underscore":124b9vb2 said:
After all the horror stories of release bearing issues I went through the cost and hassle of ordering OEM Toyota from the dealer for my GTS only to find out it's a third party part in a Toyota box anyways. Next time I wouldn't use one that comes with a clutch kit but I wouldn't bother with "OEM" either, I'd just buy a good one from a quality brand like Timken or SKF.
It's possible, in this case, that someone else ordered this throw-out bearing through Toyota, used it, and placed a non-Toyota part back in the box and returned it to the dealer for credit (perhaps given the cost difference), and no one in parts would know the swap was made, so it got put back into inventory, and you just happened to be the next person who ordered this throw-out bearing. GIven price differences between OEM and aftermarket, this kind of behavior is unfortunately not uncommon. So I wouldn't rule out Toyota OEM parts. Just need to know what to expect when it comes in (in your case, with your old one in 3 pieces, this wasn't possible).