Spoke with Dina Hover (General Mgr) and ordered an engine for 1993 six cyl Nissan 4X4 PU on 12/12. She said that ASAP Motors engines were "Plug and Play" and only starter/minor parts were needed from old engine. I also bought an extended warranty from ASAP Motors for $159.00. Engine was received by my mechanic on or about 12/17/05 and COD shipping costs paid by me.
Engine received from ASAP Motors was for Nissan 300ZX Car. My mechanic said it may not work for a Nissan Pickup. Spoke with Dina and she said engines are shipped as long block as stated in the purchase agreement. She said the engine would work for the 1993 Nissan PU. My mechanic said it would cost about $380.00 in parts (gaskets) and labor to remove all the 300ZX parts and replace them with my truck parts. I authorized the work. After almost complete removale of the 300ZX parts my mechanic tried to align timing marks to remove timing belt. Engine would not turn. Called ASAP and one of ASAP Motors technitions called my mechanic and told him to pour kerosene in the block and the pistons of the engine to try to free it. Mechanic recommended not doing that and called me.
I called ASAP Motors on 12/20/05 and asked for a refund. ASAP Motors said there would be a 20% restocking fee. I then spoke with Dina and told her that the engine was defective and I should not be charged for a restock. I explained to her that I could not return the engine until 01/04 because my mechanic was on Christmas vacation. She said my 20 day refund period would be expired by then. I said I did not receive the engine until 12/16 so I should have until 01/04/06 before the 20 day period ends. She said the 20 days starts when ordered and the engine has to be at ASAP within the 20 days. She then said I could have a replacement or store credit. ASAP requested the engine be reassembled before returning. I paid the total cost of $312.00 for work on this defective engine.
ASAP scheduled a pick up of defective engine and it was finally picked up on or about 01/11/06. After two calls a day for a week ASAP motors finally shipped a replacement engine the week of Jan 25th. My mechanic looked at the engine on the delivery truck and seen it was marked as a six cyl but it was really a four cyl engine. My mechanic refused this shipment. I called ASAP Motors and they offered a store credit again. I requested another engine why get a store credit for an engine that they are having problems providing in the first place. After another week of daily calls to ASAP Motors another engine was shipped and received on or about 02/08/06. Shipping bill was marked COD. I Called ASAP Motors who then I called the delivery company. The delivery Company wanted a certified check or cash from ASAP Motors before they would release the engine. Delivery Company would not extend credit to ASAP Mmotors for some reason. The engine was taken back to shipping terminal until the money was sent by ASAP Motors. Finally on or about 02/13/06 the correct NISSAN PU six cyl engine was delivered and installed in my truck.
On or about 03/06/06 I faxed ASAP Motors the bill for the labor I paid for the disassembly and reassembly of the defective engine. I tried to use the extended warranty vice asking for full payment outright. I only requested $225.00 (6 hrs X $37.50) the labor rate stated in the warranty. After eight more phone calls and re-faxing the bill two more times, the ASAP Motors accounting department finally had my bill. I Spoke with Dianna daily for two weeks to find out the status of my claim. Every call she had a different reason why the GM, Dina was not available to approve my claim. (Sick, on the phone, in meetings). On 04/05/06 Dianna said the GM approved my request and the money would be credited to my account within 72 hours.
After waiting five days for the credit to post I called Dianna on 04/11/06 and she said she would get with the GM and see what was the problem. I called back in one hour and she said the GM, Dina would not approve the labor bill because the engine was not installed. I then called the ASAP Motors warranty manager and explained the problem, He said he would get back to me after her talked with the GM, Dina. I called ASAP Motors back on 04/12/06 and the warranty manager said the GM, Dina said she would not pay the claim and that was final.
There are some employees at ASAP that have a good heart and try to provide customer service. Talking with them it seems their hands are tied and have to follow strick rules. The rules and decisions made by the GM of the company and possibly the "Silent Owner" of ASAP Motors make this company less than creditable and doing business with them should be avoided. Their purchase agreement states that when paying with a credit card you agree to not involve the credit card company with any disputes. This should have been my first warning that ASAP Motors may not be a reputable company. No one should have to pay for disassembly and reassembly of an engine that is advertised on their phone message as "Cleaned and Tested before shipping". It took almost three months to get the correct engine and numerous phone calls sometimes two and three times a day.
I will be reporting ASAP Motors to the BBB in Houston, TX. I may also be sending the Serial Numbers of both the defective engine and the current engine to NISSAN Motors to insure these engines were installed in a Japanese vehicle used in Japan. ASAP
Motors website only eludes to Japanese vehicles failing vehicle inspection before engines reach 50,000 miles. This statement is true but do the engines they sell fall under this category? This fact cannot be validated looking at the engine nor does the paperwork shipped with the engine support this. ASAPs engines do not have a mileage statement or guarantee that validates the real mileage when the engine was removed. Knowing the ethics of Japanese businesses, if the engine was sold by a Japanese company for the intent to be used as a replacement, a mileage statement would be available without question.
I strongly recommend that if anyone buys from ASAP Motors they prepare for a long battle and be ready to tolerate minimal to poor customer service from the GM Dina and her employees which may result in total cutomer dissatisfaction.
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