These OE Toyota/Denso starters are durable products. I have/had four Gen 3/4 Camrys in my family, all driven by my kids and all purchased when they had between 150K -185K miles or so. Never had a problem with these OE Denso starters. If they do go bad, usually it's the starter solenoid contact points that need to be replaced after many miles (not in my family's case), which is a cheap fix.

This is one of those parts that if it does go bad, you would probably get a better used Toyota/Denso starter at a junkyard for 1/3 the money than you would buying a rebuilt starter from the typical chain auto parts stores.

 

I've only replaced one once, and I've four 2.2 Camrys, all over 220, one over 318. And the one I replaced was from the only car I purchased from the city (Chicago). Possibly it had been used more often, shorter trips being more common.

 

27 years and 320,000 on mine so far. I don't know if they start to get weak before failing or just fail suddenly but mine is not giving any indication of any problems.

 

Probably mileage is not a reliable predictor of starter life. To illustrate, UPS requires their drivers to stop the engine and remove the keys on every stop, then restart when they return to the vehicle. Those starters will require repair at much lower mileage than on a vehicle driven 60 miles between stops. I just replaced one on a Camry with 197K miles that had considerable miles driven between stops.

 

22 years and 358,525 miles and counting! And when it does go back it will be a 20 minute job!

 

Do I have a starter? I have 419K on my 97. No signs of giving up. Least of my worries.

 

with 419k on it you may have only used the starter once...lol

 

With an average of 12k miles/year with each trip of less than 10 miles, that equates to around 2,500 starts per year and almost 37,000 starts in 15 years. I have seen Camry's with over 15 years without a starter change. It will also depend on several factors like the weather where driven, garaged or not etc.

 

Kind of like an Apples to Pears comparison, but my 1991 Corolla is still rocking the original OEM Denso starter, so 33 years old in this case!

 

The way they fail is the brushes get short and don't make contact, it may give you a little warning, if it does don't shut off the engine and get home

 

Another reason for failure is pitted points in the solenoid, it also gives few days of warning that the solenoid will just click and won't rotate the starter, you do it repeatedly and it will start the engine, consider this enough warning.
Just like the battery, it gives you a warning of less than 24 hrs, astute drivers can notice a slow starter, its a dead giveaway that the battery is gone, replace it right away, not even next day.

 

OP, the Denso starters are very durable. A weak point, if it is a weak point, are the contacts in the starter solenoid. It's an easy repair even for a beginner, using basic hand tools. Replacement contacts are available on Ebay, Rock Auto and supposedly dealership parts departments, although when I inquired there the counter man looked at me like I had two heads. Good write up in the DIY here and also YouTube videos. I've done both of mine and I'd rather do that then take a chance on some Chinese junk or a "rebuilt" that came from who knows where.

 

I have resurfaced pitted points in two starters, both in Hondas as I didn't know that you could get new points. That worked out well. Opening the solenoids is not easy as the body is crimped and later the closing is not as good either. Replacing points would still leave one weak point i.e. brushes so probably both should be replaced at the same time.