I purchased a used Honda Civic engine from ASAP in December (mistake #1). The engine arrived five days later with no copy of the invoice or any information other than an instruction card hanging from it.
After installing the engine and starting it up, I found that it smoked excessively—almost as bad as the 215K mile motor it was replacing! That was bad enough, but then copious quantities of oil began leaking from the front cover. I had replaced the front and rear main seals and oil pan gasket per the instruction card (I am an FAA licensed A&P mechanic with over 20 years experience, and have been working on cars and automotive engines for even longer).
I should have yanked it out and demanded a refund right then, but being anxious to get the car going, I decided I could live with the smoke, and it would probably be fairly simple to locate and fix the source of the leak. After removing the front cover, I found that oil was leaking from behind the cam gear.
Well, I hadn't replaced that seal, so I purchased a seal and installed it. Started up the motor and same problem. I removed the cam gear again and pulled out the seal and found the nose of the cam had a groove worn in it. No problem—I then purchased a speedi-sleeve repair kit and installed it and reassembled the engine. Still had the same problem—dumping oil out from behind the cam gear!
Now I'm worried, so I pulled off the rocker shaft clamps, shafts and rockers for a look. The #1 cam journal is completely wiped out! Obvious oil starvation, and apparently not an uncommon problem on these engines with very high mileage. Because of the void between the bore in the head and the camshaft journal, pressurized oil is flooding the seal and overwhelming its ability to keep the oil inside the engine.
This is going to take a substantial amount of labor and money to repair—far more than 25% of the cost of the engine, so definitely a no-brainer warranty issue. Because of the holidays, my regular full-time job, and the amount of time spent trying to polish this turd of an engine, it is now January 17.
I called ASAP and spoke to Javon (sp?). I told him of the problem with the smoking and the bad journal, and requested a replacement engine (mistake #2). Javon says no problem—faxed me a return authorization form to sign and fax back, then told me to call when ready for pickup.
I notified ASAP on Jan. 19 that the engine was ready for pickup. Javon told me I could expect the shipper to pick it up in the next day or two. After a week and a couple of calls to ASAP, R&L Carriers arrived and took the engine on Jan. 26. One week later (Friday, Feb. 2)— I called ASAP to confirm receipt of old engine and get an estimated date of new shipment. ASAP confirmed the engine was received and that the replacement would ship out on Monday.
Another week later (Feb. 9)—no engine. Called and talked to Javon again. He tells me the engine is being shipped out that day! At this point I now begin to suspect that this isn't just a series of unfortunate events—I may be getting jerked around! By Feb. 15—still no engine.
I call ASAP once again and speak to Marcus this time. Once again, I'm told the engine is being prepared for shipment the next day. OK, now I know I'm being screwed beyond any doubt. I told Marcus to not bother sending an engine, that I would just like an immediate refund. Marcus says this is no problem and apologizes for the trouble.
Everyone at ASAP has been very courteous up to this point—they screw you with a smile! Marcus tells me I'll have to talk to someone in Accounting to confirm when the refund is to be given. I have Marcus connect me to the Accounting Department, and I speak to an automaton who calls herself "Linda." She tells me she cannot issue any refund until she receives authorization.
I express my displeasure with the experience of doing business with ASAP, and promise to call back the next day—but I sense the Lindatron has been programmed to deal with this scenario. I called back the next day to check on the status of my refund, and am once again denied by the Lindatron.
It now tells me that the engine was never received. Of course, I've already been told twice that it has—once on the 2nd, and again on the 15th. I speak to Marcus again, and he assures me the engine was received on the 1st. I relay this information to the Lindatron, which now tells me that refunds take "up to 30 days to process."
Now I'm a patient man, but it's wearing really thin as I'm already 2 months into this ordeal, I've been sold a piece of crap, had to eat the extra labor (at least that was my own!) and the cost of parts in a futile repair attempt. Now I'm being told I need to wait 30 days for a refund when they've had their crappy engine back for over 2 weeks! I decide to give it a rest until 30 days have passed from the date they received the engine back. Hell—that's only 2 more weeks (mistake #3)!
March 3rd—30 days have passed, and still no credit on my VISA account. On the 7th, I call ASAP and speak to the Lindatron again. I remind it that 30 days are up, and would like an explanation as to why I haven't received a refund yet. The lie du jour is that accounting still hasn't received authorization from management, and there is no manager available that day for me to talk to! Yeah, right. Bye bye.
Well, I've given up on getting my money back from ASAP without a fight. I filed a dispute with my credit card company today, but since it's been more 60 days since the original charge, the outcome of the dispute is dubious. I see now the lies and the stalling are all part of ASAP's strategy. Unfortunately, I was naive enough to think that working with ASAP in good faith to resolve the problem was the right thing to do. I guess I'm lucky I didn't have to pay big bucks for some other mechanic to do all the work—on top of being screwed on the engine deal!
Today, I googled ASAP Motors, and right near the top (first hit after ASAP's own website) I see the complaint! After looking over several reports, I realize what I'm in for with this sorry outfit. It's the same story over and over and over. I should have done my homework BEFORE buying from ASAP Motors. Oh well, live and learn—and I've learned that doing business with ASAP was a huge mistake. I'd like to know how in the hell this sorry excuse for a business manages to stay in business. I guess TX must go easy on gangsters or something. Whoever runs this house of fraud should be in jail, and this company needs to be nuked badly.
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