Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/27/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In November of 2023, I won an auction on Bring A Trailer to purchase a vehicle from Motion Consulting for the amount of $35,500. Upon delivery, the car started experiencing issues over the course of a few weeks, resulting in catastrophic engine failure after just 480 miles. A used oil analysis was performed by a specialized oil analysis company as part of diagnosing what happened to the engine. They concluded the oil that was in the car, the same oil Motion Consulting had installed, was in fact half the viscosity of the factory recommendation and was in no way the grade of oil Motion Consulting claims to have installed in the car before delivering it to me. The engine was then torn down by a shop that specializes exclusively in this type of engine. After inspecting the engine damage and reviewing the oil analysis, their master tech concluded the damage to the engine was directly caused by the low viscosity oil that was in the engine, and did not provide proper lubrication to the engine components. Due to the specialized nature of the high performance engine in question, the repair costs resulted in a total bill of $30,000.
  
  The extended timeline of these events are due to waiting for the repair shop to be able to fully disassemble the engine, as well as taking increasingly escalated steps to resolve this issue with Motion Consulting amicably. Motion Consulting has been contacted first by myself, then Bring A Trailer, and finally by my lawyer in the form of a demand letter. Motion Consulting has indicated they do not feel responsible, even though verifiable evidence has been presented to them by multiple parties and sources. As my lawyer indicated in the demand letter, their installation of improper oil is an intervening event, and voids any sort of "As Is" agreement in the sale.
  
  Further detailed notes, timelines, invoices, screenshots of communications, and records from my lawyer available upon request.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/10/2025

  The customer purchased the vehicle via an online auction that we sell almost all of our vehicles on. Potential buyers are given a week to research and inspect the vehicle. All of our vehicles are documented and described to the best of our knowledge at the time of the listing. This was also the case with the highly modified vehicle that the customer purchased. The car was listed on the website with around 200 photos along with multiple videos showing the condition of the car. This included a start up video along with a driving video. The car had zero issues when it was sold. It was represented as such as well. It is a highly modified car and very possible that the customer damaged the engine when they received the car and put close to 500 miles on it. Subsequently, we have gone back to look at our purchase records and the oil was not changed during our ownership. There is no record of purchasing a filter for the car during this time. The claim that the oil was not to the spec of the oil that we supposedly put in would also support this. As we only carry 2 types of oil in the shop that are both the correct oil for this particular car. It would be impossible for any other oil to be installed in the car. This car was running and driving perfectly when it was shipped to the customer. It is very highly modified and takes care in how it is driven. It is our belief that we are not responsible for the customer damaging the engine after putting 500 miles on it. Furthermore, we always encourage pre-purchase inspections prior to the customers buying the vehicle. The auction was a week long with lots of documentation and conversation on the current excellent condition. The car was sold as-is with no warranty which is Tennessee State law. Sellers can not be held responsible for how a car is driven after it is sold. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/12/2025

   
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  There is no question that the car was very well presented, and I have expressed to Motion Consulting that I am in agreement that they did a phenomenal job listing the car for sale. Motion Consulting’s transparency and willingness to answer questions with detail made me feel confident as a buyer. Furthermore, Motion Consulting repeatedly spoke about the reliability of both the car itself, and the modifications done to it in the comments of the auction. Even post auction, I was verbally told by their sales representative that the car was in great shape, and had just had a full inspection and basic service done by them which reaffirmed my confidence in them, and this purchase.
  
  However, that is outside of the scope of this dispute. This dispute revolves around the incorrect type of oil being installed in the car, which unfortunately was a direct cause of the catastrophic engine failure. The auction listing clearly states “Service in preparation for the sale included changing the oil and replacing the K&N air filter and the cabin filter”. Post auction, I was told verbally on the phone by Motion Consulting that they did indeed inspect and service the car including changing the oil. In the text conversation screenshots provided, Motion Consulting confirmed twice that they did in fact change the oil in this car before sale. I would like to point out that Motion Consulting’s story seems to be changing in regards to this oil change. At first I was told the oil was changed roughly 2 weeks before sale, then I was told the oil was changed more than a month before sale, and now Motion Consulting is indicating they did not change the oil at all. Motion Consulting has also stated at first they used Mobil 1 oil, then backtracked and said they possibly used a different brand of oil. While the actual brand of oil in this context doesn’t necessarily matter for such low mileage, it further points out that Motion Consulting’s story is changing over time.
  The driving videos provided are therefore called into question because now it is unclear if those were filmed before or after Motion Consulting performed the service and oil change. Even if those videos were filmed after the oil change with the improper oil, the car actually would run for a short while. Both SpeeDiagnostix and Slakker Racing have indicated as such, and both were surprised the car lasted as long as it did. Some lubrication is better than none at all, however the low viscosity oil installed by Motion Consulting could not provide adequate lubrication of the engine internals to allow the car to last more than the 480 miles I drove it.
  
  As for the modifications to the car, there has been zero indication that they had any contribution to the engine failure. Brandon Clark at Slakker Racing is the owner, chief engineer, and a renowned master Porsche engine builder. His opinion is that the low viscosity oil in the car was the direct cause of the engine failure, and the modifications to the car did not play a direct part in the failure. Slakker Racing has even pulled all engine computer data, and there is zero evidence that I abused the car or drove it improperly as Motion Consulting is now trying to accuse me of. Porsche’s are very well engineered cars that are designed for high performance driving on track. The modifications to the car also have a long history of being reliable for this same use case. Coincidentally, Slakker Racing currently has another car just like mine with the same modifications as my car, and that car has spent the last 12 years as a reliable and dedicated track car for race use. My car should have been more than capable of commuting around town had it been delivered to me with the correct oil as required per the manual.
  
  In regards to the “As-Is condition, as my lawyer pointed out, the oil change in question is an intervening event and was not part of a pre-existing condition with the car. This therefore makes the “As-Is” contract irrelevant because the oil change performed by Motion Consulting directly prevented the car from running in good health as presented in the auction.
  
  I have now been without my car for 16 months. That is 16 months of loan payments and required insurance payments on a car I have not been able to use. I have also incurred thousands of dollars of expenses from towing fees, oil analysis fees, shop inspection and storage fees, transportation costs to Slakker Racing, the additional costs for the work Slakker Racing has had to do, and now legal fees. These additional costs so far have exceeded the purchase price of the car itself. I am simply asking that Motion Consulting cover the core engine rebuild costs to at least make the car whole again. I am not asking for the additional costs to be covered at this time. I feel what I am requesting is only fair considering I have hard evidence to back up my claims, as well as testimony from multiple witnesses and experts that Motion Consulting is at fault for installing the incorrect oil in my car, leading to catastrophic engine failure. I have repeatedly tried to resolve this issue amicably with Motion Consulting, however this issue seems to keep escalating and they refuse to admit fault in the face of hard evidence. I am happy to provide any additional evidence, documentation, or proof upon request.

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  L*** ******