Did you know? Toyota Motor Corporation spent a total of $9 billion during just one financial year (2017/18) on Research and Development including component technology.

This obsession with technological advancement with the sole aim of enhancing safety, quality, durability, and reliability is just as engrained in the brand’s local DNA. It’s for this reason that Toyota South Africa is wholly committed to the aftersales support of all its products and has every single Toyota owner’s interests at heart. The company prides itself on continuous technological development to support its customers; this includes cost of ownership, genuine parts’ supply and genuine quality service, performed by Toyota-trained professionals.

Since October 2002, Toyota South Africa has offered complementary service plans on most of the Toyota model range in an effort to contain cost of ownership, and ensure its vehicles are serviced by trained technicians using only Toyota genuine parts.

All Toyota-designed parts are required to meet the exact design requirements and pass the Toyota standard testing in order to maintain the required durability and safety standards. Toyota will never wilfully lower standards or put any customer or their passengers at risk by approving components that have not been thoroughly tested. This, after all, is what defines Toyota genuine parts.

When Toyota-designed parts are manufactured by a component company outside of the Toyota manufacturing facility, they are required to adhere to Intellectual Property Rights. What this means is that the part in question can only be manufactured for the exclusive use of Toyota, whether this is in the manufacturing process and/or genuine parts’ supply. The Intellectual Property Rights belong to Toyota and these parts are available to all via the extensive Toyota dealer network.

It’s worth noting that some of these parts’ manufacturing companies do make components for the aftermarket, but not to the same Toyota design or specification as the genuine article when it comes to performance and quality.

Superficially, they may look the same or similar, but the internal design as well as materials and performance can, and often do, differ vastly. Where such differences exist, these could impact on vehicle safety, durability and reliability. And, in the event of an accident or consequential damage, the manufacturers of these products may not voluntary own up and take responsibility for their product. Toyota on the other hand has its brand reputation to protect, which is why it goes to such lengths to instil confidence in its products.

So, the million-dollar question is - are Toyota-designed genuine and non-genuine parts the same? Regardless of how similar they may look on the outside, the answer clearly is NO!