94 Subaru Legacy (Postal)

In reply to SVreX:
I was referring to the Japanese characters, I've never had a car of any nationality with non-English text on it.

Naturally, after setting up no fewer than two helpful people to accept delivery, I'm home and there's an hour left in the delivery window... still waiting.

Just got the half hour heads up....
naturally, very end of the delivery window
:P

I like that they accidentally did right by calling me instead of calling the contact I'd arranged.

Is it there yet?

Good news is, it's here.

Bad news is, once I cut open the plastic a number of issues became apparent.
(First pic was taken immediately after the driver put it down)

The oil filler neck was snapped, as was the top engine cover, as was a chunk of the throttle body.
In addition, in order to fit the engine and trans on the pallet, they kinked the shifter linkage just about 90 degrees to the right.

Not sure where to go from here, I realize now that had I been less excited I might have noticed the broken throttle body via the hole up top, there was no way I could have anticipated the other damage while still wrapped.

I know I need to contact the seller, question is, which route to take?

Here's what I've roughed up so far.

"Howdy. Got the engine and trans today, there were some issues with how you packaged the item for shipment.
Upon cutting open the wrapping it became apparent that plastic wrap over the top (with no padding) wasn't enough to keep from snapping the oil filler neck, top engine cover, and part of the throttle body.
Additionally, you appear to have intentionally kinked the shifter linkage 90 degrees to make it fit on the pallet (which itself was in appalling shape)
I say intentionally as your wrapping system was nice and snug around the tail of the transmission, rather than hanging loose as it would have been had it been damaged in transit.

So, yeah, I'd like to know how you're going to make this right.

-Ashton"

Not tough enough?
I dunno right now.
Crap.

I'm continuing to do all my communications with them through ebay messaging, to keep a paper trail should I need to utilize 'buyer protection' or whatever it's called.

In reply to SnowMongoose:

That's a pretty good message. I'd edit the last line to make it sound more professional. Did you consider refusing delivery because of the damage? Who was the freight company?

In reply to Petrolburner:
Roadrunner handled the freight and I briefly considered refusing delivery based on how awful that pallet is and the hole ripped out of the top of the plastic...
but the bulk of the damage was concealed from view until I cut her open.

Unsure on how to end the message and what to ask for...
ask for replacement shifter linkage, oil fill neck, and TB?
Go for a partial refund?
I'm not even that concerned about the engine cover, though it was intact in the pictures for the auction.

File a claim.

That's why your freight carrier has insurance.

It sounds like you can't identify what may have been damaged before it left, and what may have been damaged in shipping.

It's called concealed damage.

Knowing what I know about freight shipping, it is highly likely it was man-handled and damaged in transit.

Looking at that first picture, I'd bet a lot of money that pallet was dropped during shipping.

File a claim with Roadrunner?
(Pertinent PDF)
Instead of or in addition to going through ebay?

How do I go about assessing value for these parts?
Ebay used prices? Rockauto or similar? Genuine Subaru dealer prices?
Ebay, used ranges from 50-120 for the TB, similar range for the shifter linkage, and the oil filler @ 10 bucks for the sole one listed.
(Prices not including shipping, which is of course arm and a leg territory)

File claims with both Roadrunner and EBay, but the Roadrunner claim is more important. They did the damage, and time is of the essence. You need to file right away.

The value of the individual broken components is irrelevant. Your claim will be for the full value of the product shipped.

File that claim yet?

Seriously, do it now, and do not take apart the shipment and scatter pieces around your garage.

The damage should have been reported on delivery. You are already late.

Naturally, as soon as time is a factor, I get stuck at work (away from my computer) until after their office is closed.
Left a message, am going to call again if I haven't heard back within the first 20 minutes they're open.
berkeley.

Also filed a 'case' with ebay, we'll see where that takes me.

The shipper accepts claims from the person who contracted the shipping, not the recipient.

In reply to MrJoshua:
o rly?
Good thing I filed with the shipper via ebay, I'm still going to touch base with Roadrunner.
Thanks for the input!
(Same to you SVrex)

A nice southern sounding lady named Ginger was able to help me get the ball rolling on a concealed damage claim.
(After only ten minutes of being shuffled through what felt like most of their phone tree)

Ebay seller is being quick with responses, though keeps trying to get me to communicate through email instead of ebay messaging...
not sure if that's shady or I'm just paranoid.
(moot point since I've no intention of moving away from such a handy papertrail)

Unsolicited update of sorts.

ebay seller got back to me, has offered to replace broken parts so long as I mail him the broken ones.

No response thus far from Roadrunner, imagine I won't hear back until Monday.
(fingers crossed for tomorrow though)

Touched base with Roadrunner today, they received my claim, I should be getting a letter concerning that in the next couple days.

Am I wrong to be slightly concerned that they didn't just email me back?

No.

Email is not secure, and can't be tracked. Also not delved by the US government.

It's probably their corporate policy for handling claims.

Still waiting for their claim department to figure things out I guess.
"Please note the normal time period for a claim to be investigated and concluded is 60 to 90 days, but may take up to 120 days. Salvage must be retained until claim is concluded."

So, basically I get to hang out with this dominating my garage until they get back to me at their leisure?
(thankfully there's still just enough room to park the miata in there)

In the mean time, picked up a set of outback struts/springs/tophats for next to nothing, will be good to have more to tinker with than just surface rust repair while I wait.

Oof. Sorry that the engine showed up smashed to bits. Replacing an oil fill tube isn't a huge problem, but I'd be really worried that chunks of plastic/o-ring made their way into the oil pan so that's probably going to have to come off if you keep this engine.

I'd also check the hell out of the wiring harness, it seems pretty likely that the o2 sensors and delicate coilpack wires may be damaged just from their position at the extents of the motor package.

The trans wiring harness is probably toast as well, I've managed to break the sensors and plugs even when trying to be delicate with one before. If it's a VSS car, the speedo sensor will be inexplicably Loctited into the trans.

If you stick with the Japanese ECU, you should run the highest octane possible and figure out a way to closely watch for knock.

Good luck with the shipping claim!

Still waiting for the shipping company to finish their 'active investigation'
I'm no expert but it seems like it shouldn't take months.

Hosed down the relevant bolts with PB Blaster, the Outback suspension swap should go fairly smoothly.
(He says now)

Just spent an hour installing the previously mentioned strut/spring units on the rear.
Good news is that things went smoothly.
Bad news is that they aren't actually off of an Outback, as she's sitting at the same height.
I'll not bother with before and after pictures, for obvious reasons.

$50 for units with about half the mileage compared to the ones they replaced, I don't feel too bad about it.
(plus, I know how easy the swap is for when I do get my hands on some Outback or Forester units)
10 nuts a corner, including lugs, not bad at all.

Bummer.

Nah, not bummed...
this and the rust repair are the only things that have gone well on this project.

Compared to the engine-damaged-in-shipping debacle this is smooth sailing.

Related note, still waiting for Roadrunner to finish their 'investigation'