After reading the sticky on "the truth about tuners" i am determined to buy a freshly rebuilt fd but i was wondering about some of the specialists and their warrenties etc.
Now most of the big rotary tuners/specialists in the uk offer a warranty with their rebuilds and some offer cars with a fresh rebuild+warranty.
After having experience of other warranties are these really worth the paper they\'re written on and if so then would buying a car with a years guarantee on the engine really mean exactly that.
These cars with fresh rebuilds + warranty are understandably around 2-3k higher but do they really offer hastle free aftercare if the worst happens. Or do they do what most other warranty companies do and try every angle to get out of paying for anything.
Anyone had any experience\'s
Sorry if this seems like a numpty question and just tell me if im being to cautious and/or paranoid
Cheers guys
i haven\'t a clue what the rotary tuners are like regarding warrenties but make sure that the warrenty is still valid if the car changes hands, i\'ve seen some that state its invalid if the person who had the engine rebuilt doesnt own it any more
This is just the sort of small print I mean
Cheers for the heads-up
What im trying to gauge is whether the extra 2-3k from a specialist gives the piece of mind over a private sale as Iam new to rotary and have no-one local (like 150 miles) who i can get to check the car over for me without just trying to sell me one (import dealers etc).
if its the rebuilder\'s who offer a warranty on their work, you should be fine(but you can always call and ask)
if its a third party warranty. you are best to check fully
If you are going to buy a Car and the Warantee is a Big factor in the sale ring the Guy who built the engine and ask if its covered because when i looked at buying an FD a while back i found there are people that say its had a rebuild but when you dig a bit there may be some history that will put you off (like it hasn\'t)
Its also important to ask the Guy who rebuilt it does it still have warantee, because i know of a few cases where a car has been rebuilt and the Builder has given instructions (when to service, run in for x miles etc etc) and they have not done it, i\'ve even heard of people picking there car up and going to a Rolling road that day then ringing the Builder to tell him what it pulled on the rollers. So yes its possible to upset the engine builder.
the waranty thing has come up a few times before, really the best thing to do is to speak to each tuner individually and see what they offer, and more to the point what they dont cover. wouldnt be fair of me to comment on any of them because ive only used one tuner so dont know what the rest are like. however, i have had the odd problem, and can definately say the place I take mine to is spot on.
Hope this helps
like with any warranty you do have to read the small print, if the engine has been modified in any way then it will most likely void the warrenty. if you track or race it then be careful as there is always photo evidence of all cars that go on a track, most are on this Forum and the tuners and builders are all part of this Communmity. Personnally I dont think they are worth the paper they are written on and that is a personal opinion, some are warrantied for one year or 12K miles, some cars never even get to run 3 or 4K per year so never even reach the miles but the time line they do. Whatever you buy make sure its built by a reputable builder and there are only a handful in the UK, get the compression check done and insist on a mapping session to set it all up correctly if its needed and then the test drive and careful examination to follow.
My Engine was rebuilt at Jimmies and it was top notch, no probs whatsoever and the warrenty was only valid if I got it mapped and tuned which was carried out at WGT along with a compression test for piece of mind.