I think this post will cause a lot of arguments & i may possibly lose a few friends but its all true. Im not one for getting involved in arguments but ive got to make people aware of whats been going on recently. My swb has been with a zed specialist and very good friend Lee Dent. He got it back on the road, which wasnt easy. The car was missing a few major parts including a prop shaft. I managed to find one on facebook, a z1 lightweight prop so i was really happy to find that. i dropped it at Lee Dents not long after receiving it in the post. About 4 months later, after a lot of crap with the swb it was finally ready so i collected it & dropped my lwb off with Lee at the same time. I was really happy with the swb but on inspecting it a few days later i discovered the Z1 prop shaft wasnt on the car but a standard one was. So i messaged Lee to find out why & he told me it was rattling & would get it fixed for me & said he was sorry he forgot to tell me. I told him not to worry just put it in the boot of the lwb & ill sort it over winter. I thought it was a bit strange as he messaged me about all the other issues when they occurred but not the prop which is a pretty major problem. Shortly after this i became aware of a rumour circulating that my prop was on someone elses car. At first i thought it was nonsense as lee was a good friend & wouldnt do that to me. But then i started to get more details & i became suspicious. I found out whos car it was supposedly on but i couldn't challenge Lee as my lwb was still with him. i got that back last week (prop wasnt in the boot like id asked for but he said that he would get it fixed for me again) so i started to dig more. i heard that Lee has asked Jimmer to make him a prop for a swb manual na. I contacted Jimmer & he confirmed this & he sent me the message Lee sent him asking for one asap as he had "borrowed" one from a customer. You dont borrow other peoples parts. So Lee is trying to replace my ali prop with a steel one. however Lee never sent jimmer payment for the prop so it was never sent. Then i got in contact with the guy who has my prop on his car & explained the situation. I asked him to look under his car & see what prop was on it. The next day he phoned me back & said he has a silver prop on his car & he took a video of it. Its my prop!! This guy knew nothing about it, as far as he was concerned his prop was a brand new steel prop so weve both been conned here.

This whole situation has left me absolutely gutted & even though ive known for a few weeks now im still in shock. Ive always thought of Lee as a good friend but cant get past what hes done. I even paid him in full for the work he did on my lwb even though i was 99% sure he had stolen from me. Ive got a lot of good friends on here who are also good friends with Lee. I know you guys will be in as much shock as me & i hope you believe me. Ive got no reason to make this up. Ive always been happy with Lees work and i know he worked hard getting my swb back on the road. i dont know why hes done this but i cant let him get away with this. If it happened again to someone else i wouldnt forgive myself.

I dont want any smart arse comments please.

Edited October 12, 20178 yr by t.mogsy

Not sure what to say. I’ve used Lee a couple of times and as far as I can tell he’s done a good job. It’s pretty obvious you’re not just making this up though so I’m not really sure what to think now...

 

 

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Hi Tom,

 

His time has come and now its on the open forum I'm sure many more will come forward with stories.

 

I have the unfortunate experience much like yourself to have directly suffered abet indirectly by the hands of Lee Dent.

 

Three years ago near the end of my last zed build named Purple Rain; Mr Dent rebuilt and engine for me in which I then

installed in my shiny new zed, less than a month on the road the engine seized up on the way to its first show at the NEC.

 

Now i'm not sure if this was fate or not but that broken down Zed within 20 minutes of breaking down was struck by a large

semi-trailer which carved a whole bigger than the iceberg that hit the Titanic down the driver side.

 

Luckily my insurance paid out the full valuation and I've started my rebuild once more.

 

Now just last month I decided to break that very engine with the purpose of moving it out my garden rather than being a feature

and I finally discovered that the failure was caused by what I would call an exploded piston because I found it in shrapnel sized

pieces and jammed up inside.

 

The second item that concerned me was the gaskets or what was left of them were not of the brand I gave him.

 

I've hinted a few times about this over the last few months but as I got a big insurance pay out and my new build is to a higher

quality it didn't bother me too much, - I am pissed but its been nearly three years since the event that took my zed away.

