Help to resurrect the dead, automotively speaking of course!!

[oxygene]

1 hour ago, The Raven said:

Such as mine.

legally where do you stand going to the place that has or had your stuff and taking it back? 
 

 

Unsure of my next move right now, still working through in my head as it were

[oxygene]

45 minutes ago, mplavery said:

Been there mate .. really feel for you

 

my car was in the bodyshop for a complete colour change and bodykit. 
 

I knew the guy for years as he traded with us

2.5 years later he only added and kinda blended the rear bumper 

I went to the police and said I’m going to get my car no matter what.. what can he do legally about it.. they told as he done work no matter how big or small he legally allowed to keep it until he is paid the work.

 

long story short I had to pay him £700 to get the car back

 

I lost some of my original bumpers and door mirrors but I was just happy to get the car back at the time.. back then bumpers and mirrors wasn’t much value anyways

 

personally I’d go round to his house if you know where he is… people like that boil my blood 

 

I never go with company’s without lots of research now.. and never have friends do anything either lol

 

really hope you get your stuff back 

 

what engine was it ? TT ? 

That sucks too!

Original engine and a TT, with uprated chargers as well so I'm preety Ped right now.

He came recommended on here, that's why I went with him.

I had issues several years ago now with Abbey Motorsport, who again came recommended by a Skyline mate of mine. The work took ages to be done and evetually got the car back, but just lots of hassle along the way.

[oxygene]

Have just taken some pics from the rear and underside of the car.

As suspected it's all been  stripped, so my shopping list has just got a whole lot longer.
All the electrical wiring has been stripped from the engine bay as well, so im pretty Fed in getting this sorted quickly. 

Am feeling pretty gutted right now as when my car left in November 2018 it had all its equipment and now, I pretty much have 4 wheels and a body and nothing else.

Please let anyone else pile in and protect this guy, I'm ready for you!!!!

[The Raven]

i would drive to the shop and make an effort to get it all back 

[Annabella]

No diff either. Unbelievable.

[Scooter]

You can see more work done here re the suspension bolts and arms and general tidy up and so if you had your whole drive train it would still smart but at least you'd have all the bits to finish. 

TT engines seem rare these days, auto boxes and open diffs not too expensive. You could look into a V8 or NA as a means to get mobile? but probably not what you want. 

 

[oxygene]

12 minutes ago, Scooter said:

You can see more work done here re the suspension bolts and arms and general tidy up and so if you had your whole drive train it would still smart but at least you'd have all the bits to finish. 

TT engines seem rare these days, auto boxes and open diffs not too expensive. You could look into a V8 or NA as a means to get mobile? but probably not what you want. 

 

I’m arranging to get it to a local garage to get the body checked over and make sure at least that is sound and then work out what I’m going to do next. 

I called James again on the numbers I have for him and left voicemails but don’t expect to get anything back.

So to those who are still protecting him and think I’m not playing fair, he is still not answering me nearly 3 months on from having contact from him last. 

[Noz]

There must be a reason for this all going missing. Surely you can't just rob someone's parts, all items of value.

Why can't you take him to court to return your stuff? Surely that's logical step instead of buying another engine.

[oxygene]

1 minute ago, Noz said:

There must be a reason for this all going missing. Surely you can't just rob someone's parts, all items of value.

Why can't you take him to court to return your stuff? Surely that's logical step instead of buying another engine.

I’m investigating this now and will look at taking legal advice on it too.
 

One of the problems I have is that he doesn’t seem to have registered an actual business, as I have checked. He doesn’t appear on the company books or any other companies either as again, I have checked. 

All I know is that he has had £15k of my money and also has my Engine with hybrid turbos gearbox, diff, prop, rads, etc. I have 4 wheels and a body that’s all and am deeply angry. 

[Supra-love]

57 minutes ago, oxygene said:

I’m investigating this now and will look at taking legal advice on it too.
 

One of the problems I have is that he doesn’t seem to have registered an actual business, as I have checked. He doesn’t appear on the company books or any other companies either as again, I have checked. 

All I know is that he has had £15k of my money and also has my Engine with hybrid turbos gearbox, diff, prop, rads, etc. I have 4 wheels and a body that’s all and am deeply angry. 

