[lovethetrees]

Hello all, the transmission went out in my r35 in 2021. Farooq built my friends 2k+ car, so i thought he was legit. I call him, he says he has a 2016 Shep4. I ship him my car, he puts it in and i get my car back. Less than a month the transmission went out. I sent it back to him. He sends it to Shep. I call and talk to Shep, turns out the transmission is a wore out 2010. Shep told me he built the transmission in late 2010 early 2011, it has wore out parts, discontinued parts, the build method isnt even the same now, and would not suggest running it. After this i hired an attorney. In writing Farooq agreed to rebuild it completely with all new parts and ship it back to me. Farooq told Shep to only fix what was broken. Farooq updated my attorney a few weeks ago that the trans was in. Well, my car is still there, and he will not answer me or my attorney. Also the VIN has been completely removed and the pan looked like shit. posting those pics so you can see.

 

[lovethetrees]

Also, when he switched my transmission out, i upgraded my BOVs.. which he never sent to me, then I found out he sold them to someone

 

[GTRheritage]

He was in a pretty bad accident,not that long ago,from my understanding he had to be pulled out of a burning car.
Have you had my contact lately?

 

[lovethetrees]

yes he already had my car before the accident. he has also talked to me and my attorney since. he's had my car since 2021

 

[lovethetrees]

He was in a pretty bad accident,not that long ago,from my understanding he had to be pulled out of a burning car.
Have you had my contact lately?

so this explains why he sold me a wore out 2010 instead of the 2016 he said it was?

 

[WideRide]

He has had your car continuously, since 2021? That's ridiculous. I'd do whatever it takes to recover the car ASAP, regardless of the transmission situation and then handle the legality of what's left beyond that. Who knows what's happening to the car.

 

[lovethetrees]

He has had your car continuously, since 2021? That's ridiculous. I'd do whatever it takes to recover the car ASAP, regardless of the transmission situation and then handle the legality of what's left beyond that. Who knows what's happening to the car.

yes i am trying.

 

[lovethetrees]

text from Farooq last year.

 

[gtrbillet]

Crazy. Where are you located? I'm not far from his shop. If he'll release it I can bring it here to my shop for you and then arrange shipping to you or whatever is needed. Let me know if I can be of any help.

 

[lovethetrees]

Crazy. Where are you located? I'm not far from his shop. If he'll release it I can bring it here to my shop for you and then arrange shipping to you or whatever is needed. Let me know if I can be of any help.

im in memphis, tn. if only. he is not answering me or my attorney at all.

 

[droptopp]

In all honesty you should not even be contacting him directly if you have engaged an attorney. If your attorney hasn’t told you this, then maybe look for a new attorney ?

I’d let it play out, id ask Shep for a OneK trans with core and have the attorney come up with a number for loss of car for 12+ months, aggravation, and then amend your filing to cover all these costs.

This is clearly either a gross error or fraud, with the latter being course to pierce an LLC if he is indeed structured as such. But if he’s not answering your attorney, you can just file the car, get a summary judgement and freeze his personal and business accounts. If he fights it, with the way the courts are backlogged, if you don’t agree to some type of arbitration or mitigation, I would plan on this taking years.

Sorry you are going through it, but anyone that’s built a GTR has to some degree had to deal with things like this. I remember recently someone posted Shep stage 1 rebuilds being passed off as One Ks.

So I guess the moral of the story is, document and cut your losses, pull your car out of there on a flat bed and move on as many of us have had to do over the years with this platform.

Personally if John will take it, just have it sent to him in Ohio and be done with it.

Edit : FYI last I knew removing a serial number from a transmission is illegal, id check your state laws as well as whenever his shops is.

Edit 2: Yep it’s Federal not state regulated :

1364. Altering Or Removing Motor Vehicle Identification Numbers

This is archived content from the U.S. Department of Justice website. The information here may be outdated and links may no longer function. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions about the archive site.

www.justice.gov

 

[lovethetrees]

In all honesty you should not even be contacting him directly if you have engaged an attorney. If your attorney hasn’t told you this, then maybe look for a new attorney ?

I’d let it play out, id ask Shep for a OneK trans with core and have the attorney come up with a number for loss of car for 12+ months, aggravation, and then amend your filing to cover all these costs.

This is clearly either a gross error or fraud, with the latter being course to pierce an LLC if he is indeed structured as such. But if he’s not answering your attorney, you can just file the car, get a summary judgement and freeze his personal and business accounts. If he fights it, with the way the courts are backlogged, if you don’t agree to some type of arbitration or mitigation, I would plan on this taking years.

