Who Makes Toyota Antifreeze? (Are They Good?)

Do you know who makes Toyota “Red” antifreeze coolant? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.

Buying antifreeze (coolant) from a dealer can be an expensive proposition when there are other brands that are formulated to be compatible with your vehicle.

So, who makes Toyota coolant antifreeze? Toyota antifreeze coolant is most likely made by Prestone. While the formulas of Toyota antifreeze coolants are protected as trade secrets, it appears likely that Toyota antifreeze is similar to antifreeze sold by the Aisin company for Toyota brand cars.

Many antifreeze brands advertise that they can be used in place of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) brand antifreeze.

Will that be safe to use in your car over the long run, however, or is it better to stick with the Toyota brand coolant?

Read on for a little information on the background of Toyota antifreeze.

Table of Contents

What is Toyota Antifreeze?

Toyota sells two different types of antifreeze for its vehicles, a pre-diluted super long life pink HOAT coolant and a non-diluted red colored long life OAT coolant. Both are specifically designed to be used in Toyota cars.

Pink antifreeze is typically recommended for newer cars with aluminum radiators, though it is more expensive typically. Toyota red is used for older vehicles and needs to be diluted.

Keep in mind that antifreeze is nowadays specially formulated to maximize the life of the components and engine of your type of car. This is why antifreeze is now sold in an array of colors (but don’t rely on color alone).

Antifreeze that is formulated for Toyotas is designed to work with the alloys and materials that are included in the manufacture of Toyota vehicles.

Your Toyota owner’s manual may state that you must use either Toyota brand antifreeze or another “Non-silicate, non-amine, non-nitrite and non-borate coolant” or something to that effect.

You can see why you would want to just buy an antifreeze from the dealer rather than trying to determine if something is safe for your car.

Does Aisin Make Toyota Brand Antifreeze?

You may be tempted to go with one of the other brands that state they are formulated for Toyota cars (and won’t void your warranty if you use them).

One popular brand is Aisin Super Long Life Coolant (also pink). It is specially designed for use with Toyota, Lexus, and Scion vehicles.

There is much speculation that Aisin is in fact the supplier of Toyota antifreeze.

Either way, many commenters online have used the Aisin antifreeze in their cars with excellent results. One reviewer on priuschat.com indicated the Aisin product looks exactly like the Toyota brand he was previously using (and included a photo).

In addition, he states that the Aisin bottle indicates that it is an “OEM engineered formula.”

Plus, he can buy Aisin at jet.com at a significant discount from the Toyota brand from the dealer. (Prices will vary according to where you live.)

The specs and appearance of Aisin brand and Toyota brand antifreeze are very similar. Antifreeze is basically water, Ethylene Glycol, and Diethylene Glycol, along with various proprietary additives that specialize in the antifreeze for each type of vehicle.

The exact percentages of these ingredients are protected as trade secrets.

It does seem, however, that Aisin antifreeze behaves similarly to Toyota antifreeze.

So, Who is Aisin?

Aisin is actually part of the Toyota family of companies, owned in part by Toyota Industries. It supplies parts and components for Toyota manufactured cars.

Aisin also produces components and OEM products for other car manufacturers as well as other household products.

Who Manufactures Toyota Brand Antifreeze?

According to Aisin’s safety data sheet, their Super Long Life Coolant Prediluted is manufactured in the U.S. by Prestone Products Corporation.

Prestone manufactures a range of antifreeze for a variety of different cars (and at various price points).

Prestone also sells an antifreeze formulated for Toyota vehicles under its own brand name. This product is available at Wal-Mart and other retailers.

Can I Mix Coolants?

It depends on who you ask. Most mechanics will recommend that you completely flush out your system when changing brands or types of antifreeze, though that is a time-consuming and costly proposition if you are just topping off antifreeze.

Many pros indicate that it should be safe to mix antifreeze that are formulated the same way. So for instance, if you are adding Aisin Super Long Life to your Toyota brand Super Long Life antifreeze, you shouldn’t have a problem.

Ideally, you should stick with one formula to avoid corrosion to your components and to ensure the product moves freely throughout the system.

If you are changing formulas, it’s a good idea to clean out the system so any remnants of the old formula are cleaned out.

And don’t just rely on color alone–make sure you get an antifreeze that is specified for use in your manufacture and year of car.

Conclusion

While the manufacturers of OEM products are rarely disclosed, there is much speculation that Aisin antifreeze is very similar to the antifreeze sold at Toyota dealers.

You could always give the Aisin brand a try if you can get it at a significant discount or more readily than the Toyota antifreeze.

You may want to be careful buying from Amazon, however. While many purchasers have found they receive Toyota or Aisin antifreeze that is identical to what you would get direct, some have indicated they aren’t sure if the product is authentic.

References

https://www.oempartsource.com/oem-parts/toyota-toyota-super-long-life-antifreeze-coolant-50-50-prediluted-00272sllc2

https://aisinaftermarket.com/uploads/865skyci_SDS768.pdf