You are correct there has never been a registered company under James according to company’s house and gov sites. He’s basically a sole trader going under a made up name.

I think your best port of call is get legal advice and maybe call the correct authorities as it can be classed as theft, you’ve paid your bills and have the messages to prove this! Your not the only one that’s been affected mate so your not alone.

People will have something to say because they have had work done by him which ended satisfactory, unfortunately none of it helps the situation in getting your car the way you paid for it to be, and doesn’t excuse what he’s been up to.

I think even if he magically appears and gives you all the reasons under the sun why this has happened, it is a awful service and workmanship that’s been given, there’s no excuse for this to be fair, you’ve paid your bills for a full car to be finished and got a shell back. 

Although nothing anyone says can make it better at least we can support you by talking about it mate. 
 

[rider]

If it were my predicament I'd seriously consider selling the rolling shell as they are fetching good money these days and people can drop any motor and transmission they want into a shell which gives it a wide market base to appeal to. It would solve your problem of finding all the bits to get a complete car back together, which would be a nightmare of epic proportions. With cash in hand you can decide whether you want to go the Supra route or give it up as a bad episode, it'd be cheaper to buy a whole one than try to get this stripped shell back together without access to the original missing parts.

[raddys]

This is heartbreaking, what exactly did your 15k get you? I can see a few bolts that look as if they have been blasted but not much else? 

You're the 3rd person now that I know of that has been turned over by this so called "enthusiast" 

How can someone just return a shell a year and a half later.

Disgusting behaviour.

If someone starts a go fund me il donate some cash towards the people that have been affected by this individual, maybe with enough support from the supra community and if its shared across enough social platforms we could collectively help to get those affected back on the road and enjoying supra ownership

[jim_supra]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, seems like a total nightmare and fingers crossed you can get your parts back. Surely there are a number of members on here that are able to contact James and get at least some response on this, as for him to go dark and not respond to you or try to resolve this is out of order. If he knows where your parts are (as he's seemingly said in a previous message to you) then it's certainly not that difficult at all to get your parts back to you.

Hopefully it won't need to go legal, though given he's basically run away from these issues by closing his forum account and declining to respond to calls and texts then it does look like it may be the way you need to go.

 

 

[Josh42]

I’m pretty sure that if James has not registered a limited company, that he is liable personally.

Go down the route of small claims. It’s minimal outlay to you and doesn’t put you in the predicament of turning up on someone’s doorstep and being in the wrong place at the wrong time (and appearing to be the aggressor, as it were)

[Noz]

38 minutes ago, Josh42 said:

I’m pretty sure that if James has not registered a limited company, that he is liable personally.

Go down the route of small claims. It’s minimal outlay to you and doesn’t put you in the predicament of turning up on someone’s doorstep and being in the wrong place at the wrong time (and appearing to be the aggressor, as it were)

Yup. He's responsible. Unless he went personally bankrupt he's required to sort it out.

There must be two sides to the story and cause we don't know about. It seems insane to take money then remove parts. 

[Thorin]

You need to take legal advice on this. At the minute, it just looks like it's been stripped for parts.

[oxygene]

13 hours ago, Noz said:

Yup. He's responsible. Unless he went personally bankrupt he's required to sort it out.

There must be two sides to the story and cause we don't know about. It seems insane to take money then remove parts. 

If someone can get in contact with him and get him to contact me would be a start please?

I will gladly post up the full extract of a WhatsApp conversation I have with him. It only goes back to 2019 which is a bummer, but I at least have a conversation.

[oxygene]

10 hours ago, Thorin said:

You need to take legal advice on this. At the minute, it just looks like it's been stripped for parts.

Yeah, I have a week off next week so will put some time in to it more then.

 

[oxygene]

On 6/20/2021 at 8:17 PM, jim_supra said:

Sorry to hear about your troubles, seems like a total nightmare and fingers crossed you can get your parts back. Surely there are a number of members on here that are able to contact James and get at least some response on this, as for him to go dark and not respond to you or try to resolve this is out of order. If he knows where your parts are (as he's seemingly said in a previous message to you) then it's certainly not that difficult at all to get your parts back to you.

Hopefully it won't need to go legal, though given he's basically run away from these issues by closing his forum account and declining to respond to calls and texts then it does look like it may be the way you need to go.

