Les Turrall 2 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 If anyone out there is considering buying a Mintor petrol engine my advice would be to consider carefully before doing so. I had to send mine back to Italy for repair which was an absolute nightmare to get them to respond. Area 51 were supportive and it was only through Colins' determination, that I got anywhere at all. Eventually the engine was returned to me without any explanation at all regarding the faults and lo and behold, six flights later, the reed valves have given up. Colin at Area 51 is off sick, and to try and contact Mintor as a customer, is impossible. Never in my modelling experience, have I come across such shoddy, second rate customer support. It's small wonder that the Italian economy is in such dire straits if Mintor is anything to go by. Do yourselves a favour and leave these engines well alone, unless of course, your patience is inexhaustible. Kind Regards, Les Turrall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben goodfellow 1 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 i was very very lucky nearly bought one an m60. after looking about on net found out about loads of trouble with them so avoided it. your not the first to say about them and doubt youll be the las.t the funny thing is all the shops i asked about them (not including a51 ) said the were ok and had no problems ,, fly low Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Turrall 2 Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Hi Ben, They look nice and have power aplenty. Just the service is very poor when they go wrong. Looking at your comment, it seems they do so regularly!!!! Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben goodfellow 1 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 honestly, from what i found with people having problems it just put me right off ,loosing compression seemed be the one kept finding.. with so many proven engines to choose from why risk it ,,, fly low Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Miller Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 If you brought it from a retailer then it is their responsibility to sort out the problems for you and, since it appears to not to be fit for purpose, give you a full refund. Lots of protection for us consumers now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Turrall 2 Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Hi Dave, You're right of course. The purpose of this thread however, was to point out the failures of the Manufacturer in terms of it's customer support. No one wants to undergo a lot of grief in trying to resolve a problem. My advice was to simply let people know that Mintors customer support is non existent. The consumer then must make his or hers own mind up accordingly when choosing to buy that particular brand, or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 You are not alone Les a mate has a 38 that broke 6 months ago, still no joy. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Smalley Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 regurgitating what you have heard from other old post on forums is poor ben, but so is poor customer service, i spoke to area 51 many times before buying my mintor 38 and it has been fine for 12 months now so to come on and slag all mintor engines off is very shoddy especially when you dont own one, mintor had a few problems a few years ago and i have been assured that those problems (piston rings) have gone away, certainly mine seems good so far, as with all thing there is no such thing as perfect product, but the distributor is your only port of call, if it is within warranty they should repair or replace quickly, if not get the bits yourself and do it, i assume the reed valves are in the walbro carb and not the mintor engine !! still if the customer support is as bad as you say then they will not last long, lets hope i never have to find out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtom39 Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 I would second Lee's observation. I have the 22cc and 33cc Mintor engines which I have owned for just over a year. These run very well. I had along chat with Colin at Area 51 when I was thinking of buying them. I had reason to contact them for spares (following a degree of pilot error) and had no problems in obtaining these. I'll be looking to buy another 33cc shortly and will be happy to do this with confidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Turrall 2 Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Well, another mans' meat is another mans poison. I wish you good luck and hope your engines perform well and you enjoy superb after sales service. Regrettably, that has not been the case in my experience. I emailed Area 51 with a request for a reed block or replacement reed petals on 9th April. despite all the efforts of a gentleman who is holding the fort for Colin, I am still waiting. I've even Emailed Mintor on three separate occasions in an effort to approach this problem from a angle. Result..............Zilch. I hope your engines continue to perform well but do bear in mind, that if you do require any sort of support, be prepared for a very, very long wait. By the way, Mintor provide Walbro carbs and therefore should, in in my view, be responsible for the walbro parts. Heyho.... Certainly won't be buying another!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Pretty much same for my mate Les.... Area 51 have done their best to help, the problem is Mintor in his case. He only wants to buy parts, loves the motor, can't get a reply from them. