jakscivic

Im not sure where I am supose to put this topic but it needs to be said. If you want to skip my story of buying an engine from a company on line then go to the where I explain how the companies work.

My story:
Many people out there want to buy an engine. I was like you many years ago. I didnt know where to buy it, so I surfed the web to see what I came up with. Nippon was one I came across, but they seemed more expensive than other sites. So I kept looking.

I soon came across http://www.totaljdm.com. They had a great web site with testimonials and everything. Man it was a very nice put together web site. This site was my number one choice. I saved up my hard earned cash from my minimum wage job and from b-days and xmas. I eventually came up with the cash and ordered my engine from them. I could hardly wait. They had great costomer service and everything. I got an email a day after they got my cash and said they cleaned it and did a visual check to make sure I was getting what I paid for. The next day they sent an email saying they ran it to make sure it was in perfect working order. Then the next day they said they were in the process of shipping it and it should be on my door step in a week or so. I was so excited. Not only was this company giving me what I wanted but they also threw in a nice 30 day warentee. Saying that if it didnt run after a profesional installed it then I could send it back and get a refund after they inspected it. I though, "man what a bunch of great guys, always thinking of their costumer and making sure we are happy with our purchase."

The engine came just like they said. Great fast shipping. My heart was pounding out of my chest as I was pealing off the layers of plastic protecting the engine and holding it to the wooden slab underneath it. When I got the last layer off I inspected my new property. It looked like it came with everything they said it would. Engine, tranny, and ecu. But what struck me as odd was the engine was filthy and the tranny they send me was automatic and I told them I wanted manual. I thought what the heck it doesnt matter, I have a spare tranny and I could clean the engine myself.

After putting the engine in we got all the fluids in it and all the connections pluged in. I could hardly keep still with how much I was excited. I turned the key and it turned over. Another triumph. I turned it anain and it kept turning over, and kept turning over but it didnt start. I thought maybe we didnt plug something in. We checked every connectiong and it was perfect. We tried it again, and again, and again, and again. It wouldnt start. We took it out and looked around it to see if we saw anything that would keep it from starting. It looked perfect. So we put it back in. Everything hooked up and all the connections where they should be. But it just kept turning over. And we kept hearing this strange knock, knock, knock comming from the head. We had my step dads mechanic friend come over and he thought that was strange as well and he helped to try and get it running. But nothing would get it to turn over.

We took the engine out again and took the valve cover off to see what was going on in the head. It all looked fine. We kept looking and then we saw the problem. One of the cams was snapped in half! This obviously would be why it wouldnt start. So we proceded to take the whole engine apart. the pistons had THICK black residue on them and the cylinder walls were scored. We then took the whole engine to a maching shop to see what they thought of it. After a few days they said that the only part of the engine that was salvigable was the crank. Everything else was just scrap metal.

I was well within my 30 day warentee period so I contacted them. After a couple days they replied and asked it a pro installed it. We had to fib to get them to take responsibility for what happened. So we said yes one did. They started giving us the run-around. After about a week of pestering them they said that if WE shipped it back to them they would send us another engine. I thought, this is bullshit. They send me a crap engine and I have to pay the shipping back to the bastards! My step dad just so happens to be a lawyer so he stepped in from there. They wanted us to put it back together to ship it back. We said hell no we wouldnt do that because to salvage this engine it would need to be taken apart. So we told them that we wont charge them for taking it apart since they would have had to anyway. And we also said we didnt want another broken engine that I would have to pay for them to ship to me. But they said we couldnt get our money back. So my step dad sewed them for the money for the engine and the lost time at work. Over all it totaled out to be about 2500 bucks.

Long story short, they ended up paying me back one thousand bucks. The guys ended up living in China even though he said his company was in Canada. The guy thought he HAD to go to court to defend himself. But in reality they dont even need to show up. The judge would hand the victory to us and say the guy had to pay me back. But even after that he isnt obligated to give me anything. It sounds like bull **** but its true. They dont have to pay a dime if they dont want to even though the court said they had to.

