V12 Touring Project Update, aka -- avoid this junk yard

[Kalevera]

Fiona, my touring, is still at the bodyshop. I stopped by to have a look today, she's taped, blasted, primed and ready for paint, which is exciting. My body guys removed the doors and resealed them with a nifty wax type product. Hope to have her back by mid next week.

Meanwhile, the M73 showed up:



This is where it gets depressing.

I thought I was buying an engine from a reputable company (New York Engines, owned by LKQ) at an amazing price (around $1800 shipped). I was told that this engine had ~60k on it and that it ran great. I decided to deal with them directly, versus bidding on this auction to save THEM some money -- http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...221977&rd=1,1). This all happened before they attained that wonderful cooked (yes, all but one of the positives are from other accounts they own) feedback rating.

The engine shows up, and like all idiot junkyards, they cut the ($4000) wiring harness. This wasn't much of a surprise. How difficult could it have been to simply disconnect it? Not difficult. Added value of having an intact wiring harness? Lots.

More alarming is that it looked like it had sat outside for a while -- rust on the harmonic balancer. A rag for an oil cap, it sits outside for a while, hmmm.

Meanwhile, I was trying to get the VIN from the original car out of the junk yard. They kept giving me excuses. I finally got it from someone who didn't know they were supposed to stonewall me, ran it by my sources and found out that the car had ~108k on it in 2001. The junkyard person who gave me the vin also said that it had an "old" stock number.

At that point, I got suspicious and got into the motor a bit. Loosening the oil drain bolt and out comes about 2 quarts worth of rain (?) water and sludge. Katrina car?

Then the junkyard had the audacity to say that this is normal and not a problem ("We clean all of our engines before shipping" -- does the engine in that picture look cleaned to you?!). I don't have enough space here to detail the ridiculous ******** I've heard from these people.

So, moral of the story: stay away from New York Engines. I wouldn't trust them to sell me a used condom.


On a better note, my friends at Zionsville have a 28k mile S52. I have been thinking long and hard about that, the price is right, but I am fairly certain that I want to stick to the V12 plan at this point. So, I'm still looking for a > '91 E32 750 parts car and now another M73.

[Dave M]

Whit, that blows. Even I looked at it and thought, "I hope it was cheap, cuz it looks cheap".

So, is it going back to NY? Sure looks different than advertised and I'll bet you're not interested in an $1800 loss.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do next.

Dave

[Macv]

You'd buy a used condom?

[yaofeng]

That's not surprising at all that the junkyard cut the wiring. I had that happen to me also, when I am in the yard with a pick-up truck to pick up the engine myself. I looked at the engine. Agreed to the condition and price. The junkyard told me to go have a cup of coffee and come back. The engine will be ready then. By the time I came back, the engine was ready with wiring cut.

Many junkyard in NY metropolitan area hire immigrant hands from south of the border. This is not a slight to the people there. They are not trained in anyway to do this kind of work nor do they have the knowledge. If they are not closely supervised, as often is the case, you end up buying a heap of junk, or at least a lot of trouble.

[Ross]

Oh boy, thats not good. I'm mad with you. Good though that the body is shaping up.
Did you get any e-mail communication or anything documented? from them stating false mileage?
Back in my old gearhead days there was a local junkyard that did the same ****. We knew the son of the owner, any driveline part ALWAYS had 60k on it.
This guy eventually ran afoul of the law. Things are tougher on them now perhaps you will get some satisfaction.
Good luck don't give up.

[632 Regal]

never quite saw feedback like that, I think I would stay away. You cant even leave bad feedback could you?

This sucks.

[markus]

the first step was the name "New york Engines" I wouldnt buy anything used and automotived related form new york to begin with. Id buy an enigne from a reputable source like the euro depot. you may pay a little more but you would get what you pay for.

[nizmainiac]

i feel bad for ya man, if i was you i would kick up like ****, i hope you have better luck next time

[BimmerMeUp]

Sucks big time man.

Did you use a Credit Card? Even if the company refuses you a refund, you may be able to dispute the charges as the product was definitely mislabeled (proven by vin# lookup.) Even if they sold to you "as is", they did tell you it was a 60k motor when records show otherwise.

I had a similar thing happen a few years ago, I disputed the charges and was only out the shipping to send the thing back (I probably could have got that back, but I got tied up with something else.)

BTW: How much was Zionsville selling the S52 for? I want to do one in my touring eventually.

[BimmerMeUp]

Could you use this?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/car/294094423.html