hapnermw

About a month ago I installed one of these oil sumps in my Z06. As those tracking the Z06 have found, you need to run the stock sump about 1/2 quart low to keep oil from burping into the intake. For this and other reasons, I decided having a few extra quarts in the sump would be a good idea.

http://www.lingenfelter.com/Merchant...Category_Code=

The day after the install and a day before a scheduled track event, I noticed a puddle of oil directly underneath the sump. After examining things my mechanic told me the tank was leaking. I called LPE. LPE called my mechanic and implied to him that he had screwed up the install pinching the gasket between the LPE bottom and stock top of the sump. The LPE tech said the tanks were pressure tested and it was unlikely to be a problem with their tank.

The tank was then removed and sent back to LPE on my nickel. On further discussion with LPE they admitted that they had 'thought about' pressure testing these tanks but that their fabricator had never produced one that leaked so they hadn't gotten around to building a pressure test jig. They promptly did construct one; pressure tested my returned tank; found it was leaking in multiple places; re-welded the bad spots and returned the tank two day Fedex.

I had the tank re-installed and all now seems to be working.

I faxed my bill for diagnosis, shipping and reinstallation with new gaskets to LPE assuming they would promptly reimburse me for my expenses ($460) that were due solely to their error.

After a couple weeks of run-around I sent LPE an email request and received their response today. To say the least, I was pretty disappointed to learn that they feel no responsibility what-so-ever to cover my expenses incurred in dealing with their quality control problem. While this may be the way manufactures deal with each other, I doubt it's the way forum customers expect to be treated by forum vendors.


Hi Mark,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I did speak with the owner of LPE and he was not willing to cover the labor cost to remove and replace the oil tank. In most cases a manufacturers warranty in the automotive aftermarket does not warranty labor. The warranty covers only the actual part that is found to be defective.

As an example we currently have a H3 Hummer here that we did a turbo package on a year ago and it developed an oil leak from the scavenge pump that pulls oil out of the turbo. We replaced the pump with a new one from a major manufacturer and found the new pump to be defective. We now have had to order another pump and return the first. We have to cover the cost of the labor because the pump manufacturer only covers the part and not the labor to remove and replace the part. C5 Corvette clutches are another good example. C5's are notorious for having issues with the clutch peddle sticking to the floor and we have had many cases where we had to pull the transmission an remove a clutch at LPE expense that was not reimbursed by the clutch manufacturer.

Once again I am sorry for the problem you had and I am sure the replacement tank will not cause you anymore problems.

Thank you,


Tim Dyer
Sales Manager
Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, Inc.
260 724 2552 x 1001
http://www.lingenfelter.com
ICQ# 223991829

abc 123

Skip Tim and go directly to Tom Cress.

hapnermw

In an alternative universe ...

When LPE found they had sent me a sump with leaking welds, the owner called me and apologized for letting this happen. He asked me to send LPE a receipt for the cost of return shipping and the extra labor and he offered me a $100 discount on my next LPE order to show LPE appreciates my business.

Back in the real world ...

While LPE did fix the sump asap, they didn't even offer to pay my side of the shipping back to them and the owner was so 'busy' it took repeated queries before Tim was instructed to tell me that LPE has a 'replacement only' policy. No apology, just business as usual.

I'm sure a $250 sump is small potatoes for LPE, and I'm sure they feel they went out of their way to fix it quickly and pay return shipping. But they don't seem to get the fact that sending a leaking sump to a customer is something they should be ashamed about; that it exposed a poor focus on quality; and, that their response demonstrates that 'replacement only' is the bar they have set for themselves and their customers.

I'll take my future business elsewhere ...

Oh, and to add yet another little kicker, LPE has yet to refund my $925 core charge even though they received my core more than two weeks ago.

burtonbl103

I have an LPE car and i had a similar experience last year when the crank bolt walked on my 403

I had to fight with them and the owner to make it right.
They did make it right in the end BUT I HAD TO FIGHT AND ARGUE.
You would thinnk after dropping $20 k with them thay would be more Customer Friendly

Mako7

...

With any tuner you must be prepared to pay, and pay and pay. I learned this 2 cars ago. Everything always works out as long as YOU pay!

For example, even if a tuner car breaks and you have their warranty AND they agree it is covered (lots of "ifs"), they will likely not cover transportation to and from the tuner which could run into $$$$s if you are in a different state.

Tough state emissions is another reason to consider modding carefully.

You might want to bear this experience in mind next time before you buy a tuner product/service and get in writing exactly what YOU expect to be covered. If the tuner is unwilling to offer this, then just shop elsewhere before the fact--much easier than after the fact.

Whenever possible, I try to deal with local tuners for the reasons listed above and other reasons.

hapnermw

LPE refunded my $975 core charge today.

LPE is aware of this thread. Possibly they may further explain how their 'replacement only' policy for defective products (that doesn't even cover round trip shipping) best serves the Corvette community.

mmauro

Fact is that if they were installing the pan at their shop they wouldn't have charged you twice for the labor if they had to take it back off and replace it. Just something to think about. Does figure that there was some liability for the part being screwed up. But they fixed the issue with the pan.
I had a similar experience with an ACT clutch back about 10 years ago in a TT RX-7. The clutch material had a bad batch and the clutch went out on me on a road trip. I had a trans rebuilt by Mazda but because of the Defect i got a new Clutch disc from ACT and 2 bills from Mazda for the Replacement.
Mazda only replaced parts and covered labor on parts they sold and installed, Otherwise their parts were covered but labor to another shop wasn't covered. ACT of course refused to pay for labor that was incurred by their defective parts. Its pretty much standard for the industry and always has been.
is it right? Well...Depends who you ask.
I was in the same situation except i had to have my car towed off the beltway and had to rent a car. All things i wouldn't ever get reimbursed for.
I would say this type of thing is the nature of the beast. Its the way the market is set up and its probably the only way it can survive, Otherwise there would be too much liability and speed shops like LPE would be out of business quickly.
How long do you think they could stay in business if they had to pay for labor on defective parts? Some inexpensive parts can have a very high Labor cost to install.
Not even the dealer will warranty labor from a 3rd party shop that installs a defective factory part. So you gotta ask yourself. Does LPE need to be held to a higher standard then even a dealership?

hapnermw

PM exchange with Tim@LPE
Hi Tim,

OK, it's better than a poke in the eye.

I do understand the general principle; however, sending me a leaking tank was a pretty big lapse. I certainly expected LPE to go further to make it right.

Treating me like I'm a professional garage that you happened to send a faulty part to is wrong. I'm just an individual who has to pay retail for mechanical work. LPE's poor quality took those dollars directly out of my pocket.

For instance, you had the number of my garage. You could have called them and negotiated a professional courtesy rate for taking care of this. You had many other ways you could have resolved this. Instead you were so quick to give me the brush-off you likely didn't even realize you were sticking me with the shipping.

-- Mark

Tact

Let me put an end to your boredom.

savewave

Forum rules allow a participant to post a factual account of an unresolved dispute with a vendor or another Forum participant:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1118161

Moderators leave the threads open to give all parties with direct knowledge of the dispute the opportunity to post their version of the facts. If third-parties have useful suggestions on the issue, the moderators typically allow those contributions. Personal attacks on either of the parties directly involved in the dispute are inappropriate and will result in the thread being closed and inappropriate posts being deleted.

If there are developments in the dispute, either party can PM me with an update and I’ll add it to this thread on their behalf.



Update: hapnermw reports he got the refund on the shipping costs from LPE, but "The update on this is that LPE has let the situation stand as is."