Complaint Review: Japanese Engine Exchange - Orem Utah

I was told I was getting a used engine from Japan with "only 30,000" miles on it, when I contacted this company. I was told that it had a 6 month, 12,000 mile warranty. When I enquired about the costs, I was told the engine would be $1600.00, and if I wanted them to install it, it would be more than $3000.00 including labor. I declined, because I have a neighbor who is a mechanic that told me he would remove the old engine and install the new one for just $600.00. Japanese Engine assured me that they got good engines from their supplier, they were tested and checked and that had never received a bad engine from this particular supplier.

When my mechanic went to install the engine, he noted the engine appeared to be considerably older then the engine I was replacing, and he seriously doubted it only had 30,000 miles on it. I called Japanese Engine and spoke to Victor, who told me that he would give me paperwork about the engine's age and mileage.

After the engine was installed, and having driven it a total of 120 miles, the engine had a heavy "ticking" noise in the lifters. I immediately called Japanese Engine and informed them of the problem. The manager, Spencer, told me to bring the van in so they could look at the engine. I took the van to them, which they kept for a period of one month. When I went back to pick up the van, I was told they put an additive into the engine and that with driving, the additive would fix the problem.

The noise continued, and I again checked with Spencer. He told me to bring the van back and the engine would be checked. This time the van was kept for a total of two months. After the van was there several weeks, Spencer called and told me that he felt the problem was in the lifters, and that they should be replaced. After hearing that the bill would be nearly what I paid for the engine in the first place, I opted to bring him the lifters from my old engine, which did not have a lifter problem. I then paid them an additional $300.00 to replace the lifters.

When I retreived the van, I was told that the lifter problem had "quieted", but they were unable to fix the problem. I was told more additive was put in and that it should make the noise go away with driving.

I also investigated the additive possibilities and had the the oil changed twice after getting the van back. the noise continued. I informed Japanese Engine of the problem. I was told that it the problem was the lifters, that it was not covered as part of the engine that was under warranty, that only the long block was covered.

I was driving the vehicle and the exhaust turned blue and I found I had no power in the engine and that it would not exceed 25 mph. I pulled over and noted smoke was coming from the block area of the engine. I called Japanese Engine and informed them that the engine had just died, and that I wanted a replacement engine because I was still within the warranty time. I was told to bring the van in.

I was called by Spencer and told the engine had been overheated, and therefore the warranty was void. I explained that I could not have overheayed the engine, as I live only one mile from my place of work, and usually only drove the van to and from there on a regular basis. Spencer told me a "heat tab" was melted on the engine, which showed it had been overheated, but admitted that he could not tell if it was overheated prior to the engine dying on me. Spencer flatly refused to honor the warranty, or even contact his supplier about a new engine. I asked Spencer to supply me with the owners names and phone numbers so I could speak to them and see if they were willing to do more. Spencer flatly refused. After more phone calls, I got the name of a supposed owner of the company. When he was contacted, he told me he was the company's accountant, not an owner. He also refused to supply me with the names of the owners and told me to deal with Spencer or take them to court.

I recently was on "The Tom Martino Show", a consumer advocate out of Denver Colorado, and told them my story. Spencer was contacted numerous times before the show by some of Mr. Martino's people, over a two month period, and did not acknowledge any messages left. On the day before my radio appearance, Spencer spoke to a member of Mr. Martino's staff and told he doesn't know who Mr. Martion is and doesn't care. He acknowledged that he had in fact refused to honor the warranty.

After appearing on the show, apparently, Japanese Engine received phone calls from other upset consumers. Spencer called me on the phone and threatened me and to have my van impounded if I did not immediately remove it from his lot. He also told me that he and the accountant were going to pursue a lawsuit for slander. Later that evening, I was contacted by the Tom Martino Show and they told me Spencer wanted to appear on the show and give his side of the story, and they wanted me to appear also and determine if he was being truthful.

During the show, Spencer stated that he really felt sorry for me, wanted to help me out,offered to get me another engine, but that I would be required to cover all the labor charges, and that I instead chose to ignore his offer of the engine. Mr. Martino did not allow me to respond to a critical point, and the result made Spencer and his company sound more reasonable than what they are. What Spencer did admit was that Japanese Engine has an "unstaisfactory" rating with the Better Business Bureau, and that he regularly ignores customer complaints and that one of the owners was looking into the matter to change the rating. After the program, Spencer called me on my cell phone and stated, "Kyle, you f--ker, this is Spencer from Japanese Engine. I just wanted to call and rub it in. I just handed you your a-- on the radio, and I'm gonna f--kin' do it again in court. I am gonna sue you for defamation. I tried to be nice but you shouldn't have gone were you went. Now, the gloves are off. Just wanted to say, have a nice f--kin' weekend, a--hole." He was also kind enough to leave the same message on my home answering machine, which I saved a copy of.

I feel that I have been ripped off by Japanese Engine, that they are not interested in customer service in any way, and that they apparently have something to hide when they refused to give the information on the companies owners. I have been told that others with complaints about the same company contacted the Tom Martino show after it aired.

The van sat on the Japanese Engine lot for 3 of the 6 months the engine was under warranty, the engine had less than 3000 miles put on it total, was never misused or overheated, and was service properly as regards to cooling and lubrication. Japanese Engine never attempted to replace the engine, and has obviously left others in the same position. All I want is the engine replaced, and I shouldn't have to pay to have it serviced since I let them know of the problems every step of the way.

Kyle

Heber, Utah
U.S.A.