For some time I have sourced parts from Motorcars Ltd in Houston www.motorcarsltd.com.

In October 2011 I purchased their self-manufactured alloy gear shifter replacement for the plastic factory part that was failing - as is common. I paid around $100.

By mid-2014, with an additional 12,000 miles or so on the vehicle, I started having shifting problems again, and discovered the alloy part was wearing. When I called Motorcars last month, they claimed they had experienced no issues with this part and offered to replace at current price of $95 - when I asked for a break they reduced to $80.50 that, btw, I notice is now their advertised price!

The new part arrived and was completely re-designed - looking like the current dealer spider-like part rather than the alloy 'wedge/ block' originally provided in 2011 and still shown on their website.

I called to make sure I had received the correct part and was told the part was retooled for cost rather than durability reasons ... albeit I originally paid $100 and the price first quoted was $95 for the new one. Motorcars were adamant this part does not fail despite my experience; when I offered to mail them back the old part they told me there was no point.

I share this because I feel Motorcars have neither been honest nor treated me correctly as a longstanding customer. I am truly disappointed with this parts supplier and will not be doing any more business with them.

 

I'm sure that they could care less and are glad to be rid of you.

I know that i would be.

 

Try not to sugar coat it quite so much.

 

Uncalled for - Isn't there a community rule to maintain civility and avoid personal comment. As a senior member I would have thought you would know better; or don't they teach civility and manners in Alabama.

 

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. If you have a particular beef with a vendor, you have every right to state it here. You may wind up helping someone else who runs into a similar problem down the road....

 

I was mid way through replying to a post that just got removed, so I might as well finish

I think the OP is not expecting perfection for his $100 outlay - but more than 12k miles out of this replacement part seems a reasonable expectation.

Side note - I've never understood what the phrase "could care less" means, as opposed to "couldn't care less" which actually makes sense. What am I missing?

 

What, specifically, is your expectation in this matter? You never really say.

I suspect the part was sold with a 12 month/12000 mile warranty. If that's the case then, at 2.5 years, you are well beyond that point.

Still, since you are a regular customer, it would've been nice if they offered *something* to make you happy. What do you think would be a reasonable offer?

IMHO telling a regular customer to pound sand over an $80 dispute is a horrible business decision. I have to ask....please don't be offended....did you give them any reason to say 'no' ?

Cheers
DD

 

Good question Doug - yes, the normal warranty on that part is 1 year or 12,000 miles. However the faulty plastic OEM part lasted more than 10 years; Motorcars made a proprietary alloy part that was supposedly an upgrade. I put less than 7000 miles p.a. on my car, so for this part to last a couple of years or so is not, IMHO, reasonable.

Secondly, clearly the part sold to me did not meet expectations otherwise it would not have been re-engineered. It is worth noting that the original 'block' design was Motorcars' - the current 'spider' design is the same as the OEM part. I was particularly disappointed because Motorcars claimed they had taken much care over the manufacture of the alloy block part when they first sold it to me.

Whether beyond the warranty or not, my expectation was for Motorcars to replace the part with the revised version for nothing more than shipping costs. I am already burdened with additional labor costs.

I explained the issue, politely upfront albeit Motorcars were defensive from the outset - both Steve and later his manager Julie. They claimed the part was 4 years old because it was purchased in 2011 and I called in 2015- even though I had owned the car less than 3 when it started to fail. Julie also suggested I overused the gear shift - in fact I only use 'D' (drive). They were unconcerned and unhelpful from the outset.

My intention is to do exactly what @Jon89 suggest - provide a heads-up to others. And thanks to all for the suport over the troll - I guess I should have noticed that he has only 'thanked' 2 people in his history.

 

Yes, I will be the troll. You have expectations of a lifetime service item for $100. Nearly three years later you come back and note wear on the item.


Any manufacturer has the right to modify and improve future parts. That's the way that the world works. They're not going to go back and replace all previous parts, even if they were not up to expectations. The warranty is the warranty, period.


Myself, I would not deal with you for any amount of money. Your expectations are not reasonable, by any measure.

 

No - not the expectation of a lifetime warranty .... your words not mine. I just expect that a specially manufactured part will last at least 25% as long as the OEM part that was poorly made in the first place.

How hard is it to keep your posts civil???

 

Hi there OP,
you don't say as far as I can see what the cost of the OEM part is from the dealer v the $100 you paid from Motorcars?

It'd be good to know as an indicator in the first instance.

Assuming its well below OEM costs, perhaps half the price or less and you've managed around 12k miles and 2.5 years it may not be that bad imo

Having said that I guess as stated previously, if you're a regular customer I would have thought that Motorcars may have been a little more understanding and perhaps offered some type of discount.......this can go a long way to maintaining relationships.

Thats only my opinion, we all have them and people may agree or disagree.

Having said that some comments may be on the harsh side, which there aren't necessarily any need for.....we're all on the same side after all

Good luck

 

I don't know how this part looks like, could you grease it before installing?
I had problem with X-type manual transmission shift lever bushing, I installed piece of rubber hose in place of plastic bushing, it worked perfect!

 

Thanks .... we have actually tried exactly this with the new part.

 

The individual part is not available from the dealer; you have to purchase a complete unit that costs around $800 before labor.

While I follow your logic, I would suggest that with older models huge expenses become less feasible. You also have to add in labor if you do not work on the car yourself.

If a specialist parts supplier makes the part, one would hope it is durable enough to last a reasonable amount of time. Interestingly, the material used for the second replacement looks and feels a lot harder than the alloy used in the first.