vmichelle

I price out just replacement and this is what I got (I live in Canada so the costs are HIGH). Lexus said $750 for new, $450 for reman...I didn't even bother asking about labour. Otherwise I called Napa and they quoted me around $320 for a reman (still a DENSO!).

Currently my alt is in the shop. Failed the test - firs try the pulley started smoking, so they swapped it out quickly and retested and the diodes failed. It is being taken apart now and checked. I'm just awaiting a call on cost/parts. Depending on how expensive it will be to repair I am either going to get mine fixed or give Napa a call.

jst17

Whao, maybe just stick to OEM. Looks like most re-manufactured ones sold by auto parts store dont last as long as ones bought from lexus.

I had to tow my car to the local lexus dealership. I am in Waterloo, Ontario. but $750 for a alternator seems a bit steep. Keep us updated about the napa alt.

vmichelle

Napa has a three year warranty, and there have been a couple other people that have posted about getting a reman and having no issues. I would love to hear from anyone who has issues just so I know what I might be getting myself into.

Still awaiting a call from the alt repair shop.

NYKnick101

Reman Denso alternators are like $230 on EBay if your solely set on getting a denso alternator. How ever they have other brands that range from the $150-300 area. I've had nothing but great experience with Duralast products from Autozone and their alternators are $165 (with $80 core). They also have a limited lifetime warranty where if it goes bad during its life time they will replace it. I've done it with distributors on my older cars and I can say Autozone holds up to their warranty.

I would just buy it, replace it and call it a day instead of mulling over which one to use cuz then its more days you are with out a car.

Also if you are paying $10 bucks to test your alternator, you are paying TOO MUCH. Every auto store that I know does FREE alternator and battery testing

jst17

I am paying Lexus $130 to do a "diagnosis" which is likely just a alternator/battery test since I have exactly the same issue as OP... only if I came to CL before hand, and should have drove it to part source when the battery still had some juice left; instead of towing it to the dealership

Also, the NAPA alternator has 150amps, I read somewhere that the is350 have 250amps, correct me if I am wrong.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Factory amperage is 150.

vmichelle

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately I live in Canada...we pay a premium up here for parts.

Ignoring other brands I did a quick search of the part number for a Denso for my car (only one on eBay) $300 USD = $340 CDN plus another $20 in shipping and will take up to three weeks to get here. That's not counting any duty/taxes I may encounter once I receive it. Autozone as far as I can see doesn't ship to Canada.

As for the charge for the alt test, there is a specialist in town that I go to and trust. He does a really thorough job looking over everything. I'd rather that then some putz at a shop I don't trust trying to tell me everything in my car is broken because I'm a woman.

jasonr

Where do you live in Canada?

jst17

Option 1: $550 for a Napa reman alternator (3 year warranty)
Option 2: $950 lexus alternator (1 year warranty)

Both includes labour which is 1.8 hours.
I ended up going with the Napa one cuz of the warranty.

Also found a denso reman one in another near by city for $580, but my car is already towed to lexus and I have exams coming up so I will just let lexus handle everything.

vmichelle

The beautiful Okanagan Valley in BC

Repair was quoted at ~$300 (pulley and diodes replacement + labour).
So I called Napa and ordered a remanufactured because of the warranty. Quoted $317+tax...came to $263+tax (boyfriend's discount comes in handy sometimes).

Labour comes for free with my boyfriend. I do his taxes and he fixes my car.

jst17

How's the Napa one?

vmichelle

I will update once I know. I didn't get to order it until yesterday - should be in today and installed this evening!

vmichelle

UPDATE: Installed the remanufactured alt from Napa last Wednesday night and took the car for a test drive. Had a little hesitation when accelerating, but overtime this seems to have gone away (car was sitting for a full week before we got the new alt in). So far the Napa alternator is doing the trick, we've had some freeeeezing temperatures here over the weekend (-20 C/ -4 F) and the car has been running without a hitch.

I'd say that the Napa remanufactured alternator is the best bang for buck and the three year warranty is hard to beat.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Glad to hear you're back up and operational. Yeah, the car was initially going through its "learning" phase; but after a few heat cycles it will be back to normal or above normal.

Wisdom

iTrader: (7)

Something happened to me last night.. Just out of now where the lights on the interior flashed and the VSC light came up and then the battery light.... The power steering went out and all lighting in the interior started to go out. I was lucking enough to pull off the side of the road..

The hazards didn't even work, they slowly faded out. No Juice to the car what so ever.

I'm looking to get a new battery right now, but after reading this thread.. I think I need to look into the alternator as well