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Hey guys,

My partner and I have been waiting a long time for her to upgrade her car and now with eofys we finally can get what we want - a Suzuki Swift.

The thing is, the cars are manufactured in Japan and because of the horrible fukushima disaster, some cars are now leaving their country with radiation.

We even have the guys at the dealership accept the car will be subject to finance AND radiation detection - meaning if everything goes well and the car is in front of us and we have signed our lives away but we then detect radiation we get every cent back and walk away and buy another car.

We have asked that they try to find a car built between Jan 2011 and early March 2011 but they said they may have none left and if that is the case we really must try to test for radiation.

I tried to talk to them about them getting the car checked but they said they wouldn't know where to go... I will try to push them to get this done as I believe it should be their responsibility to ensure the vehicle is safe - the problem is only now the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency are starting to check cars at the docks, but the majority of the cars we are looking at were built in April - only a few weeks after the disaster and came over a short time after that.

Does anyone know anyone - family members, friends, workmates - I mean anyone, that has a geiger counter and is willing to lend it for a day for a slab? I would be truely grateful.

Or if anyone has some advice on the radiation and the car?

Thanks,

Adam

post-36975-0-40602100-1309088317_thumb.jpg

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Dude... ...That's heavy... ...And something that I never even thought of...

I'd say contact the Universities... ...I'm sure they'd have the equipment... ...And students wanting to also know...

Is a very good thought, thanks, will give RMIT a buzz.

Why don't you buy one thats 12 months old?

No stress for you that way, still under full warranty - and you don't take the hefty depreciation hit.

Have thought about it, still contemplating it... but to give you an idea I have managed to talk them down enough that its less then 2 grand to go from a second hand 1 year old model to a brand new one with an 8 year warranty.... just want to play all the fields.

nice paranoia..

if there was enough resident radiation to hurt you on a car after such a long period..workers would be kicking it left right and center.

Fine, call me paranoid, so far as I can tell this seems worse then they make it out to be, but my main paranoia is my fiancee in the car.

From the research I have done we are always exposed to some form of radiation - our bodies have some form of it in them, but the thing they say is hard is determining that line between too low to matter and it could cause problems. These reports say they are too low to matter, but that can mean they are close to a constant xray from other reports.

http://www.autoblog....ipped-to-chile/ - how would you feel if thats your brand new GTR they have detected with low levels of radiation?

http://www.caradvice...diation-tested/ This is the radiation testing they are just starting to do now

This is pretty interesting - radiation chart:

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

well that's just it..grab a geiger counter and it will beep anyhow everything emits radiation.

As for doing the research

The Suzuki plant is quiet far from the impact area.

in fact it is in the south the other side of tokyo.

If it was next door I would agree.

where as the GTR is made north of Tokyo much closer to the area with the issues.

that said give it a wash and I bet the value will drop to a normal level.

So I'd be more scared of your microwave than a suzuki swift..

more important..hold on for a bit and get the sport much more fun...

Thanks for the jokes guys. :) Ended up all good - They found one at another dealer that was built in mid Feb and complianced in early April and it takes about 4-5 weeks to get here so it was built and on the other side of Japan or already sailing towards Australia when the explosion happened.

We signed up for the car today, find out tomorrow if we are approved - car early next week. :D

oh and sport would have been fun... but she can't drive manual..

Hi Adam,

I am about to take delivery of a brand new Nissan X-trail. It was built in April. It may not have been on the boat in the news, but my partner is concerned that it may be contaminated. She is actually less concerned than I am to be frank.

I believe one of the Nissan plants was close to the f*kushima site was the Iwate plant. This site was important as far as some V6 engines were concerned. I do not know whether X-Trail bits were made there or where a complete X-trail would be sourced from so i am in the same boat as you are.

I have found several radiation detectors on the market of which one is supplied to schools.

My background has made me inquisitive about nuclear physics and as such I was going to buy a detector before the whole Japan crisis, but the one I was going to buy was not available due to high demand due to the f*kushima situation.

I then tried to buy one in Australia, but was quoted over $3000 which was way above the $1000 and even $500 I saw overseas..

The next step was to look for something more reasonable and I found a $600 unit.

Will try to source it in the morning and will also be calling ARPANSA to see what they say as my vehicle snuk in before the testing.

I may be able to lend it to you if you like, I need to test mine before Thu.

I have been to Japan and feel very sorry for the Japanese and looking at their predicament it seems we are overreacting, but let's be clear that limits have been set as far as radiation levels are concerned and we should not compromise just because levels elsewhre are unavoidable.

Hope I can help.

I don't know why the f*kushuma has the * in it when i preview it, but I cannot remove it, it is meant to read as you wrote it.

J

Hey guys,

My partner and I have been waiting a long time for her to upgrade her car and now with eofys we finally can get what we want - a Suzuki Swift.

The thing is, the cars are manufactured in Japan and because of the horrible fukushima disaster, some cars are now leaving their country with radiation.

We even have the guys at the dealership accept the car will be subject to finance AND radiation detection - meaning if everything goes well and the car is in front of us and we have signed our lives away but we then detect radiation we get every cent back and walk away and buy another car.

We have asked that they try to find a car built between Jan 2011 and early March 2011 but they said they may have none left and if that is the case we really must try to test for radiation.

I tried to talk to them about them getting the car checked but they said they wouldn't know where to go... I will try to push them to get this done as I believe it should be their responsibility to ensure the vehicle is safe - the problem is only now the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency are starting to check cars at the docks, but the majority of the cars we are looking at were built in April - only a few weeks after the disaster and came over a short time after that.

Does anyone know anyone - family members, friends, workmates - I mean anyone, that has a geiger counter and is willing to lend it for a day for a slab? I would be truely grateful.

Or if anyone has some advice on the radiation and the car?

Thanks,

Adam

post-36975-0-40602100-1309088317_thumb.jpg

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