Haha, come on man. This is too easy, so I'll go easy on you champ. Let's start with the aforementioned crummy Chinese metallurgy and craptastic welds. You obviously are so convinced your issue is the norm, which it isn't. Millions of Denso OEM radiators last well beyond 90k miles. You only hear about the outliers, aka the uncommon, on the internet so don't bother posting some anecdotal internet posts as "evidence". Literal millions of happy customers with radiators lasting an appropriate amount beyond 90k that you'll never hear about.

 

Many Denso rads are now made in China.

 

Well that is highly disappointing. Can we confirm if getting an OEM replacement at a Toyota/Lexus gives you Chineseium? I doubt after ~50k you'll be able to see any stickers on mine I had done a couple years ago. LOL

So with that development I suppose it'll take some legwork to find a suitable source for non-Chinese parts if Denso is not manufacturing in Japan.

 

^^ the real conversation here is not "Made in (Wherever) " ... it's about a major established and respected name brand (Denso) versus a no-name (Mystery) brand. Good luck with warranty coverage ... just hope the child labor camp that produced your radiator will do you a solid when it prematurely fails ... and hopefully does not take out your engine in the process. From a Design and Manufacturing standpoint ... China does not equal China does not equal China ... it's all about the Name Brand ... the company standing behind the Design and Manufacturing ... where you have NONE ...

 

Is it likely that Denso manufactures the OEM unit? I have not found a Denso unit much cheaper than the OEM. With their price so close, I feel a little better going with the OEM unit.

 

I believe they are the exact same ... so just go with OEM ... and order from Bell Lexus ... a discount Lexus dealership ...

Math ... 100,000-odd miles against saving a few dollars on a non-OEM radiator ... a rounding error in terms of consideration over that timeframe ... labor is the bigger consideration. Amazing to me that for an 8++ year component, saving $100-odd on parts is even a factor ... when owning a $65,000+ vehicle. Seriously ?

 

I just bought a Denso for a Camry and it was made in Indonesia.

 

Again, who cares where it's made. Its all about the name behind the Design and Manufacturing ... don't think Denso is going to manufacture in a child labor sweat shop ... so lets get beyond the country of origin.

 

Thread has started to come back around thanks, but request to drop the rude personal comments. Don’t need that here, don’t need it to disagree politely

 

On a different Lexus, I purchased a Denso radiator from RockAuto, installed myself and it worked great. Even though Denso is the OEM, it's probably not the same Denso as what came from the factory. But since so many of the original radiators were failing in the same way, I wanted to try something different as my guess is one from a dealership would fail the same way.

I've had multiple factory Lexus radiators fail in the same way, where the plastic mates to the aluminum. I would love to pay a few more dollars and have a radiator that didn't have those damn plastic side tanks and were just all aluminum.

 

Indeed. I just wish a company in North America or Australia would design and manufacture an all aluminum radiator for the 120 and 150 series.

 

^^ Denso / Lexus OEM ... all produced on the exact same manufacturung line ... only difference is the Branding and associated Warranty ... no different than Batteries where 3 companies produce 90% of all private label batteries ... again, the only real difference is marketing speak and the warranty.

The modern reality ... all vehicle radiators now have Plastic Tanks bonded to a Metal Core ... for both weight and cost savings.

 

The US or elsewhere has no monoploy on quality ... ISO Certified companies can produce quality products anywhere ... it's all about process management and control ... think Detroit in the 70's when the Big-3 shipped vehicles with parts missing ... hence the creation of the JD Powers "initial quality" ratings ... that no longer has meaning in today's market. The Japanese adopted Statistical Process Control in the 70's and have dominated quality and reliability ever since ... while the US ... even today ... is still struggling with 6th grade math being too hard ... we need to have apprentice programs for trades(people) and graduate engineers. Japan, China and India understand ... while we continue to be clueless ... yes, we are more innovative but are long gone being producers. Politics aside ... we as a country need a strategic vision ... beyond celebrating wall street traders and app developers ... if we want to bring manufacturing back home. It all starts with our educational institutions ... so let's bring back "shop classes" ... the trades ... the hands-on skills. Short of that ... we deserve the (economic) consequence ...

 

I'm not so sure that's always the case. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isnt. The above pictured Denso radiator that's made in China, I doubt that's the same one that's put on the assembly line in Japan where the vehicle is assembled.

It's the same with KYB. KYB may be an OEM for Lexus struts, but when you buy a KYB strut from a parts store, it's different than the KYB strut you'd buy from the Lexus dealership.

 

The other part of this is I'd rather support another country than China. So even if there is no monopoly of quality I'd still rather spend my monies anywhere else.

But I digress. I still would love for a company in North America or Australia to get an all aluminum radiator produced.