I purchased a 5VZ-FE engine for my 3rd Gen 4Runner from Sunwest. I chose them over others because they had the heads already placed on the long block so I did not have to go through the hassle of dealing with putting them on. At first, everything was going great. I loved the product I received and it was beautifully done. Once I got the engine up and running, it was having an overheating issue. So what did I do? I replaced the thermostat, Then I had to replace my brand new radiator because it blew that apart. I went through three thermostats and of course went OEM. I contacted Sunwest and told them everything I had going on and the fact that it ran great without a thermostat installed. I told them the only thing else it could be were the head gaskets were placed on backwards. They assured me this was not possible in any way. After attempting numerous times to figure out what was going on, I caved and I needed to get it into a shop. I contacted Sunwest again and said it is going to go into the shop because I believe the head gaskets were backwards and if that was in fact true, they were going to be paying the bill. They said they would send me all the parts but the warrantee would be voided if the heads were removed. They also stated that I could take the entire engine out and send it back to them so they could do the work. There was no way I was taking the entire motor out again to make their lives easier. I wanted my 4runner running again so I went with the shop. I at this point was dealing with Kurtis and he was an awesome individual to work with and showed empathy to the entire situation. About 3 hours into the shop, they found that the head gaskets were indeed on the wrong sides. I contacted Sunwest and sent them pictures. They said they would pay $50/hr (which was for warrantee work) for book time which was 10-11hrs. Meaning they would only give me $550 for a job that cost me over $2k. And mind you.... This is 100% their fault. They apparently haven't updated their warrantee work labor costs since it has increased all around. I then talked to the owner, Leroy or Roy, something of that matter. He said it's truly sad that I went through that but I was lucky that I was even getting the $550 because I did the motor install as the owner. He said "It's a really fucked situation, but sorry" because all they could do is pay for warrantee work, according to their warrantee. I told him that in no way would it pay for even 25% of the bill. I told him that he either needs to cover it or he will see me in court. He said "Take me to court, we will not lose and haven't lost". Which goes to show that they have put out bad products and bad customer service numerous times. All I wanted was to get my engine fixed and get the funds recouped for what I had to spend. And no, I have not taken them to court because my time is more valuable than dealing with sleazy people who will not go above and beyond to make customers happy in the end. Either way, I will never use this company ever again, nor would I recommend anyone using them because they will ultimately screw the customer over, especially if it is their own fault. read more

These guys knocked it out of the park! Amzing work, great workmanship, old school customer service-remember the really good above and beyond kind, that's what Im talking about. read more

Sunwest Automotive Engine - My remanufactured engine. - Auto Parts & Supplies Near Me - Medical Lake, Washington

Absolutely terrible company refused to reimburse me for my core the motor blew up less than 20k miles.... They will not honor the warranty... read more

A friend of mine ordered a super sport 22RE from these guys. He sold the truck to me before he put the engine in. When I called them with the invoice number they assured me that they would give me full core refund. After fighting with them for weeks they finally settled on giving us $150 but tried to not pay us at all. Fast forward 20,000 miles later. The engine blows a head gasket. I contact them via Facebook Messenger. And they tell me to send them the compression test results. Test results came out to be 120 on cylinders 1 and 2 90 on cylinder 3. And 185 on cylinder 4. They come back at me saying that I wasn't the original owner so they don't have to honor the warranty. So my friend calls him cuz he is the original purchaser. And they say that they won't do anything because it's past 30 months and 30,000 miles. When you look at the original paperwork it says from date of install. And I showed them copies of receipts for flywheel and other stuff from LC engineering. They're just weasling out any way they can. I would highly recommend going with s&j engines or anybody else. These guys have no integrity! read more

Buyer Beware! I purchased a Subaru Long Block engine from Sunwest to replace my daughter's blown engine in her Forester. After having the new engine from Sunwest installed, within an hour of driving out of the shop, we noticed a rattling sound coming from the engine, and the Check Engine Light flashing. I called Sunwest, and was told that before they could do anything, we would have to replace the oil solenoid, which fixed the problem 99% of the time. It did not fix the problem, but it did give me another part and labor to pay for. Sunwest then asked for a video of the problem, then decided to have us pull the engine again and send it back. Labor and parts for pulling and replacing the engine a second time is about $1700. I had no other choice--I had it pulled and sent back. A week after it was received, I called to get a status on the engine and was told that there was a bearing issue in the engine. He said that it may have been a bad part or problem with the installation but could not find anything that the mechanic had done wrong. The engine was bad from the start. After a week of unanswered phone calls and emails, I was finally able to get ahold of the owner, who reiterated the fact that they would only cover $50/hr on the labor, per their warranty. This leaves me, the customer paying the remaining $72/hr labor and all the parts/fluids to have the engine installed a second time, which comes out to about $1100...for their mistakes. So, because Sunwest sent me a defective engine, I will get to fork out an additional $1400. It has now been in the shop for 3 months. Additionally, regarding the core deposit, the original blown engine that I sent back was deemed to be "too blown", so I will only be receiving $150 back rather than $500. So, because I chose a Sunwest engine, I will be paying an additional $1400 and the car has been in the shop for an additional 2 months from when we tried to pick it up the first time. read more

