Experience with INAX toilets?

I'm replacing a 25 year old Briggs toilet in a remodel, had nearly decided on a Toto Carlyle II, then ran across the new INAX site. Apparently in Japan, Toto and INAX are comparable products. They have a model Dover that would match *very* well with the Bain tub I've already purchased; MaP is listed as a pretty impressive (for 1.28GPF and gravity) 800. But these are so new in the US I can't find any information at all other than the pretty marketing material . Also there's no supplier in my state. Makes me worry a little about getting parts and support.

Does anyone have direct experience with these toilets? Any pointers to a good internet supplier?

No experience with this toilet, so I can't rate it as good or bad, but after skimming over the installation instructions, you should realize the water supply is on the opposite side from our standard. Not an insurmountable problem, but would need to be addressed. I saw nothing about replacement parts for the internal workings. Toto parts are off the shelf in plumbing shops everywhere. Would these be special order taking who-knows-how-long? Maybe not, but I'd sure want to know because every toilet eventually has to have these parts replaced. Perhaps some of the pros will have encountered these toilets and can provide first hand opinions.

Thanks Gary - that's good advice. Parts and support are definitely a concern, i.e. wouldn't want to Fedex parts from Japan . I expect Toto was pretty specialized in the not-too-distant past as well and have done an excellent job going mainstream, probably along the lines of what INAX would like to do. The good news is that they've been selling other things here a while, so they're not starting from scratch.

Also a good observation about the supply. This is a ground-up remodel so not immediately a big deal. But it makes it problematic down the road to replace this with a different toilet. Interesting that they would do that.

Here's pic of the Bain tub I already have - they will sit across from each other and like I say a really good match stylistically...tempting at least from a design standpoint.



p.s. Terry - appreciate your putting the links in there.

Many Toto's are made at a factory in the US.

I would worry about getting parts for the INAX. I don't have any idea what is uses for a fill, or the flush mechanism.

Ordering toilets by internet is a real crapshoot. UPS has a near 100% record of delivering them broken! I am surprised that they will still take a toilet. Even LTL, toilets are packed at the factory for shipment in bundled pallets, and do fine. They are NOT adequetely packed to be roughly handled individually.

One other note - I just took another look at the installation manual. It looks like they spec the supply on the usual/left side (6" up and 9" from center), but since the fill valve is on the other side they are (almost) showing the supply line going behind the bowl, although the drawing isn't very clear. Odd.

I hear you jimbo. Sony replaced a TV for us under warranty that was shipped freight. The first one didn't survive the trip; the shipper's comment was exactly what you said, most of the time these are palletized several together and one set by itself was unusual for them to deal with. In this case I have no local supplier.

I definitely prefer buying something made here to the point of paying a premium, as long as quality is equal or better.

INAX is coming into the States. I'm buying in Los Angeles and soon will have it in Seattle.
I've been selling their bidet seats for years.

all of the inax products I used in Japan were pretty fancy and of excellent quality.

Experience with Inax Toilets

Terry, Jimbo, Gary, Sly,

I came across the Inax thread and wanted to respond to some of the questions about Inax toilets. Inax has a large distributor in Kent. I'm not sure if I can mention their name on this forum. Inax toilets are not sold online.
The tank parts come from R&T Plumbing. They are UPC listed fittings. However, you can use an aftermarket fill valve (such as Fluidmaster or Korky) in place of the OEM fill valve. The dual flush drain valve is not an off-the-shelf part, but it is very easy to service. About the only part from the drain valve that would ever need to be replaced is the gasket. The drain valve that Inax uses is very similar to the one used in the Toto Aquia and the Kohler Persuade. The Kent distributor also carries common replacement parts. If they don't have a part, Inax stocks the parts in their Southern California warehouse.
As noted, the fill valve is on the opposite side of the tank. For this model, the installer will need to use a 20" supply hose. Because of the design of the bowl, it will be necessary to connect the supply hose to the fill valve before connecting the supply hose to the angle stop.
In regards to Toto tank parts, they switched their tank parts from Lavelle/Korky to WDI around 2006. WDI parts are not readily available, although some Toto dealers may stock the tank parts.

I purchase my Toto from the Kent distributor here in the Seattle area. In fact I was there picking up product just last week, though normally I receive my product Tuesday and Thursday without driving there. I have an INAX bidet seat that I use at home.

INAX in Seattle

Christian, thanks for the additional info.

Terry, I sent you email to the general address, will also try a PM.

The INAX Saint Clair Dual Flush





And their suite

It's beautiful stuff in the marketing material, would love to check it out. However in addition to no dealer in my state, there's no contact number or address on the website, just an email address, and no response to email. So no warm feeling about support yet . It's starting to look like a Toto will replace my old Briggs.

Sly,

Inax can be reached at 877-800-4629. They are headquarted in Torrance, CA.

Chris, thanks for the info. Looks like there's a chance we'll have a distributor here in the near future . Terry, thanks for helping Chris get in touch with me.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the INAX Dover or Saint Clair dual flush toilets since this thread was last updated on 3/8/2011? I haven't found independent reviews of either of these toilets on the internet. I was wondering how they compare with the TOTO Drake II CST454CEFG with respect to clogging, clearing skid marks, and clearing liquid? The flushing technology for these INAX and the TOTO look similar, double vortex vs double cyclone, and they all have MaP ratings of 800.

Someone said that those two companies are big rivals in Japan, so it would make sense if one changes something because it works better, the other would as well. This is just speculation...

We do not own an Inax, but we have a lot of experience with them. We travel to Japan at least twice a year. The toilets in both Narita International Airport (NRT) and Haneda International Airport (HND) are all Inax. Not to put too fine a point on it, but incoming international flights to Japan typically are at least 12-14 hours in duration, and one (usually two) meals have been served on-board during the flight; and restroom facilities often are urgently needed after (sometimes before passing through Immigration and Customs. The restrooms there get a lot of business. And they never clog. Many of the upscale international hotel chains -- Mercure, for certain -- have only Inax fixtures in the public restrooms and the guest rooms of their Japanese properties.

To the Japanese consumer, the brand images of Inax and Toto are like the brand images, respectively, of BMW and Mercedes: Toto the staid standard, Inax the aggressive style leader with cutting-edge R&D. Inax has been the first to market (often barely ) of many of the innovations that we in North America view as Toto inventions. At comparable price points to Toto (in Japan, Inax tends to be more expensive than Toto, model for model), I would not hesitate a moment to purchase an Inax.

Thank you for the comments. I spoke with a knowledgeable dealer in my area that had visited an INAX facility in Japan. He has sold several INAX Dover toilets and has heard only positive things from this customers. I had the Dover installed this weekend. I will post some comments in a couple months with my experiences.

We're looking to buy Toto Carlysle II, but would very much want to consider an INAX instead.. Hence, interested in hearing your experience with the INAX install.