 

Lee

 

I heard about your gaskets being missing & i know theres a lot more soon to come out involving other zeds. Think if anyone has left their zed with Lee recently they need to check it over as much as they can just incase

Sorry to hear Tom, it boils my piss when i see things like this, it has happened in the past with various traders, unfortunately trade well at first, become a trusted member then a trader, then something changes like a switch and things start going tits up, member get stung or worse actually lose their cars:thumbdown:

 

Although there are always two sides to a story, i cant wait to see what sort of reply we are going to get, if any :whistling:

 

Either way as far as the club is concerned the outcome will likely be the same.

 

Glad you are staying and thanks for airing your experience :thumbup1:

 

What gaskets were missing?

 

 

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I feel it for you Tom:( you didn't deserve this one buddy:( a young guy with a very young family) I really feel it for you bud..I myself Luckily an afford to take financial kickings of people like this ( although it's still hurts) but not you bud it's not fair,what a w.nker

 

I'll see you Tuesday bud :)

 

looking forward to tuesday now

Wow. There any many stories in the zed community it takes a few good year's I'm sure to know all the backgrounds and gripes that have happened. How are we ever meant to maintain a growing community.

Not sure what to say. I’ve used Lee a couple of times and as far as I can tell he’s done a good job. It’s pretty obvious you’re not just making this up though so I’m not really sure what to think now...

 

 

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Thats the thing, hes always done good work for me so why hes done this i just dont know. but now im thinking about other parts ive given him, has he fitted them? probably, but i cant help feeling suspicious now.

Thats the thing, hes always done good work for me so why hes done this i just dont know. but now im thinking about other parts ive given him, has he fitted them? probably, but i cant help feeling suspicious now.

 

Well my car is running nicely and has done for a while so I’ll assume he’s done a good job until proven otherwise. Sad to hear what has happened to you though.

 

 

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Okay folks, It's time to update everyone on the committee's take on this matter.

 

We have been discussing the issues in the background - especially since more and more members are coming out to share their experiences. As sad as this is, and even though there may be mitigating circumstances, a good explanations etc., we have to take action to protect the interests of all members.

 

We have decided to temporarily revoke Lee Dent's trader's status, pending the outcome of a full investigation. Lee will be reverted to a registered user, and in the interest of fairness, I'll e-mail Lee inviting him to respond to the allegations. We'll then consider all arguments and take action as necessary thereafter.

 

It is invaluable that forums such as this share information - good or bad - so please, do continue to comment; however let's refrain from getting personal or deviating from the facts.

 

And if anyone has something to say, but does not want to go public, please feel free to PM or e-mail any one of the committee.

 

Thanks folks,

 

Richard

Edited October 12, 20178 yr by RichardS
Added a "since"

I know fine well that there are others out there have either had or are having issues with Lee's work. Whether they want to speak up or not is a different story, of course.

 

Then there are the people who have an issue but aren't actually aware that they do... they're the ones, like Tom, who I really feel sorry for...

I feel your pain Tom, I’ve been bitten by rogue traders in the the Z community myself. Thanks for shining a light on the issue, although I have no experience of Lee working on my car. I have in the past tried to purchase a chip from him for my old 555cc injectors but gave up due to lousy communications!

 

My Z remains one of Jimmer’s many successful projects on his portfolio and long may it continue. [emoji41]

So update so far is that we now have six members who have had problems with LA Autos

 

Tom with missing Z1 Prop

Gray with bad customer service and over charging

Jaikai with bad engine build and dodgy gaskets

Mondo with threats and drifting his car at high speeds while in his garage for work

Jimmer with unpaid parts

Mikey Bean with a customer who had a gearbox destroyed.

 

Any more problems then we would like to know guys. Still no comment from Lee Dent and he must know of this thread by now.

Find reading all this a real shame. These cars are more than just a car for us which is why we spend stupid money on them and for anyone to take advantage of that is utter crap - especially if they know us personally. I hope Mr Dent gives some sort of explanation and if he has used the propshaft, do the right thing and replace it like for like!!

It's sad that things like this happen. Unfortunately I've seen this with many traders over the years, ZTech and SouthWestZed to name but a few. On a positive spin there are some awesome vendors and services on here who I've had nothing but first rate experiences with. Jimmer (PowerZed), Mondo (Hide n Seat) and Mr F (MJP) are all at the top of their game with great service and quality and continue time after time to offer this consistently. I've been very lucky that other than a dodgy engine I was sold by an unscrupulous forum member about 12 years ago, I have had nothing but excellent experiences from vendors on here (the 3 listed being the best and most recent).

