PAE / Jim Burek

I never suggested he was hiding his I.D.:rant:

I suggested he sign his post so it carries the weight it should!:Smarty:

I have no dog in this fight, and think this ought to be a sticky, or better yet in the vendor hall of shame.:moonu:

 

what can I say this is the engine Jim built for me minus the air cleaner see thread http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=91253 I wasn't over charged, But it definitely wasn't the engine Jim made it out to be. that's why I had it rebuilt two years later , But that was an even bigger mistake on my part.

 

I spend $6700 at PAE for engine parts, TA SE1 heads,a tranny, .......a year and half ago (june 2008). Paid everything in advance. Mr. Burek told me it should take about a month (max 2 months) to finish it all and ship it to Belgium. Till this day not seen any of these parts (AFTER MORE THAN ONE YEAR). Several months ago I asked my money back. Not have seen any refund. Looks like my money was used for other projects.
In all that time J. Burek not once did the effort to call me.I believe when you are owner of a business, you have to take your responsibility to work out a solution for your customers.
Believe me I send him a lot of emails and did a lot of phone calls to Texas, without any result at all. The only reaction was: we are working on it.
I like to know what the pro PAE people have to say about this. In my eyes this so called "buick guru" is no more than a incapacitated man that should learn to do business in a proper way!!!! Not asking money for things you can't deliver.
This was the first time I ordered (for such a large amount of money) parts in the USA. Man, I'm seriously disappointed.

 

can someone explain this to me? i've been repairing cars for 37 years. every shop i've ever worked for has never gotten a dime in advance. do the work and you get paid. why would anyone hire an engine builder and pay for the entire job up front? i realize they need a deposit. why not 25 or 30 percent down, then pay the balance when you pick up the engine?

 

Maybe because he was not from this country? I wonder who suggested PAE to get things done. I would think that if you want a performance motor you would call TA Performance to get things like this done. Being from overseas someone somewhere had to suggest Jim Burek to get it done. I would go yell at that person for suggesting him. It is too bad he wont own up to the money someone spent.

 

I will field this one. I was not aware of the protocol when it came to having an engine built. I used poor judgement, I trusted someone that came highly recommended, I upheld my end of the agreement. I agreed to pay for an engine, he agreed to build an engine. Im not really proud of this episode. Its been frustrating, Im angry, Ive lost sleep over this deal. To have others come on a thread where I already feel like a jackass and say "you waited 4 years,tell me your kidding" and "why would anyone hire an engine builder and pay for the entire job up front" just to put it politely, doesnt help. I did what I thought was the right thing. I screwed up and trusted a highly regarded member of the Buick community. (at the time). Yeah, after the fact I see what I would have done differently. Ive paid for 3 engines for the same car and I have zilch to show for it. Its past getting old.

 

In my experience with machine shops I have always paid for the parts and a little more up front. I have never got an engine back when promised and have always waited what felt like an eternity. But luckily for me in the end I always got what I paid for. I have never used this company and would never even consider it. Thank you for starting this thread.

 

wayne, you didn't post on this thread until after my post. why do you think my question was referring to you? i meant anyone in general. i'm sorry if i offended you, that was not my intent. i was stating my opinion, i'm not the bad guy here.

 

Dont apologize. My attempt to convey my side of how and why I handled my dealings makes me mader at myself than anything else. You are correct. You are not the bad guy. Your opinion hit a nerve and thats my problem, not yours. I owe you the apology.

 

this is why I do all my own machining, or my buddy does it if I dont have the time

 

It seems to me this thread is about 9 years too LATE (and probably ought to be a sticky).:spank: :rant:

 

Great guy to deal with on the phone, Dad even made a trip to El Paso to see his operation...BUT -

Several things he bought were not even close to what they were supposed to be...Tranny -junk, torque converter - junk, bought a car with one of Jim's motors and a dyno sheet from Jim...NO WAY the car made the power claimed- and you should have seen the parts inside- and don't even ask about the PAID in FULL aluminum motor.......that never became a reality.

After nearly 2 years and countless excuses and promises the money came back, but from VISA....who then had to go after Jim.

Very, very sad deal....he was (and is) a Buick legend of sorts....now its just all for the wrong reasons

 

There is no reason, that's just it. I paid $500 up front and the remaining $5,500 when the motor was done. Phone calls in between to work out the details, some from me to them, some from them to me.

That's the ONLY way it should work. Full money up front leads to a hose job ultimately.

 

Well I guess I was one of the lucky ones got a very good engine at a good price but then again that was 2003. Even though he was a pain to deal with.....

 

Well...

I think you guys have gotten the point across. As a vendor, I hate to see threads like this, because it shakes the confidence of my potential customers.

But this has been building for a long time. Many, if not all of us in the Buick engine building business have had projects take longer than we wished they would, for one reason or another. That is one issue, but one that can be overcome if the work and end result is good. The final product is the most important thing here, it would be great if you could get a perfect engine in a week, but as one of my machinists says, "This ain't Walmart or Target, things take time"..

But quality really has been the most troublesome issue..

Personally, I have seen a number of items from PAE, and was disappointed, if not outright shocked, at what is going out the door, and has for some time now. I have heard many more stories, from fellow vendors. I think Jim's heart is in the right place, but he simply doesn't have the resources and technical skills required to follow thru and make is products perform as they should.

I also think that his understanding of what is acceptable in the automotive industry is somewhat below the industry standard. I learned this ten years ago, when I had one of his converters cut open, and watched the professionals in the converter shop stand there and shake their heads in dis-belief.

These were always a bigger concern in my eyes, than any wait time issues.

I hope that Jim can turn it around, and at least make his current customers whole again, with either good product, or their money back.

At this time, I am going to lock this thread, but will re-open it if positive developments can be reported, or if another member has a compelling story he feels he must tell. I don't wish to see even a competitor of mine, and someone I don't have a lot of respect for, dragged thru the mud here.

It's kind of a downer.. but the word is out now, and I will leave this as a sticky topic.

JW