This is an account of our recent experience with Barber's Auto Recycling, Ardmore AL. I found them while searching for a 1997 LT1 engine. They told me over the phone that they had an engine and 6-speed trans (what they called a "swap") package for $2750 with aproximately 60K miles on it. This is for my mother's car, so I put her in touch with them to purchase it. She only wanted to buy the engine and told me they said it would be $1750 for the engine. I said that was fair since they would easily sell the trans for $1000. I went and picked up the engine for her (350 miles one way). After all was said and done, they had charged her $2250 for basically a long block assembly. They had removed the throttle body, MAF, and all front end accessories. She has called them twice to discuss this and was basically blown off. When I got home with the engine I noticed that the flywheel was that of an automatic transmission which shows that we didn't even get the engine we thought we were buying. So there's no telling how many miles are on this one.
Here's the problem: Number one, shame on me for trusting them so easily. I should have done a better job looking out for my Mom. But the bottom line is that they gouged her for an engine that she should have only been charged, at the MOST, $1750. All they had to do was tell her that they would rather keep the "swap" package together and sell her another engine and give her a fair price and we would have been satisfied. But they used deception to gouge her knowing that we were going to travel a great distance to pick it up. Just think, for $2750 she could have bought the "swap" assembly and sold the 6-speed, throttle body, MAF, etc. and come out with a 60K mile engine for likely less than $1500 (certainly for the $1750 she thought she was spending to begin with).
Anyway, the purpose of all of this is to give you something to think about before doing business with this company.
Here's the problem: Number one, shame on me for trusting them so easily. I should have done a better job looking out for my Mom. But the bottom line is that they gouged her for an engine that she should have only been charged, at the MOST, $1750. All they had to do was tell her that they would rather keep the "swap" package together and sell her another engine and give her a fair price and we would have been satisfied. But they used deception to gouge her knowing that we were going to travel a great distance to pick it up. Just think, for $2750 she could have bought the "swap" assembly and sold the 6-speed, throttle body, MAF, etc. and come out with a 60K mile engine for likely less than $1500 (certainly for the $1750 she thought she was spending to begin with).
Anyway, the purpose of all of this is to give you something to think about before doing business with this company.