I am on here. I have been around for a few years. Built my gen Pu myself, car makes over 650hp. I know my way around this platform fairly well. I had known KJ through forums and Facebook for years. We had done some parts swapping, shipping stuff out of state without money based of pure trust. I felt he was a trustworthy guy based on those transactions. The car was said to have a sticking thermostat, and KJ not being mechanically inclined, didn’t have the resources to fix the car himself. He told me he was losing his job, had found out his ex gf was pregnant and had flooded his daily driver, which was being totaled out. He was selling the car “due to financial reasons”. The car was running in a video he had sent me, not smoking, sounded smooth, etc. After the money transaction had taken place, I setup transport. There were some issues with transport, which was out of my control. It was supposed to be picked up Sat 9/21, the truck had broken down 400miles away. KJ was pissed, I told him I would cancel the transport and find a new one and reschedule, basically eating the cancellation fees at his convenience. He told me not to, the transport would be there the following day, Sunday 9/22. The transport had some more issues with hydraulic lines, which again delayed the pickup time. Again, I told him let’s just cancel it. I’ll hire a new transport and delay it until he has availability to have the car properly loaded. He denied, said he would wait it out. I apologized for his inconvenience, etc. When the transport arrived, he basically gave the guy the keys to the car and took off. He was pissed that it was raining, he “ruined his brand new shoes” walking through water, had to go to a birthday party, complained how he has a life to live and not wait around. Pretty irresponsible as a seller imo to leave the car there. So I contact the transport to get the mileage information via pics, since KJ had not signed the BOL, releasing the car to the transport. When the car arrived, the mileage was exactly the same as when it was loaded, not even a tenth off. Upon arrival, I visually inspected the car, which wasn’t in the greatest shape. He had mentioned some imperfections, but not to this level. The interior had trash, old food, reeked of marijuana/cigarettes. Oh well, I can clean it up. I drive the car from the road to the driveway, maybe 150 feet. The car is instantly at 200*. I check the coolant reservoir. It’s empty. I fill it with coolant, pressurize the system. Coolant is leaking from the water pump, multiple hoses. I pull the plugs, cylinder 4 has coolant in the piston bowl, from 20psi of pressure applied to the cooling system. Awesome! Compression test, cyl 3 and 4 are dead. I also find the positive battery terminal arcing on the frame rail from the battery relocate, as well as the aux fuel power wire broken. I contact KJ about it, he tells me the car ran fine on the way to the transport, didn’t go above 185*, and then tells me he did one last pull on it, mind you the e85 in the fuel cell was sitting for 5 months, sends me a video of him 2 stepping the car, etc. Then he basically writes it off, says he sold me a “project car” as is. So I said “ is there anything we can work out to remedy this situation, as I was sold a car under false pretenses that it only needed a thermostat. He Recommended parting the car out to get my money back. Hmmm. Basically told me he wasn’t responsible for it, and ghosted. I made a post on Facebook. I was contacted by several sources which I was asked not to exploit. Sent screenshots of conversations basically acknowledging he blew the car up racing a bike and a corvette. Parked it and was contemplating fixing it or parting it out. Should I have dug deeper before purchasing? Sure. Was I blindsided by someone I considered a trustworthy friend and known member of this community? You bet I did. Did I consult legal advise and contact him informing him that I would like to settle this like responsible adults before taking any civil action against him? I sure did, and basically told me to fuck off. So I made the post on Facebook where I found the true KJ through members of the community, Texas locals who knew him, etc.
As the car sits, it’s in pieces now. There have been a handful(more like fuck ton) of issues uncovered that are in the process of being repaired. I am still up in the air whether or not I am going to invest any more money in this pos or just begin a partout.
