Japanese Cars and Radiation

mskitka

Hello,

When I spoke to my local Acura dealer yesterday, I had told them I was in their dealership a few weeks back and they had no TSX's to test drive. I asked if they had some in now and the answer was yes, they are stocked up, but because of what happened in Japan, they were short a few weeks back. Can anyone tell me, do the cars that come into the U.S. from Japan have to be radiation tested at the ports to make sure it is safe? It is something I would have never thought of, but since speaking with this salesman it is something I feel is important for everyone to know.

berri

Glow in the dark could be a new safety feature!

stever

Check out this long Edmunds Answers thread:

Is there any reason for concern about radioactivity in Japanese cars? I'm specifically interested in Infiniti.

lemko

That irradiated Japanese car might morph into Carzilla!

mskitka

Very interesting thread. Thank you very much for posting this link. My opinion after reading all of this, is there has to be trace amounts and I cannot honestly say I would feel safe in the newly shipped over cars now that I think about it. No one really knows ultimately and it doesn't seem worth the risk. Why add to the little amount we are already getting daily? Certainly everyone is entitled to their opinion, but this is what my gut tells me.

andre1969

but back in the late 50's, supposedly, the US auto makers bought a lot of steel from the Japanese, and I think Chrysler got more of it than Ford or GM. Incidentally, Chryslers were horrible rusters in '57-58 (somewhat improved for '59, vastly improved for '60). There was a theory giong around that Detroit was sold a bunch of radioactive steel from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki sites!

Dunno how much of that is fact and how much is fantasy, though.

andys120

That goes along with the story that 1960s-70s Fiats rusted badly because they were made of cheap Soviet steel that was obtained at a big discount in exchange for Fiat helping the Reds build their first modern auto plant (the Togliatti Works named after an Italian Communist. The plant was the source of the Fiat 124-125-based Ladas that dominated Russian roads for many years.

As a former Fiat owner ('71 124 Sport Spider/ 1600) it's easy to believe this tale but then what 60s-70s car didn't rust prematurely.

ucc

I don't think Japanese car manufacturers would put their reputation on the line like this. They probably tested them before shipping

testtag22

i just did a test of my new infiniti 2013, and found that there were some hotspots with 25 to 30 urems i think. would this be safe over a lease period?
the background is 10 to 12 from what we measured and checked into.