Impending doom - 1st gen parts discontinuation?

I just bought an FJ80 and in the process of baselining it and seeing what the future holds for restoring the vehicle, I'm seeing that many important parts have been discontinued by Toyota. I also read about some sort of restructuring of the domestic parts supply chain so that in coming years parts may just generally be discontinued sooner than they have been in past decades. (No more going to Mr. T and getting a new OEM headgasket kit for your 30 year old truck.)

I love my 03 Taco and intend to keep it 4-evah...so, looking forward, does anyone know of any important parts that have been, or may soon be discontinued for the priceless, irreplaceable vehicles?

I know a used ECU for my Cruiser is $200 now as a crusty junk yard take-off. It would be great to teleport myself back a decade and get one, plus a PS pump and a few other choice goodies. I'd like to the same now with m'Taco.

Thanks for any advice.

 

Last I really looked into this was quite a few years back time flies

I was told that 10 years is all any auto manufacture needed to supply parts

I have far worse problems getting Domestic dealer parts then getting Toyota Parts

If there is demand enough After Market Suppliers will step up to fill the gap

I see the same thing in the welding business as parts cost increase you can no longer afford to boards costing $1000.00 or so sitting around for say the complete Power Source line of Miller that might only fit a 1/4 of a years production

 

Yes,,, this is a very sore spot with me and Miller,,, and other manufacturers,,, but Miller and their design flaws suck, been welding for over 50yrs. professionally and used Miller products almost extensively. So when I bought a Miller Trailblazer for home use I was glad that I had it,,, until about 4 yrs. later,,, machine set in garage with a Miller cover on it,,, with about a 100 hrs. on it,, brand new. Fired it up and nothing,, wouldn't weld, motor ran fine,, circuit board went out sitting in the garage out of the weather under a cover, go figure.

Of course Miller gives you the deer in the headlight look,, they want $1100. for the board, finally found one for about $650. and bought it, two years later and 50hrs more, now has 150hrs total, bam, won't weld aluminum again. Of course the newer model, mine is a 1999 so a 2002 yr. like my son has, works fine, sitting in the weather. Why they won't admit they have a design flaw and leave you hanging really gets my goat. Plus at least make a replacement part that will last, I'll never buy another one, Miller design and I'm going to recommend to my employer not to buy Miller products.

 

The 1st gen Tacoma are too popular to discontinue support of those yet.

Worse case scenerio... Toyota no longer sells/distributes certain components.

But the after market world will likely pick up the slack
and order components thru the oem mfgr
then sell/distribute them under their own distribution label.

I know one can still obtain components for some popular 50's vehicles
albiet, specialty - OEM reproductions... but still available for purchase.
Less popular vehicles would likely see less enthusiasm/support.

I'd think there would be a specialty supplier
supporting Cruiser's and older Toyota's ?
Tho' many store front/retail suppliers may require a special order
as they no longer maintain a supportive stocking.

But hey... it's part of life
when owning an older vehicle.
As demand and supply decreases...
so does production.

But don't worry... we still have China !? Lol

 

Toyota makes too much money on parts for tacomas. Why would they discontinue making money? The land cruiser didn't have the same proliferation of the Tacoma here in the states. I wouldn't worry about it for another 10 years

 

I heard Supra parts such as rear ends and interior panels are ultra rare, but to echo the other comments the Taco is far too popular to discontinue parts for a long while.

 

I believe you're right...too many tacomas for too many years to be much danger of the well going dry.

 

I would stock up on things that are wear and tear items that may bug you down the line if it were to wear out like door handles weather stripping etc. that the aftermarket may make but isnt as good quality as the oem.

Coming from a FZJ80 alot of little parts are discontinued or hard to get in good condition body wise but most of the engine drivetrain stuff needed i could get from the dealer still.

 

I don't think it's anything to worry about. If you can still get parts for 50's Cadillacs and Chevys, I'm sure you'll still find Toyota parts 50 years from now. There will always be the aftermarket parts, those companies make their bread and butter off made to spec of the OEM parts.
Aftermarket parts aren't as good as true OEM, but it's better than nothing! Tacoma's are such a popular vehicle, so the likelihood of parts for them becoming rare are slim to none. Unless things in the world take a turn for the worst and supply is cut off, everything should be just fine.

 

I've run into a few random items that are now NLA, but they were easily found used. The headrest tubes are now NLA, but how many people really buy those? The driver's side seat covers are now NLA which is why I swapped over to leather.

I think my former late model VW's and MINI Cooper S were pretty horrible for having parts go NLA vs. Toyota.

 

vapor pressure sensor!!!!!! discontinued entirely. part numbers exist, variants exist, but none are available new! I had to get one from a local dismantler. and there were very few of them left. the canister and valves are still around so no worries there. other than that, you can find a worldpac dealer and get OE parts that way.

 

not cheap to purchase OEM (new)... but is still available that I see.

http://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem-toyota-tacoma-vapor-pressure-sensor.html

With a bazillion of these trucks sold to the consumers...
there's likely a crap ton of used parts laying around in the salvage yards,
'cuz the owners wreck them daily and the salvage yard is likely where they end up.

On the eastern coast... rust will likely be there demise.

So because of the destroyed Tacoma's heading for the scrap yards...
should be able to keep a 1st Gen Tacoma rolling for another 20+ years or longer.

 

http://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~sensor~assy~vapor~pressure~89460-04010.html

 

just because it says discontinued...
doesn't mean they're not obtainable or obsolete.

Likely many distributors still have them in stock
and there's likely thousands collecting dust somewheres.

Probably even available on ebay and the like.

The OEM manufacturer is still likely producing them...
just not distributed thru Toyota is all.

Realize Toyota was not likely the original mfgr of these anyways
and sourced these components from another proprietor for their assembly.

In short... bet they can still be purchased now... and later.

google 89460-04010
likely it can still be purchased new

ie: https://www.google.com/search?q=89460-04010&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

yes, and i've spoken to Standard Electronics who is the OE manufacturer of this part and asked them if they could even import it from japan, they cant. this part is DISCONTINUED. This is what I do for a living. and ive searched for this part for the better part of a week online and called online retailers that didn't say the part was discontinued. they don't have it.

ive also spoken with my local dealer about it. he searched the nation, nobody has one in any connected parts department.

 

http://www.discountpartsmonster.com/oe-toyota/8946004010

 

call them ask them for the part

 

the thing about these kinds of people are they are "turn key businesses". they aren't really auto suppliers like napa, carquest, oreillys, or autozone. they are literally a single person that bought a turn key webpage that is linked to some national cataloging system where hundreds of others have done the same. they don't know anything about their parts or products. places like jegs, 4wheel parts, and transamerican wholesalers are online places, but they have actual locations like your local parts store. the company, discountpartsmonster, is one of those dime a dozen turn key businesses that don't know what theyre doing. i think rockauto even started out this way but they hit it big at the right time and became a legitimate supplier.

if you want to know if the company is legitimate, find their address to their warehouse. go to it on google maps and see if it's the same name as the website. most of the time it wont be. if they don't have an address, like discountpartsmonster, they are NOT to be trusted.

 

See what I mean? It has already started. Already the madness has begun!