VQ35DE I purchased an engine from this place because of the description they had. All new internals. Can only be called Remanufactured if the parts are new. That's not what I got. It ran but not without its problems. One of which causing it to fail and spin a bearing. I got in contact with them which was a miracle in itself. They are quick to respond when selling the engine. They are non existent when needing warranty work. I sent the engine back and apon tearing it down, they said I had an inferior oil pump and warranty wouldn't be covered.
It's the pump that came with the engine they sent me. I am convinced they sent a used engine and I got lucky that I had someone in LA that could get it back from them. I have something I can rebuild. Reading the comments from others, I see I am not the only one they are doing this to. Run as fast as you can from them. All said and done, it was close to $4000. I take that personal.
I had purchased a remanufactured engine from AAA Engines out fo Chatsworth, CA for $3800. They claimed they would send me $825 back on the core and hounded me to send it off to them. Once they got my old core engine they gave me $400 instead and said there were issues with the engine. No kidding - that is why I bought a new one!
After spending another $1000 to have the engine installed by the dealer/certitified mechanic I had nothing but problems with the car overheating after 10 minutes of driving. Was fine at a idle. I had it towed and replaced the thermostat, water pump and radiator thinking that was the cheapest and possible fix. After nothing worked I contacted AAA Engine, who would never answer the phone or return a call when you hit "service". Finally we hit "sales" and got a person to answer. They demanded to have pictures of the heat tabs which we provided. After weeks of messing around they sent an email and said we must have over heated the engine, which was BS. As soon as it got hot I had it towed and paid to have it towed to two Nissan dealers trying to determine the problem. The dealer said it was a bad engine and probably did not torque the rods down properly, but it would cost me about $2000 for them to rip into the engine.
When I tried to get some resolution with AAA Engine they advised I needed to buy another engine and they would give me money for the core. (Probably 1/2 again.)
Needless to say they sold me junk that has probably cost me in excess $6000 and won't warranty the product or replace it when I supposively had a 2 year warranty.
I would never recommend anyone buying a product or doing business with them. I'm not unreasonable, but this company has NO customer service and sells engines that are junk in addition to ripping you off on the core $$.
1. They will lie about what they have 'ready to ship' since often they need to check specifics of engine to see if it matches your year and model. Don't believe them if they say "It's ready to ship" It will likely take at least 1-2 weeks for them to ship the correct engine for your model. Don't make your purchase based upon quick delivery.
2. Their warranty ONLY COVERS PARTS! You will have to pay your mechanic out of your own pocket to do service on the engine from AAA engine if there is anything wrong with the parts AAA Engine installed. If you ship it back to them for warranty repair, you will need to pay to have it pulled out, or pull it out and ship it yourself. (They will do a warranty inspection for free if you ship it back to them)
3. Unlike returning batteries, or brake pads or other parts with a 'Core Refund', AAA engine will actually deduct from the core refund for anything short of a brand new engine (and why would you be sending them a working engine for core refund....). Out of their claimed core refund of $495, I only received back slightly more than $200. Expect the same or worse refund from them for your returned engine.
4. The service people were actually fairly helpful and did communicate much better than sales. However, they don't seem to have much say in the company and how issues are handled. Their first response seems to be "Blame the installer for any issues".
My Story with AAA Engine
I purchased an engine for my 2011 Chevrolet Traverse. My high quality Mechanic was reluctant, but his regular engine supplier was going to take over two weeks to get engine, and AAA Engine sales said they had my engine in stock and it would ship within 24hrs (first lie).
They seem to have a solid warranty (2nd Lie) so I ordered engine and gave them all the shipping details. AAA Engine promises a Core refund if you send your engine back (3rd partial lie). I called the following day, and sales all of a sudden became difficult to contact, but because of my persistence, told me that it would likely ship the following day, but it was now out of their hands and for me to contact shipping.
Well mutliple calls and emails, and the engine finally ships 2 weeks later (I'm upset now because the main reason for me ordering from them is that it would be quicker than my mechanics usual trusted engine shop.
