Sourcing a new ac compressor for the tundra and the Lexus. The denso part on rock auto is made in china for the tundra. Since when is a Toyota oe part made in china?? Never… same with a new denso radiator for the tundra. China. Toyota dealer? Japan. Ac compressor for the tundra at the dealer made in Japan. Sick and tired of the poor misinformation of “just buy from the oe company directly, denso, aisin etc” advice. It’s not true and bad advice especially because our vehicles are getting over 20-30 years old (gen 1 tundras, ls400s) and oe genuine parts will NOT BE AVAILABLE in the near future, so you better get factory parts while u still can, so it lasts another 20 years. Same with the timing belt kits… “ oh just get the aisin kit instead of from the dealer, same thing!!!” Anddddd it’s not the same thing. The aisin kit is great quality and good enough, but isn’t the same thing.. thanks just needed to vent. Why would I want Chinese junk on my best gen tundra or ls400
Denso isn’t the same as genuine Toyota denso
- Thread starter Pucks18
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Toyota has been using parts made in China for many years... Toyota does not make parts, the use Manufactures like Denso that make said for them, and more and more of said use China for to make them.
- Thread starter
- #4
Name one Toyota part made in china, every single Toyota part I’ve gotten is made in Japan OR the USA. I’ve never picked up a part from Toyota and have seen “china” written on the packaging. Always USA or Japan. I’m very aware Toyota doesn’t make parts. Denso makes them, but to Toyotas specific standards….. Toyota sends teams out and sets standards on what the factory parts should meet, and it’s closely monitored
Not going to get into a pissing contest with u over this, I use to feel the way you did until I started getting parts like this from the stealership (To be fair the people I deal with at my local dealership are great).... U said NEVER and have the "Toyota fan boy" feel from your post. I love all my older Toyota vehicles but Toyota has begun making the same compromises Ford did years ago and if they don't do a U-turn...
lol...- Thread starter
- #9
Well that’s why I only will buy pre 2006 preferably ore 04 Toyota Lexus products, huge fanboy here but new Toyota is as trash as Chevy imo
- Thread starter
- #10
Well
you proved me wrong, never seen this before, the only parts I see that people post being made in china seem to be seals, and not electrical or drivetrain related products. But u got me. But, this doesn’t address my main point. Buying from denso, and buying Toyota dealer parts made by denso isn’t the same thing
Denso a/c compressors are still made in Japan. I just ordered one a few weeks ago.
You might have a refurbished one, or it could be fake.
You might have a refurbished one, or it could be fake.
worldinchaos
Toyota Fanboy
This article talks about the movement of Denso to build AC compressors in China, starting 10 years ago: Toyota Industries and DENSO Establish Automotive Air-Conditioning Compressor Manufacturing Company in China | News | DENSO Global Website - https://www.denso.com/global/en/news/newsroom/2014/140116-01/
Yeah, I've purchased literally hundreds of parts from Toyota and a conservative estimate is that 70% of those parts had the "Made in China" on the label. Seems like, as stated, only NOS (New, Old Stock) type parts are made in Japan.
worldinchaos
Toyota Fanboy
I work in the heavy duty auto industry, follow production analytics and financial performance of the HD suppliers, of which many are also automotive suppliers. Although only limited interaction with Denso, I can absolutely guarantee that there are many different products that Denso manufactures in China. Here is a list from their website of non-Japanese subsidiaries in Asia /Oceania. In addition to the AC components already mentioned, one of the companies includes the "drivetrain" category, which is expansive in theory--how much they have actually expanded production into that category I am unsure..
I also agree with your point that Toyota Denso and Denso are different in regards to quality control. Toyota Denso parts have a higher level of scrutiny, more extensive reviews and specifications from Toyota procurement teams and category managers, which correlates with the typically higher price. However, this doesn't mean that these parts are only made in Japan. These standards can be applied to any manufacturing location, it was just easier to do historically when Japan had certain factory standards. You can follow this same trend with many other industries such as Hard Disk Drives. Japan and US had the highest quality, then the quality was replicated by IBM and others in SE asia, and eventually achieved performance parity.
