OEM parts vs Aftermarket... Worth the extra money?

[MR2staci]

Hey everybody just wanting to get some peoples opinions about a OEM vs Aftermarket parts

Im planing on doing:

Timing belt
water pump
oil pump

Im planing on taking the runner out into the desert so im not looking to cheap out and i have no problem buying OEM toyota parts but im wondering if there really is that big of a difference. I hear different things from different people so im wondering what others on here think about it?

I dont think there is a huge price difference between toyota OEM and aftermarket

 

[77'911]

For me, it depends on the parts. For something like a rad, I like to go with factory for those and things like gas caps(fitment and rubber quality is much better). I recently did a water pump, t-stat, fan clutch, and timing belt with Japan made(Asian, etc.) parts ordered over the web. Asian is one of the manufacturers for toyota, so if you can find the original stuff, then great. If not, I just order factory. And, yes, there is a big price difference(ie 50-75%).
regards

 

[ozzyleven]

Agree ^^^^^

I just recently replaced those parts, in addition to the idler pulleys and went mostly with aftermarket. I went Gates for everything but the oil pump, which is Aisin. Buying Gates products saved me well over a hundred dollars and I believe the quality to be almost as good. I can't tell the difference at least, and fit was great. Only 3000 miles on the parts so far but I've had no problems.

On the other hand, I would never dream of buying anything other than Toyota parts for things like ball joints. Bad experiences with poorly made, cheap aftermarket chassis parts (i.e. MasterPro from Oreillys) convinced me those things were always worth the extra money.

 

[77'911]

Agree ^^^^^

I just recently replaced those parts, in addition to the idler pulleys and went mostly with aftermarket. I went Gates for everything but the oil pump, which is Aisin. Buying Gates products saved me well over a hundred dollars and I believe the quality to be almost as good. I can't tell the difference at least, and fit was great. Only 3000 miles on the parts so far but I've had no problems.

On the other hand, I would never dream of buying anything other than Toyota parts for things like ball joints. Bad experiences with poorly made, cheap aftermarket chassis parts (i.e. MasterPro from Oreillys) convinced me those things were always worth the extra money.

I had pretty good luck with japan made sankei ball joints and urethane bushings for the suspension. If you go oem, they even carry the nishino brand online.
regards

 

[KidVermicious]

One of the reasons I chose my 4Runner was for it's reliability. Unless I know for sure an aftermarket part is better than factory (see idler arm thread ), I stick with OEM.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

My truck has 170k miles on it and I've replaced the wp/tb,1 coil pack,rear seal on the engine,axle seals,shocks,coils,starter and it's all OEM since the original OEM parts lasted well past their service intervals I figured OEM will work again and don't mind paying a little more within reason but the aftermarket has good stuff but do some research and see what works and what doesn't.

I do like Akebono brake pads but for most maintenance I stick with OEM.