JDMProductions

Hey All, I struggling with offering a warranty on a used engine I have for sale. I have a potential buyer for a complete swap w/o transmission. I'm selling it for 2300.00 shipped. It came out of an 01, and has 78,000 miles. I personally drove the car before pulling the motor and everything seemed great. Compression on all four cylinders was good. VTEC hit hard.
The customer is asking for a 30 day warranty, and I'm hesitant to concede. I don't sell people crap, however, offering a warranty with an engine as in individual, not a shop, can have negative implications.
I have no idea what this guy drives like, but he told me he drives 200 miles a day to commute. Will he check the oil every thousand or so miles, since we all know F20's burn a little? What if he drives hard with only two quarts? What if he has a bolt on turbo kit that he throws on and cranks it to 20lbs? Should I subject myself to that liability?
I offered him a start-up guarantee, and proper compression guarantee. I know buying an engine that has not been seen or verified can be stressful. I know there are plenty of people out there selling shitty products. I'm not one of them. I just don't want to get screwed out of two grand for going out of my way to make someone feel comfortable.

Any advice is welcome and needed. Thanks!!

TerminatioN

If it we me, I'd offer him a 7 day warranty.

That should give him long enough to swap the engine in, start it up, and drive around for a couple days. If it starts up with no problems, sounds fine, and drives fine then it is confirmed he bought a good engine from you and anything thereafter is his fault.

Thats my 2 cents...

Edit: You should also "write in" a clause though where this warranty is ONLY good for stock/NA applications on a STOCK ecu. Anything modifying the way the engine works/runs (turbos, supercharges, even CAIs...) and/or changing tuning should void the warranty.

That should limit your liability substantially.

robrob

I think that's good enough cause you never know how the guy is going to treat the engine.

Supra-holic

Is the product priced right, will the next person pay the price with no warranty.

There is always a risk when buying used parts as-is, and if there is a warranty the price is going to be more.

teanza

a 6,000-mile warranty?! ouch.

durtysocks

thats a tough spot. you have no idea how he's going to go about installing it, or if something in the rest of his system is bogus (his wiring harness, etc). he could try to blame you and it'd be a fingerpointing contest to see who's liable. and you dont want that liability.

steven975

Also, if you do any kind of warranty, make sure that the liability is for parts or replacement of parts and NOT labor.

JDMProductions

You guys are awesome!! Thanks so much for the help. I ended up offering a seven day warranty. The engine is being installed at the dealer, so I felt a little better about it. Here are the terms I specified. Let me know what you all think.

I will offer a seven day guarantee on the engine that is being sold. This warranty is for parts only. This warranty is subject to the terms and conditions listed below.

* Engine is installed by an ASE certified Honda technician.
* Engine is installed into a 100% stock vehicle, and is ran in stock form.
* A copy of the RO (repair order) is emailed or faxed to me the day the install is completed, with "paid date" clearly visible.
* Three pictures are taken and emailed to me on date of install. One showing the engine installed in vehicle with JDM Productions special markings visible. One of the factory, stock ECU mounted inside the vehicle with wiring harness plugged in, and the third of the VIN on the left side door jam.

JackS

Depending on how you feel about it, You could offer him a buy back price if for any reason he isn't happy with the engine. Obviously this price would only be a percentage of your original price that you set. Take pictures with the head and pan off as proof of originality and send them to him. If he agrees that the engine appears to be in pristine condition, offer him a 30% refund with the return of the engine in the same condition in a timeframe of your choice if he's unhappy with his purchase.
To make this somewhat or totally legal that should stand-up in a small claims court, you would be best served if you wrote this up into a contract and have it signed by the buyer. Judges do understand that buying anything used carries associated risks and as long as you do not imply tha the engine is as "good as new", I can see no problem.