Some mechanic told my dad he could get a replacement engine with only 40K miles for his old Camry because in Japan cars aren’t allowed to have more the 40K miles on them. This sounds really implausible to me but I know of no other way to find out than asking Dopers. Anybody ever hear of this?
I doubt that that is true, anyone is welcome to correct me. I recall reading that in japan there is a cultural aversion to buying used products, so there isn’t much of a market for used cars or used car parts, so these are often sold overseas. I also recall vaguely that safety and environmental regulations for cars are quite strict there, so keeping an old car around is a bit of hassle. This means that a lot of used parts end up overseas.
I’ve heard this also, but I don’t think its true per se. I don’t believe there is a law on the books insisting you junk your car at 40k miles. However, low-mileage Japanese engines are very readily available, so I’m not quite sure what to make of that.
Well it wont be miels since japs dotn use archaic measuring systems.
However they dont junk cars after a short life… They sell them to NZ as second hand imports.
Dirt cheap.
Japanese driver here. No, there is no law on the books that cars have to be scrapped at 40K. However, there are two main reasons that Japanese cars tend to have much lower mileage than the states. First, it’s just a smaller country. As a rule people simply can’t drive the distances required in the states. And second, the tax system here rewards people for replacing their cars more frequently. In Japan there is a system of saftey inspection “shaken” ie “car test” which is 10% fee for the test and 90% tax. (well, maybe not exactly but that’s the gist of it) A new car can go three years without being tested. After that the test/tax is required every two years. So, after owning a car for only 3-5 years people will replace them.
Where does one go about aquiring one of these low millage engins in the US?
In So Cal, you look through The Recycler. If you don’t have that, I would look in your local Car Trader or some such, or just ask your local mechanic or auto parts store.
I’ve learned very well that half of doing research is just starting to ask someone who might have half a clue as to whom might have half a real clue. Just start.
I guess it was kind of a dumb question. I was hoping there was something along the lines of used japanese-motors r’ us chain or something. I guess I’ll have to do some detective work. Thanks for the info though.
Most European countries also have some kind of a roadworthiness test. In Britain cars have to be tested every year after the first three years. In Hungary, every three years for the first six years and every two years subsequently. I heard a long time ago that France doesn’t have compulsory testing, but that may have been wrong or the situation could have changed since then.
Is there no system of roadworthiness testing for US cars?
I heard of places that you could get these engines in the SF Bay Area. My neighbor had one installed about 6-8 years ago in a Honda that had over a 100K but the body was in great shape. Her daughter drove it for another 4-5 years.
Not like in Europe. Many states require a safety inspection, checking such things as brakes, steering, suspension, lights, horn, etc., to be done annually or biennially. In some other states, it’s only needed when an individual first registers a vehicle – unless and until it’s sold to someone else, it does not need to be reinspected. And then some states don’t have any sort of safety inspection program.
In all states, there are laws making it a violation to have an unsafe vehicle (variously defined), but police generally only target obvious items such as lights not working, unless the car is in an accident.