These guys aren't scammers, exactly; they're more like unprofessional hacks. I ordered an ECM for my 1998 Dodge Dakota in April to resolve an intermittent stall issue that was directly related to a well-known problem with the factory ECMs in these models. The first ECM they sent me was junk-- I installed it and the truck wouldn't even start. That was a step backward. So I called the warranty department, and they sent me another while I kept my core and the defective one they'd previously sent me. I installed the second one, and the truck started up and ran just fine. Finally, success. That was May 11th. Now, however, after three months of flawless service, the truck has started intermittently stalling again. The last time was at the bottom of an exit ramp. I blocked traffic while I tried for five minutes to get it restarted. Finally, I got out of the truck, opened the hood, and tapped on the ECM a few times with my knuckles. Luckily, when I got back in and turned the key, it fired right up.
That was last night, August 7th. Less than three months after install. I called today, and told the guy in the warranty department what had happened. He told me to send in the unit so they could test it. I asked him if he could send me a replacement first, like they'd done before, so I didn't have to pay for the shipping and live without my truck-- my sole means of transportation-- for a week or two. He proceeded to inform me that it would only be 1-2 business days. Apparently, he thinks the ECM will magically appear in his shop the very instant I drop it off at the UPS store 1300 miles from him. Shipping time, bench testing, diagnosis, flashing another ECM when they figure out that this one is junk, and return shipping time will put us well into next week, and today is only Monday. I'm a recent above-knee amputee and I haven't gotten my prosthetic yet, so I absolutely cannot live without my truck for that long. Even if it weren't a MAJOR inconvenience for me (which it definitely is), I still shouldn't have to tolerate it simply because these people can't stand to send me a replacement before they verify for certain what's wrong with the SECOND failed part they sent me. The guy said, "Well, the first time it was easier because it was just a few days after you bought it. But now it's been 4 or 5 months (this exaggeration was not accidental; it's actually been 3 months, but the longer he can stretch it, the more easily he can justify this crooked behavior), so we need to figure out if it's something in the truck that's causing the module to fail." Really? Was it something in the truck that caused the first piece of garbage they sent me to fail?
The upshot is that I'll never do business with these people again. They're dishonest and incompetent, and they will make you jump through hoops and inconvenience yourself to make up for their mistakes. Also, they make a point of advertising that they test each unit in a running vehicle, which is a bald-faced lie. Their shoddy workmanship is clear from the moment you open the package, because they use shitty paint to cover up all the deep scratches in the case from the abuse it's gone through while being roughly pried open and then carelessly reassembled. Two of the four tabs securing the case together on the first ECM they sent were barely hanging on because they'd been bent incorrectly.
Just save yourself the trouble, and go through your auto parts store or a reputable vehicle computer recycler. I found out the hard way that these guys have super-low prices only because they take shortcuts, rip people off, and sell used parts as remanufactured. Now you've just found out the easy way. read more