Engine finally arrives, my mechanic pulls all the needed parts off of old engine and assembles those parts onto 'Remanufactured' engine from AAA engines and installs in car. Mechanic hand cranks engine for lube, and then turns over engine with starter motor with no ignition to ensure proper oil circulation.
All of this is correct motor installation procedure which my mechanic has done 100's of times. When he starts engine, right away he notices it seems louder than it should with significant clatter. He says sometimes that goes away as lifters can be a little sticky initially, but eventually fill with Oil.
After 500 mile oil change, not only has clattering not gone away, but has become significantly worse. I contact AAA engine about problem and they state that it was probably installation error, and their warranty only requires them to send replacement part!
They recommend my mechanic do a $1500 service to engine to diagnose problem and find out which part is bad and they will send replacement $13 part. After much back and forth over the span of 3 months, and lots of free diagnosing and help from my Mechanic, I finally decide to have my mechanic remove the engine, ship back to AAA Engine so they can remanufacture/fix it again.
In their defense, they do in fact pay for the shipping to and from their facility, and the second time around, the engine actually does run good and I am now using it. But I had to pay my mechanic another $1500 to remove engine and reinstall when it arrived again.
Once AAA Engine received the engine back, they did do a thorough job of checking everything in the engine. They replaced all the hyraulic lifters and replaced the connecting rod bearings (because there were metal dust particles in my oil). Once the second engine was installed, it has worked well and now sounds great again.
In Short, you may get a decent engine from AAA Engine the first time, but if you don't, it will be a major pain, and more money on your end to fix their problems. I would NOT purchase from them unless I lived next door to them (They are in Chatsworth California) and was doing my own install with lot's of time to spare.
If that's you, then feel free to take a risk, otherwise, it probably isn't worth it. I ended up spending the same amount of money as I would have if I bought the engine directly from General Motors.
Aaa Engine Reviews
VQ35DE I purchased an engine from this place because of the description they had. All new internals. Can only be called Remanufactured if the parts are new. That's not what I got. It ran but not without its problems. One of which causing it to fail and spin a bearing. I got in contact with them which was a miracle in itself. They are quick to respond when selling the engine. They are non existent when needing warranty work. I sent the engine back and apon tearing it down, they said I had an inferior oil pump and warranty wouldn't be covered.
It's the pump that came with the engine they sent me. I am convinced they sent a used engine and I got lucky that I had someone in LA that could get it back from them. I have something I can rebuild. Reading the comments from others, I see I am not the only one they are doing this to. Run as fast as you can from them. All said and done, it was close to $4000. I take that personal.
I had purchased a remanufactured engine from AAA Engines out fo Chatsworth, CA for $3800. They claimed they would send me $825 back on the core and hounded me to send it off to them. Once they got my old core engine they gave me $400 instead and said there were issues with the engine. No kidding - that is why I bought a new one!
After spending another $1000 to have the engine installed by the dealer/certitified mechanic I had nothing but problems with the car overheating after 10 minutes of driving. Was fine at a idle. I had it towed and replaced the thermostat, water pump and radiator thinking that was the cheapest and possible fix. After nothing worked I contacted AAA Engine, who would never answer the phone or return a call when you hit "service". Finally we hit "sales" and got a person to answer. They demanded to have pictures of the heat tabs which we provided. After weeks of messing around they sent an email and said we must have over heated the engine, which was BS. As soon as it got hot I had it towed and paid to have it towed to two Nissan dealers trying to determine the problem. The dealer said it was a bad engine and probably did not torque the rods down properly, but it would cost me about $2000 for them to rip into the engine.
When I tried to get some resolution with AAA Engine they advised I needed to buy another engine and they would give me money for the core. (Probably 1/2 again.)
Needless to say they sold me junk that has probably cost me in excess $6000 and won't warranty the product or replace it when I supposively had a 2 year warranty.
