Ford Focus Engines: The Right Replacement Option

As late as 2007, it seemed that you could not give away Ford Focus SOHC (single overhead cam) used engines. Mid 2007, this quickly changed.  Many consumers started to have their SOHC engines go bad at once. They were like ticking time bombs, and overnight extreme demand caused these engines to go from worthless to scarce and valuable almost overnight. Because of their extreme price, these engines are very difficult to sell, and for a while, we didn’t sell any of them.

Lately, we’ve started selling Ford Focus SOHC engines again. You see, we now offer a better option than a used Ford Focus engine – we offer a high quality factory remanufacturd engine for them. The problem with these engines is that they like to drop valves on the 1st and 4th cylinders. When our Focus engines are through with our remanufacturing process, every component including the valves is of higher quality than the day that engine left the Ford assembly plant. Where many companies are selling used Ford Focus engines for $1500 to $1700 (and these engines are time bombs!), we sell remanufactured Ford Focus engines for $1620 (plus a $250 core deposit – you pay $1870 up front), including all shipping costs to a business.

This makes sense for our customers. For around the price of a decent used engine, you can get a completely remanufactured Ford Focus engine which is not a ticking time bomb.

For more details, give our staff a call at 901-266-9996.

Popularity: 3% [?]

The Market for Used Engines is in Flux

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.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Kia Engines

More customers call us looking for Kia engines than just about any brand of engine. Why? Well, in almost every case, the customer’s engine has been destroyed because of a broken timing belt or a locked up water pump stripping the timing belt. When this happens, the valve train in the Kia engine goes “out of time,” the valves bend, and the engine is destroyed. Complete engine replacement is recommended by most familiar with Kia engines, though it is possible to replace only the cylinder head (assuming a piston hasn’t been cracked by a stray valve).

This is not a problem with the engine, rather, it is a problem with consumer education. Kia doesn’t make their customes aware that they use timing belts which require changing at 40,000 or 60,000 miles. Honda engines, Toyota engines, etc., can often go 120,000 miles without needing a timing belt change because the quality of the timing belts used is so good. Honda, in fact, uses an interference engine just like Kia, meaning that if a timing belt breaks on a Honda, the engine is toast. This isn’t a problem with Honda’s, of course, because of the high quality timing belts that they use.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Toyota Tundra Used Engines

The Toyota Tundra was first sold for the 2000 model year. Even though they’re produced in Princeton, IN and San Antonio, TX, the Tundra is still considered to be an import. Noteably, it was the first full sized import truck sold in the USA. With the model getting close to reaching the ten year mark, we’ve seen an increase in demand for Tundra used engines. We have experience with all four engines offered in Tundra’s to this point, those being the 3.4L 5vz-FE, 4.0L 1GR-FE, the 4.7L 2UZ-FE, and the 5.7L 3UR-FE.

3.4L 5vz-FE 6 cylinder engine

The 5VZ-FE is one of the most widely used Toyota engines of all time. In addition to the Tundra, it has also been used in the Toyota Tacoma, Toyota 4Runner, and Toyota T100.The actual displacement of the engine is 3378cc. We’ve sold a number of these engines for other applications, but rarely get calls on them for use in Tundra applications. The 5VZ-FE was used in the Tundra from 2000-2005. We would rate this engine 4.5/5 on reliability.

4.0L 1GR-FE 6 cylinder engine

The 1GR-FE was first offered in the Tundra beginning in 2005, and was also used in the Toyota 4Runner, toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra, and Toyota FJ Cruiser. Using 87 octane gasoline, it is rated at 236 horsepower. This 4.0L engine has a 94mm bore and a 95mm stroke. I would rate reliability at 4.8/5.

4.7L 2UZ-FE 6 cylinder engine

The 2UZ-FE engine has been used in Lexus GX 470, Lexus LX 470, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota 4Runner,  and Toyota Sequoia. This engine has an actually displacement of 4663cc and is a 32 valve, dual overhead cam. In our experience, this is the most called on engine in the early years. We’ve found these to be good, solid engines. The most common reason customers who call us need one of these engines is that they’ve run them without any oil. The 2UZ-FE was used in the Tundra from 2000-2005 and is produced by Toyota. We would rate this engine a 4.5/5 on reliability.

5.7L 3UR-FE 8 cylinder engine

We assume the 3UR-FE engine is very reliable. Why do I say assume? Because it doesn’t seem like many people are looking for them! This engine has also been used in the Toyota Sequoia, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Lexus LX 570. With a bore of 94mm and a stroke of 102mm, this engine is rated at 381 horsepower. We give this engine a 4.9/5.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this cursory look at the engines used in the Toyota Tundra. Thanks for reading!

