Negative Trader Feedback - E-works.....not as advertised

I have been looking for a aluminum 05+ motor for a month or so now as you can see in my thread below:

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/parts-wanted/1434240-wtb-good-05-aluminum-5-3l-short-longblock.html

Then I found a thread for one for sale fairly close to me below:

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/parts-classifieds/1438925-5-3-aluminum-ls-longblock-243-heads-900-a.html

Started talking to the guy through texts about pricing, possible trading, condition, meeting me in the middle, etc. In the second message he states he did not know for sure what year either motor was but they did both have from cam sensors. We start out at $800 for one motor in the thread above, he then tells me he has two, and prices them at $1400 for both. I ask if they are both 243 headed and in good running condition, and he says both are good but he would have to check on the second motor for 243's. He sent me cell phone pics of both motors and verified both engines have 243 heads. I asked again if both motors were known to be good and running. He assures me they are.

We get back to cash after talking about trades and a few other things. I asked him to verify the years and what crank reluctor they are. I told him I would buy them both without knowing year or reluctor for $1200 since he was making it out to be a hard task. He countered at $1300 and decided to throw in a case of coronas for some reason? lol He told me he would get the years and reluctor but it wouldn't be untill the day we had set-up to meet. About 5 mins before I was supposed to leave to meet him halfway(2 hr drive) between us he sent me pics of the reluctors and one engine is a 05 and the other is a 07. That was fine.

Finally to the stuff that matters.....we meet and the guy tells me that he just noticed as he was moving the engines around that a head has been off of one of the engines. He said he didn't not load them to notice before hand. We dig around and go ahead and pull that head off and every cylinder looks bad and one has some deep water marks that I am not sure will even come out with a typical aluminum block hone. We come to an agreement of $1060 with the one engine that needed work and the other engine was supposed to be perfect. Being skeptical...I asked if he minded for me to pull a head off of the other "good" engine. I pulled it and everything looked fine from above. I then turned the engine over and it wasn't as easy to turn over as I would expect but he again promised me everything was fine. After money had exchanged hands he had to hurry up and tell me that he bought both engines for $350 the past weekend. It didnt matter to me .....the guy had been nice up to that point and I believe he was fair when we found out the problem with the first engine.

I got back to my shop, pulled the pan on the "good" engine and the #5 and #6 rod bolts were loose with a single rod bearing laying in the pan! The engine is going to need a rod, crank, bearings, machine work, gaskets, bolts, and rings! I tried calling and messaging the guy letting him know what was going on but at this point it seems that he thinks since the heads are worth $400 a pair and the blocks are worth a few hundred a piece that I am not entitled to anything since I have my moneys worth in parts. I tried to explain this guy that I did not want an engine that needed work, and definitely not two engines that needed work. I understand what the parts are worth but at the same time I didn't meet to purchase parts. I had several other potential engines that were good and I would have MUCH less in each of them after fixing BOTH of these.

I told the guy $300 wouldn't cover half of what it was going to take to fix the one "good" engine but would make it fair in my mind. I fix the engines and go on. He asked how he was supposed to know that the pics of the damage were from the motor he sold me. I told him i could provide any proof he needed. Now he is not answering my calls or texts now and I believe is telling me to get lost.

Cliffs notes:

1. I couldn't get the year or crank reluctor count untill about 5 mins before I hit the road to meet him

2. When we showed up he tells me one motor needs work and he did not know that untill mins before.

3. We come to an agreement with one engine being fine and the other engine needing work. Guy tells me he has $350 in both engines after the money had exchanged hands.

4. When I get back to my shop the second engine has a spun rod and main bearing. Needs a main align hone, cylinders honed, crank, 1 rod, bearings, rings, head bolts and head gaskets to be useable.

5. Guy doesnt care. Thinks I got my moneys worth in parts rather then ready to use engines.

So......I am hoping this thread gets his attention and that he will contact me and try to work something out. If not, maybe I will save someone else in the future from getting the wrong end of the stick from him. I did notice that he has a couple other negative feedback threads AFTER the fact.

Well im right here and im not avoiding you. I returned your texts today but not over my holiday weekend.

You make it out to be like i am avoiding you which i am not.

I just text you for a good 20 mins and this is when you said you were going to post here and i told you that was your right.

then you ask for my address which i told you was public record.


Yes i sold you both engines and yes i went out of my way to try to describe to you the condition as far as i was informed.

we pulled heads in the parking lot gas station in the rain to try to make sure you got what you were paying for.

