This is intended to help anyone thinking of buying a window motor from am-autoparts to make an informed decision. The information might also apply to other sellers of the same product.

I bought a window motor from am-autoparts to replace the seized up one on my 1994 Lumina APV.  This one, to be exact:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1994-94-Chevy-Lumina-APV-Van-Power-Window-Lift-Motor_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713Q2em153Q2el1262QQcategoryZ33706QQihZ003QQitemZ130204530892

The motor showed up a couple of days later, quite promptly. It was packaged in a fitted styrofoam shell inside a plain cardboard box.  Included with it were a small sheet of useless instructions, a bag with rivets and screws, and a bracket that is not used for anything.

The installation of this is fairly straightforward. The painful part is drilling or grinding the rivets that hold the original in. In their infinite wisdom, GM decided that this is not something that needs to be replaced.  Knowing better, I used bolts, nuts, and split washers instead of rivets. I was done with the replacement in about an hour. One thing to watch out for is dropping the glass. It really helps if someone holds it while you extract the regulator assembly.

The motor functioned for approximately two weeks. At the end of the second week, I tried to close the window after pulling up to a store, and the glass went only about halfway up before it stopped.  On the way home it fell the rest of the way down.

My first thought was that either the regulator popped out of the track, or a mounting screw broke. After driving for a week with the glass being held in by a piece of rubber wedged into the door, I finally got the time to take the door apart again.

It turned out that the regulator and motor are firmly bolted in place, the regulator and glass are properly connected, and everything looks like it should. The motor spins, I can hear it, but the drive gear does not turn. Apparently, the gearbox inside the motor assembly has self-destructed.

The following email exchange ensued:


Dear am-autoparts,
The window motor I bought from you through this auction has failed last week.
The gearbox is what fell apart - I can hear the motor run, but the drive gear does
not turn. That would make it only two weeks of service.
Do you have any suggestions?
- jpaganel

This product is a new aftermarket replacement part made to factory specifications.
We don't offer a warranty because we can't be sure that it was installed properly.
Thank you,
ebay@am-autoparts.com

In other words, "you bought our junk, and now you're SOL." Hilarious, isn't it? What makes this even funnier is that I already left positive feedback.

I should mention that the listing does say "All sales are final, no returns, exchanges or exceptions.", so the answer is not completely unexpected. The two-week lifespan of this motor, on the other hand, was not mentioned in the listing, and therefore was something of a surprise. I have bought other parts on eBay man times, and none have had such a near expiration date.

So, with this information in mind, I suggest that you think twice before buying one of those motors from am-autoparts. I am not saying you shouldn't buy them, and I am not saying they are useless. You might be a gambling man, and a $24 bet on whether the window motor works is that fix you're looking for. Or, you might enjoy ripping apart your car doors every two weeks and will buy these motors by the dozen. Whatever floats your boat.  Me, I'm going to look elsewhere.