My goal is to try and get people to understand that they stand a very real chance of getting a broken engine from a company off the internet. I am not an expert in all the dealings of all the companies but this is what I learned through my experiance and my research.

The Companies
The lowest of the low:
This is the company that I delt with. Their way of dealing buisness is easy. They first either start out designing their own web site or hiring a person to do it for them. Their websit is usually very well put together and very believable. Including testimonies from "former customers." Its all very believable and it will draw you in. Their prices are usually the cheapest so that will be even more of an insentive to buy from them.

After getting the web site up and running they will contact a middle man. A person that has contacts to many junk yards all over japan or anywhere else where their are engines that are in high demand. This middle man will tell the website owner his fee and they will do buisness. The website owner will get orders for engines. Then he will tell the middle man what engines he needs and where to ship them. The middle man will find the engines where ever he can for the cheapest he can and he will have them shipped to the persons address. This may suprise you that it doenst go to the web site owner to even look at it. But its true. The web site owner just gets pictures of the best looking engines he is selling and post it on his site. He never looks them over, cleans them, or starts them to make sure they run. Most likely the person recieveing the engine is some teenage kid that doesnt have the cash for a mechanic to put it in let alone a lawyer to represent them once they learn they just hot screwed.

So the web site owner will get many complaints but he will just give them the run around until the kid knows he got screwed. Then the kid will realize he has no way of getting his money back, so he will eventually give up. So right there is over one thousand dollars this web site owner just got. He keeps doing this to countless people until he gets caught by someone with the cash to fight. He most likely will give him his money back and keep doing buisness like usual.

One step above:
Sites line nippon engines or others that have their own werehouses. They employ much of the same tactic. They will either get in contact with junk yards themselves or they will get a middle man to do it for them. then they will have engines shipped to their werehouse and they will once again take a picture of the best looking engine they have and say they have perfect engines. These sites will also most likely have testimonials and a nice looking warentee.

But dont be fooled. They get the same type of engines as the sites with no werehouse. But these sites might have them cleaned up a little and maybe even do a visual inspection to make sure not too much damage is done to it. They dont really care if its damaged a little because they can just say that it must have happened during shipping. So they take no responsibility for it. Most of these sites wont run them to make sure they run. Thats just more cost in the process that they dont want to pay for.

Through the visual inspection they can weed out many of the really bad engines. But these places will never open the engines up and check them out internaly. They just take your money and send you the engine. They will go through the same thing the other companies do when they get a complaint. they will just give you the runaround until you realize your screwed. In some cases they will give you your money back but not all the time.

Just as bad:
Honda-tech and all the other sites out there that have classifieds are these type of places to buy engines. To me these are just a little bit better than the companies because you deal with people that also buy engines. So they might be a little more honest about it. Plus you get actual pictures of the engine. Most of the other company run sites will just send you a picture of their best one and say they have so many engines its hard to take pictures of them all. Thats just a cover up because most engines the send to you they either havent seen or they know it doesnt look good. But on places like honda-tech people take pictures of what you are buying.

But liers are still out there. They want top dollar for what they are selling so they will clean it up a little. Lower the actual miles that are on it because how can you prove them wrong. Low miles is a big selling point. But the biggest selling point is that it runs and tha it ran strong with not smoke or leaks. Why be honest and tell them that the engine was knocking and it had strange sounds and smoked. How would they know if it was messed up. And when they put it in and finally figure it out what are they going to do then? Fly across the country to kick your ***? I dont think so. Like I said before, most people that buy engines have little money and are teenagers. What are they going to do about it? Most likely nothing. And thats what these people are counting on. They need to fund their next project so they need top dollar. And saying that the engine they are selling is broken wont earn top dollar and thats a fact.