I can not control the fact that someone lied to me when selling me the engines as good engines and i cannot say wether they were bad or not and i am just going by your word.

i believe that 1060 dollars for 2 aluminum 5.3 engines with 243 heads valvecovers to oil pan is a good deal.

i am not going to reimburse you any money at this point as you bought them as is and you inspected them thoroughly ( 1.5 hours ) before you purchased them

i took money off for the one that we both saw was not how i had described it

i already apologized but it is what it is......

people can chime in here as they see fit

To me it looks like you're both at fault. black98ws6ta, I would have not driven 2 hours to buy anything if you didn't have all the information that you wanted. E-Works you should not have told black98ws6ta that they were good engines based upon the previous owners word; you should have stated that you were unclear on their condition.

I say you just re-exchange the $ and engines and both cut your losses.

To me it looks like you're both at fault. black98ws6ta, I would have not driven 2 hours to buy anything if you didn't have all the information that you wanted. E-Works you should not have told black98ws6ta that they were good engines based upon the previous owners word; you should have stated that you were unclear on their condition.

I say you just re-exchange the $ and engines and both cut your losses.

I knew both engines were 05+ and that was fine, and I was ok with whatever crank reluctor they came with. I did not want to buy engines that needed work. I agree that the condition of the engine's should have been unknown.

He had no problem taking off some money when the first engine was not useable, why not the second?

sorry but i am not going to reimburse you as i went above and beyond to try to let you inspect them as of there condition

i hid nothing

sorry but i am not going to reimburse you as i went above and beyond to try to let you inspect them as of there condition

i hid nothing

And you knew nothing, which you could of have informed. Sounds like a quick fix for money to me.

I hate sellers who know nothing about what they are selling. Just be truthful about it.

I was truthful and told him what I was told

I knew both engines were 05+ and that was fine, and I was ok with whatever crank reluctor they came with. I did not want to buy engines that needed work. I agree that the condition of the engine's should have been unknown.

He had no problem taking off some money when the first engine was not useable, why not the second?

sorry for your loss, its obvious the sellers experience and knowledge with ls based motors is very poor and minimal. the reluctor wheels verify easily takes a few minutes to confirm. if the engine is just sitting around. and how could he not know the engine/s was torn apart before.:bs:
either he knew and said nothing or just said nothing and played dumb. why'd he wait to find out til u got there?

also your fault for not taking time to inspect correctly, this should have included pulling pans, and heads if they were suspect to being pulled apart before. if the head was pulled off one. this means more than likely they reused the tty bolts again just seal it back up. this is a no go.
sounds like u paid/expected for good engines, and received junk.
i hope he mans up and reimburses some of the $.

karma is a bitch though, shit will come back around, this is certain.

I was truthful and told him what I was told

I know what you're trying to say, but that's not being truthful, that's passing along false information.

Imagine if I had a box filled with shit, and sold it to you for $5 after telling you gold was inside it. But all you ever did was shake it, put it in your garage, and never open it. Then sell it to another person, also telling them gold was inside it. I would fully expect the second buyer to be upset once opening said box of shit.

Seriously though....I do have a box of gold for sale. :D

I know what you're trying to say, but that's not being truthful, that's passing along false information.

Imagine if I had a box filled with shit, and sold it to you for $5 after telling you gold was inside it. But all you ever did was shake it, put it in your garage, and never open it. Then sell it to another person, also telling them gold was inside it. I would fully expect the second buyer to be upset once opening said box of shit.

Seriously though....I do have a box of gold for sale. :D

Also just to be clear it was NEVER stated that "the guy I bought them from said they are good". He did say "they are good" and after the first one was not he said "I never had a problem with any engine I have got from this guy, I know that other engine is fine".

To me as a honest seller you have to inspect the stuff and look it over well if your going to try to sell it to someone as good. If not you have to state the condition as unknown/never opened/as-is and I wouldnt have traveled or spent that much money on two motors that need alot of work.

Well again i honestly apologize but the deal is done and over. Im sorry

Well again i honestly apologize but the deal is done and over. Im sorry

This is a dick move.

You sold something in a condition other than advertised, this is fraud. You say, "well I was just repeating what I was told by the guy I bought them from." I dont know what world you live ib but the one I live in says that when you buy something and it comes into your possession, it becomes your responsibility. The word of the previous seller means kaka at this point. You had the motors, it is/was your responsibility to verify the condition and sell them with an accurate description. What do you suggest the buyer do? Take it up with the person that you bought it from?

To the OP, as soon as the first engine was verified to be in a condition other than advertised, you should have walked away. Did you really thnk it was going to get better? One of the heads was off and you could clearly see damage... How hard would it have been for the seller to see that? Sucks that this learning experience cost so much but unfortunately people with questionable standards of integrity seem to flock to the For Sale section of this site.

This is a dick move.

To the OP, as soon as the first engine was verified to be in a condition other than advertised, you should have walked away. Did you really thnk it was going to get better? One of the heads was off and you could clearly see damage... How hard would it have been for the seller to see that? Sucks that this learning experience cost so much but unfortunately people with questionable standards of integrity seem to flock to the For Sale section of this site.

