I guess A limited lifetime warranty is not lifetime I have a new Lifelike engine that I bought in the 90s, yes the 90s I got two at the same time. I never ran them, and then put them in a box in the attic for the last 2 decades, I always knew that I had that box of n scale locos up there, and now that my attention is back to trains I got that box down. Now I have been checking the locos and when I put this one on boy did it "squeal" like a stuck pig, its brother ran fine. So I took it apart and could not find anything wrong with it I even did the drop of oil thingy.... so I gave lifelike a call, as the warranty says "this train is warranted against defects in workmanship and materials for as long as it is in the possession of the original purchaser or owner" hey thats me!!! so they say hey it was made in the 90 and is no worth the "price" to repair What!!! what happened to the warranty???? now I was willing to pay my fair share but 45.00 + shipping both ways... money would be better spent on a new loco- I just thought a modest charge and they would look at it fix it and send it back and at least I would have a loco instead of a pile of non-working junk. Now I would not have called them had it not been new But I'm tellin you it never had been run still in the plastic after all these years. Any ways what do you think??? What is a warranty?? how long is a lifetime?? is it the lifetime of the engine, woops it's dead no more warranty??? It looks like it is not worth the paper it is printed on. This is really not what I expected at all!!! Thanks for letting me vent JDB
Could be because Life Like is a different company,now owned by Walther's."Squeals like a pig" sounds like just a dry bearing to me.What locomotive is it? I had a pair of Atlas SD50's I bought years ago that I never ran,just sat in a box until I got around to painting them NS a while ago,just put them on the track a few days ago,one sounded AWEFUL..Put a little Lebelle oil on every bearing on both,quieted them right down.
I say go buy yourself a new loco that'll run better than anything produced two decades ago and don't get all worked up over this.
It's kind of hard for a company that doesn't exist anymore to honor a warranty. LifeLike was bought by Walthers and is no longer LifeLike. The name only exists for the recognition of the older tooling they aquired. As mentioned, there is probably nothing wrong with the loco anyhow. It is a dry motor or worm gear bushing.
I'm not worked Up at all, as I said "money better spent on a new loco", as to oil I did take it apart and oiled all the bearings. it still squealed it is just too old, I was just wondering as to warrantees I did not expect much if anything. and yes it is now owned by walters but they answered the phone when I called the # on the warranty. So tomorrow I will go the the LHS and get me a new Loco. and park the pile of junk on a sideing. JDB
You said it, they acquired everything about the company and that includes the warranties offered. I agree that it is likely a simple lube job that is needed and since they are new maybe a good 30 minutes each way to run in. The same model from Kato and Atlas locos don't all act alike so a Life Like made 20 years ago does not have much going for it in the first place. If I remember correctly even in the 90's some of their stuff had spring drives. YIKES!
John, When Walthers bought Life-Like, they were very straight forward and said that they would honor warranties when possible. The problem is, the warehouse fire that helped Life-Like out of the trian business destroyed the majority of the parts that were available. No parts, no service possible. As a dealer, we had to buy an axle set for an HO loco that had cracked axles setting on our shelf. Walthers wouldn't send them out as free replacements even though Life Like had known about the problem way back when and had a replacement program. The problem was, these were not Life-like parts now but from a Walthers parts production so they could no longer honor the Life Like warranty with Life Like parts. It sucks but I understand why it is. Fortunately, it was only a couple bucks to get the loco back on the rails and it sold a week or two later.
I understand all the problems involved with this particular item (Lifelike) I also did not know about the sale of the company/fire etc I was just commenting about "Lifetime Warranties, what is a warranty? and how long is a lifetime? Had lifelike still been in biz what would they do? This is what I know today do not buy any lifelike (HA HA) like I was gonna I will only buy kato, Atlas Etc. Sometimes you just wish you knew then what you know now. Oh and yes it did have the spring drive and I believe that that is the problem and with no way to attach the springs (oil in all) press fit it just slips. The guy was right not worth it to repair. It is just too bad I spent that money for nothing, eve though it was in the 90s still should have worked. Tomorrow is going to be a great day JDB
Bachmann's lifetime warranty is also no longer a lifetime warranty. They will honor the lifetime warranty as long as you have a warranty card on file for that locomotive from 2005 or prior. After that, it's two years. I've also run into that warranty problem with Walthers. I needed some parts for a Proto locomotive and called for parts or replacement under the terms of the warranty. I was told there was no more warranty, when Life Like was bought out, the warranty was for the lifetime of the company, and would I like to purchase the parts? I had no choice but to buy the parts, and pay the $14.95 shipping for them, to get it running again. I've since gotten rid of all my Proto stuff, except two locomotives. I will not be buying more.
OK, I hate to think you got a couple of dead engines. Which engines are they? Time for the braintrust to get your power back on line.
I sure wouldn't expect a 20 year old stored loco to run. I have several Kato and Atlas locos that after 3-4 years of storage they would not run. They needed cleaned and oiled and after running them a few minutes they run just like they did when new!
"Lifetime Warranty" I'm hearing a lot of misconception of what a lifetime warranty is. A lifetime warranty does not cover a product for a human lifetime. A lifetime warranty covers a product for the products lifetime and that is determined by the manufacturer. A "lifetime warranty" can be as short as 6 month. Just because you still are alive does not mean they have any obligation to fix something you bought 1, 2 or more years ago. A lifetime warranty is also typically voided if you don't keep up on the maintenance, in this case oiling and greasing an engine. Lifetime warranties usually aren't worth the paper they are written on, so buyer beware.
