Toyota or the Dealer?

And some Toyota 4x4 owners boast they can get parts readily available all over Australia!!!!

Ok Bill.

I'll reply to this as someone who works for a dealer. ( Sydney Metro )

It is simply not possible for a dealer to keep every part, for every car. I understand that you would expect a dealer to have a radiator hose in stock for your Prado. Seems logical. But the reality is that, like most things, stock control is run by the numbers. Toyota, and most other manufacturers, demand that dealers do not keep an item in stock, if they have not had a sale of that item, every month, for 3 consecutive months. Basically, if there is no demand, don't keep it.
Toyota Australia, with warehouses in Melb, Syd, Bris, Perth and Townsville, supply to metro dealers twice a day, and rural once a day. Basically, a less than 24 hour supply rate. Can be as little as 4 hrs. That isn't too bad.
It's also a policy that most retail outlets work on. Be it Parts, groceries or new items at your local dept store.
Add to that, dealers don't own the stock that they hold. Its all financed. That includes new cars, used cars as well. Obviously, the need to keep stock to minimum requirements is a priority, given the fact we pay interest on every item in stock. We hold on average 1 Million in Toyota stk alone, not including our other makes we service and sell.
While I'm not at work now, I'm pretty damn sure we wouldn't have a hose in stock for a 120 Prado. There simply isn't the call for it. It is a minimum 10 year old car, these days rarely seen by most dealerships. They are generally serviced these days by "Joes Mechanics", which also explains why, the local Repco will have a generic brand hose in stock. They also run similar stock control parameters.

None of this is having a dig at you Bill, just giving basic reasoning as to why your local didn't have it in stock for you.

Steve.

Bill

Steve is right. I have worked for three Toyota dealers, two Ford and two Holden. The last one was Toyota and that was back in 1986. It was the same situation with parts back then. There were so many different models and so many parts that no dealer can keep the lot in stock.

If the radiator hose quality is the same as a 1986 Cruiser, you probably don't need any hoses unless having it as a spare.

I sold my 1986 HJ61 after having it for 25 years and ALL hoses were original and in serviceable condition. No cracks, hardening etc. The first belt which gave trouble was the power steer belt at 17 years old. "No warranty on that at all"
I had spares but simply bought these for future use and not an all of a sudden service.

The other thing from a dealer point of view is that the more parts you keep the more likely you will be throwing parts out because they are dead stock.

Yes you can probably get an aftermarket part from Repco or wherever but they only stock fast moving parts. Eg you probably will get the radiator hose from them but you wouldn't get a 4th gear for a gearbox from them yet Joe Average expects that the dealer has both.

Every time Joe Average buys from the aftermarket supplier it is one less sale for the dealer and as mentioned previously if you dont sell at least three in a year you will probably not stock it otherwise it cost you money to leave sit there forever(i will let the accountants explain that)

Most retail outlets are the same wether they sell car parts on menswear its just that we get angry about car parts because we need our cars to keep moving.

HI all,
Thanks for the input. It is interesting.

The end to this radiator exercise is that the dealer (spare parts guy) gave me the wrong top hose. He gave me KZ120 engine parts instead of the KD120 so of course the job couldn't be done as it didn't fit!

An apology doesn't cut it when I have to drive back to the dealer, wait for another delivery from Sydney and then re-schedule the mechanic. What a waste of time.

I did get a refund of $8 as I was charged trade price for the replacement hose. Nice of them heh!

The kicker here is that when I owned a KZ120, and ordered a timing belt plus bits, I was given a Hilux set and not a Prado. Thats why this time getting the wrong parts AGAIN, I was a bit angry.

Useless dealer.

bill

Bill, the level of ability of many parts people seems to be declining today. It's not helped by the fact the number of parts being replaced, and the number or repairs being done, is on a serious decline. No-one wants to fix anything today.
It's virtually impossible to find an engine reconditioner today - 20 years ago, there was one in every suburb. Today, the engines outlast the vehicles.
I see vehicles going to the scrapman every day, that look better than the ones I drive!

The manufacturers used to make only a very small profit on the manufacture of each vehicle.
They made their profit on the parts they sold - keeping in mind a lot of parts are sold for accident repair.
The average vehicle life is 12-13 yrs, meaning an extended income flow for the manufacturers while the vehicle is still running.
However, as the amount of parts being sold is declining, it does mean the parts prices will increase accordingly.

There is often a vast difference in pricing between dedicated parts sellers and dealers parts depts.
Luckily for us, the internet has opened up the availability of parts to a worldwide basis - and it produces sellers who don't even have a physical store.
These blokes will eventually ensure the complete demise of dealers trying to make a million dollars a year from their parts sales.

Cheers, Ron.