Are OEM Mud Guards Better Than Aftermarket Mud Guards?

Are you installing mud guards for the first time? Or are you replacing missing mud guards? Either way, you may be trying to decide between OEM and aftermarket mud guards. We put together this comparison guide to help you with that.

What's the best way to decide between OEM and aftermarket mud guards? It's to look at the most important features to consider. We'll discuss the 3 most important features. We'll also talk about how OEM Toyota and aftermarket mud guards stack up against each other.

1. Material Quality

TRD flap set

If you’ve ever wondered why aftermarket mud guards are cheap, it may be because they’re made with low quality materials. When you use mud guards with low quality materials, they may:

  • Crack
  • Wear out fast
  • Break off

If you're looking at aftermarket mud guards on Amazon, pay attention to the reviews. You'll find lots of complaints about the quality of these mud guards. For example, a reviewer named Howard wrote, "[The aftermarket mud guards I bought] are so thin. It's as if they came from the 99-cent store."

You don't have to worry about any quality issues with OEM mud guards. Toyota understands the significance of using the right materials for their mud guards. They always require top quality materials from their manufacturers. That’s why OEM Toyota mud guards last a long time.

2. Fitment

Flap fit

Image Credit: Toyota4Runner.org

When it comes to mud guards, fitment is important. The whole purpose of mud guards is to provide protection from the dirt and moisture your tires spray up. So if the fitment is bad, the mud guards won't serve their purpose.

With OEM mud guards, you don't ever have to worry about fitment issues. Toyota has many different variations of mud guards. Each variation is made to fit certain Toyota models. For example, this set of OEM mud guards for Toyota Tacomas is designed for 2016-2020 Tacomas. So if you get OEM mud guards for your Toyota, you'll have the peace of mind that they'll fit your car or truck perfectly.

Aftermarket mud guards are notorious for poor fitment. It's because most of them are generic. When you have "one-size-fits-all" mud guards on your Toyota, you'll run into fitment issues, such as:

  • Holes not lining up correctly
  • Too wide
  • Too narrow
  • Too long
  • Too short

When you have ill-fitting mud guards on your Toyota, you won't see much protection. The mud guards may also wear out faster. For example, if your mud guards are too long, they will occasionally scrape on objects. That will lead to the mud guards either:

  • Breaking off
  • Curling up

Amazon is loaded with complaints about poor-fitting aftermarket mud guards. An Amazon user wrote, "I had to send my aftermarket mud guards back. They did not fit my car. They didn't even cover the flares."

Another Amazon user wrote, "These aftermarket mud guards did not fit my Toyota Tacoma 2008 4x4. The product received was not as pictured."

3. Warranty

OEM flaps

Since mud guards undergo heavy abuse, it's important to get a set that's covered by a great warranty. A comprehensive warranty policy shows that the manufacturer stands behind its products.

Toyota offers a 12-month, unlimited mile warranty for most of its parts. That warranty includes mud guards. If you follow the stipulations, you'll get your OEM mud guards replaced for free within 12 months of purchase if they fail for some reason. You can't say that about most, if not all, aftermarket mud guards.

You would be hard pressed to find an aftermarket manufacturer that offers a good warranty on its mud guards. Most aftermarket companies don't even warranty their products. As for those that do, chances are their warranty policies don't cover much.

Summing Up

Aftermarket mud guards may be generally cheaper, but they don’t offer a lot of value compared to OEM ones. If you don't want to splurge on OEM mud guards, we have good news. You can get a genuine OEM set of mud guards at aftermarket prices! Here's how:

OEM Mud Guards Don’t Always Have To Be More Expensive Than Aftermarket Ones

A lot of Toyota owners are hesitant to buy OEM mud guards at dealerships. It's because they can be quite expensive. Dealerships impose a hefty markup on all their OEM products, including mud guards.

Not everyone knows that genuine OEM Toyota mud guards are available online at much lower prices. In fact, we offer wholesale pricing for OEM mud guards. Look up your Toyota model in our catalog to see how much money you can save on a set of mud guards!

Written by Jason Lancaster