Mike & his guys have been doing engine machining for me since 1977, before Mike started this company. The slant six head he rebuilt for me in 1977 is still running. They have done serveral jobs for me since Mike opened this shop, & everything has been perfect with no problems, & have run many years since. These fellows have decades of experience under their belts & prices are excellent for the supreme quality of work. read more

Great customer service. Everyone was very knowledgeable and eager to help! I would highly recommend using Sunwest Automotive.

Went in to see if they could remove a broken valve cover bolt in the head of my ATV. They asked if I had 5 minutes and immediately took it back to work on it, which probably halted other work that they were doing. About 20 minutes later, the bolt was removed and they even resurfaced the head to make sure I was able to get a good seal. On top of their quick service they told me not to worry about any payment. These guys have excellent customer service and so willing to help out. Not only will I patronize then again, I will recommend them to everyone I can. Thank you Sunwest! read more

My experience with Sunwest couldn't have been better. Brian and his staff could not be further from the "used car salesman" stereotype that was so difficult to avoid in my search for a car. They exemplified fair & honest dealing throughout my interactions with them and I would highly recommend making the trip to Medical Lake to visit their shop. I left with a vehicle I'm confident in because they stand behind their work. read more

This company was local so we thought why not try them and we had heard both good and bad things about them. Well our experience was so bad that we wouldn't take a break rotor to them to be turned. Started out that we took a engine block into them to have it machined. They first quoted us a week to get it done, two weeks went by and my husband hadn't heard from them so he went to pick it up and they said they couldn't machine it (why they couldn't have called us to let us know this???) They then said they had a block to replace it. Another week rolls around and we go to pick it up but its not done, they couldn't find that block but they had another one in storage (again, why couldn't they call us??) by this time we have had enough and we went and bought another block and brought it to them where it took another week to machine it. We finally get it, our parts and some of the parts they quoted us would be included because they are so shady and didn't include everything they quoted us plus it was $250.00 more than our original quote. We get the engine back together and something didn't seem right with it. Took it to Ebel's automotive (who I do recommend) on Indiana and they are telling us it is a mechanical issue inside the engine with wrist pin which just so happens to be put together for us by Sunwest Machine shop in medical lake. Not only has this cost us more such as the $250.00 extra that they charged us but not to mention now this automotive repair bill and all the parts we have put into it to fix it. This has taken us 4 months and now my son in the military and not getting his vehicle. Thanks a lot for all the misery Sunwest. I wouldn't recommend you to my worst enemy. To all those researching. I would stay far far away from this place read more

My experience with this company has been a nightmare. I took my Toyota pickup to them for a rebuild and the truck I got back was a major disappointment from the get go. I took in a well maintained truck with 185,000 thousand miles on it and the truck now seems like a truck with double those miles, this is no exaggeration. Had a hard time getting it to start and they wouldn't even go over anything when I picked it up. I attempted to drive back to Idaho and 200 miles into the trip my exhaust pipe nearly fell off from the exhaust manifold and sounded like I was driving a farm tractor back to the house. The engine looked like it had caught fire as there seemed to be fire extinguisher residue or something on the valve cover and many of my original hose clamp grommets were missing and it had an overall untidy appearance generally. The coil wire was on upside down so it wasn't even inserted correctly to lock and click into place and all of this was just the beginning of the problems. I made it home from the 400 mile trip but now with only a little over 400 miles on the truck there is water in the oil so I have to assume the engine is worthless. Should also note that the truck had a major oil leak, they said it was the oil pump and supposedly fixed it but the oil pan is still leaking. All in all just a massive and extremely expensive disappointment from this company. For others thinking of using this company I have no advise other than please be prepared for the same letdown I am experiencing. I believe the warranty to be worthless because they know how hard it would be to get the truck back up there for repair. I think the old expression is "misery loves company" so if you get the same results that I received please know that we can be partners in grief for the extremely bad experience we are going through together. read more

I was doing business with these guys for a few months and service was always great. my first engine i bought for these guys actually ended up kicking in about a thousand miles but before the warrantee ran out so I called them up. Im no engine expert so i dont know, but Mike at Sunwest claimed the motor failed because of my mechanic who put the engine in. Anyways, they still replaced it for me again and honored the warrantee. they rebuilt the thing again and shipped it back to me, and now my toyota truck is running strong again. I only had to pay a few hundred dollars more to get it replaced again. This was a bummer, but not that bad. Im glad they honored their warrantee and took it seriously. read more