This category covers two quite different things: lights (headlights, taillights, fog lamps, indicators) and electrical hardware (alternators, starters, window motors, wiper motors, ECUs, instrument clusters, fuse boxes). They fail differently and you should shop for them differently.
What's actually available
Headlights and taillights for Polo, Corolla, Hilux, Ranger and NP200 are always in circulation, largely because minor accidents destroy lights long before they destroy cars. Alternators and starters for Toyota and VW engines are plentiful. ECUs, clusters and body control modules are available but come with a coding caveat covered below. Late-model LED headlights (Fortuner, Hilux, Ranger) are a special case: they're expensive new, heavily stolen, and in high demand used.
What it costs
A halogen headlight for a common car runs R400 to R1,500 used; a taillight R250 to R1,000. Xenon and LED units are a different world: R3,000 to R8,000-plus used, against R10,000-plus new, which is exactly why they get stolen. Alternators run about R800 to R2,500 and starters R600 to R2,000. ECUs vary too much to generalise: the part is often cheap, the coding is where the cost sits.
What to check before you buy
- **On lights, check the mounting tabs first.** The lens can be perfect while every plastic tab is snapped. A light held in with cable ties fails roadworthy and vibrates loose on our roads. - **Look inside the lens for water marks.** A tide line or misting inside means the seal has gone. It will fog up in the first rain and corrode the bulb holders. - **Expect some UV hazing on used headlights.** The South African sun yellows polycarbonate lenses. Light hazing polishes out; deep yellowing that's cracked the coating doesn't. - **On alternators and starters, insist on a bench test** or buy from a yard that tested the unit before pulling it. These are the two parts where "it was working when we stripped the car" needs proof. A spin test on an alternator takes minutes and any decent yard can do it. - **ECUs are not plug-and-play on most cars built after about 2000.** The ECU is married to the immobiliser, key transponder and often the instrument cluster. You either buy the complete matching set from one donor car (ECU, cluster, key and immobiliser ring) or budget for coding by an auto electrician. A bare ECU alone will usually crank but never start. - **On LED and xenon headlights specifically, ask about the ballast or driver module.** The light is useless without it and it's sometimes sold separately.
Buying stolen-prone parts safely
LED headlights, mirrors and taillights off popular Toyotas are prime targets for theft, and buying a stolen light makes you part of the problem, and possibly a target for the same thieves. Buy from registered yards or sellers who can say which vehicle the part came off. On our platform, business sellers are marked, and when we source a part for you we ask where it came from. A price far below the ranges above on a high-theft part is the clearest warning sign there is.