Top 5: Places to Find Used Celica Parts (2022)

Intro:

I’ve mentioned several times how hard it is to find rare parts for the Celica and casually threw out going to the “usual” places to find parts, but I think it’s time to dive into what these usual places are. So, if you’re asking, “Where can I look to find Celica parts?!” then here’s your post. Here’s the top five places to look for Celica parts.

5. Facebook

Facebook is a good place to find used parts

FB Marketplace is a decent resource, but there seems to be a higher number of competitive buyers using the same service. Initially, FB Marketplace showed a lot of relevant results, but it’s becoming more and more watered down with drop-shipping schemes and other irrelevant products.

However, the Celica groups on FB are also an excellent resource in finding parts. Here are the ones that I’m in: NewCelica, Celica Gen 7, Celica USA, R Tuning – R9K Tuned 2zz-ge, and 5×100 Wheel Classifieds. However, the audience for these for sale ads are extremely focused and it’s hard to grab deals before anyone else does. On the flip side, the Celica community is aging, and a lot of people have a hard time paying the appropriate prices for rare pieces.

The best way to use FB is to network within the groups and find other Celica hoarders near you. You can then go visit their garage-palaces full to the brim with Celica parts and try to wave cash at them for their stockpiles of parts! (Yes, Tom, I’m talking about you). The other benefit to this approach is that you can have awesome Celica meets when you find enough people in your area!

Meets with other Celica owners are the best places to network and trade/buy parts

4. Craigslist

Craigslist has been around forever (since 1995) and has been the go-to resource for local classifieds since it expanded in the early 2000s. Typically, the best deals are found on Craigslist because people are just trying to get rid of things. There are several apps available that will “watch” Craigslist for keywords for you and notify you that something has appeared with the keyword you’re looking for. When I bought my AE86, it was using this process. Only 24 hours elapsed between the guy posting the car and me driving away in it. It was one of the best deals I’ve ever made.

This red AE86 next to my test mule was my $2500 craigslist find

3. eBay

eBay is king when it comes to being able to filter out junk results. I typically search for Celica parts by telling eBay that I’m looking for 00-05 Celica parts and then scrolling down and checking the “used” filter so that I can see results that are truly relevant. You could spend days looking through the same eBay-no-brand exhausts and taillights, but I usually steer clear of that stuff. I spend a little time each week scrolling through the used parts sections, looking for worthwhile finds. The parts are typically a little more expensive, due to seller’s expenses, but deals are definitely achievable.

2. Yahoo! Japan

In general, the Japanese culture doesn’t like to buy used and they do like to take care of their things. Of course, that’s not always the case, but there are still deals to be found overseas. Generally, its best practice to search for the chassis code when looking at Japanese auctions: “ZZT231” for the Celica. See this blog post that is dedicated to explaining how to buy parts from Japan easily.

Japanese auction sites are a good place to find used parts

1. Junkyards

Junkyards are a good place to find used parts

By far the best place to find replacement used parts is the junkyards. This one is a double-whammy because there are two really good resources to use for this. The first is www.row52.com where you can search “pick-and-pull” type junkyards in your area. If you sign up for an account, you can add specific vehicles that you’re looking for and have the website send you notifications when those specific vehicles appear in the search results.

The other website is called www.car-part.com. Here, you can search for specific parts and the site will search all participating junkyards for that part. This website is used by a lot of automotive and body shops, so keep that in mind.

Generally, this site takes a little more legwork for a few reasons: 1. Sometimes the listings aren’t maintained very well by the junkyards. For example, I recently called for a quote and was told “Yeah, wow, not sure why that’s still out there. Says we sold it in 2013.” 2. Many of the listings require you to call them for the price instead of listing the price on the website. 3. Sometimes, the reason they won’t list the price is because they like to price gouge individuals who they think don’t know any better. However, even though there are some negatives, deals can still be had if you’re willing to put in the work!

Conclusion:

Hopefully, you’ve found this post useful in your quest to find used Celica parts. As the car gets older and its numbers dwindle, it will become harder and harder to snag up quality parts. The aftermarket has all but moved on from the chassis with only a few vendors still providing high-quality, new parts like www.monkeywrenchracing.com, https://r9ktuned.com/, and DD Performance Research (website down, currently).