Salvage Engine —how to know what they tell you is true??

[newTotheWoo]

Due to a recent mishap —broken timing belt— I opted to replace the whole engine rather than fix an engine with 130,000+ miles on it.

I put a search out on the internet and got a bunch of replies. Most had over 100,000 miles and ranged from $1,200 to $1,800. So when I found one for 27,000 mile @ $950 I jumped on it. The engine was purchased from Thoroughbred Auto out of New York but shipped from Minnesota?

The engine came a few days late, and several hours late— the semi truck broke down only miles from my school. So we had to wait for a new truck and ended up going after the engine at a different stop in our town. Well, my trailer had a flat, so I dumped it off back at my house. I then had to break into my friends garage to borrow his trailer, (had to crawl under a door to open the garage door to get his trailer out.

But back to my original question- they said it had only 27,000 miles on it. What keeps them from saying anything they want or what I may want to hear?

[JohnnyC]

Is there a VIN stamped anywhere on the engine? (don't know about that)... if there is, you could look up the history of the car. Or... you could call the place you bought it from and ask them for the VIN number for the engine you bought.

[Audacity Racing]

Under exhaust ports... VIN is stamped...