CARS America, Hailsham

Nassau65

Nassau65

CCCUK Member
It’s no crime to go out of business, unfortunately it happens. What is criminal is to con people in believing their car is being taken care of, worked on, restored etc and taking money for same. Then removing and hiding the cars and not returning them.
he deserves a bloody good kicking, and if my car was involved, I’d make sure he got one. Period.
 
Mad4slalom

Mad4slalom

Well-known user
Chuffer said:
Maybe we should all get black balaclavas and pay him a visit along with all the other car owners he has shafted . He can then either leave his house in an ambulance or a body bag , it`s all the same to me .
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If he reads this he will probably “vette “ himself 💦
 
Roscobbc

Roscobbc

Moderator
Remember the black big block '74 Vette that featured on the tv resto show? When Pete Knodt's black 454 Vette was supposedly 'restored' by a seemingly endless line of 'experts', each one trying to make good of the F ups of the previous person quite a few perfectly working parts were strangely lost (never to re-appear) to 'new' replacements - like trick 4 speed auto and torque converter. Semi custom big bore exhaust system. Perfectly functioning calipers - the 'new' calipers leaked on his way home with total brake failure. And this was a tv hosted snow.......
 
Roscobbc

Roscobbc

Moderator
Nassau65 said:
It’s no crime to go out of business, unfortunately it happens. What is criminal is to con people in believing their car is being taken care of, worked on, restored etc and taking money for same. Then removing and hiding the cars and not returning them.
he deserves a bloody good kicking, and if my car was involved, I’d make sure he got one. Period.
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Its perhaps a 'social' crime when a sole or small trader deliberately dosen't pay his suppliers and wholesalers - a lot of the larger ones will, of course possibly have some form of indemnity cover for bad debt. Most suppliers will see this situation coming and put the trader on 'drip feed' backed-up with cash payments..........but you'll, get the ignorant, stupid suppliers who will 'feed' him goods and when he finally goes down he'll possibly take them with him........only to start up again in his wife's or a kids name and off it all goes again.
 
phild

phild

CCCUK Member
Javelin. I will e mail you the details I have on Simmons which were obtained legally via my solicitor and a licensed detective agency.

I see the thread on Pistonheads has been deleted not sure why its just disappeared.

As part of the evaluation of my car. now its back, reveals so far a list of missing parts such as the new convertible roof, engine bay wiring loom and more. Even the exhaust down pipes are missing which were on the car in the first place. The roof was paid for some three years ago so this isn't just a recent situation it seems. All items are listed on his invoices, going back to 2018, which I have paid for so there's quite a history of, potential, fraud. Also there's a lot of stuff which has been dismantled and left such as the gearbox. We're not sure if its the original yet but its been left in bits for quite some time as the internals are rusty!
 
Nassau65

Nassau65

CCCUK Member
Roscobbc said:
Its perhaps a 'social' crime when a sole or small trader deliberately dosen't pay his suppliers and wholesalers - a lot of the larger ones will, of course possibly have some form of indemnity cover for bad debt. Most suppliers will see this situation coming and put the trader on 'drip feed' backed-up with cash payments..........but you'll, get the ignorant, stupid suppliers who will 'feed' him goods and when he finally goes down he'll possibly take them with him........only to start up again in his wife's or a kids name and off it all goes again.
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phild said:
Javelin. I will e mail you the details I have on Simmons which were obtained legally via my solicitor and a licensed detective agency.

I see the thread on Pistonheads has been deleted not sure why its just disappeared.

As part of the evaluation of my car. now its back, reveals so far a list of missing parts such as the new convertible roof, engine bay wiring loom and more. Even the exhaust down pipes are missing which were on the car in the first place. The roof was paid for some three years ago so this isn't just a recent situation it seems. All items are listed on his invoices, going back to 2018, which I have paid for so there's quite a history of, potential, fraud. Also there's a lot of stuff which has been dismantled and left such as the gearbox. We're not sure if its the original yet but its been left in bits for quite some time as the internals are rusty!
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Your car seems to be in a bit of a state, very sorry to hear this.
Just wondering, you mentioned invoices going back to 2018, did you never visit your car on a regular basis to actually see what had been done, and where your money was going ? Not knowing the logistics his premises may have been quite far from you, even so, I would have thought regular visits to check progress would have been a priority.
hope everything turns out OK for you and your car. Hopefully somebody will sort him out.
 
