I too haven’t had any bad experiences with Jan. Heck he bought me pizza and offered beer while at his shop. The first time I met him and I seen his personality in person I had a feeling he had served. It came out as we shared experiences, we both did time in the Marine Corps.

 

So you sent him your car last September . . you've still not heard from him .. and you're coming to NAM asking how to get in contact with him?? Am I understanding that correctly?

 

Car might also have fallen off the back of the truck on the way to Jan and he never received it

 

Still not a reason to dodge calls and emails. The OP is more forgiving than I am, after a month of no contact I would have been at his shop.

 

Right, but my point was, does the OP know that Jan received the car? I'd have been at his shop after a week of no contact. OP hasn't been there after over 9 months of no contact!!

 

To clear some confusions, Jan was working on my car from last September until this April, which is when I lost contact with him. So last weekend I finally flew down to his shop in LA, met with Jan, and worked on my car. Without going into further details, there are both good news about how exhilarating that my car became, but also bad news involving the engine breaking down on my way home and then tow, freight, flight, hotel, and train. I will revert back to the forum a bit later after things settle down.

 

Despite the setback, I think it was definitely worth it and Jan spent a lot of effort into details. I had a good time with him last weekend and he seems a trustworthy person.

The car was extremely fast and easy to handle, definitely the most fun car I have ever driven. Just hoping that the issue will be solved soon.

 

$30k

 

Signing the log book for, “I paid in full for 5 figures $ worth of parts over 4 months ago and now Jan seems to be dodging my emails and calls” - I managed to get him on the phone 2 months ago and was told I’d get an update a few days later. It never came so I chased and chased and got another update over a month ago with an updated invoice (for something extra) I wanted. I’ve since reached out 7 or 8 times and I’m not getting anything back. This is super annoying and no matter how good the parts or performance, I’m really not happy about it. I will update here immediately when I get any progress on this order but frankly, unless these parts are in my hands in September, I think that’s really unacceptable. Is there anyone here who can help? He seems so legitimate when I actually talk to him on the phone and I feel like he just needs a nudge to give the proper priority to my order vs brand new orders.
Ps. All the parts I ordered with the exception of a differential were in stock ready to ship when I paid back in April. “Looks like we’re about 2-3 weeks out on the Giken LSD” is what he told me and printed on my invoice in April. We agreed on a different differential that he had coming in to stock, to avoid further delay. I would never have paid in full unless I expected all my parts would be with me within a month of ordering. Could anyone assist here?

 

From reading this post, sounds like you need to get on a plane and knock on his door. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

Can you guys that have paid $10K++ and have been waiting months++ for your parts.......do a charge back on your credit car? Not sure I would be as patient as you guys......

If I couldn't get some results in a couple of months....I think I could be contacting a lawyer

 

It's been almost a full year that the guy has had your car. Have you not taken legal action yet?? If not, what's your plan to get your car back (if it's even still there)?

 

TLDR: Anyone know how to get ahold of Jan or his Engine builder

Sorry to unearth this forum again. I am wondering if anyone found answers on the best way to reach Jan. I have purchased a fully built block, header, injectors, tune, etc. I have the short block and all that however the head gasket was not with it and have been trying to get ahold of him. Its been weeks or months since I have heard from him which is weird because he was so easy to contact out first. I have even went as far as to try to go around it by just buying one from cometic gaskets themselves but don't know if they took anything off the block that would require the thicker gasket.

Does anyone know how to get ahold of him or even just his engine builder as I know he doesn't do it himself. This also has me worried as I will need to get ahold of him for the tune if I ever get this figured out as there is hardly anyone I know of that will tune these anymore, I have all the equipment to do so just no knowledge of how. Thanks for reading.

 

Apologies, this is my first time posting. I tried posting a comment on this thread but then it didn't show up.

I know this thread is 3 years old but I am curious if anyone was able to resolve their issues and how they did it. I recently purchased a fully built short block with other parts and received them. However the head gasket did not show, which I have been trying to get ahold of him for quite some time. At first I was able to get ahold of him no problem whenever I had questions. I have even tried to just say forget it and buy the gasket from cometic gaskets themselves (even though I already paid for it with Jan) but unfortunately no build specs came with the block so I have no idea if I need a thicker gasket or not. I will also need to get ahold of him once I finally get the head gasket for the tune I bought.

I have sent several emails and voicemails but no luck. I am also just trying to see if I can find who he uses for machine work and see if they can tell me how much they took off but no luck there either. I just want my daily r53 back desperately its been a year now since I took it out of commission and miss it every day. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

It has been 5 years maybe? I haven’t got my MINI back yet. I spent close to $30K on full stroker engine, supercharger, suspension rebuild and new GP body kit. He doesn’t respond to calls or voicemails after the initial several months.

I am also without my MCS and miss it very much. I live in WA which makes it even more difficult. At this point, I don’t know what else can be done and need help as well. Not sure going through legal would help get a working car back.

 

Oh no! luckily I didn't and wont send my car. However if I had and I were in your shoes, legal action would be the most logical step unless you use more of your own funds to fly back down. Which shouldn't need to be done. He should honor his word and take care of his customers or at the very least have open communication on progress or set backs. From reading other forums and posts, it almost seems to me that he caters to in person servicing a lot better than out of state and non local orders/ builds. Almost everyone that has said they lost contact has been non local/ out of state. I have family that live semi close to the address listed on yelp and have debated on sending them over for me as I am in no situation to fly down there. Its just sad to give him so many opportunities and having trust and he just doesn't respond. I understand life happens and truly hope he is okay. All I ask for is for open communication.

I really can't believe you've waited that long. I would be livid to say the least. I would definitely suggest taking legal action, its been far too long. There have been multiple people that have been able to get ahold of him during that span of time. Someone on Facebook was able to get ahold of him last on october16th of this year. I however, haven't been able to get ahold of him since august.

 

I’d like to close this thread. I was able to get my car back last year. After that, he helped me through a fuel cutoff issue because of a broken o-ring on the fuel filter, and the belt shredded once at high rpm which I hope won’t come back again. Otherwise, the car runs excellent and is fun. Despite the long delay, I do trust Jan and appreciate all his work transforming my MINI. I’m putting other components on the car, e.g., seats, roll bar, brakes, coilovers. Look forward to many motoring miles to come.