Sorry you are going through it, but anyone that’s built a GTR has to some degree had to deal with things like this. I remember recently someone posted Shep stage 1 rebuilds being passed off as One Ks.

So I guess the moral of the story is, document and cut your losses, pull your car out of there on a flat bed and move on as many of us have had to do over the years with this platform.

Personally if John will take it, just have it sent to him in Ohio and be done with it.

Edit : FYI last I knew removing a serial number from a transmission is illegal, id check your state laws as well as whenever his shops is.

Edit 2: Yep it’s Federal not state regulated :

1364. Altering Or Removing Motor Vehicle Identification Numbers

This is archived content from the U.S. Department of Justice website. The information here may be outdated and links may no longer function. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions about the archive site.

www.justice.gov

my car has way more HP that a 1k can hold. and yes i know removing a VIN is illegal, he doesnt seem to think so. already 2 yrs in.. how can i get my car? he will not answer me or my attorney? if i send someone to get it, hes not going to release it.

 

[droptopp]

Sorry - skipped over the build specs.

Show up with a flat bed and the local police with your title in hand.

So many stories like this over the years. I remember one guy spending $250k over 2-3 years and picked his car up as a roller and a separate truck with boxes.

Honestly no easy way at this point. Hardest part is going to find a shop that will take it next.

Good luck.

Maybe if someone on here knows Farooq personally they can call and mediate a release for you - if I did, I would.

 

[themack]

Sorry - skipped over the build specs.

Show up with a flat bed and the local police with your title in hand.

So many stories like this over the years. I remember one guy spending $250k over 2-3 years and picked his car up as a roller and a separate truck with boxes.

Honestly no easy way at this point. Hardest part is going to find a shop that will take it next.

Good luck.

Maybe if someone on here knows Farooq personally they can call and mediate a release for you - if I did, I would.

Unbelievable. But reality when there's another similar story to what is currently going on with my buddy for over 2 years with another NE shop - I'll keep names out of it but DM if interested..

The sad part is he's a nice guy and doesn't deserve it, but he couldn't stop bragging about modifying it. Even sadder is I've been through 2 turn key GTR's and 3 other cars that I've let him drive since his has been in the shop..

 

[WideRide]

Droptopp makes some great points. Even if you're in Memphis, I would get your documentation together and take some days off work and get up there to the shop in-person. Walk in the front door. It doesn't have to be a violent "tough guy" thing but it's a lot easier to ignore texts and phone calls than it is someone standing in front of you.

The car is yours and you have a right to it. It's a six-figure asset sitting there and it seems unlikely that the car is going to be finished in a satisfactory way while there anyway.

 

[s2k11]

Farooq has built and maintined 3 GT-R's for me. Nothing but great things to say about the shop and his service. Highly recommend but sorry you are having a rough time.

 

[lovethetrees]

Farooq has built and maintined 3 GT-R's for me. Nothing but great things to say about the shop and his service. Highly recommend but sorry you are having a rough time.

ya better check your parts.

 

[lovethetrees]

just some more proof for you. i have tons. emails, texts, audio, pictures, and Sheps testimony. this is him having to pay the court costs.

 

[lovethetrees]

well, my car is on hauler on way home. now the real work begins.

 

[shadeofnardogray]

Farooq has built and maintined 3 GT-R's for me. Nothing but great things to say about the shop and his service. Highly recommend but sorry you are having a rough time.

For quite a few folks, around the country/world, including a bunch of event/class champs, and not just GTRs. I'm one of those customers and have had nothing but great experiences working with Farooq and the shop, including race day support at events (for my somewhat non-standard build and learning how to deal with these things at 40psi of abuse).

That said, there was occasionally an absurd amount of gear moving through tight quarters in the old shop and i wouldn't put the rare mixup beyond any group of humans doing several similar tasks. Foul play however, makes no sense given reputation damage such activity would cause and the relative "profit" margin from bait-n-switch tactics - the cost difference between the 2016s4 and described 2010 is what... 10-20k (if the 2010 is effectively not built)? Thats less than a significant adverse track day event, than they make in a couple of days apace building V10s, mclarens, and GTRs (even "packages" much less the bespoke stuff), or than they clear on the one-off/competition builds. Moreover, just the storage of customer cars on-premises when space is in demand is a cost to their business... Clearly there's some outrage/acrimony involved, but seems to me that if it was an open and shut as the narrative claims, it would have been resolved immediately and in the (prospective) plaintiff's favor with the involvement of counsel. There tend to be two sides to every story.