Ellis Fox

Have any of you ever purchased/would consider purchasing an engine off of ebay? What is considered a good deal? Obviously you should buy from a billion score ME/powerseller, but can you get a good deal there on them, or am I just looking to get suckered?

some examples:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4

Also, it's funny to see how some buy it nows are 5k for the motor, some are 5k motor and trans, and some are 5k for "ls1 engine/yukon/savana"

StoleIt

iTrader: (3)

I would consider it if the person has sold other engines before and has alot of good feedback. But beyond that...ah I would rather invest my money into a new motor that I know is getting built with quality. Or even a board member here where you know the history of the car.

jimmy 2 Times

iTrader: (18)

just curious if you are looking for an engine.......i will have one for sale shortly

21k miles on it

Joel_SS

iTrader: (8)

I agree.. I recently had to put a new motor in my car and thought about getting a pulled one on e-bay. But most want about 3000-5000 and they come with trannies which I did not need. I bought a brand new forged shortblock and heads from the ls1tech sponsors an spent about 3600.00.

'Trust'

iTrader: (24)

I had to go the cheaper route, kinda sucked too. I got a shortblock from a member here (StrokednSprayed) for $1000, it got here and the #7 cylinder was toast, huge crack all the way down, messy deal with my CC company, and the guy going hostile, but it got taken care of. I got another one from a guy here aswell, 18k on it off of an 02' same price, but it worked! And thats the one I have now. If I would have had the money I would have gone with what Joel_SS did, but college owns me! It really depends what your looking for, if you need the entire motor/tranny/ecu assembly I wouldnt hesitate to buy off a decent seller from eBay. Plus PayPal offers insurance from eBay purchases if the item was not as described (Which they do not do for items bought privately but paid via paypal)

camaroextra

iTrader: (10)

The shop I work at often sells LS1's on ebay, and we check to make sure everything is fine on them. They often come out of wrecked cars but we get them running and do a close visual before we sell anything. It all depends on their feedback.

We sell under the names Whistlerz28 and CeramicExhaust. We sell with engine, tranny, and full harness, and we can even modify the harness for non LS1 vehicles, to make your install go smoothly. We dont always have engines for sale, but at least once a month we will.

Mike02Z

iTrader: (13)

A relative of mine is actually one of your examples. What I can tell you is he buys cars at auction that are either floods or totaled cars. If flood they will usually fix them and sell them whole (That is how I got my current Z) if they are damaged in the rear/side they buy them and scalp as many parts as possible and pull the engine/trans/ECU and sell as one unit most times. If damaged severely in the front they will typically avoid these. Any above board Ebay seller will give you a mileage certification with every engine so you know how many miles are on it.

Is Ebay a good place to buy and engine? Depends, if the car was abused maybe not but if it has low miles and was a rear collision you can do pretty well. You're not going to "steal" and engine from most of the credible Ebay sellers so if the deal sounds to good to be true it probably is best to move on.

Any reputable seller will start the engine and assure it is in sound condition and the good ones will offer a limited warranty and do compression checks. I have seen some people buy an engine then try and come back 2 years later and claim it does not run. You need to use your head here. If you aren't planning on running the engine for a while to test it you might want to consider another option other than Ebay. If you need a running engine ASAP Ebay is sometimes a good option.

Novas Forever

I bought an engine and 6 speed off of eBay. I got a copy of the title showing 60k miles when the car was totaled, the sellor said that he drove it from the salvage auction to his place, and I saw a picture of the car; light front end swipe. After shipping it was about $3600. I am still not sold that it was a good deal and I am not sure that I would do it again but we will see. i did not like sending a money order off to someone that I had never met nor seen what I was buying in person. i would check out the sellor really well.