Toyota Aftermarket Engine Oil Filtering Option Warning

Aftermarket parts often get a bad rap…and for a good reason. Not only is there the risk of a cheaper aftermarket product being made of inferior material that will fail on your engine, but sometimes the fit is just a little bit off despite looking identical to the OEM part.

Are Aftermarket Products Ever Better Than OEM?

In short, sometimes an aftermarket part is a better decision over an OEM part either due to the OEM part is:

• The part is not easily available…if at all for older model cars.
• The aftermarket part is significantly less expensive than the OEM part.
• The OEM part is technically inferior due to it is made of plastic and/or is inconvenient from an ownership view when it comes to accessing your car for repair or maintenance.

Related article: The Reality of Modern Car Repair is Why You Should Consider Buying an Older Used Model

One Example of a Toyota Owner-Preferred Aftermarket Product

A recent Toyota Maintenance YouTube channel episode begs the question of whether a Prius owner was (to be kind and fair to her mechanic since we do not know the whole story) misinformed in purchasing a $300 aftermarket oil filter adaptor to replace a broken OEM oil filter cap that can be purchased for only $45.

The host of the video discusses the mechanic-recommend aftermarket part wondering why choose such an expensive non-OEM part when Toyota offers a fine OEM part for much less. The host posits that perhaps the mechanic believes the aftermarket part offers some performance benefit(s) to justify its cost to the Prius owner.

However, leave it to viewer comments to find out the real reason why some Toyota owners buy this product—it makes oil changes easier…and it is not made from potentially breakable plastic.

In other words, it meets at least one reason listed above why sometimes an aftermarket part is a better decision over an OEM part: convenience and disdain for modern cars becoming more plasticky.

Follow along with the host to see how the aftermarket part compares with the original part to understand why some Toyota owners prefer to DIY their oil changes by using a pricier aftermarket oil filter adaptor for cans-style oil filters over the replaceable paper filters in a permanent(?) cap style of design.

Toyota Aftermarket Engine Oil Filtering Option

For additional articles about owning a Toyota and problems you might have, here are three selected articles for your consideration:

• Toyota OEM Parts Price Warnin
• Warning from Toyota Mechanic on How Dealership Mechanic Almost Ruined This Toyota 4Runner Engine
• Blown Toyota Engine Option That Will Save You Money― “It’s Fascinating What You Can Get for Approximately $2,000.”

Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites  and Facebook for daily news and topics related to new and used cars and trucks.

COMING UP NEXT: Consumer Reports Best Used Cars for Under $10,000 Update

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