So the maker gets to determine what"lifetime " is. They could say that it means until it stops running.
Limited Warranties.......bah, humbug Limited Lifetime Warranty means NO WARRANTY, except if you can prove the unit itself untouched was defective. Good F'ing luck!!!!! I trust no one now. If any loco blows its cork now, instead of the self inflicted torture in sending it to the point of origin, I either try to effect repairs, use a local guy, send for the parts, use my own spare parts, improvise or cannibalize it or make it a dummy. I have sent my last loco to a "manufacturer"/distributor ever. Again, I trust no one, and it is a brutal shame it had to come to this. Heck, no wonder why NMRA and the HO'ers hate our scale so much, we are doing it to ourselves, starting from ALL manufacturers espousing this philosophy on down to ebay sellers. I for one, love N, and will be in it FOR LIFE, but that doesn't mean I like everything in the subculture. My practice has been subconsciously going to buying used, because the extra price pasted on "new" is gone. If the unit is defective, I just take my lumps and rationalize it could have cost me more. Thanks, manufacturers for getting together to come up with this new edict, and it is beyond coincidence that just about everyone did it at the same time (conspiracy?). I can't advocate to my fellow N scalers to not buy new, because that would stop production of new units or reproductions, and my used market will dry up, so just be aware of what you are buying when emptying your wallet in these trying times. Before pasting me to the wall, please believe I have reviewed just about every LLW word for word, to come up with this conclusion. But warranties are as only as good as the provider even under the best warranty and circumstances, so judge your actions on the worst case scenario. Again, please respect my credentials, I used to be a contract writer, manager and administrator, taught Business Law and Contract Law in college, so I know my way around a participle. Just heed my warning, there are as many loopholes in any "warranty" thanks to good lawyers, as the doily on your grandmother's end table. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
I wouldn't expect a 20-year-old locomotive to run "well" after 20 years either, but all of my fleet is at least 20 years old and after being in storage since about the mid-90s (with little or no lubrication/maintenance), all of them ran when I got them out, and with a little bit of maintenance, now run quite nicely. This doesn't include my late-60s Atlas GP40 (motor was burned out decades ago) or Rivarossi E unit (same deal here). For example, my 1968 Bachmann F9 was a little noisy, but quieted up a bunch and now runs rather smoothly (for a Bachmann, anyway). It even pulls quite well, which isn't bad considering it has dry-rotted traction tires. And my Katos (F3 and GP50) ran like a dream without so much as a drop of oil, even better now that I've serviced them. Anyway, I don't trust warranties either, generally. If I get a new loco (fat chance that'll happen anytime soon) and something doesn't work shortly after purchase, I stand my ground, otherwise I don't hold my breath. Just my devalued 2-cents, after taxes...
Just a note "all of the stored engines worked rite out of the old box except for this one lifelike (and worked well) and had I not remembered that I got both of them at the same time I would not have known that they both had never been ran, and I would have just chalked it up to old bad engine and tossed it, so even if it was 20 yrs old would you not expect it to work having never been out of the box. I know I did, its brother ran fine!!! and thus leading to my phone call and my wondering as to warranty status. JDB
Jack, It didn't used to be that way. Back in the nineties, Lifelike took great pains to make their customer base happy. Without question, you would send a non-working loco to them, and voila!!! One week later, and a new unit is in the mail. That pertained to all plastic frame locos, and when some transitioned to metal frames, they would replace a plastic frame with a metal frame version. Almost too good to be true, but it happened to me a few times. Lifelike in phone calls made no secret of their intention to make their customers happy and keep them completely satisfied. Same for Roundhouse, Atlas, ConCor, Bachmann, and even Minitrix.Model Power. Replace with kind, no questions asked. But knowing human behavior, I was careful to not abuse the privilege, but even among my circles, I heard stories about how these guys hoodwinked the big boys. I knew it wouldn't last, and it hasn't. Now, even Bachmann charges $15-40 for warranty repairs. Heck, I wanted to be upfront, and I purchased 2 dead E8's and the motors were completely dead. I sent them with a letter to Lifelike asking for a quotation for repair, and dippity do, they sent me 2 new replacements with a nice letter complimenting me on my honesty. I sorta expected life not to change, to my stupid and naive assumption. Now I have gone the other way, and will not EVER send anything away again. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
A very good friend of mine had send a Loco back to Life Like one time for repairs. I dont remember that the problem with the loco was but he had to send it in. Well about 3-4 weeks later he got a loco back and it was NOT his. They had sent him a NP steamer that was HIGHLY detailed and even had a DCC w/sound in it. Of course he scored like a bandit, but I am sure someone out there was PISSED off when they got the wrong locomotive back.
Back in the 90's I over-oiled a LifeLike GP38(cost 15.98 at ToysRUs) and burnt out the motor. When I enquired about a replacement motor, LifeLike sent me a new unit and told me to keep the bad one. Myself and all you people who scored better units than the one sent in for repair( remember new Spectrum DD40's for the old single truck version - even if bought off EBAY?) are riding on someone else's dime. Shame on us! PS Just read the Bachmann warranty for the old 2-8-0 Conssolidation. They state "This warranty does not extend to ...... or by unreasonable use including failure to provide proper lubrication while the locomotive is in the possession of any consumer". I imagine the LifeLike warranty stated something similar. Al
I learned a loooong time ago that a warranty is only as good as the company or people behind it. I have received EXCELLENT customer service from "Intermountain" on several occasions. I have received ZERO customer service from Kato. Guess where I buy my locomotives from now on??? :tb-cool:
