Why Japanese parts interchange more than you think

Customers often ring asking for a part for one specific model year, and are surprised when we offer one from a different year, or sometimes a different model entirely. That is not us cutting corners. It is how the manufacturers build cars.

Platforms are shared. A component developed for one model usually carries across the range and stays in production for as long as the platform does, which can be a decade. The badge on the boot changes long before the part underneath does.

This is why our catalogue lists a range of years for each part rather than a single one. That range is the interchange data from the manufacturer, not a guess.

The practical upshot: if we do not have a part listed for your exact year, it is still worth calling. There is a good chance the same component is sitting on a shelf under a different heading.