The market for used engines is in flux. Suppliers in the US are being bitten by high auction prices, and sourcing good used engines is more difficult every week. Sadly, some companies are sacrificing their integrity in these trying times. Rather than share the true condition of their used engines, they are lying about the number of miles when they sell to customers. Some of these companies have only recently begun misleading their customers, but some of them have been doing it for years. The crux of the issue is that if you have been lied to by a company misrepresenting their used engines, they have directly cost you money, and this is putting the market in flux.

Reader, let me ask you a question. If you’re like most people, you will call at least three companies in your search for a used engine. You’ll write their quotes down, and you will compare the value in each quote before you make a purchasing decision. This is smart shopping. Sadly, not everyone will be honest enough with you for this method to work. If you’ve been quoted on a 65,000 mile engine for $1,400.00, a 42,000 mile engine for $1525.00, and an 88,000 mile engine for $12,00.00, you could legitimately decide between any of these engines and call it preference. However, if the “65,000 mile” engine actually has 130,000 miles on it, and the 88,000 mile engine actually has 154,000 miles on it, both of these cease to become contenders to any rational person. Lying like this goes on every day. I run into it every day. Customers call us to by a second engine every day.

At Low Mileage Engines, we provide a free CARFAX with every USDM (US Domestic Market) engine we sell. Our reasoning is simple: customers deserve to know that they’re getting what they pay for. When you buy from suppliers who provide a CARFAX, you can verify you’re getting an engine with the miles quoted to you because the CARFAX will show the number of miles that were on the vehicle your engine is coming from when it was involved in the wreck that took it off the road. In rare cases where that mileage doesn’t show on the CARFAX, you can normally get a good idea of the mileage of the vehicle from the previous mileage reports. Depending on the state the vehicle was in, these reports could be from title transfers, maintenance reports (many dealers, for example, report the mileage of those maintenance reports), or state inspections. These are invaluable in determining not just the mileage of the car, but what shape you can expect the engine to be in. There is great peace of mind if you can see a CARFAX that indicates the vehicle was meticulously maintained.

There is simply no denying the value of a CARFAX when purchasing used engines. As Low Mileage Engines was the first company to provide a free CARFAX to verify the mileage with every used USDM engine we sell. We’re happy that some other companies are imitating us in this. We’re unhappy to report that there are some companies using even this to be fraudulent. How? A few very simple ways. Some companies tell you they will give you a CARFAX, but only after you pay them. The sale comes and goes, and the CARFAX never shows up. Low Mileage Engines will email or fax you a copy of your CARFAX before any money changes hands. Another way companies will lie is by pulling VINs off of Auto Trader. These CARFAXes will not show the final mileage or even a wreck. When you buy used engines, you want to see an accident took the vehicle off the road. This way you know this was an operable vehicle with a good engine – not a clunker found on the side of the road.

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