Buying A Used Supercharger??

Grabbin' Asphalt

5 Year Member
Jun 10, 2013
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Atlanta, Ga
So I'm gonna' try and snag one when I can, gonna browse web and look for one that's on the quieter side, at least at idle and not too screaming on the streets.

Sooooooo,

What does one look for for when buying one used??
Whats low miles considered??
Price range limits of buying used??
Normal price to rebuild one??
If i find just the SC is it hard to piece together or just stay away from that??
Anything featured that makes life easier, performance or up keep??

It would be a low boost application because of my .30 milled heads, btw would that help it being quiet because it wouldn't work as hard???

***looking to get boost certified :nice: and you guys know your stuff, so thnx again!!!
 
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Used superchargers are a sketchy thing in my opinion. Personally I would only consider buying one used if A i knew where/who it came from and trusted that source or B could see the unit fully operational before I purchased it. I'm sure plenty of people have had much success buying used and while I've never been burned buying used parts I'm always a skeptic.

If you are set of buy used I will offer you this guideline.
I prefer Vortech/Paxton and will not even consider another brand for a numerous amount of reasons of which I can elaborate if you so wish.
Always grab the serial number and call the manufacture. They can tell you when it was built and if there were any service records. This verifies the story you get from the seller. If the say it's been recently rebuilt then you need to verify that. If it looks old, chances are it is.
As far as mileage goes, I would like to trust someone but who the heck is trustworthy anymore?
If you are buying used expect to be in the 1,500-2,000 range for a good COMPLETE kit. I say complete because the cost to piece together brackets and hardware becomes very expensive very quickly.
Rebuilding costs vary depending on the damage. If you have a touched down impeller and you need the volute machined or replaced then we are talking big money, bearings alone could cost you several hundred dollars to have replaced. Typical rebuild cost that I have seen varies from $450-$900
If you are going to still consider going the used direction you will want to look for the SQ models from vortech (super quiet) or the Si models which are also very quite. I would not even consider a sn-89/sn-95, A trim, B trim or V1 S trim.

Compression makes no difference in the sound that the blower makes on the car. This is a tough road if you decide to go used. New kits are reasonable and very reliable. I personally can not afford to replace tons and tons of broken used parts and am very selective if I decide to buy items used.

I'm more than happy to help you with this so please don't hesitate to ask me anything.
 
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Used superchargers are a sketchy thing in my opinion. Personally I would only consider buying one used if A i knew where/who it came from and trusted that source or B could see the unit fully operational before I purchased it. I'm sure plenty of people have had much success buying used and while I've never been burned buying used parts I'm always a skeptic.

If you are set of buy used I will offer you this guideline.
I prefer Vortech/Paxton and will not even consider another brand for a numerous amount of reasons of which I can elaborate if you so wish.
Always grab the serial number and call the manufacture. They can tell you when it was built and if there were any service records. This verifies the story you get from the seller. If the say it's been recently rebuilt then you need to verify that. If it looks old, chances are it is.
As far as mileage goes, I would like to trust someone but who the heck is trustworthy anymore?
If you are buying used expect to be in the 1,500-2,000 range for a good COMPLETE kit. I say complete because the cost to piece together brackets and hardware becomes very expensive very quickly.
Rebuilding costs vary depending on the damage. If you have a touched down impeller and you need the volute machined or replaced then we are talking big money, bearings alone could cost you several hundred dollars to have replaced. Typical rebuild cost that I have seen varies from $450-$900
If you are going to still consider going the used direction you will want to look for the SQ models from vortech (super quiet) or the Si models which are also very quite. I would not even consider a sn-89/sn-95, A trim, B trim or V1 S trim.

Compression makes no difference in the sound that the blower makes on the car. This is a tough road if you decide to go used. New kits are reasonable and very reliable. I personally can not afford to replace tons and tons of broken used parts and am very selective if I decide to buy items used.

I'm more than happy to help you with this so please don't hesitate to ask me anything.

X2 . Buying a used supercharger or heads is a crap shoot unless you can go and touch them in person before buying. Everyone is selling a low miles, hardly used, never raced part that they just mocked up. :rolleyes:
 
Used superchargers are a sketchy thing in my opinion. Personally I would only consider buying one used if A i knew where/who it came from and trusted that source or B could see the unit fully operational before I purchased it. I'm sure plenty of people have had much success buying used and while I've never been burned buying used parts I'm always a skeptic.

If you are set of buy used I will offer you this guideline.
I prefer Vortech/Paxton and will not even consider another brand for a numerous amount of reasons of which I can elaborate if you so wish.
Always grab the serial number and call the manufacture. They can tell you when it was built and if there were any service records. This verifies the story you get from the seller. If the say it's been recently rebuilt then you need to verify that. If it looks old, chances are it is.
As far as mileage goes, I would like to trust someone but who the heck is trustworthy anymore?
If you are buying used expect to be in the 1,500-2,000 range for a good COMPLETE kit. I say complete because the cost to piece together brackets and hardware becomes very expensive very quickly.
Rebuilding costs vary depending on the damage. If you have a touched down impeller and you need the volute machined or replaced then we are talking big money, bearings alone could cost you several hundred dollars to have replaced. Typical rebuild cost that I have seen varies from $450-$900
If you are going to still consider going the used direction you will want to look for the SQ models from vortech (super quiet) or the Si models which are also very quite. I would not even consider a sn-89/sn-95, A trim, B trim or V1 S trim.

Compression makes no difference in the sound that the blower makes on the car. This is a tough road if you decide to go used. New kits are reasonable and very reliable. I personally can not afford to replace tons and tons of broken used parts and am very selective if I decide to buy items used.

I'm more than happy to help you with this so please don't hesitate to ask me anything.


Sweet exactly what i needed to know, I don't like ever like sketchy.
I want reliable for sure, thanks for the heads up :flag:

As I start poking around in this and gaining knowledge, I'll try and throw some more questions as the show up, thnx again.