Popularity: 8% [?]

Nissan Altima Used Engines

First introduced in 1993, the Nissan Altima has proven to be a solid seller.  Produced in Symrna, TN, the Altima has come with three engines. First and second generation Altima’s were shipped with the KA24DE, a 2.4L 4 cylinder inline engine. First generation Altima’s were sold between 1993 and 1997, while second generation Altima engines were produced between 1998 and 2001. In 2002, the third generation of the Altima came out. The third generation was distinct from the previous two not just in styling but in the fact that it made use of two engines. The KA24DE of the previous generations was replaced with the new QR25DE, a 175 horsepower 2.5L 4 cylinder inline engine. An optional upgrade was the 250 horsepower 3.5L VQ35DE.

If your Altima engine has failed, what should you know when looking for a used Nissan Altima engine?

Let’s talk first about the KA24DE from the first and second generations. First of all, this is a great engine. I cannot remember anyone ever having what I would call an “early failure” with one of these. Additionally, I’m not familiar with any sludge problems being reported on these engines. I’ve heard many mechanics claim these engines should get 250,000 miles with a good maintenance program. The main problem with these engines is not the engine itself, but the distributor. Distributors frequently fail onthe KA24DE, and are in high demand used. Because of this, most companies selling these engines remove the distributor from the engine prior to the engine selling. When this happens, often times the distrubutor shaft on the replacement engine will need to be resurfaced. In fact, I’ve poken with a shop near Jackson, MS who installed a used KA24DE which would not fire. They thought their tech had broken a wire on the wiring harness while placing the engine onto the cradle, so they disinstalled the engine and checked the wiring harness and installation thoroughly. They could not see what was wrong, so they reinstalled the engine and had the same problem. They called a few buddies, and came to the conclusion that the problem had to be the customer’s old distributor, which they had swapped from the old engine. They bought a remanufactured distributor and had the same problem. They then called into a tech support line they subscribe to, and learned that they needed to resurface the portion of the distributor shaft that the distributor connected in to.

Next, we have the third generation engines.

The VQ35DE engine is flawless. We hardly ever get calls on these engines. The few calls we do get have in all but one or two instances been caused by never-ever-ever-changing-my-oil syndrome (each year, this syndrome affects nearly five million Americans, wink wink).

The QR25DE engine is not as good as the VQ35DE. I recommend only replacing your 2.5L Altima engine with a used engine having under 75,000 miles. There is good availability of these engines, so there is no need to spend the extra $1500 on a good remanufactured engine; a good remanufactured Jasper engine 2.5L engine costs $3,500 plus core and crate charge.

If you need a used Nissan Altima engine, or any other used engine, please contact us at 901-266-9996 or fill out an online request for a free, no obligation quote.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Good Mechanics – how do I know if I have one?

Finding a good mechanic is very important. You need someone you can trust, not only when dealing with a major project like replacing your engine, but to help you with normal preventative maintenance. If you find such a mechanic and bring your car to them twice a year, you can save a lot of money on costly major repairs.

“What are some characteristics of a good, trustworthy mechanic?” you might ask.

  1. A good, trustworthy mechanic will always take the time to explain to you exactly what is wrong with your car. They don’t sell “magic,” they sell 1) their diagnostic skills and 2) their repair skills.
  2. A good, trustworthy mechanic will always offer to give you your old parts back after a repair has been completed. Do you know how many mechanics will, for example, say they replaced a fuel filter and only wipe said fuel filter off? The answer is a lot.
  3. A good, trustworthy mechanic will always have a clearly posted shop rate and call you before doing repair work that exceeds their original estimate. I don’t have much work done at Firestone – I get my tires there, rotations, alignments, etc – but I have always referred customers to them because of the fact that they do such a great job calling before continuing work if repair costs are going to exceed their estimate.
  4. A good, trustworthy mechanic will not act offended if you seek a second opinion in your first dealings with them.

A few years ago, we sold a 3.8L engine to a customer in Illinois. He was a do it yourselfer who could talk your ear off, but he wasn’t going to tackle the engine installation himself. This guy just didn’t have the equipment. He gave us his mechanic’s address, and we made our normal courtesy call to the shop to make sure they knew the engine was coming, had our phone number, and a copy of our warranty guidelines. The shop owner was a fantastically nice guy. We got to talking, and found out that he had a frustrating history with our customer. You see, over the years, our customer had the habit of bringing his car to this shop, getting problems diagnosed with the shops free estimates, and then doing the work himself or, even worse, taking his car to another shop to get the problem fixed cheaper.

