Replacing inverter coolant pump -- anything cheaper but similar in quality to OEM?

You get what you pay for.

Lots of fakes on Amazon. A race to the bottom from the PandaLand sellers/producers.
Will it work ... probably. However, NOT for long.
So was the $25-$40 knock off pump worth it?
If you have to pay for labor, you will be paying twice.
If the car has to get towed, major savings deficit.
Stress and inconvenience has a price too.

Just go OEM for $150, or save $60 and get the AISIN.
OEM will give you proven reliability.
AISIN, should give you great reliability too.
$25-$40 Panda paperweight in the shape of an inverter pump, AVOID.

 

I'm not even using that type of pump as my inverter pump I've changed to something else but regardless I burn up several of the $40 jobs like within 30 to 90 days The factory ones that I'm taking out are always the originals generally speaking so there's always that so for a hundred and it's less than 150 bucks it's like 119 or something if you buy it online have it sent to the store etc so with these particular parts for these particular vehicles I would tend to say by the original you're going to generally get the same life out of it now if you're going to be out of the car in 3 years well packed accordingly I guess We are not so we generally try to get the robust pieces where they're needed so we can forget about those and worry about other things.

 

Good find, I think the Aisin is the same as the OEM. The markings on the pictures are exactly the same, that white "o" marks. I'd go with it. It is missing the base, hence you just need to reuse your base plate and put those 3 new rubber dampers on as well, plus it's missing the invertor drain plug washer, so that's why it's a little cheaper. Also be mindful 3rd parties are not very reliable, the OEM is better but not great either. I had to replace one in under 33K miles and I believe the previous owner replaced it once before as it didn't have the original black base. So twice under 33k miles. Mine is still at 33K miles to date.

 

They're stupidity seemingly is your game they're both the same part in the same picture I take my pump off the bracket and leave the bracket in the car so I don't have to undo the bolt and the stud and that holds that other little bracket so you just bolting the black plastic pump to the existing bracket in your car and you can use the new three bolts if you like $85 that's a smoking deal for the factory original pump there's a lot of pumps you can put in place of the factory original but at $85 why would you even fool with that generally you wouldn't you would just replace the pump and be done for 10 years most people are going to be out of their generation too in the next three to five years more than likely they will age out or peer pressure will force them out whichever

 

Yep, AFAIK the pricier part was updated. The cheaper part was the "original" that failed more often.

I got the $140 one 60k ago and have had no troubles.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

A few years ago I installed one of the $40 ones which I purchased from Ebay. Lasted 10 months. Learning my lesson I purchased an OEM one from the local Toyota dealer and I've had no issues 3 years later. Buy cheap, buy twice was my experience

 

04000- part numbers are 'kit' numbers: they bundle some part with some other stuff you'll probably be needing along with it, like a gasket or three. And often enough they are priced lower than the part by itself, just because of logistics of shipping and warehousing, and which they move more of.

They're not, of course, only available to dealers; they are mentioned in publicly-available TSBs, and orderable at a parts counter near you.