Bad experience with Auto-RX, CS was even worse

[demarpaint]

If we want to help the OP I would suggest we don't turn this into an A-Rx bashing contest. Calling it snake oil or anything else negative will result in getting this thread locked. Searching the oil additive section will tell the pros and cons of A-Rx, and anything else anyone would want to know about the successes and failures of the product.

I'd suggest keeping it civil and try and make suggestions to help the OP get his $$ back, or the free product he was promised. Maybe he could sell that and recover part of his loss on the original purchase. JMO

 

[JZiggy]

Just an idea -- any chance the cam sealing surface had been damaged during the rebuild? I've had that come back to bite me before... rear main seal leaked after a rebuild, the crank sealing surface needed to be sleeved. Didn't matter if the seal was new.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: JZiggy
Just an idea -- any chance the cam sealing surface had been damaged during the rebuild? I've had that come back to bite me before... rear main seal leaked after a rebuild, the crank sealing surface needed to be sleeved. Didn't matter if the seal was new.


Anything is possible.

 

[kc8adu]

why would a rebuilt engine at that low of mileage need arx for anything but pm?
i vote oil consumption is due to not being broke in or a problem with the rebuild.the seal a surface problem,installation damage,or infant mortality failure.
otoh frank would be better off leaving cs to someone else.
the stupidity shown in that 3.0 camry thread was mind boggling!
recomending someone to continue to drive with a blocked oil pickup is insane!

 

[Trajan]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
I think your seal was already damaged and Auto RX may have cleaned the gunk that was preventing a leak.

Has this vehicle been poorly maintained?

I find this post dubious. Someone found this forum just to complain? I'm getting some suspicion of troll activities.


So am I.

If the product damages seals, why are not all the seals damaged? Why were my Z4 seals not damaged? (As an aside, I used it during the winter, with none of the problems some said would happen.)

And why are the seals on my Mustang not leaking?

 

[Mystic]

Quote from demarpaint-"If we want to help the OP I would suggest we don't turn this into an A-Rx bashing contest. Calling it snake oil or anything else negative will result in getting this thread locked. Searching the oil additive section will tell the pros and cons of A-Rx, and anything else anyone would want to know about the successes and failures of the product.

I'd suggest keeping it civil and try and make suggestions to help the OP get his $$ back, or the free product he was promised. Maybe he could sell that and recover part of his loss on the original purchase. JMO"

This is an excellent post demarpaint! We could really use polite discussion and civil behavior here.

I used Auto-RX for a while. It did seem to stop a seal leak on a car I used to own. Whether or not it cleaned my engine or not I cannot say. I have moved on from Auto-RX. It might be worth trying if somebody had a seal leak that was not caused by physical damage to the seal.

There are other, cheaper products that might be just as good or better than Auto-RX for cleaning an engine. Like MMO for example. And if a person just uses quality motor oil with reasonable oil change intervals that will certainly help. Synthetic rather than conventional motor oil might help.

 

[demarpaint]

Thanks Mystic. This thread IMO isn't about what A-Rx did or didn't do. It is about customer service or the lack of. The OP claims to have spoken to Rich from A-Rx about the product, and from what I'm gathering was told what to do and how to do it. So Rich in effect sold the product, that's fine, that's his job. OTOH he could have just as easily told the OP that nothing in a bottle can solve his problem, that doesn't generate near term income, but might generate future sales. The OP was not satisfied with the product, if the product does have a satisfaction guarantee, no B__S, no red tape, no reading between the lines, then give the guy is money back. Case closed!! It appears that isn't going to happen, and quite Frankly if I was the OP I'd be doing exactly what he's doing.

 

[Donald]

One builds there business around superior customer service. There are other high quality products out there besides Auto-Rx. The sponsor who sells the Magnefine filters seems to provide good service. He gave me a free filter to do a before/after test. I paid for the UOA's and he gave me a free filter.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Donald
One builds there business around superior customer service.


+1 Especially when the product or service is much more expensive than competitive products. Customer goodwill goes a long way, especially in this lousy economy!

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: 03wrx
Originally Posted By: stephen9666
I think your seal was already damaged and Auto RX may have cleaned the gunk that was preventing a leak.

Has this vehicle been poorly maintained?

I find this post dubious. Someone found this forum just to complain? I'm getting some suspicion of troll activities.


Did you read the post or look at the images of the seals? The engine had 10,000 miles on it after the rebuild. Yes it was properly maintained, it's hard not to after 10,000 miles.


Your pictures only show oil that leaked.

It shows nothing to indicate ARX had anything to do with your claimed issue.

I also don't see in your post where you say the engine was rebuilt and only had 10,000 miles. You did say this:

Quote:
I have an appointment on monday to have the seal replaced which will be roughly $400. Needless to say I am very much less than thrilled to be having to spend $400 to replace a seal with less than 10k miles on it after using your product.


That statement doesn't indicate that the engine was just rebuilt. It only claims that the seal was replaced less than 10k miles before.


If the engine only has 10K miles on it, that makes me believe even more that the seal was damaged or installed wrong. This isn't a seal that has been holding fine for many thousands of miles. It is a seal that was installed (possibly incorrectly) and started leaking very soon after that.

Plus, you wrote this:
Quote:
I have a 2003 wrx that was burning around .75 quarts of oil every thousand miles or so.


You have a freshly rebuilt engine that burns .75 quarts every thousand miles and you think it is something that ARX can fix? A fresh engine burning oil does not seem like a cleanliness issue, that seems like problem with the rebuild, IMO.

