Used Engines IncReviews of usedengines.us

I purchased a replacement engine from Thrifty Engines / UsedEngines.us and experienced one of the most frustrating and unprofessional transactions of my career. After paying over $3,000 for what was supposed to be a tested, warrantied engine, my mechanic (a licensed shop owner) found the unit to be defective on arrival — rusted internals and a locked crankshaft. I immediately provided photos, documentation, and multiple written updates, yet communication from Thrifty Engines was slow, inconsistent, and evasive. Weeks were lost due to mislabeling on their shipping paperwork, which delayed installation and cost me additional shop labor and rental fees. Despite their internal errors, they repeatedly created arbitrary “deadlines” and procedural demands that were not stated anywhere in the original warranty, apparently to avoid responsibility for their own defective product. My mechanic remained available to verify the engine’s condition, and I stayed in communication throughout. The company’s final “denial” letter was inaccurate and dismissive, ignoring the facts already provided. In short: I paid thousands for a non-functional engine and received only obstruction and empty promises in return. Buyers should document everything, avoid paying via direct wire or cash app, and use a local, verifiable supplier instead. I am now pursuing formal complaints and small-claims action in multiple states (CA, TX, AL).

I own an auto repair shop and have been in business for 28 years. In this time I have had some bad experiences with purchasing used engines and transmission. Used Engines Inc seemed to be a breath of fresh air UNTIL YOU HAVE AN ISSUE!!! I had purchased multiple engines from these guys. Last engine purchase was a Ford 3.5 Ecoboost. The engine was quoted at $4000 by Sarah Williams so I purchased it. A week later I get a call that the engine I purchased was not available but they found a replacement for $6,500 with 30k less miles (but no one could give me the miles). I agreed to have them bill my card but I requested a 5 year warranty on engine, they agreed. We installed engine and it ran great for about 6 months. At the time check engine light came in for low turbo boost and timing chains had an excessive rattle at startup. I called Sarah to put in a claim and she told me that timing belts were not covered and should have been changed out before install. After months of going back and forth Sarah agreed that the chains were internal and not an external timing belt. After 4 times of sending the estimate of $2,800 to replace timing chains and phasers Sarah said her boss Alan Gessler agreed to pay $600 towards the repair. My customer was furious and agreed to have me fix the truck and he will think about how to handle Used Engine Inc. truck is fixed and back on the road running great. I reached back out to Sarah Williams to let her know that my customer had settled down and would like to get the $600 refund as promised. Sarah never responded but Elena Wilson did. She stated that she would need to reach out to Alan to get refund approval. Few days later she told me that refund was approved and I would receive refund within 48 hrs. Well that was over 2 months ago and still no refund. Elena has come up with every excuse in the world and now for the last month doesn’t even respond to emails. I have CC’d my emails to Alan Gessler, Brad Wall and Ryan Smith, still no one has responded. Luckily I have everything in email and if needed I will proceed with other methods of reimbursement. I strongly suggest you DO NOT do business with this company. Everything is fine until it isn’t, read other reviews of customers having the same issues. West Lake Auto Center Heath Fifield Owner

Wasted my time with a faulty engine and a more than difficult refund process. They should test engines completely before attempting to market them!

Horrible company waited over a week for a part that they never had. Took my money never processed the order Still waiting for a refund . This is fraud and a scam because they knew they did not have these items

This company is a fraud and i will never do business with them again. I was skeptical in the first place so we purchased a 2 year warranty with the used engine. We purchased the engine 4/4/24. We had issue with them with the shipment. Then after having engine installed and driving it only a 1000 miles major part went out on the car called the water passage so the car towed to the shop just to be told the part couldn't be ordered because it was discontinued so I reached out to the used engines Inc and was told that part wasn't covered under warranty. So we found a used water passage and had the shop install the part and we got the car back on the road. Drove it another 4000 miles on it to have the piston break and taking out one of cylinders. So we again had the car towed and at this point we had invested a lot of money into this 2006 so we contacted used engine company again and was getting the run around so we spoke with a supervisor named Sarah Wilson and then exculated it to the manager Alan Gessler. This process started 4/2025. Alan has called me once otherwise he only will do email. I have so many emails back and forth with broken promises from this company. Sarah and Alan requested pictures of heat tabs and engine vin so we provided that and were told the warranty would give us a full refund once the engine was returned to them and they would pay for the shippment back. We were requested to take the engine out of our car so that they could pick it up because the warranty wanted the engine back so they could rebuild it. So we paid someone to uninstall the engine, pallet and strap it to said pallet we sent pictures of everything they wanted from use. Then Alan back steps and says the engine was over heated which voids the warranty but since we did all this per their request and Endured more cost ,he would compensate us $1000 which is all in an emails and he told me on 8/6/25 the $1000 was processed and i should have payment by the end of day on 8/6 or 8/7, however, i contacted paypal on 8/9/25 and the payment has not been made. I still have not received this and now he wont respond to my emails so i called the company on 8/8/25 and spoke with Elena and she promised we would get an email from Alan by the end of yesterday which never happened. She also requested we give them more time to process the payment to my paypal which is confusing because Alan emailed me it was already processed and Elena is also included on said email so why are they now saying they need more time to process payment. So now we are forced to legal action and contact the Better Business Bureau. I'm so glad we have all the emails of these broken promises so we have proof of their negligence. I wouldn't recommend this company to anyone. After, 4 months of lost time back and forth with company and after posting the negative feed back Alan called me apologized to me and within minutes the $1000 was paid. He then asked if he paid me if I would delete the this review. He also stated in the future if I wanted to do business call him directly and he'll give me parts at his cost. Unfortunately, after all this he and the company has lost my trust.

This Company set me two engines that was incorrect after I provided them my complete engine information with my VIN #. Then I was told they were unable to source the correct engine and I was to received a full refund of 1608.00 that I gave this on 6/26/2025 today is 7/15/2025 and I still haven't got back the money. The people were rude and I hate that I had to go through this over the course of almost 2 months. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this place.

your service sucks and communication sucks

I was very dissatisfied with the merchandise it was broken up on arrival and did not have all of the required parts I communicated this to the company and today they have done nothing. I have requested numerous times for the company to pick the engine back up because I will not be paying for something that is unusable.