Hi all,

I wanted to get the opinions of you fine folks on a weird situation I'm in regarding a used engine I purchased (not for the Evo).

Basically the situation is thus... I bought a used engine from a well known shop that had known main bearing issues on one journal. We inspected it, but they would not let me strip down the motor to get the crank out to inspect the block more closely. They assured me each time I brought up any misgivings that the engine just needed a rebuild and would be fine. They also assured me the engine had never been supercharged, was driven like Miss Daisy's own car, and had not had any aftermarket work done on it. They sold me the engine for $4.3K plus another $700 for a good crank (we knew the crank would likely need changing). They also assured me that the engine was running and not making any noise. Note this engine came without any accessories or harnesses putting it about on par with other good condition used engines, but I just wanted a rebuildable engine since I planned to replace all the bearings with better bearings (a common operation on these engines). The engine is a high performance >400HP stock from a luxury brand. Seeing as they are well known in the community, I trusted their knowledge on these specific engines.

Anyway, fast forward a few weeks later and 10+ hours stripping it down, and when I finally got the crank out, I found that FOUR of the bearings had spun, the block was cracked clean through on all four bearing seats, and basically the engine was a $4K paperweight.

I also found that one of the bolts on the head that you would only remove if installing a supercharger had been replaced with a generic bolt (non-OEM) making it appear like the engine had been supercharged. Suspiciously enough I had also purchased a used supercharger from the same shop a few weeks earlier!

Anyway, on discovering I had a very expensive paperweight I contacted the shop to let them know what I found, and basically they told me they would do nothing, that I had taken a risk and lost, and that I should try selling bits off it to make some money back.

Needless to say I was speechless. Continued conversations with them have gone nowhere.

So, let me know your opinions on this please... if I were the shop I would have taken it back personally, but it would be interesting to hear what others think. Considering what I found I feel like I was duped. That much damage doesn't occur driving gently on the freeway without any aftermarket mods!

Thanks!

S.

 

hi, friend, i think you should ask for compensation, the shop is not reliable actually. by the way, we are a manufacture of kinds of car parts for high quality and best price in China. welcome to contact with me if you are interested.

 

Was there any written documentation stating that all that was required was an engine rebuild?

What form of payment was used? Credit, cash, check?

 

I have entire email threads with him saying that (and also saying more than once it was never supercharged, etc). It was paid by cash unfortunately so can't open a dispute with the CC company.

Thanks!

S.

 

was there any bill of sale?
how long did it take from the purchase to realization of the engine's true condition?
is the shop local to you or in-state?

if that's their response then it sounds like your next step may be to get a lawyer involved.

 

Unfortunately no bill of sale (yea, probably not the best idea considering what happened, but I trusted him). The shop is local. I do have a significant number of emails discussing this engine (pre and post purchase) so he can't say he never sold it to me.

It was a few weeks before I was able to strip the whole engine down, especially with the holidays. I bought it around xmas and informed him of the issue early Feb (so maybe 6 weeks?). He hasn't disputed the issue - he's just of the mindset that it's not his problem.

Mods: Not sure if this post got moved to this Newbie category - I thought I posted this in The Loft? No idea why it would have been moved considering I've been here for years with hundreds of posts

Thanks!

S.