**On a side note, Im sure many of you reading this have seen an engine with 60,000 miles on it. What does it look like? It looks pretty damn clean is what it looks like. Not much sludge, cracked plastic, or cracked paint. Most engines that people get have all of the above. There is thick road grime buildup, most of the plastic has dried and begun to crack, and the paint on the valve cover or anywhere else is starting to flake or peal. But most sites will say all of their engine scome from cars with 60,000 or less miles on them. How is it that these particualar engines have gotten so much abuse in just 60,000 miles. Now I have seen engines that look like crap with less than 60,000 miles on them. But the owners of the engines dont take care of the engine at all. They abuse it all they want and a lot of the times it ends up in the junk yard because the engine seized or something broke internaly. If the engines that these sites sell are in fact 60,000 miles or less then your most likely recieving an engine from a person that didnt take care of their car or engine at all.**

The best you can do on sites like honda-tech is research as much as you can and ask around about the person selling the egine/trans. If you cant find anything out on them and they have no vouches at all then you have a high chance at getting screwed.

Almost the best thing:
Actually seeing the engine with your own eyes is huge. You can inspect it yourself and see any flaws. At that point you know what you are buying. But you are still just relying on the sellers word that it runs. And the seller most likely wont let you take it apart to inspect it. So it could have a snapped came, or a bent rod, a bent valve etc. etc. You might have a better change at getting your money back because if you are looking at it then it is most likely in your town or close by where you live so you can see the person face to face. Its a fact that its easier to lie and screw people over when you have no chance at looking them in the eye. People are more honest in person. Some are borne liers and would still screw you the same in person than on the internet. So your still taking chances but you can atleast see exactly what your buying in person and be able to put your hands on it.

The best you can do:
Buy and engine that is already in a car. These are hard to come by. If it is already in a car then you can see it start, run, and perform. You can hear any ticking or feel any hesitation when driving. You can also see if it blows white, black, blue or no smoke at all. You also have the benifit of seeing the person face to face. And if you go on a drive with them you form a sort of bond. It sounds lame but its true. You both are doing something you enjoy and you guys will connect on another level instead of just buyer and seller. You can also look around and see if anything is broken. You can also look at it once its out of the car. Plust you dont have to pay shipping or any taxes. This is all around the best thing you can do when you want to buy an engine. Its by far the hardest to come by but its almost gauranteed.

There you go. I have given you my best advice when buying an engine. There is no 100% when buying an engine but you can narrow your chances of getting a broken engine you are patient and follow some of what I told you. Good luck on all your future buys.

Jacob Nichols

97ShLude

Hmotorsonline.com or import auto salvage, two of the best places in my opinion to buy engines

jakscivic

I have heard good things about hmotorsonline. But I forgot to add that if you really want to know how many complaints a company has in the past then go to bbb.com. Thats better buisness buerrow(that is way off). But that site lets you look up the company that you want to check by using their site address. Its a very good way to get better insite on how well a company is run and how many people have gotten screwed.

jakscivic

I just looked up hmotorsonline and they have 3 complaints. Now it doesnt really state what it was all about but it says that they took care of 2 of them and one they wouldnt take care of. So thats a pretty good history. Some sites like totaljdm.com are just rittled with them screwing over their customers.

But I just looked at hmotorsonline and they still do the same thing with their best looking engines. I wonder if they would be willing to send you pictures of the actual engine you were getting.

Chem Geek

While they may have 3 complaints against them, you can't see the nature of them, it could just as easily be a bad engine as it could be an inexperienced end user screwing up the motor and looking to recoup the money they just burned. While I agree, some companies are probably taking the easiest path possible to sell cheap motors and don't do much (if anything) to inspect them, that can't be said about all companies. And while this particular company tried to screw you over, that doesn't mean anything about any other companies. Also you have to remember while getting a running engine out of a wrecked or parted car may be the ideal (although I don't think the fact that it runs says anything about it's wear and tear), it's quite often not feasible. For those of us that don't live in area where imports are popular, the prospect of finding a running high performance import engine is a pipe dream, and if it ever did occur, there would be a huge premium to pay. I know that's always been the case in my area, and it's not like I'm in the sticks or anything.