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Turrall 2 Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Hi John, It is a pity that Companies are so blasé and have little or no regard for their customers. They seem to have lost sight of the fact that without customers they have no business. Still, whilst all is going well, no problem exists. It's when problems occur that a Company can enhance its reputation. I feel sorry for your friend, whose experience is similar to mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben goodfellow 1 Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 i have heard lots more bad about mintor than good thats why i didnt buy one . i was not prepared to be part of what seems to be a lucky dip with them when theres mvvs da 3w dle dla zen and all the others you dont get much bother with. each to there own and all that but i wont ever buy one .. fly low Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Smalley Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 just type in any of those makes in google and you get loads of "problems" there is no getting away from it Mintor has in the past had major problems, things seem to be much better now in terms of reliability if not customer service, what never helps anyone, is people who have read this and that and repeat it, as fact, it helps no one make an informed decision, i too had read all those forum posts about lost compression and rings destroying themselves, but those posts are a few years old, and that with actually talking to the uk distributor persuaded me to go for it, and so far it been a great engine. John actually states he "loves the motor" so it must not be that bad really!! les you are right the walbro carb is still part of the engine but it is not really a reflection on the reliability of the engine block, maybe Area 51 will actually come on and comment when well enough, personally my opinion is that the distributor should hold a good amount of spares or at least have a good agreement with the manufacturer that spares can be easily sourced and quickly as a customer of mintor i would be very interested in their opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Turrall 2 Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Hi Lee, So would I. However, I won't be holding my breath. The problems I had with mine, only this year I might add, Involved loss of power, noise and at least 2mm of end play on the crankshaft when measured at the prop ends. This was when the engine was hot. when cold, no play at all!! Repaired under warranty after a shed load of grief and finally sorted by Colin at Area 51. six flights since and the reeds have cracked and the engine is dead. This was reported to Area 51 on the 9th April. Fed up with repeated phone calls to chase up progress so decided to try contacting Mintor direct, by Email, on several separate occasions. No response at all so far. I have since sourced my own reed valves adapted from a DLE111 engine. Shouldn't have to with an engine still under warranty, which I can't prove because Mintor kept my sales receipt!!! If you want shoddy after sales support, buy Mintor. I rest my case, but good luck with yours and I hope you don't suffer the same fate. Les Turrall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben goodfellow 1 Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 i can understand how a mintor engine owner would be compelled to defend them , there is still the undeniable fact that they have had more than there fair share of problems. coupled with non existing CS , really tempted now to buy one . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Smalley Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 nothing to do with compelled to defend just using our intelligence to actually report on what we actually find by actually OWNING what we are talking about, i am pretty sure if you read what has been written no body is actually shying away from what has happened to mintor engines in the past, and neither did Area 51, they were very honest and upfront about past problems and it was this honesty that persuaded me to purchase one, i own an MVVS, DLA, DLE, and now mintor, the DLA is the only one i have not been happy with, so again experience is what we are talking about, if the after sales is as bad as we are being told about, then this is a different matter, and again no-one is saying this is acceptable, but i re-iterate again experience of actually owning one, not regurgitating old stories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben goodfellow 1 Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 wow, if you own all those engines you must have lots of money, you seem to like the word regurgitating quite a lot are you going to keep regurgitating it??? now if you go onto the reviews on this very forum, if a plane or engine had really bad reviews would you buy one? i spent a long time researching and reading peoples opinions of these engines, and i found a lot more bad than good, infact the main good thing people seem to say about them is that they look good and thats it. i considered lots of OWNERS opinions and came to the conclusion i would stay well away because of all the problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bowker Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Their website has gone offline, have they ceased trading? **LINK** Edited By Allan Bowker on 12/05/2015 17:18:48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bowker Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Having contacted the largest distributor for Mintor in the US it seems that they have been forced to assume Mintor Motori have gone out of business. Mintor have not communicated with them for "quite some time" and owe them a considerable amount of money. Hang on to those engines, they could be worth something to collectors (or for parts!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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