Buying cars with....replacement engines

[vanman1936]

Seems such cars are cheaper which is a little counter intuitive but having a car with a replacement engine (under dealer warranty) still concerns me.....thoughts......

[aka_kerrly]

So long as the engine works why would you care?

[blearyeyedboy]

Just remember that:

• If it's not a new engine, the history of that engine is critical.
• The rest of the car doesn't magically have its mileage reset to zero. Shocks, bearings, clutches etc will still have done 80,000 miles even though the vendor will try to say "it's just like a 30,000 mile car".
• If the engine blew up because its previous owner ragged it at redline while cold... it doesn't bode well for how sympathetically the non-engine parts were treated either.

None are deal breakers, but I'd tread carefully. But for the right car at the right price, I most certainly would accept a car with a replacement engine.

[RWD cossie wil]

vanman1936 said:

Seems such cars are cheaper which is a little counter intuitive but having a car with a replacement engine (under dealer warranty) still concerns me.....thoughts......

Bought my 530d at 141,000 miles, had a brand new BMW fitted engine at 102,000 miles after the only previous owner drove through a flood & killed the engine by hydraulic lock! Had a reciept for £6995 in the comprehensive service history! Bet that smarted a bit!!! I'm more than happy with the car, drives perfectly & now has 158,000 miles on it since March!!

[redgriff500]

As mentioned depends upon the car and what engine was supplied.

Manufacturers engine with reciept = worth more money

"Reconditioned" engine (meaning cut out of a scrapper) doesn't worry me on a shed but I wouldn't want one in a decent car.

[jas xjr]

When I was looking for my xjr I looked specifically for a car that had had a new engine , due to the nikasil issue.
I have had the car now for 7 or 8 years without major issues

[m3jappa]

If you buy a tvr then its expected to have a replacement or rebuilt engine, yet theres still a mileage stigma attached to them which is a little odd.

I would buy any car as long as it all stacked up right.

[RZ1]

My old boxster had its engine replaced when it was about 3 months old and only had about 1k miles. The original owner told me it was due to the problems he had when the car was new so was replaced as a goodwill gesture, been perfect since.

[frosted]

RZ1 said:

The original owner told me it was due to the problems he had when the car was new so was replaced as a goodwill gesture, been perfect since.

Wtf, where the goodwill exactly ?

[darkcat]

if you buy a smart car WITHOUT a rebuilt engine over 60k, its going to need one within 5-20k.
some engines are just badly designed, some are badly maintained, some are badly treated.

ALL cars are a mine-field, just use your head.

Edited by darkcat on Thursday 29th December 01:39

[Mr Tumble]

darkcat said:

ALL cars are a mine-field, just use your head.

Well said.

[Grey Ghost]

vanman1936 said:

Seems such cars are cheaper which is a little counter intuitive but having a car with a replacement engine (under dealer warranty) still concerns me.....thoughts......

Can you be make and model specific ?

911's have issues with main oil seals, M3's with the Vanos set up, TVR Speed 6 with oil supply to top end etc, etc. However, if these issues are fixed by a dealer (or after market specialist in the case of TVR) who then offers a decent warranty then I wouldn't lose any sleep over the engine. As pointed out above the key is to make sure the rest of the car is up to scratch and the replacement engine has a known history or is "crate" new when inserted.

[RZ1]

frosted said:

RZ1 said:

The original owner told me it was due to the problems he had when the car was new so was replaced as a goodwill gesture, been perfect since.

Wtf, where the goodwill exactly ?

The car was in and out of the dealer from the day it was deleiverd, the previous owner told me that he kept telling the dealer that the car had a problem but the dealer could not find the issue, finally they replaced the enginge and all was ok with the car. When i sold it last year it had done nearly 105k

[GTR Cook]

If it has a dealer waranty and was replaced with a new engine by someone reputable then it shouldn't be a problem.

Some dealers sling any old thing in there and offer no warranty, have known one in particular to even lie about doing this, then admit it later down the road.

Depends how truthfull the seller is as to which is more likely.