Good diagnostic mechanics are hard to find. They are the kind of mechanic who will save money by figuring out the problem the first time and not “part swapping” until you’re bankrupt. Their shops are full. They typically don’t have the cheapest labor rate, but they can save you money. If you have one, don’t abuse them. Don’t let your car get so bent out of shape that it takes three days of work to get it fixed. If you find a good diagnostic mechanic, bring your car into him right away when your check engine light comes on or when your car starts driving differently. Doing so can save you the cost of buying a new engine.

As always, if you need a quote on an engine, please call us at 901-266-9996 or request a quote online.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Toyota RAV4 Engines in Different Years

The Toyota RAV4 is a great small SUV that was released to give Toyota an edge into the market occupied by the Honda CR-V and the Chevy Tracker. For the number of RAV4′s that are on the road, we really don’t see many requests for quotes on these; in every year, the RAV4 has always had a truly solid engine.
When released in 1996, the RAV4 used the 2.0L 3S-FE engine, a mature engine platform that Toyota began using in the late 1980′s in the Camry and Celica. In 2001, Toyota began using the 2.0L 1AZ-FE engine in the RAV4. This engine was only used in the RAV4, and it was only used 2001-2003. In Australia and Eurasia, Toyota began using the 1AZ-FE engine in the Aurion version of the Toyota Camry in 2006. That continues to this day. In 2004, Toyota upgraded from a 2.0L 1AZ-FE engine to the 2.4L 2AZ-FE. The 2AZ-FE has been a truly cross-platform engine: it’s been used in the Scion TC, Scion xB, Toyota Camry, Toyota Highlander, Corolla XRS, Pontiac Vibe, and other platforms around the world. I think Toyota got their money’s worth when they paid the engineering team that designed that engine.

Of the engines used in the RAV4, I must again reiterate that none have really been super problematic.  The one thing that I’ve heard reports of from a few customers is reports of headbolts breaking on 2AZ-FE engines without the headgasket blowing. I’ve not seen their original engines myself, so I can’t verify this, but having spoken with their mechanics I do believe it to be true. I do know one thing:  those customers were glad they bought a used RAV4 engine from us, since the dealerships charge over$10,000 for a new RAV4 engine! We’ve saved customers well over $7,500 on every RAV4 engine we’ve sold, compared to dealer cost, and given them a comparable warranty to boot.

As always, if you need a used engine, please feel free to call us at 901-266-9996 or fill out an online request for a free quote.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Used Toyota Camry Engines

Toyota Camrys “run forever.” In fact, we’ve sold Camry engines to more than one customer who has gotten more than 400,000 miles out of their original engine. Note that these results are not typical; folks getting those kind of miles are maintenance freaks, and  I say “freak” with every intention of it being a compliment. You can maintain till you’re blue in the face unless the design is good. Camry’s have excellent design. The cars just last! If you find yourself in a situation where you need an engine for your Camry, you would probably do well to replace the engine if the rest of the vehicle is in good shape.

We recently had one of our installers in Middle Tennessee put an engine in a really sweet lady’s1999 Camry. She was from Northern Missisippi; our guy picked up her car and hauled it to his shop. I say “our guy” because he is a shop that we have a fantastic relationship with, but he isn’t employed by us. We were able to drive the Camry, motor knocking like crazy, onto his truck. He drove and, I guided. We pulled the oil dipstick on the engine, and it was as as black as a freshly paved road. We of course pulled the transmission dipstick shortly after. Holding it up there were metal flakes that looked like fools gold. This car had been “rode hard and put up wet.”  We offered to install a transmission for the customer for only the cost – our cost, no markup – on the transmission.

For this particular customer, we installed a 2.0L replacement engine. Her Camry originally had a 2.2L engine, but we’ve had excellent results with 2.0L replacement engines. There is virtually no power difference between the engines, and we get the 2.0L engines with normally between 30,000 and 50,000 miles. It really is a great solution for our customers. The install went great. The customer had to go out of town, and wanted the car delivered back to her in 8 days, so the mechamic was able to take his time and put some miles on the car after the engine install. In fact, he drove it back to her. There is no better way to test an install than to road test, and the road test verified that our customer had a great Toyota Camry used engine in her vehicle.

