Ls Parts 'mount' Up!

[Titch LS]

I tried on line to find some KYB shock absorber 'top mounts' which would fit my newly bought dampers (from Lexus stealership, to keep the original ride), but had real difficulty sourcing them here. I couldn't find the exact mounts anywhere so started looking at U.S. sites. Rockauto had the KYB's that fitted, so I ordered a pair.. Guess what? they were £20 each! This sounds great until you add on Fed- Ex charges and good old British V.A.T. The total came to 90 quid! Sounds bad? Wait till you hear this; I phoned up two different Lexus dealerships and they both quoted me £136 FOR EACH MOUNT!! £272!! Even at 90 quid it's a no brainer. I felt like asking the parts chappie at Lexus if they were gold-plated. He said that he was embarrassed by their parts prices and couldn't blame me for going elsewhere. ( I didn't order any KYB dampers from anywhere other than Lexus as KYB Gr-2's ride differently from original, supposedly, but that's another story).

I have since noticed that amayama.com do almost any LS spares and at very reasonable cost. I might go with them in the future.

[ipwn]

Access to Japanese parts in Europe utterly hauls *****.

That's all I can say.

[lurch]

I tried on line to find some KYB shock absorber 'top mounts' which would fit my newly bought dampers (from Lexus stealership, to keep the original ride), but had real difficulty sourcing them here. I couldn't find the exact mounts anywhere so started looking at U.S. sites. Rockauto had the KYB's that fitted, so I ordered a pair.. Guess what? they were £20 each! This sounds great until you add on Fed- Ex charges and good old British V.A.T. The total came to 90 quid! Sounds bad? Wait till you hear this; I phoned up two different Lexus dealerships and they both quoted me £136 FOR EACH MOUNT!! £272!! Even at 90 quid it's a no brainer. I felt like asking the parts chappie at Lexus if they were gold-plated. He said that he was embarrassed by their parts prices and couldn't blame me for going elsewhere. ( I didn't order any KYB dampers from anywhere other than Lexus as KYB Gr-2's ride differently from original, supposedly, but that's another story).

I have since noticed that amayama.com do almost any LS spares and at very reasonable cost. I might go with them in the future.

Try www.amayama.com based in Japan, genuine parts even cheaper than USA and duty charges are a lot cheaper than if importing from the states, believe me, superb service , saved over £250. Even with the duty and delivery on gearbox parts I needed.

[Titch LS]

Lurch, thanks for that. I tried out that site yesterday by entering the part number for a front strut bar for a Mk4.(48660-50041). It came up with an unbelievably low price, something like 29 quid if I remember correctly.. Lexus want £176 each. I didn't know whether to trust that quote by amayama. I think they might have the wrong part listed? what do you think, go with them or not?

[ipwn]

That's a list price, you need to apply for a quotation where they give you a more accurate price. It's still usually within that price range.

Also was that UAE spec of Japan spec?

[lurch]

Lurch, thanks for that. I tried out that site yesterday by entering the part number for a front strut bar for a Mk4.(48660-50041). It came up with an unbelievably low price, something like 29 quid if I remember correctly.. Lexus want £176 each. I didn't know whether to trust that quote by amayama. I think they might have the wrong part listed? what do you think, go with them or not?

I just placed my order and they came back to me with a price, then I decided to go with it and paid via PayPal and just a few days later all parts arrived in genuine packets , jap spec parts. 5th gear here in uk was £127.00, from them £59.00 exact same part.

[Titch LS]

Judging from a few posts, by going with amayama it looks like customers are, at last, getting a reasonable deal on parts. Why can't more suppliers be like this? If amayama turn out to be reliable, maybe all LS owners will start ordering their spares from them. I'll definately give them a try.

[ipwn]

Not everyone can wait for a "upto" 28 days delivery time.

They are reliable, if you need parts some point in the future, not if you need them within the next 2 days because your control arm has snapped in half.

[steve2006]

You only have to compare the Lexus UK price and USA price of Toyota Type IV transmission fluid to see how we in the UK are totally ripped off.

[ipwn]

Lets flip that, Toyota WS fluid in England £6...in USA it's around $15.

A bargain for us seeing as when you relate the earnings etc. We should be paying £15 not £6.

[lurch]

Not everyone can wait for a "upto" 28 days delivery time.

They are reliable, if you need parts some point in the future, not if you need them within the next 2 days because your control arm has snapped in half.

Agreed if you need them in two days not going to happen, but my parts were here in the uk after order placed in five days, I then had to wait for a poxy letter from customs to tell me how much duty was and how to pay, this took about seven days extra but it was over Xmas. But money I saved worth the wait, that is if you have another car to use in the meantime.

[Titch LS]

Sam, in that case buy all your parts from Lexus/Toyota then! I think you'll find the general concensus is that we ARE being ripped off big time in this country, so when we find a much cheaper supplier for the vast majority of replacement parts, we should seize the opportunity and latch on to a relative bargain,(Import duties included).

[ipwn]

You do realise I use Amayama ? Actually I use a different Japanese supplier but they're all the same.

Titch my point is,Amayama is great, but not everyone can wait X weeks for delivery of their parts.

Ofcourse they will be cheaper than a dealer in England, that just goes without saying. It's always been a case with japanese parts, horrifically expensive and/o difficult to get hold of, but in theory you need them less often than other marques.

I buy my stuff from Toyota at trade price anyway, brings the cost right down. Just the other day on here I spotted someone spending £60 on a brake wear sensor. It's around £8 from Toyota on trade.

[Titch LS]

Sam, you are lucky to get parts at trade prices. Most of us can't or would find it difficult. I've only just recently heard of amayama and am keen to try them out to save some much needed pennies. Of course, you sacrifice the convenience of the stealerships but just look at the savings you can make if you can afford to just wait a bit to do 'that' job.

[ipwn]

You just say you want trade price,99% they give it without any follow up question.