LOOKING FOR ALTERNATOR IN GTA
 

Sending out an S.O.S for an alternator, called a toyota dealer and they told me it's gotta come from Cali so it will be a few days. Figured I've already got nothing to lose so I'll ask here if anyone has suggestions or alternatives about my search for an alternator.

Car is a 2013 FRS. Share your thoughts please, I'd really appreciate it.

From my experience ONLY go to a local Subaru dealer for the part. Toyota was around $850 for a starter from Cali and I instructed them to call Subaru who were $360 and immediate availability.

If you can wait, get it from eBay used for a lot cheaper


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Call a junkyard, should be around $100.
I have a brand new starter for FA20. Couldn't even sell it for $50. Painful to imagine someone buying one for hundreds.

Thank you so much for the feedback, I really do appreciate it very much. I infact did call Subaru and I will share the numbers with you.

Called Toyota first like i said, only for them to tell me there are no remanufactured alternators in stock so I would have to get it shipped from California and wait a week or so while paying $1300 BEFORE taxes.

Looked into getting mine rebuilt at CAE (Canadian Auto Electric) who been in the business 25 years. They quoted me at $199 for the rebuild which isnt a bad price if it really is quality work.

Called Subaru like you suggested for them to come with a better solution than Toyota and I could not for the life of me understand how any of that made sense. I WAS MIND BLOWN when they told me brand new from them is about $850 and REMAN from them would be about $480 and some change. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't hear it myself but you are absolutely right.

Still deciding who to go with.

Again, THANK YOU so much.

Would If I could but that isn't the case for me unfortunately, but thank you for the suggestion!

Huge advocate of this, my only concern would be whether or not I can find one with a twin in it. I'm sure there are the odd few kicking around.
Thanks for the advice!

I don't like naming companies if it isn't necessarily flattering but I towed my car to the nearest Toyota dealer on a Sat. The starter I think was $890 and up to 2 weeks plus 3 hours at $130. I told the guy that I purchased 2 Scions from them and towed the car there since I thought I could trust them. I then told him pretty sure Subaru same part around $400 so he called me and 5 minutes later $360 +$390 labour +tax. This and towing my total was around $1100. In the furture I will pay $360+ tx and do the job. This time my other car was blocked in the garage so had to do something.

The closest Subaru to my Toyota dealer is Willowdale.

Pretty sure Subaru are better for everything for these cars btw.

Alternator is easy to remove, personally I'd get the $200 rebuild if the turnaround is quick. Any idea why yours went early? My starter went as a result of trying to start with a seized belt due to supercharger failure in 2015. It was smoking and I fully expected eventual premature failure as a result.

Much like yourself I try to do the same, just pay for the part and get as much done at home as possible as long as its within my control or capability to do so.

Its just a damn shame that you can't trust the people you're supposed to trust. Its so important to do as much research as possible because at the end of the day it cuts out so many unnecessary expenses.

For the sake of sharing knowledge and experiences I will say today I got my alternator repaired. I called ACE Starter and alternator rebuilders in Mississauga. They are located on Hawkstone rd just off of central pkwy and wolfdale.

Sammy from ACE picked up the phone as soon as I called which was pretty much right when they opened today at 9am. I asked him if he could give me a price for a rebuild and I explained to him my situation. He told me a complete rebuild would be about $200 but that he could just repair whatever is broken for $90.

For those of you that didn't go through the whole thread reading this, Its a HUGE difference from the $1300+ tax that Toyota was trying to charge me for a new alternator. Better than the $850 Subaru was going to charge me for the same new alternator, and better yet it even beat Subaru's price on a reman alternator which would have run me about $487 from them.

Sammy is a VERY honest guy, I have every intention of returning to his shop If an issue with an alternator or starter ever comes up that is fixable. Not only did he give me a fair price and fair options, but he kept me very involved in the process as I was right there with them watching the whole thing. He even educated me quite a bit on the topic and showed me exactly where I was running into issues. At the end of it all he offered to replace a bearing but that would bring the price up to $110. For the peace of mind, I said lets go ahead and switch it out. I left him with $120 because I was very pleased to be lucky enough to deal with someone who isn't out there to scam you, but to just provide good, honest work that he makes you feel apart of by showing you whats going on.

Just wanted to share this experience with you guys and let you know for what its worth, I'd say ace starter and alternator rebuilding and everyone there is worth checking out if you ever want an honest opinion.

To answer your question there was some corrosion inside on one of the terminals to the point where it just flaked off so it was virtually doing nothing. It wasn't all over the alternator either, just the wire which is odd but not uncommon with mitsubishi (I learned they make our alternators). That and the front bearing had some play as well, you could both hear it and feel it so they just opened her up, replaced it all and sent me on my way in about 45 minutes with everything fixed and tested infront of my own eyes and only $110 charged for a great service. They are also very friendly.

Thank you for this - I plan on calling Sammy tomorrow. If i drive there, will they uninstall and reinstall the alternator, too?

Background: Car is a 2013 FR-S, and the old OEM batter has been drained to zero a few times by my wife who tends to leave the dome light on. She's done this about 4 times.

A month ago, I was parked for about 20 minutes with the radio on, and I drained it far enough to stop it from starting the car. After a boost it was fine.

Today I got stranded on my commute home - battery died shortly after I started driving home; tried to limp it to Crappy tire, but the alternator alone wouldn't take me that far.

Hoofed it to CT, bought a battery and a 10mm wrench, walked back and swapped the battery... I made it home, but the dashboard battery light is still on. Everything else works, but the car also doesn't feel as powerful as normal.

Tested the voltage: 12.4 while off, then 11.99 with the car idling and no accessories on... I guess the alternator is toast. I'd like to swap it myself, but cant seem to find a good DIY write up to follow.

Thanks again for the reco.

www.car-part.com - lets you search scrap yards across the continent.


There's a bunch in the GTA for $75 or less.

The car should be able to run fine without a battery (or a completely ruined one) once running if the alternator is good (and no bad connections).


It's definitely a bad alternator, or a bad connection to it.