Replacing my starter - is this the correct one to buy?

I think it's a case of branding and not much else. Like ... You can get SPC upper control arms, around $900. Or you can buy the same arm from Eibach at $600. Or you can buy the same arm from Mevotech for $300. Same part, same accessories, different seller, different price.

 

That's sad. Inflation is a bitch. When I bought them in 2019 they were around $575.

 

I don't think it's inflation, a lot of the so-called "inflation" right now is complete bullshit scapegoating. Businesses are capitalizing on public sentiment, as they have been a few decades now, and they're hitting rural areas the hardest, especially with groceries. Look no further than any company raising prices while making record profits and its C-level execs are getting absurd bonuses and raises. Meanwhile, they're pointing the finger at Washington and hoping the general public will continue to bite, not notice.

Everyone is getting punked right now by big business.

Pretty sure the SPC price hikes are more a case of them trying to get out of the direct-to-consumer game. Direct-to-consumer is great when you're trying to build a name in a niche area. When you're successful enough you're supplying your exact same parts for resale to other big brand names like Eibach, who is selling at a lower price than you, you having to start juggling demand from those other brands along with your demands of direct-to-consumer and that's a bitch.

So what do you do in that case? Raise the prices on your product to match that of other competitors with similar products. Word will get around you can get the same product for 1/3 or even 2/3 less $$ from the Eibachs and Mevotechs of the world. You still make your cut on manufacture, but you completely and totally wash yourself of having to directly support the customer on the product - that's not your problem anymore when folks are buying your product through others.

Less people will come to you directly with that model, but you make more money if they choose to, which either translates into more profit, or pays for the added staff to deal with the consumers who need support. Business-to-business sales are always less hassle. When you remove the customer - or maybe the better way to look at it is you create another brand agent as a buffer between you in the customer so you don't need to have customer interaction anymore - that's a lot of burden rinsed.

 

Hello, have been waiting to post back here once I solved my issue. But still working on it. So in a nutshell-

After posting here, I ordered a new reman starter and intake gaskets for my 1st gen tundra. Was preparing to change the starter, but before I could the problem seemed to go away. Car started fine without delay. So I figured I’d leave it be and thought maybe the cold weather and rain just created a brief hiccup.

A month went by, no issues. Then 5 days ago I went to start it, turned the key, and nothing. Wipers came on, lights worked. Battery is new. Kept turning key and nothing. Then magically on about the 10th turn it started right up. Has been fine since. Also ordered new ignition switch and starter relay switch as I read these can cause a similar problem. Think I should go ahead and put in the new reman starter? Not sure why but I feel weird taking out an OEM that got me to 300k if that isn’t actually the issue …

thanks again and when this resolves will be sure to report back to this thread so anyone in future can learn from my experience and all of your Toyota wisdom. Thanks!

 

Have you tried another key, by chance (if not already recommended)?

Keys get wonky over time, wear down, and sometimes with stuff like this it can simply be the key.

The dealership will cut you a new key based on your VIN, you just need proof of ownership and a few bucks.

 

The intermittent-ness sounds like electrical such as the contacts, but if you already have the reman starter, I'd just swap it out. It could be something else in the electrical system though. I'd go through all of the cables and see if anything is loose. I had similar symptoms on a previous truck and it was just a loose battery connection. Lights and everything else worked, but sometimes the starter didn't.