phild

phild

CCCUK Member
Nassau65 said:
Your car seems to be in a bit of a state, very sorry to hear this.
Just wondering, you mentioned invoices going back to 2018, did you never visit your car on a regular basis to actually see what had been done, and where your money was going ? Not knowing the logistics his premises may have been quite far from you, even so, I would have thought regular visits to check progress would have been a priority.
hope everything turns out OK for you and your car. Hopefully somebody will sort him out.
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Yes, regular visits were made to see how things were going and to try and speed things up! Last time I saw the car was March this year shortly before he did his disappearing act and all seemed well he even said it would be ready so that I could enter some shows with it this year.
 
Nassau65

Nassau65

CCCUK Member
About 1987/88 I lent a 1975 corvette to a friend, he stopped for a late night Kebab in Edmonton North London, and while it was parked outside, a newly qualified driver smashed into the front of it.
I got Corvette Kingdoms name/details from the club, contacted the late Ray Groves who assured me they could fix it. We took it up to them in the depths of Norfolk in the middle of nowhere ( well to us Londoners it was) Ray was a lovely man who put my mind at rest.
I still used to “pop” up/in to view progress on a very regular basis to check progress etc, even tho not a penny was asked for. Just me I suppose, I like to see what’s happening.
Was very pleased with the repaired car.
 
Nassau65

Nassau65

CCCUK Member
phild said:
Yes, regular visits were made to see how things were going and to try and speed things up! Last time I saw the car was March this year shortly before he did his disappearing act and all seemed well he even said it would be ready so that I could enter some shows with it this year.
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So he’s done that to your car since March this year. What a bastard.
 
Ben

Ben

Administrator
Staff member
Ah, this is really unfortunate news, Phil. Sorry to hear this. I take back all the optimism I had been feeling about the outcomes for everybody.
 
phild

phild

CCCUK Member
Ben said:
Ah, this is really unfortunate news, Phil. Sorry to hear this. I take back all the optimism I had been feeling about the outcomes for everybody.
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Optimism is good Ben.:) I have the car back now and its in good hands at CCM Vettes in Snodland. Matt is doing a full appraisal and its salvageable, albeit at a cost, hopefully it'll be ready to show next year. I shall continue to try and recover the missing items from Simmons as that will help enormously.

We're also doing a search to establish if he's got any assets. If so I'll take him to court. So my wine glass is still half full. :)

I do hope all the others whose vehicles have suffered the same fate get them back.
 
Mad4slalom

Mad4slalom

Well-known user
phild said:
Optimism is good Ben.:) I have the car back now and its in good hands at CCM Vettes in Snodland. Matt is doing a full appraisal and its salvageable, albeit at a cost, hopefully it'll be ready to show next year. I shall continue to try and recover the missing items from Simmons as that will help enormously.

We're also doing a search to establish if he's got any assets. If so I'll take him to court. So my wine glass is still half full. :)

I do hope all the others whose vehicles have suffered the same fate get them back.
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not the best outcome but at least you have the car back and can move forward, good luck with the restoration and dont give up on persuing him for mucho compo 👍
 
Stingray

Stingray

CCCUK Member
Sounds like a result - notwithstanding the limitations.

What are your insurers saying at present? Clearly "invoiced but now missing" items may constitute part of a claim. Was the car insured "agreed value"? Even then, I'm unclear how insurers would decide what to pay out, since the car was in for restoration. Similar questions of cost/value would apply if you go to court, and going to court will probably be something for insurers to decide rather than you yourself. The usual basis is that you can't sue on your own if insurers are involved, because of the risk of losing and insurers then being expected to pick up the tab. So stick close to your insurers.

Decent result.
 
Stingray

Stingray

CCCUK Member
Just to add - make sure you've got it thoroughly photographed inside and out before CCM touch it. You need a 100% rock solid visual record of exactly what you've got back.
 
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