Help! Defective LS6 crate motor. GM won't cover.

[supermegagoon]

Last month, I bought an LS6 from crateenginedepot and had it installed in my '98 SS. The mechanic road tested it, and discovered an oil leak due to a crack in the block. The regional GM rep inspected the motor and declared it defective due to an unseen crack that started in the oil galley plug, and migrated outward when it was run for the first time. They covered the motor itself under warranty, but are charging me another $2750 to install yet another new engine. In essence, I'm paying two install fees to get my car running again. This doesn't seem right. If they sell me a defective motor which I haven't put even one mile on, shouldn't they pay for this? They state that my warranty is for parts only, and no labor. However, am I not entitled to a product of initial quality? Why should I pay a second installation fee if a dud motor is overlooked by GM's QA department. Regardless of the warranty terms, the fact is that this never would have happened if they hadn't sold me a lemon motor. What should I do? Do I have any recourse in this matter? Who should I contact?

Mark

[camaross19973]

i think u might want to call the better business beural i don't no how to spell it but u know what i mean sorry.they might help u

[Mr. Luos]

Sadly....I have a bad feeling you are kinda stuck.

Who installed the motor?? I assume NOT the dealership because of the cost.
Who put the oil galley plug in?


The problem is simple. GM isn't going to cover costs if a non-certified GM mechanic installed it. They have never done it, and I assume they don't plan on doing it.
Good luck!!!!

Never heard of a 'improperly' installed oil galley plug causing a cracked block though.

[Cutlass]

ALOT of places carry parts only warrenties. Its a common practice. Napa, Autozone, Carquest, etc all have parts only warrenties on the parts they sell you. You're pretty much stuck.

[TA421]

ok call GM open up a file with them, and just keep screaming how you will never buy another GM car and tell EVERYONE you know how GM treats people and what they do when you buy there parts , maybe they should give you the new ENG. and make you pay the cost for the install, Twice tell them about all the extra problems you now are having maybe GM will do is give you the a big enough Discount to cover the cost of the reinstall and then again they place that installed the new ENG. did they order the part ? did you bring them the part ? If they ordered it and this happen it is there fault , you should NOT pay for anything that you did not sign to , remember you never drove the car and if you still are having problems the only other thing i can think of is go to the court give them the money for the repair bill ( that is so the will have to return you car ) and take them to court and have a judge make the rule if you have to pay twice for the same JOB that was Never done right in the first place , sometimes shit happens and places have to do it twice and only get paid once , like if they paited your car and it came out wrong for what ever reason , they will have to repaint your car and they cant charge you twice for that , maybe they should have tested the Eng. before placing it in the car to see there was a problem , and if they did and found it you would not be paying twice for it , if they did test it and found nothing wrong until they placed it in and then found the problem , would theystill charge you , to reinstall of the New Eng again ? hope something in here helps i was just thinking of different things

[Sas]

Sounds like what I went through when I put a new motor into my old Trans Am... the motor had a defective head in it, so I ad to pay the mechanic twice for the install and on the second install of the motor, I made it a few blocks before the car caught on fire... Sadly, I was out a whole lot of money , hope things go better for you!

[Transam388]

I think one point that was mentioned was a very valid one and I would bring up. If you did not actually drive the car and the mechanic who test drove it saw this before you left then you "Technically" did not sign off or accept the car as completed.

Now as has also been brought up so many places now only do product warranty and not labor but I would check to see if by not having accepted the car as completed that you would have to pay again for labor. Sort of like when you get a car painted they normally make you sign that you picked the car up and accepted the work. If you then come back a week later and have noticed a badly painted area they are not "Legally" bound to fix it for free. Just a thought.?

Good luck man!!

[PFM]

Cough up the money and quit bitchin cause your wasteing your time. I had a new TSP shortblock walk out 2 sets of cam bearings last year and I had to pay everytime a wrench was turned. Thats 3 installs!! I bought a new GM Corvette crate motor from MIZFITS MOTORSPORTS before that. It lasted 3500 miles before a rod bearing screwed up and they wouldn't even stand behind the parts on it. So be glad that they are covering parts. My car set so long last year the front tires dry rotted on it.

[TA421]

Yea that what i was saying , after the car is done being repared they will want there money no matter what, but you can go down to any court house pay them the amount they claim you owe them, then they have to release your car and CAN NOT file against anything you saying you have not paid, it can not go on your credit report for any reason I amsure you will get your money back since the car was only really done once to fix the problem you came in there with , Not like you took it out broke the motor, the only thing that i see they might have a chance getting paid for twice is if you bring the motor in to them,Like i was saying before if the ordered the New motor you have no problems paying only once

[mghawk57]

I work in a GM store and was told if you had bought it from a GM dealer parts and labor would have been covered.It looks like your supplier should step up and pay for the labor.Sorry