I've used ARX twice in two different vehicles and neither one developed any leaks. They both had far more than 10k miles, too.

You're not going to convince me that your aren't a troll by giving rude responses to my posts. That just makes me believe even more that you are trolling.

 

[demarpaint]

Again lets stop the finger pointing. Rich said he'd give the guy a free bottle. Rich works for Frank, Frank decided no cigar, and went against Rich. That is not how business should work, and there lies the problem.

I bet it costs more to ship A-Rx than it does to make it, and it seems like a real easy solution to make good on Rich's offer, or give the guy his money back. There is a satisfaction guarantee, it's quite obvious this guy is not satisfied.

I don't see a Troll at all, I see a disgusted customer. JMO

 

[Trajan]

No, we have someone saying Rich would give a bottle. Until Rich comes here and backs that, it's just his word.

Not good enough.

And he hasn't proved that ARX "ruined" his seal.

If ARX ate seals, then every vehicle would have that problem. The 'Stang is the third car I've used it in. and not a damaged seal in the bunch.

And having spent 20 years in retail, I'm here to tell you that the customer is not always right. And people who treated me like a pile of dog droppings got it right back.

There is a thread here about a guy who not only ran way over his oci, but used the wrong oil to boot. He insisted that Ford should make it good. They didn't.

And nobody here agreed with him.

 

[Trajan]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Thanks Mystic. This thread IMO isn't about what A-Rx did or didn't do. It is about customer service or the lack of.


The thread title says otherwise.

 

[demarpaint]

Trajan what happened to the satisfaction guarantee? The guy isn't satisfied. With a real, no loophole satisfaction money back guarantee it doesn't really matter what Rich said. The guy's not happy give him the cash back.

As far as the thread title, the title is about his bad experience and lousy A-Rx customer service. I was referring to A-Rx as a product, and bashing the product itself.

 

[Trajan]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Trajan what happened to the satisfaction guarantee? The guy isn't satisfied. With a real, no loophole satisfaction money back guarantee it doesn't really matter what Rich said. The guy's not happy give him the cash back.


If the OP isn't satisfied, that's why we have a court system. One of the reasons anyway.

He can sue. Or not. If not, he should move on.

Auto-Rx® is guaranteed to remove oiling system contaminants in motors, including rotary seals, transmissions, differentials, and power steering units. Heavily soiled motors will take more than one application. All other applications require only one application.

NOTE: Auto-Rx® does not fix damaged motors or broken engine parts. Auto-Rx® can do NO damage, as it uses oil as a carrier only. Auto-Rx® is a metal cleaner. It works slowly over time without harm.

FAILURE TO ADHERE TO THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL VOID THE GUARANTEE. BUT NOTE: Our guarantee does not extend to the seal-leak application because of factors that may be present in your vehicle, over which we have no control.*

Guarantee is good only if our application instructions are followed correctly.* Contact the Auto-Rx® team with any questions you may have regarding the proper application before starting. Write Frank Miller at [email protected] and your email will be forwarded to a support technician for reply. For any other questions, call 904-273-9098.

Don't see "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back."

 

[badtlc]

ask any tribologist and they will inform you there is nothing in ARX that can harm a seal.

Frank's customer service sucks. No new breakthrough with that nugget. That doesn't mean his product is bad, either.

You should be taking this up w/ whoever rebuilt the engine or installed that gasket in the first place. It is too easy to blame the guy you don't like on a personal level.

 

[Trajan]

Someone needs to say it.

Why want a free bottle of ARX if one is convinced that ARX use is what damaged the seal?

If the overwhelming consensus is that the seal is torn, well, that isn't a problem caused by ARX. That's part failure.

I wish Garry Allen was still around.

 

[03wrx]

Originally Posted By: Trajan
Someone needs to say it.

Why want a free bottle of ARX if one is convinced that ARX use is what damaged the seal?

If the overwhelming consensus is that the seal is torn, well, that isn't a problem caused by ARX. That's part failure.

I wish Garry Allen was still around.


Trajan, I'm not going to try to convince you that ARX damaged the seals. My word should be enough. Aside from a hole from pulling them out, they were completely undamaged. But please stay on track for what this thread is about, the bad customer service experience that came about due to the issue.

 

[MolaKule]

Quote:
I certainly don't want this thread be locked. If anything I'd like this to become a safe haven for other people to come and voice the issues they've had with Auto-RX (either with the product or with their customer service). It became clear to me rather quickly that posting on their forum would not do any good, and if anything this forum has a wide enough audience for people to be able to make their negative experiences known without fear of having their thread deleted or locked.



Would you object if someone voiced approval and the satisfaction they had with ARX?

Quote:
I inspected the seals personally after they were removed and aside from the hole that was put into them to pull the seals out, they were completely undamaged.


That still does not prove the seals were installed properly.

 

[Trajan]

Originally Posted By: 03wrx


The overwhelming conscensus was that a cam seal had torn.

He offered that he could look into getting a complimentary bottle of Auto-RX sent to me if a new PCV wouldn't solve the problem.




I'm not the one who got the overwhelming consensus. Or the one who decided that "look into" is the same as "I'll send you."

You also say that the seals are undamaged. So ARX did not damage them then.

ps, if this was about bad CS, then why the title :Bad experience with Auto-RX, CS was even worse?

And no, your word isn't enough.