Business ProfileforMarine Engines 4 Less

Marine Engines for Less doesn't stand behind their warranty at all. Bought an engine, it locked up, sent back to them and got nothing for the expenses that I incurred. Seems Tim likes to claim his customers are all liars and there is no fault on their part. Was told three different stories about my engine. One, it would clean up fine and be rebuilt. Two, Was sending the same engine back but it needed to be bored .030. Three, Original engine was so badly damaged that it couldn't be rebuilt. Definitely did not receive the same engine back. Had the nerve to say that my mechanic didn't put oil in the engine and that caused the damage. Oddly, the engine had been running long enough during testing that it would have seized sooner than it did. Sent me a video of a test run on the engine but have no idea if it was my engine or someone else's. Very disappointed in their customer service. Very costly lesson and unfortunately am sure it has happened more times than a person knows.

Lori purchased a longblock from us that "locked up" and melted heat tabs after less than one hour on the water. We shipped the engine back from Nebraska to Florida for inspection and repair or replacement. Upon inspection all of the rod bearings and most of the main bearings were spun, the engine would not turn over, and the heat tabs on the engine were melted. Melted heat tabs (overheat of at least 260 degrees F) void the warranty. An overheat is caused by external forces (i.e. improperly set ignition timing, lack or lubrication, stuck thermostat, etc.) We reviewed all of these factors with Lori via email and she promised that non of that was the cause. The only other, I said, would be lack of oil in the motor. Lori is correct: originally we were going to rebuild her engine, but we would have to line bore it because of the spun main bearings. It was faster for us, and Lori, to just replace the unit than to wait for us to line bore and order the correct main bearings. Despite all of this, our owner, out of goodwill, replaced the engine and paid round trip freight to and from our facility. Lori then demanded $2800 in labor for her mechanic who "does no wrong". In my opinion, it was very gracious for her to receive a replacement considering the facts of this claim. We own up to our mistakes and make good on them, but we are not willing to pay her mechanic for his mistakes in addition to our goodwill gesture.

Interesting response from Tim. My emails and photos tell a different story but that's life. At least my experience with this company is now public for others to see. Hopefully it will help others from making a costly mistake like I did. Lesson learned and life goes on. Case closed in my opinion.