spreadsheet buying" for their Duralast brand. Meaning, they buy from many different sources to fill their Duralast product line.

What may be OE one day, maybe something completely different the next time. You can't really be sure of what you're getting, until you open the box.

Not bashing, simply stating.
 
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