I would never recommend anyone buying a product or doing business with them. I'm not unreasonable, but this company has NO customer service and sells engines that are junk in addition to ripping you off on the core $$.
Key issues first with complete story below
1. They will lie about what they have 'ready to ship' since often they need to check specifics of engine to see if it matches your year and model. Don't believe them if they say "It's ready to ship" It will likely take at least 1-2 weeks for them to ship the correct engine for your model. Don't make your purchase based upon quick delivery.
2. Their warranty ONLY COVERS PARTS! You will have to pay your mechanic out of your own pocket to do service on the engine from AAA engine if there is anything wrong with the parts AAA Engine installed. If you ship it back to them for warranty repair, you will need to pay to have it pulled out, or pull it out and ship it yourself. (They will do a warranty inspection for free if you ship it back to them)
3. Unlike returning batteries, or brake pads or other parts with a 'Core Refund', AAA engine will actually deduct from the core refund for anything short of a brand new engine (and why would you be sending them a working engine for core refund....). Out of their claimed core refund of $495, I only received back slightly more than $200. Expect the same or worse refund from them for your returned engine.
4. The service people were actually fairly helpful and did communicate much better than sales. However, they don't seem to have much say in the company and how issues are handled. Their first response seems to be "Blame the installer for any issues".
My Story with AAA Engine
I purchased an engine for my 2011 Chevrolet Traverse. My high quality Mechanic was reluctant, but his regular engine supplier was going to take over two weeks to get engine, and AAA Engine sales said they had my engine in stock and it would ship within 24hrs (first lie).
They seem to have a solid warranty (2nd Lie) so I ordered engine and gave them all the shipping details. AAA Engine promises a Core refund if you send your engine back (3rd partial lie). I called the following day, and sales all of a sudden became difficult to contact, but because of my persistence, told me that it would likely ship the following day, but it was now out of their hands and for me to contact shipping.
Well mutliple calls and emails, and the engine finally ships 2 weeks later (I'm upset now because the main reason for me ordering from them is that it would be quicker than my mechanics usual trusted engine shop.
Engine finally arrives, my mechanic pulls all the needed parts off of old engine and assembles those parts onto 'Remanufactured' engine from AAA engines and installs in car. Mechanic hand cranks engine for lube, and then turns over engine with starter motor with no ignition to ensure proper oil circulation.
All of this is correct motor installation procedure which my mechanic has done 100's of times. When he starts engine, right away he notices it seems louder than it should with significant clatter. He says sometimes that goes away as lifters can be a little sticky initially, but eventually fill with Oil.
After 500 mile oil change, not only has clattering not gone away, but has become significantly worse. I contact AAA engine about problem and they state that it was probably installation error, and their warranty only requires them to send replacement part!
They recommend my mechanic do a $1500 service to engine to diagnose problem and find out which part is bad and they will send replacement $13 part. After much back and forth over the span of 3 months, and lots of free diagnosing and help from my Mechanic, I finally decide to have my mechanic remove the engine, ship back to AAA Engine so they can remanufacture/fix it again.
In their defense, they do in fact pay for the shipping to and from their facility, and the second time around, the engine actually does run good and I am now using it. But I had to pay my mechanic another $1500 to remove engine and reinstall when it arrived again.
Once AAA Engine received the engine back, they did do a thorough job of checking everything in the engine. They replaced all the hyraulic lifters and replaced the connecting rod bearings (because there were metal dust particles in my oil). Once the second engine was installed, it has worked well and now sounds great again.
In Short, you may get a decent engine from AAA Engine the first time, but if you don't, it will be a major pain, and more money on your end to fix their problems. I would NOT purchase from them unless I lived next door to them (They are in Chatsworth California) and was doing my own install with lot's of time to spare.
If that's you, then feel free to take a risk, otherwise, it probably isn't worth it. I ended up spending the same amount of money as I would have if I bought the engine directly from General Motors.
Lesson Learned the hard way.