Poodles said:
yep, a lot of dealer will say parts are discontinued when in fact they aren't, they just have to get off their fat asses and order it from toyota japan...
like my wiring harness that both of the SF forum sponsors said where discontinued....funny, why do i have a BRAND SPANKING NEW ONE on my car that I ordered from my good local dealer? Took a lot longer, but I get what I needed...
If you understood how Toyota ordering systems work, you'd realize that it takes no more effort to order from Toyota Japan than it does when the depot down the street has it.
Unless Toyota USA has some messed up system compared to Toyota Canada, but I doubt it, in fact I bet it's even better.
You place the order with your facing distribution center, if they don't have it, it goes to the next closest one, if they don't then it goes to the next closest, etc. If all else fails, it gets brought in from Japan.
That entire process is entirely automated, so I just place the order either way, it makes no difference. Unless it's a part that hasn't been stocked in the country ever, (or for a VERY long time), then you need to get the part number loaded into the system using a special inquiry, but even then it only takes about 30 seconds of effort, or less.
In any case, my point is, I think sometimes when parts people say something is discontinued when it's actually not, they're just misreading the information, or something of that nature.