Sorry, about the cheeky 'in the know' comment. If anybody was in the Sport Compact / Import Tuner / Drift scene in the 2000's, they'll have been familiar with Mishimoto since then... the company was started by a group of "kids/friends" in the mid 2000's in the US. They were flashy looking radiators, well-priced, lifetime warranty and from a Japanese company.... oh wait, the last part is false... it just sounded Japanese. In the import scene, all the big names were from Japanese companies (i.e. HKS, Greddy, Tein)... so naturally if you want to market your company, you want to sound Japanese.
They sold a lot of them. Advertised a lot Tuner car magazines. But like I said, they had a high defect rate. You submit a claim, wait two weeks for your replacement radiator, install it and same leak. Poor fitment issues were common too.
Personally, I tend to question companies more when "Lifetime Warranty" is their main advertising slogan. They often go into the same category as Midas Muffler and A-1 Cardone. Companies that have a lifetime warranty without advertising it are usually more credible to me. Sure, a lifetime warranty is nice but it's limited, you have to pay shipping both ways and if it is older than 2 years, you'll have to pay an additional charge... and then there is downtime.
Regarding, Denso... I have also read about the QC issues. I purchased one and it has been fine but should it fail, I will purchase the OE radiator (T.Rad) instead. The OE radiator used to be very expensive due to a price fixing scandal.
53 have been charged in the government’s investigation, 35 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty
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