Hey what are your guy's thoughts on Ebay engines? I was pricing out my motor.. and the one's on Ebay are a lot cheaper.. and they are already assembled and balanced.. like you cant beat the price.. I just wonder if there is a catch. I know my dads friend bought an engine off ebay and it works great. Anyways.. pros? cons?

 

eBay doesn't sell engines.

eBay sells ad space, to PEOPLE and COMPANIES that use the space to sell their products and services which might include engines.

Therefore it's totally impossible to just lump all sellers who use eBay into one category. Oh they're great, no they all suck. Doesn't work like that. There are honest, hard-working, competent people who use it, and there are thieves. Most people who are on there tend to be more the former, especially if they have lots of sales; it's just as hard to stay in business on there with bad customer feedback, as it is to stay in business on the local street corner.

You have to evaluate the INDIVIDUAL behind the slick (or not so slick...) ad copy. Look at their feedback over the number of their sales. Look at the parts they use, the machine work they say they do (after all, if they don't say they did some particular step such as torque plate honing or whatever, you should probably assume they didn't), and the shipping costs. Compare them against your local racing engine builder or whoever else you can compare them to, whose prosuct you can see and touch. Don't fall for the trap of thinking that just because it's on eBay, it's a deal; and don't make the mistake of price-comparing a fully race-prepped high-perf build to Slippery Sam's Minimally Slapped Together Grocery Cart Motors.

Basically, do your research, and be honest in your comparisons. You can find great stuff practically being given away on there, and you can find crap; and everything in between. YOU gotta spot the difference yourself.