Toyota has a fancy CD-ROM system that covers every little detail on most (all?) the cars they've made. I got hold of them, and caused quite a stir on the MR2-list. Why? Because Toyota doesn't seem to want to sell these CD-ROM's to others than dealers. Below is the message I sent to the list:

Wow!

Seems a lot of you were interested in those CD-ROM's! I got too many emails to reply them all in an orderly manner, so I thought I'd write one longer message here on the list instead.

First, here's the whole story:

I have been nagging my local Toyota dealer to get me these CD-ROM's for quite a while now, but I've always been turned down. Recently, a new employee started working there, and he had no trouble getting them for me. And - wait for it - I got them for free! I didn't pay a penny for them! As far as I can tell, the dealers (at least here in Norway), get an update of the CD-ROM's every month or so, and the two I got were from 1995. I guess they don't have to return the to Toyota or anything, they just keep them or throw them away.

When I got to work I immediately took a look at them, but soon found out there were only raw data on them. There wasn't an .exe-file in sight. What to do? Well - call Toyota HQ in Norway, of course! I talked to a very nice man who told me that in order to use the CD-ROM's, you had to have a special kind of PC, a special kind of graphics-card, a special this and a special that. Jeeez. I was kind of depressed until he mentioned he'd just got a program that worked on any kind of PC under Windows'95 or NT. And guess what? He agreed to send me the program (also on CD-ROM)...for free...the same day! How's that for customer service!

The very next day the CD was in my mailbox. I really have to re-evaluate my thinking of Toyota employees after this, but I still won't let them touch my car...:-)

Anyway, here's the answer to some of the questions in the many emails I got:

Kostas G.D.Chryssos wrote:

>Is it for MK II as well ??????? If yes please
>e-mail me the Toyota Part Numbers.

Yes, it includes all Toyota's delivered to Europe, including the Mk2 Turbo. Note that the two CD's I've got is labeled 'Europe' and '1995', and I'm sure there are at least versions for Japan and USA.

CD #1 has the following printed on it:

ELECTRONIC PARTS CATALOG
07-1995 A1
(EUROPE)
TOYOTA GENUINE PARTS EA107-95 TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY PARTS ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION DIV.
(C) 1995

CD #2 has the following printed on it:

ELECTRONIC PARTS CATALOG
04-1995 A2
(EUROPE)
TOYOTA GENUINE PARTS EA204-95
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY PARTS ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION DIV.
(C) 1995

Now, the A1-CD has newer cars on it (the Mk2 is one of them) and the A2-CD has older cars (e.g. the Mk1).

I guess the part number (e.g. EA204-94)is made up like this:

E for continent (Europe)
A2 for CD# (A2)
04 for month (april)
-94 for year (1994)

In addition to this you'll need the 3rd CD I got from Toyota HQ, this has the following printed on it:

ELECTRONIC PARTS CATALOG
01-1997 P1-1
FOR PROGRAM
TOYOTA TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY PARTS ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION DIV.
(C) 1997

This CD contains the all-important program. The manual accompanying it says 'November 1996' so I guess it's pretty new.

Robin San <ecleong@mail.usyd.edu.au> wrote:

>Tell me more, when you get a chance.

I think I've just about covered most of it now, but I can tell you a few more things:

• As stated above, the CD's contains every single model Toyota has sold in Europe. I've found cars dating back to 1979
• You can print out anything you get on screen, including drawings
• You can search using your VIN#, model code, year built, or for certain keywords if you're looking for a special part
• You can view every single part of any of the cars covered on screen (or print it) and you can zoom in and out
• You can build a shopping list - just click on the parts you want, how many of each, and print out a complete order to your local dealer
• Every single MR2-model up to 1995 is covered in full!

Ohhhhhhh, this is SO great!

One funny thing - in order to list the Lexus models, you need a password given only to approved Lexus dealers. :-)

This is a definitive must-have for any MR2 enthusiast. Why Toyota doesn't market these CD-ROM's is a total mystery to me.

Here are a few snapshots of the system in action (just click on the picture to get a bigger and better version):