$299 B4 Replacement turbo on Ebay

http://http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=230160138852&rd=1

Has any one else seen this? I spoke to the seller. He claims it is a EQI turbo. I have never heard of EQI and I can't find any info on them. Any thoughts, comments....

Thanks
Jake

you didnt give a ebay number---also--if this is the guy i think it is--if you look at the intake side--theres no posts there for the intake tube--

I've seen this before. It is NOT a turbo for a TDI.

FYI: I sent the following question to him.

Hello is this turbo a 100% direct fit replacement for my 97 Passat TDI?
I have noticed that the factory turbo has threaded bosses on the intake
side of the turbo that yours does not appear to have. Will you guarantee
that this will work without modification? Thanks

and his reply:

Yes, I've sold a lot of these turbos. They are missing the two intake
pipe screw holes, but everything else bolts up.

Now I am not going to argue with him, but how can it be 100% direct fit it doesn't have mean to attach the intake pipe ?

E-mail to him

Here is what i sent to him.

Hi,
So – with prices like that why are you not all over the TDIClub forums & VWVortex? I’m needing the tdi timing belt tools & a gasket set for a k03 turbo. I would also be interested in getting a new AHU Head – are these heads available? And are those door handles & kes vw factory? Or aftermarket replicas? I might want a set of those too. & who manufactures the turbos? I havn’t seen one for under 500 till today – that k04 TDI turbo is looking really good right about now! J - I guess I’m just really surprised not to find references to your parts all over the forums.
Thanks,

& here is what i got from him

HI, I guess I thank you for the encouragement. I’m a business man, and get 200+ emails per day. I don’t have time for surfing forums. I do have some exciting products like my K04 TDI turbo that I should advertise more, and I’m working on both a 2.0 turbo kit for $1000 and a bolt on GT28 turbo kit for the 1.8t for $700 that should stir some excitement on those forums. The forums are buddy buddy with certain vendors, and I don’t want to get kicked off the forums for pushing my products.
I have bare 1z heads. They will work on the AHU block. The door handles and keys are not factory. I’ve sold 4 of them with no complaints, so I ordered a lot more. The turbo is made by EQI, and comes with a 1 year warranty.

I was kind in my words with him & he was in return..... but it seems a bit fishy... chinese? who is EQI? & check out the website he has....
http://www.dieselvw.com/
& some chat i found on the guy including his name & address
http://www.vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=68307&sid=c9c71d027473111dca11ccc7e4c68223
i hope this is helpful in the endless quest for parts.
[/font][/font]

I just talked to a friend that was needing a turbo and he bit on this. I guess I will find out.

I'm pretty sure those are made in china turbos. They look very similar but the metals, bearings, etc., will wear out very quickly. You might even have the seal blow out and cause an engine runaway.

Nothing wrong with buying factory seconds intercooling piping, big problem with buying factory seconds intercoolers. No prob buying a cheap muffler, big problem buying a cheap injection pump gasket kit. Nothing wrong with buying a purse that says "gucci", big problem with buying "hella" headlights that melt the wiring harness. See the difference?

At those prices yeah made in china let's call them cheap how long will the seals last on those turbos? You know what they say you get what you pay for. The price is right thou, who will be the frist too try one of those turbos!

... who will be the frist too try one of those turbos!

Click to expand...

Answer is Ray G's friend (see above) and if Ray installs it, he may give us the low-down.

I doubt I will install it, but he just did a timing belt too, he does not have a vag com so I will set the timing when he is done. If he gets done! HEHE, I will report what I find..........
Ray

Was this el-cheapo turbo ever tested?

Yes, the one my friend bought is laying on the floor of the car and it won't fit, he got PO'd at it and sold the car!

A Hampton Roads local bought one of the E-Miata TDI turbos for his B4 and it failed on the first test drive. It was very unhappy.

Quality Parts for reputable venders is the only way to go.

I wonder why he (prothe) never speaks up here:
I MIGHT install one of his knock off manifolds, but anything important? Pump head, timing belt kit, turbo, etc, NO WAY
His stuff is made in China junk, we should all know it by now..

As a follow up, I bought something simple from him to try it out. It did not fit or work and he agreed to take a return. After that, no replies, no refund. I wouldn't buy a simple non moving, non critical anything from him since I paid shipping both ways so he could take my money. His products are junk, his website tactics are obnoxious, shady, and spammy, and on a personal level the guy is rude. His replies are polite in that linked thread but private email is another story.

Don't Do It!

What this guy does is fraud. He is a thief and I will bear down on anybody who defends him. BTW notice there is no manufacturers name on those turbos or warranty. The people I have hated in my 39 years of life I can count on one hand, this guy is one of them. Yeah, that is very strong rhetoric perhaps even sounding like it came from a madman. Trust me, it is completely justified. What he did to me was nothing short of obscene, it was beyond that as well as disgraceful. I will sound off with conviction everywhere I hear about him.

HERE:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=199567

AND NOW HERE:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=236740

He says he gives you choices. Suppose you had the choice to buy a $300 door for your house vs a $700 door and you picked the $300 one, brought it home to find out it will take you 3X as long to install because it was not meant for a house built with 2x4's. A year later your $300 door fails, rots your floor, and costs you hundreds of dollars in wasted heating fuel over the winter as well as all the time and disgust of replacing your door a second time with a new $700 one plus fixing the floor. Now, how would you feel about that $300 door salesman when stands there, looks at you with a straight face and tells you he did nothing wrong and actually did you a favor by giving you a choice implying you should basically be grateful?


This guy is an emotional issue for many people here and that should at least trigger red flags if not tell you something.