Edited October 13, 20178 yr by Funkysi

It's sad that things like this happen. Unfortunately I've seen this with many traders over the years, ZTech and SouthWestZed to name but a few. On a positive spin there are some awesome vendors and services on here who I've had nothing but first rate experiences with. Jimmer (PowerZed), Mondo (Hide n Seat) and Mr F (MJP) are all at the top of their game with great service and quality and continue time after time to offer this consistently. I've been very lucky that other than a dodgy engine I was sold by an unscrupulous forum member about 12 years ago, I have had nothing but excellent experiences from vendors on here (the 3 listed being the best and most recent).

 

I can't agree more, and I would add Jeff ex Zedworld to list

 

Jimmer has done some suprb work on my car and is finishing another lot, Mondo did the retrim of the Green Zed and Mr F has provided a few parts with a Cheery smile and is always helpful

 

The best bunch of guys for the zx !

Not to forget Ian Smith (300zx_666)

 

At the time (two years ago) Lee said that Ian owed him over 2k for work been done on Ians zeds.

 

Lee held both Ians zeds to ransom and chatting to Ian yesterday they were never returned and far as he is aware have now been broken or sold.

 

 

 

 

 

So update so far is that we now have six members who have had problems with LA Autos

 

Tom with missing Z1 Prop

Gray with bad customer service and over charging

Jaikai with bad engine build and dodgy gaskets

Mondo with threats and drifting his car at high speeds while in his garage for work

Jimmer with unpaid parts

Mikey Bean with a customer who had a gearbox destroyed.

 

Any more problems then we would like to know guys. Still no comment from Lee Dent and he must know of this thread by now.

Not to forget Ian Smith (300zx_666)

 

At the time (two years ago) Lee said that Ian owed him over 2k for work been done on Ians zeds.

 

Lee held both Ians zeds to ransom and chatting to Ian yesterday they were never returned and far as he is aware have now been broken or sold.

 

WTF? Is that even legal!?

 

How come Ian didn't pay?

Wow. Makes you wonder what else has been done.

'Dented' lol

Not to forget Ian Smith (300zx_666)

 

At the time (two years ago) Lee said that Ian owed him over 2k for work been done on Ians zeds.

 

Lee held both Ians zeds to ransom and chatting to Ian yesterday they were never returned and far as he is aware have now been broken or sold.

 

 

Yes Ian lost out there. What should have happened was the two Z's could of been sold or broken and Lee take his money out of them and Ian get what was left over. But I guess Lee kept it all.

Oh yes I remenber that as well

 

And that cost him his marriage as well !

 

It's a long story from Ian because Lee told him at first he wouldn't charge because he was going to take one of them in payment

for your imformation reguarding ian smith that wasnt agreed that lee would keep one of his cars as payment... also it cost him his marriage when his wife discovered 1000s of pounds worth of car parts stashed away in the house that he had spent her money on . ian smith done nothing but turning up every day at the garage dropping more parts off to be fitted and when he was asked about payment reguarding the work carried out he said you can f**k off take me to court ill pay you 5 pound aweek . also not forgeting the multiple peoples cars as lees garage he tryed rooting threw and countless parts that went missing while he was around

Well your last sentence sums up all the problems !

To be fair I'm not sure Ian is completely innocent in that situation. & what Lee sold the cars for didn't cover the bill he owed. But Ian dissappeared so we didn't get to hear his side of things but I heard he had done it before to another garage. I heard this off a few people. But I don't know what to think any more.

Honestly don't know what to say, I hate to see this, there's not many people left in the Zed scene who you can say is 100% trust worthy, feels like its getting fewer and fewer each year:no: I myself have been quiet enough on here lately (but have been seeing the amount of nastiness and hatred between mostly UK Z people on Facebook).

For that reason I'm considering getting out of this scene altogether and going back to two wheeled fun, there's no drama with bikers:scooter:

If Callum's here, as Lee's occasional employee then what light can he shine on Tom's issue?