If you need a Toyota Camry used engine, or any other engine, please feel free to contact us. As always, you can reach us by phone at 901-266-9996 or you can submit an engine request online. We’ll give you one of the best warranties in the industry and help you save money!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Used Chevy Engines

Due to the sheer volume of Chevrolets on the road, they have always been some of our best selling engines. Typically we see more demand for the smaller Chevy 1.6L, 2.2L and 2.4L engines that fit in vehicles like the Aveo, Malibu, Cobalt, Cavalier, and HHR, but we also see a significant demand for vehicles with the 3.6L and 3.8L engines Chevy offers.

When I say “significant demand,” people will often assume that I’m saying an engine is bad. Nothing could be further from the truth, since Chevy is making the best engines it ever has. When you have millions of a type of engine on the road, you’re just going to have demand, whether it be due to flukes, operator error, or good old fashioned wearing an engine out.

If you need a used chevy engine, there are a few things that you should know.

  1. If you need a 2004 Chevy Aveo engine, get one from a 2005 or 2006. The failure rate on the 05 and 06 Aveos seems to be lower than the 2004.
  2. A lot of people lie on the mileage on Chevy 2.2L and 2.4L engines. Demand is very high on these, so the wholesale pricing on them is high. Dishonest companies can make a killing misrepresenting 140,000 mile 2.2L and 2.4L engines. Don’t think that they don’t do that either, because they do! A person is wise to demand a CARFAX to verify mileage.
  3. If you’re willing to swap fuel rails and manifolds, you can pull 2.2L engines out of much later year vehicles than a direct interchang offers. You can get a lower mile engine at a lower price.
  4. Low Mileage Engines offers one of the best warranties on used Chevy engines in the nation, and we can ship you a replacement engine straight to you, wherever you need it to go (in the US or Canada).

We offer one of the best warranties on used Chevy engines in the country, and we’re able to do that because we sell engines with verified mileage. When you sell a 20,000 mile engine, 50,000 mile engine, or 70,000 mile engine, you can give an excellent warranty. If you’re selling an engine that has 140,000 miles and calling it a 70,000 mile engine, of course you can not give an excellent warranty.  That’s the heart of our business – we sell an excellent engine, and give an excellent warranty.

As always, if you need a used engine, we would love to be your source. You can call us directly at 901-266-9996 or fill out a request for a quote online.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Serving Customers Is Our First Goal

It’s great to work for a company that’s doing well, especially in this economy. The fact of the matter is that we are selling a lot of used engines to customers in just about every state in the Union and into Canada. We’ve been blessed because we work very hard to make sure we do a good job for our customers. We provide a free CARFAX to verify the mileage on every used engine that we sell, and we offer the best standard warranty on used engines in the industry.

With the economy struggling as it is, many customers are wising up to the fact that for the warranty they receive with their engine to actually mean anything, the company offering it has to both have integrity and be financially able to cover their warranty obligations. Many companies don’t have the integrity or the financial heft to honor their warranties. Dealing with these companies is a risk to you and your family, because no matter what precautions suppliers take to ensure that they are shipping good engines, engines do fail. We have one of the lowest failure rates in the industry, but we are not God! So what happens if you purchase an engine that fails from a company that doesn’t have the financial strength to stand behind their warranty? What happens is you get screwed.

Let me clarify that every company has warranty terms and that I’ve run into customers before who wanted me to cover items that we don’t cover under our warranty, items that we don’t even sell! But every time that I’ve been faced with a legitimate warranty claim, I’m proud to say that our company is financially strong enough to be able to honor our obligation to the customer.

In addition to provide a great service to our customers on the product side, we’re also taking steps to make sure that we have adequate staff to handle all of the phone calls we get. Low Mileage Engines has some of the best office staff I’ve ever had a chance to work with, and we’ve not been afraid to steadily expand that staff so that we can provide the level of customer service our consumers expect and deserve. We know that when your engine has blown up and you’re looking for a replacement engine, the last thing you want is a busy signal when you call a company or a phone that rings and rings and rings with no answer. The great thing about our company is that when we need another person, we hire another person. Period.

Finally, we serve our customers through honesty. There are many companies selling used engines that will lie to get your business. One such company was sued by the Attorney General of Texas on hundreds of counts of fraud. They settled for $750,000.00, out of court. The original suit was for nearly $30,000,00.00. Doctors operate by an ancient code: “Do no harm.” Our code could be “Serve our customers well.” We take that seriously. We know that there are many companies that will only serve themselves, and that leaves one side lacking in the eqution.

As always, if you need a quote on a used engine, please feel free to submit a request for a quote on a used engine or to call us at 901-266-9996. We would love to help you!

Popularity: 2% [?]