I thought the money taken off the total was fair for the first engine. Was just hoping for a fair solution to the second engine. I guess I'll have to ask to completely disassemble everything I buy, but most sellers would rather not and sell to someone else.

this is the age of the internet and the OP is correct for all of us to make 100% we are getting what we are buying ( myself included ) we will either have to verify it somehow 100% or move on......

i have learned a lesson and from this point on if i buy anything i will ask for the info and if it is not clear i will expect it to have a possibility of not being perfect and i will in the future not sell anything as known to be 100 % good.

everything will have to have a disclaimer of it is being sold as is and the condition in wich it is in.

then there will be no confusion or mess like we have here on this deal.....

a learning lesson for everyone including myself

i will not go out of my way to deliver anything for anyone or let them disassemble it like id did this time only to tell me the next day they want a refund

i will not go out of my way to deliver anything for anyone or let them disassemble it like id did this time only to tell me the next day they want a refund

I dont want a refund I just want a FRACTION of what it is going to cost me to get this motor to the state you said over and over it was already in. Its not like your trying to be reasonable, youve stated your not doing anything.

This is a dick move.

You sold something in a condition other than advertised, this is fraud. You say, "well I was just repeating what I was told by the guy I bought them from." I dont know what world you live ib but the one I live in says that when you buy something and it comes into your possession, it becomes your responsibility. The word of the previous seller means kaka at this point. You had the motors, it is/was your responsibility to verify the condition and sell them with an accurate description. What do you suggest the buyer do? Take it up with the person that you bought it from?

To the OP, as soon as the first engine was verified to be in a condition other than advertised, you should have walked away. Did you really thnk it was going to get better? One of the heads was off and you could clearly see damage... How hard would it have been for the seller to see that? Sucks that this learning experience cost so much but unfortunately people with questionable standards of integrity seem to flock to the For Sale section of this site.

Well said and very true.

Why not just return both motors and get your money back?

Why not just return both motors and get your money back?

I have 2 cars that I was going to use both engines in. I am too busy to try and part these out or get a refund on them. Ill just fix what needs to be fixed and alteast both engines will be fresh. Had I got good engines like I was asking for they would have went in as-is.

Well again i honestly apologize but the deal is done and over. Im sorry

This is going to hurt you more than it will help you, that is if you want to keep selling other things.

I've sold stuff that was accurately described (unlike this) but still didn't end up working for the buyer, even then I felt that I owed the buyer a discount since some type of communication failed as to what the part was.

People are very wary of buying from people who have knowingly had problems like this with the quality of their items.

If what the OP is saying is 100% true Eworks is a scumbag. Thats a shitty thing to say, "I got your money so I dont care." To the OP, if its not a big enough deal to bother with getting a refund why are you even asking for any money back? Both sides are conducting bad business IMO.

If i sell someone a hamburger with the wrong stuff on it I fix it. At the same time im not going to let them eat it and offer half a refund. See where I am going?

i do not know that he is being truthful 100% but i am also not saying he is lieing

he lives too far away and it has been too long so who knows what the truth is ..........

for all i know is he sent me pics of another engine..........

like i said im not saying he did that but im not just gonna send someone money because they sent me a picture

nothing to hide here gentleman

I messaged you with pics 10 hours after we met. Two hours was the drive home, about a hour getting them on engine stands, and about 6 hours sleep. I guess that was too long.

Im more inclined to believe someone with 64 trader rating than someone with 5. I think its a pretty fucked up thing you are doing. It wouldnt be too far of a drive for me to come throw those motors through your house windows and cause $1k worth of damage just to teach you a lesson.

Same city as the head crook of the united states. I'm not surprised!

Same city as the head crook of the united states. I'm not surprised!

LOL You're going to have to be a lot more specific than that...that list could be long and distinguished! :chug:

Bump for more people to see. Hopefully it will save them a situation in the future.

The second motor that was supposed to be good is finally going to the machine shop. The marks in the cylinders are way to deep to clean up with a bottle hone. I am just hoping it will clean up at a ls1 bore size 3.905. At this point I know he is not going to do anything about it, just didn't want to make it seem like I was exaggerating anything.

Hurts dont it Anthony... what goes around

At least you didnt lose as bad as we lost to you!

Hurts dont it Anthony... what goes around

At least you didnt lose as bad as we lost to you!

+1 He sold me a LM1 long time ago that was supposed to be in perfect working order. Hooked it up and didn't work. Went to change the battery and found that the wires for the battery had been torn off the circuit board and the OP tried to re-solder them on. He was unwilling to refund me. Wanted me to ship it back to him at my expense to look at it.

Who's Anthony?

black98ws6 the OP

Oh wow...people in glass houses...

Karma ...