 

 

I would love to get it sorted with the least amount of fuss possible, but as he has now gone AWOL I have no options to do that

[oxygene]

On 6/20/2021 at 6:22 PM, rider said:

If it were my predicament I'd seriously consider selling the rolling shell as they are fetching good money these days and people can drop any motor and transmission they want into a shell which gives it a wide market base to appeal to. It would solve your problem of finding all the bits to get a complete car back together, which would be a nightmare of epic proportions. With cash in hand you can decide whether you want to go the Supra route or give it up as a bad episode, it'd be cheaper to buy a whole one than try to get this stripped shell back together without access to the original missing parts.

I'm thinking aboiut it in the back of my head right now. I REALLY don't want to, but if the cost of getting everthing done is going to be too much, I'm gonna have to look seriously into it.

[Scooter]

Small claims procedure isn't going to be quick and with no contact details you might struggle to follow the stages you have to prior to making a claim.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court/

If you research on here you may be able to eventually locate people/him or someone on here may tip you off but probably unlikely.

I'm not being defeatist but the realistic way of this going forward anywhere near quickly is you having to spend more money. Getting it running with an NA drivetrain might only cost £4K or so for example, a TT with LSD perhaps £8K not sure as the engine is the issue with TT's not sure when I've last seen one?  

 

Figures could be way off just saying what I think you should calculate so you can see what may or may not work for you

 

[oxygene]

8 hours ago, Scooter said:

Small claims procedure isn't going to be quick and with no contact details you might struggle to follow the stages you have to prior to making a claim.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court/

If you research on here you may be able to eventually locate people/him or someone on here may tip you off but probably unlikely.

I'm not being defeatist but the realistic way of this going forward anywhere near quickly is you having to spend more money. Getting it running with an NA drivetrain might only cost £4K or so for example, a TT with LSD perhaps £8K not sure as the engine is the issue with TT's not sure when I've last seen one?  

 

Figures could be way off just saying what I think you should calculate so you can see what may or may not work for you

 

Oh bugger!

Well looks like I have a serioud decision to make then...

Guys thanks for all your support on this so far, it's much appreciated.

[oxygene]

Good morning all,

I have made a call to the insurance company and explained what has happened.

The long and the short of it, is that I have no legs to stand on and they will not do anything.

The work was undertaken by a third party, who is not a business and does not have any liability insurance, so as an insurer they will not help me.

The insurance I pay for which includes loss cover, will only work if the car was stolen and items were then removed from it by thieves.

So all in all, if I want my Supra back on the road now I need to fund it myself.

Am now Fed off beyong all recognition and if anyone stands up for James, they can go and do one I'm ready for you.
He has stolen my parts and gone AWOL and obviously doesn't care.

I will have to see what my next steps are and will keep you all informed, but thought I would pass on what I had got back from the insurance company.

[Supra-love]

1 hour ago, oxygene said:

Good morning all,

I have made a call to the insurance company and explained what has happened.

The long and the short of it, is that I have no legs to stand on and they will not do anything.

The work was undertaken by a third party, who is not a business and does not have any liability insurance, so as an insurer they will not help me.

The insurance I pay for which includes loss cover, will only work if the car was stolen and items were then removed from it by thieves.

So all in all, if I want my Supra back on the road now I need to fund it myself.

Am now Fed off beyong all recognition and if anyone stands up for James, they can go and do one I'm ready for you.
He has stolen my parts and gone AWOL and obviously doesn't care.

I will have to see what my next steps are and will keep you all informed, but thought I would pass on what I had got back from the insurance company.

There’s got to be something someone can do, maybe it’s a police matter now? Have your called the authorities?

[Noz]

This has in my eyes and still is, a court issue.

Not insurance or police.

I dont understand why you're not following that path. 

Its always been a situation of take him to court or take the hit. I dont see any other option. 

But if you don't take him to court. You have nothing to complain about really? As there's a procedure for things like this and if you choose not to follow it... then, you can't really moan lol?

I dont wish anything against James. And I hope you can both come to a fair arrangement.

None of us wish for this situation to happen to any fellow supra owner and I do truly hope you resolve your issues. But you need to use the tools available. Which will allow a platform for both parties to resolve their differences and you can reclaim parts or costs. 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Noz (see edit history)