The other major contributor is the supply chain issues during covid, which permanently restructured many manufacturing and supply chain strategies to have increased sourcing optionality. There was also a noticeable decline in average production quality during this time period which is still being worked through many consumer products.
I honestly wouldn't bet on any part coming from a certain location, I would bet on the brands that have consistently high standards. But I'm just a random person on mud, so
I work in the heavy duty auto industry, follow production analytics and financial performance of the HD suppliers, of which many are also automotive suppliers. Although only limited interaction with Denso, I can absolutely guarantee that there are many different products that Denso manufactures in China. Here is a list from their website of non-Japanese subsidiaries in Asia /Oceania. In addition to the AC components already mentioned, one of the companies includes the "drivetrain" category, which is expansive in theory--how much they have actually expanded production into that category I am unsure..
I also agree with your point that Toyota Denso and Denso are different in regards to quality control. Toyota Denso parts have a higher level of scrutiny, more extensive reviews and specifications from Toyota procurement teams and category managers, which correlates with the typically higher price. However, this doesn't mean that these parts are only made in Japan. These standards can be applied to any manufacturing location, it was just easier to do historically when Japan had certain factory standards. You can follow this same trend with many other industries such as Hard Disk Drives. Japan and US had the highest quality, then the quality was replicated by IBM and others in SE asia, and eventually achieved performance parity.
The other major contributor is the supply chain issues during covid, which permanently restructured many manufacturing and supply chain strategies to have increased sourcing optionality. There was also a noticeable decline in average production quality during this time period which is still being worked through many consumer products.
I honestly wouldn't bet on any part coming from a certain location, I would bet on the brands that have consistently high standards. But I'm just a random person on mud, so
Well stated... as if you have dealt with global procurement and supply chain logic.
thatcabledude
GOLD Star
Lots of Toyota bags with China on them. Other countries too. Nothing new.
Toyota OEM and Denso aftermarket are certainly not guaranteed to be the same part/same quality. This article talks about it a little bit. A lot of times the OEM will own the tooling and allow the supplier to use it to produce their parts. I am doubtful that an OEM would allow a supplier to use all their tooling and intellectual property to build parts so said supplier could sell directly to the consumer.
I've personally seen Denso radiators that are different than the OEM. Missing foam insulation, different features on the plastic end tanks indicating different molds used, different crimping of the end tanks indicating different manufacturing processes etc. So is it possible your Denso part came off the same production line as the Toyota OEM and got put into a different box? Possibly but I wouldn't bet on it. I would bet on it being made in a different facility to different standards. None of this is to say Denso or Aisin aftermarket parts are bad, but don't be fooled into thinking you are always getting the same exact part at half the cost.
That being said the Toyota OEM radiator I purchased for my Lexus LS400 from Lexuspartsnow.com was made in China. Toyota definitely uses China to manufacture some of their parts including radiators. I have also gotten Aisin water pumps that use the same exact castings as the original Toyota part and literally have the Toyota embossments ground off of them, who knows if the components used inside are the same as OEM or not.
I've personally seen Denso radiators that are different than the OEM. Missing foam insulation, different features on the plastic end tanks indicating different molds used, different crimping of the end tanks indicating different manufacturing processes etc. So is it possible your Denso part came off the same production line as the Toyota OEM and got put into a different box? Possibly but I wouldn't bet on it. I would bet on it being made in a different facility to different standards. None of this is to say Denso or Aisin aftermarket parts are bad, but don't be fooled into thinking you are always getting the same exact part at half the cost.
That being said the Toyota OEM radiator I purchased for my Lexus LS400 from Lexuspartsnow.com was made in China. Toyota definitely uses China to manufacture some of their parts including radiators. I have also gotten Aisin water pumps that use the same exact castings as the original Toyota part and literally have the Toyota embossments ground off of them, who knows if the components used inside are the same as OEM or not.
