Avant/ Diesel Depot Warranty

[BuffaloGuy]

I promised I'd post the conclusion to my dealings with Avant. So here goes.

By way of a brief review, I purchased an Avant rebuild with quite a few of the bells and whistles. It ran fine for 30,000 miles and then the wrist pins (all 8) self destructed.

The motor was out of warranty and it was unprovable if either I abused the engine or if Avant didn't assemble the wrist pins correctly.

Of course, we both felt that it was the other guys fault but neither had any proof. Jamie Avant felt that his guys surely didn't screw up the wrist pin assembly and I was sure that I didn't abuse the motor and thereby cause the failure.

I was polite and patient with Jamie and he decided to stand behind it partially. He provided me with a full rebuild kit including 18:1 pistons.

I told him that would satisfy me and all scores between us are now settled.

Others may have wanted more or been happy with less but the key here is that Jamie did what made the customer feel OK.

It's a bad deal for the both of us and there are no winners, just losers.

I found Jamie to be a sincere human being that really tries to do what's right. He is VERY hard to get a hold of and will not return calls on a regular basis. That is his biggest downfall and one that could have made me blow a cork if I hadn't dealt with him before and expected the best from him (eventually).

I don't think tried to avoid me. I think he is understaffed and overworked, which is no excuse when your in business.

So, my motor cratered and it's going to cost me a pile of money to re-rebuild it. No one will ever know who's fault it was.

In conclusion, Avant, eventually, made me feel like I was treated fairly. It took about 8 weeks to get to this point.

[tanker]

I'm sorry to hear about your problem. I'm glad jamie took care of you. I broke my crankshaft at 109,000 miles, and GM said they could not help me in anyway. I then went with an Avant 18:1 engine, and after about a month I had a coolant leak on both sides of the block. Two of the freeze plugs leaked, because they were not seated properly, one was behind the starter, the other behind the oil filter housing. I called Jamie Avant and he told me to get it fixed and send him the invoice, which I did. It cost a little over $300.00 to remove the starter, oil filter adapter etc and drain the coolant etc. Jamie came through with a credit on my credit card. At 126,000 miles my injection pump went, GM had already replaced it at 80,000 miles, again GM said no way, that they only had a 120,000 mile warranty. I had a Delco battery replaced at 33,000 miles still under the 36 month warranty (bumper to bumper) 3 months later that battery leaked acid and was no good. I went back to GM dealer because the new battery was a 72 month Delco, and was told that I was over on miles and 3 months over on time. No warranty again. I'll never by another Delco battery again.
Folks I know have a Cat Diesel in their fuel delivery truck and the oil cooler is leaking again,(2nd time) but they are in their 37th month of a 36 month engine warranty. You guessed it, no warranty, so they just shelled out over a $1000.00 bucks because they are 2-1/2 weeks over on time warranty and are well under on miles.
I guess what I'm saying is that I think Jamie went beyond his 24,000 mile warranty in helping you with at least the parts. As you said who knows what caused this to happen. A lot of company's stick to their warranty to the mile, and to the date. I was concerned with the Avant 24,000 mile warranty, because GM had a 48,000 mile warranty on their 6.5's, but I wanted it balanced with lower compression, etc. plus I paid about half for the Avant engine. Yes Jamie is also stretched out and doing more than two people do in a day, but he and his dad Benny are great down home folks.
Thats my opinion only. smile.gif

[Spindrift]

Tanker,

Your friend with the Cat should go back to the dealer. G&R by any chance? Cat dealers have a budget line item for warranty repair called "Good Will". It's specific and it's exactly for circumstances like the one you describe. I certainly don't know all of the details but it seems to me this guy should go back to Cat and negotiate a bit more.

[ace58]

I am glad all went well with your warranty. As a business owner, I take exception to your statements about his situation. Quantity over quality in the people busines is not a solution either. It is possible he may not be able to find enough qualified help, or help that meet his standards. The bottom line is he did stand behind his work, and kept his commitment to you, his customer.

[tanker]

To Spindrift, The customer went to Meadowlands Ford, and was denied, also went to Foley Cat, same thing. We have contacted G&R and also the selling dealer in Delaware, so we'll see.
By the way the selling dealer had offered in writing an extended Cat warranty just prior to the 1st anniversary, and the customer declined :rolleyes: So I'll let you know the outcome. At least it not a blown engine, and just an oil cooler, so $1000.00 bucks is better than buying a new engine. ;)