I fancied side skirts and I'd looked at the MS Designs side skirts but wasn't that fussed so went to my local Toyota dealer and asked them if they could get the skirts from the G6R - mistake!
He was at great pains to explain to me the system that they use to order parts.
1. You need a chassis number
2. You need a trim code
He needs these to find the part on his computer system. If he can’t find it on his system he won’t have a part number so he can’t place an order. If you don’t have access to that info you will be left cursing and swearing which doesn’t help you or your relationship with the dealer.
Luckily I'd emailed Adrian at Fensport some time ago about these and as I was an existing customer he agreed to get them for me from his local dealer but he'd have to charge me for using my credit card as he would not be making any profit on the transaction. He also reckoned that my local Toyota parts department were just being lazy and that they should be able to get them for me. When they arrived I found that although they had a return at the back end of each skirt the front needed an extra part to close off the opening between skirt and body. Adrian couldn't remember anything about these and suggested making up a couple of fillers.
I also wanted to change the rubber concertina type gaiter around the gear stick. Here I had a stoke of luck as I have a colleague who has a Corolla G6 - this car has a leather look gaiter and he gave me his chassis number and trim code. Off I went to my Toyota dealer armed with the codes and everything was hunky dory. No problem finding the parts on the system - no problem ordering. While I was there (and not really expecting any helpful response) I asked about the filler pieces for the front of the side skirts. Well blow me down, Dave in the parts department knew exactly where to look for them and within seconds there they were on the screen - just goes to show that you need to talk to the right guy - nice one Dave. Also on the screen were the skirts - well it was too late now I already had a set courtesy of Fensport.
The end caps and gaiter arrived but I found that there was a gap all the way around the base of the gaiter. I hadn't spotted that my mates car had a hard charcoal coloured plastic bezel surrounding the gaiter so it was back to the dealer for the bezel. Fitting the gaiter and bezel was easy and the dark colour blends in nicely with the corolla's interior.
Dafydd at Nationwide Crash Repairs sorted the painting and fitting of the skirts and end caps - another nice job by them.