To suggest that companies should test start all their engines or open them up to inspect them is just ludicrous. Do you have any idea the time and money that would cost, and how utterly unfeasible that is? Used engines are just what they are, used. You take a chance in buying them. Your best bet is to find a company that has lots of vouches and realize while you are still taking a chance, it's certainly not a fly by night operation so to speak. I know I wouldn't want to be one of the first customers for a new company.

Like many others I can vouch for good experience with HMO. The engine I got was every bit as clean as the "typical" photos, and has run great since I first started it.

jakscivic

Im not saying hmotors is bad at all. Ive heard very good things about them. When looking at bbb.com you should just look at the complaints, but also if they were resolved. And thast what hmotors has. So I think they sound like a very good company. Probably one of the best out there.

I dont think of them making sure the product they are selling is runs is "ludicrous" at all. They are selling you an engine for an inflated price because the engine is popular. Now I think that if you pay around 2 grand on an engine something should be done to see if it runs. A leak down test at the very least. I dont think they should get away with selling and shipping you an engine that they can pretty much tell it will either not run or barely run. And then have the customer pay to send it back because THEY didnt make sure it ran. The customer expects to get a running engine for the premium price they pay. And I think the company should take responsiblity if they send you a **** engine. The customer is paying for a service. That service is to find a running engine. They pay dearly for that company to find that engine. The customer should get screwed for that.

Put it this way. If you wanted to paint your house and you couldnt find this paint that you wanted. It was really rare and you couldnt find it in your town. So you go on a web site and they say it has that paint. So you buy it thinking that you will be able to paint your house with this new paint. But when it gets to your door the cans are dented and the labels are ripped off. At that point I think some people might be pissed. But the dents and the label isnt what matters. So you open up the can and instead of the green color you wanted its yellow. Now would you be a little pissed? I think so. So then you contact the company and say its the wrong paint. And they say, "Oh well how about you ship it back to us and we can see if we can get you the right color." Do you trust this company after that? I sure as **** wouldnt. But then they also say that you have to again pay the shipping for the new paint which you arent sure is even the right color.

And finding an engine around you is VERY hard. I know this, I dont live in an area that has them laying around either. I was simply stating that if it were to happen to you, that would be a very good thing to take advantage of. Yeah you might pay a little more, but you actually get to lay your hands on the engine and look around and see all the damage. Instead of paying 500 for shipping and hopeing that it wont be fucked up when it gets to your door.

Runnerdown

hmotors sells clean, quality parts at very competitive prices......and stands behind them. I have dealt with them many times. There are endless canadian importers that are generally sketchy and avoid refunds and concerned customers. I have a local jdm warehouse that I have bought from. I feel sorry for those who cannot handpick their parts.

amy

am i taking crazy pills???

LOL seriously, are yall blind??

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/50010

jakscivic

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by amy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">am i taking crazy pills???

LOL seriously, are yall blind??

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/50010</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dont really know what we are blind to. But this is kind of a different post. Im guessing you didnt read it, so you must be blind. Because you would have noticed that I go over the different types of companies out there and how they work. I dont say who to buy from. Feel free to go and buy engines from those vote forums because there is NO way a company could make up a bunch of different names and vote for themselves. That would just be plain stupid huh? Who would want free advertising? And to have you name at the top of the list of about 30 others for a bunch of people that are trying to figure out where to buy an engine to see, my that would just be plain crazy for them to do. I know if I was trying to get quick bucks from poor teenage kids I wouldnt do that. Thats just not honest.

I wish years ago when I bought my first engine that I saw hmotors. I dont think ive seen a bad thing yet about them. They seem to be at the top of everyones list. I hope that this company can be the company that we all have been waiting for; an honest trustworthy company.