difference in NA made and Japan made parts - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

superdave1984 · 02-08-2011, 01:19 PM

I have a 94 Corolla and hit a deer a while back. Bashed the right fender, hood and headlight assembly. When looking for the headlight assembly, I am confronted with the question whether it is North American made or Japan made. What's the difference and will either headlight fit my car? I have no idea where mine was made. How do I find that out?

iToaster · 02-08-2011, 01:58 PM

The VIN will start with a J if it was Japan made. There's no difference in the parts.

jawsofire · 02-08-2011, 06:19 PM

There is a small difference in parts. But I don't think you'll run into any problems.

Steelballz · 02-10-2011, 08:03 PM

that small difference would be the USA beine LHD and japan is RHD...so the headlights will be pointing in opposite directions.the actual headlights and casings are the exact same on both

jawsofire · 02-11-2011, 03:33 PM

Actually I've ran into many problems. The bulbs for the cluster are different along long with some other small things.

trife96 · 02-12-2011, 09:42 PM

They are different...pointed corners on the inside instead of rounded. The grill snaps in to the lights different and its shaped different to match the headlights. And, bulbs are different.

***Kiwi-Corolla*** · 02-13-2011, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trife96

They are different...pointed corners on the inside instead of rounded. The grill snaps in to the lights different and its shaped different to match the headlights. And, bulbs are different.

Yep, here's some close-ups of the JDM headlights:

Hiro Protagonist · 02-13-2011, 01:59 AM

Yeah, Australian-made ones are the same too, except without the indicator in the parkers.

If you swap the whole lot over (parker, headlight, grille) it does fit, the halo headlights I've got at the moment are US-style with the rounded corner, fortunately they came with a matching grille too.

iToaster · 02-13-2011, 05:36 PM

Everyone here seems to be thinking the OP is looking into JDM parts, but he's not. He's asking if there's any difference between Japan made and North American made parts for USDM Corollas, as the U.S. was supplied with Corollas from two different production facilities (one in North America and the other in Japan). For what the OP is looking for, the parts are all interchangeable and have the same functionality. Trust me, I've given my buddy with a Japanese built Corolla countless parts off of my wrecked N.A. built one and we've never had a single problem. Japanese built doesn't necessarily mean JDM.

***Kiwi-Corolla*** · 02-13-2011, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iToaster

Everyone here seems to be thinking the OP is looking into JDM parts, but he's not. He's asking if there's any difference between Japan made and North American made parts for USDM Corollas, as the U.S. was supplied with Corollas from two different production facilities (one in North America and the other in Japan). For what the OP is looking for, the parts are all interchangeable and have the same functionality. Trust me, I've given my buddy with a Japanese built Corolla countless parts off of my wrecked N.A. built one and we've never had a single problem. Japanese built doesn't necessarily mean JDM.

Thanks for the clarification

. I wasn't aware that some USDM models were in fact made in Japan. It's a similar situation here, where some NZ-new Corollas (base models) had glass headlights which were made by Hella, whereas the JDM models had Koito headlights made in Japan.