[Cutlass]

ok call GM open up a file with them, and just keep screaming how you will never buy another GM car and tell EVERYONE you know how GM treats people and what they do when you buy there parts , maybe they should give you the new ENG. and make you pay the cost for the install, Twice tell them about all the extra problems you now are having maybe GM will do is give you the a big enough Discount to cover the cost of the reinstall and then again they place that installed the new ENG. did they order the part ? did you bring them the part ? If they ordered it and this happen it is there fault , you should NOT pay for anything that you did not sign to , remember you never drove the car and if you still are having problems the only other thing i can think of is go to the court give them the money for the repair bill ( that is so the will have to return you car ) and take them to court and have a judge make the rule if you have to pay twice for the same JOB that was Never done right in the first place , sometimes shit happens and places have to do it twice and only get paid once , like if they paited your car and it came out wrong for what ever reason , they will have to repaint your car and they cant charge you twice for that , maybe they should have tested the Eng. before placing it in the car to see there was a problem , and if they did and found it you would not be paying twice for it , if they did test it and found nothing wrong until they placed it in and then found the problem , would theystill charge you , to reinstall of the New Eng again ? hope something in here helps i was just thinking of different things

LONGEST 3 SENTENSES...EVER And unfortunately thats not the way it works. If you buy a part from Vendor A and take that part to Independant Shop B to install, thats exactly what they are gonna do. Now if the part doesn't work, Independant Shop B doesn't have anything to do with it. There's only so much you can look at and do to an engine before its installed. Now it Vendor A's responsibility to stand up to there warrenty, which in this case was clearly stated as a 'parts only' warrenty.
That being said I agree that the shop and/or GM should work with you a little bit or completely but its NOT something they have too.

I think it would have to installed by a GM dealer in order to get the labor covered.

[TA421]

I agree with what you have said but if i had my car towed to Independant Shop B and this shop told me i needed a motor I said i want only a GM crate motor now they buy it from who ever the buy there parts from can be GM dealer or from someplace that get a good deal then shop B should do the install on the 2nd motor for free

Now if i went into shop B told them my car needs a motor and i will have it delevered to them , then you are right shop b should be paid twice once from me and the 2nd time from GM, but if GM does not want to pay then yes you will have to be twice, but at this point of the game I would have my car pulled from shop B and have my car at a GM dealer so i would have some type of warranty the part from GM and labor covered from the dealership

[supermegagoon]

Just to clarify, this was a brand new motor. I was told GM does not test these motors after they've been built. They just crate them up and sell them. My point is this: This motor was worthless from the moment that I purchased it. Because of the lack of testing or shoddy QA, the defect couldn't be found until oil was added and it was pressurized for the first time, (requires a complete install). And now I must pay an additional $2750 to have yet another new engine installed in my car? How can this possibly be considered my responsibility? Is buying a new motor a crapshoot? I'm taking this to court, but wanted to see if anyone else had some suggestions before I go the legal route.

[stangslayer98]

your probably gonna spend more money on a lawyer and court fees, than what it would cost for the other install

[Speed Psychosis]

ok there might be a small chance you will win, but more than likely you wont. the only thing you have against them is A. you never signed on it or drove it and B. they ordered the engine.

but you said you insisted it be ordered from a specific place? Do they normally get engines from another source? If so that source might cover the labor under warranty under a contract. However, by asking them to order from a nonregular supplier you have agreed simply to that supplier's warranty, which was clearly parts only.

[Cutlass]

You guys keep mentioning signing off on the repair and taking the vehicle back, but thats not the way it works. At least not around here. Around here, you sign the repair order BEFORE work is started in 2 places. One is for general shop protection and legal crap and the second is for the repair estimate. When the repair is complete you just pay your bill and get your keys back. There isn't any additional paperwork or signing anything.
Honestly this guy deserves to have the labor done for free the second time. But someone is gonna have to pay, because I know the Technician isn't gonna do it again for free. I'm sure GM has some big shot legal team that wrote the 'Parts Only' warrenty so winning in court will be impossible.
This situation really sucks for ya supermegagoon. I'd try talking with GM and the shop a little more to see if you can get anything from them. Maybe half the labor. ANYTHING you can get would be a victory.

[TA421]

pay the bill like i siad before, then take shop B to small claims court, if they ordered the motor. it is there problem you should not have to pay twice,on the repair order you signed on the way in tells you how much and what they are doing. Did they do any of that work? Does the car run ?

[PFM]

Well it all boils down to you can't prove whos at fault. The crate motor I bought came with oil in it. I know because I had to drain the oil out of the Corvette oil pan when I sold it for parts. So is the factory at fault? Or did the people who installed the motor screw it up. Or was it damaged in shipping? Somebody knows but nobody will admit it. and you will waste your money and your time trying to make somebody fess up and take responsibility for the problem. The only way out might be if you paid with a VISA card you can report your problem to them and they might be ale to do something about it.

[Cutlass]

Shop B already did the work on the repair order. They installed the engine. Now for them to do any further work (replace the motor again), they need authorization from the owner for more money to do the work again. Without authorization they shouldn't do it because they can't charge you for it.
If it were my shop and I could afford it, I would give you a huge discount or do it for free in order to (hopefully) keep a customer for life.

[9t8z28]

Labor is almost never reimbursed. It sucks to say, but thats the way it goes. I deal with the same thing everyday.