Zinguy
New Member
tl/dr: OTTOEX is capable of excellent work but can and will fail to perform up to their own standards and will point out that you purchased "as is" even when the issue is work they performed poorly.
Both sad and happy to pass "Bag End" on to adventures with a new owner. We purchased this Mitsubishi JB500 for $35,000 from OTTOEX in Portland in Spring of 2021, 4 months before its arrival from Japan. We flew to PDX and contracted Alex Williams and his employee, Sam to do an additional $10,000 in mechanical and upgrade work, emphasizing that cost was not an object and that we would like things as close to new condition as possible both mechanically and cosmetically, along with new flooring, solar, new exhaust fans, Dura Mat sound dampening, LLED lighting, new Webasto diesel heater, new Fogatti tankless water heater, and new ac/dc fridge. We stressed that we did not want "a project" and were willing to pay for a vehicle in the beautiful condition of those he had posted on line. We also stressed that we were in no hurry, which he appreciated as he had other vehicles who's buyers wished. Perhaps most importantly we requested the vehicle be looked at by a mechanic as we needed it to be road ready, since we would drive it from Portland to Iowa when we picked it up. In October, Alex called us to let us know the vehicle was done. He let us know we could leave the vehicle at his shop until we could get to PDX to pick it up. In January I was able to fly in and after a brief talk with Alex was on the road. Alex and Sam assured me it was all set to travel across three mountain ranges and half the country in the middle of January. The long litany of problems began with began soon after. Leaking main brake cylinder, leaking water pump, holes in the exhaust system, numerous mistake holes in the plywood platform that sucked the fumes into the cabin, flooring installed over rotted plywood, leaks from exhaust fan installation, cobbled water heater installation, faulty wiring installation on LED lights, non-working a/c. I'm going to stop there but there's so much more. And as they told me it was Road ready and wished me a safe drive they did not mention they had drained the water tank but not flushed out the brand new hot water heater, which froze and burst on the trip home. Later when I talk to Alex about all this he was very sympathetic saying it had been a bad experience for him as well. He had given Sam his employee this job to do and Sam had messed it up as well as another customer's vehicle. And that was his response. No effort at all to make it right simply a reminder that I paid for it everything and signed off on it and he offered no warranty. Buyer beware.
So in addition to the $35,000 I paid for the vehicle, the $10,000 I paid for the work which mostly had to be entirely redone I spent an additional $3,000 on mechanics fees as well as about 100 hours of my own time repairing the things that he messed up. I put a great deal of effort into making sure that the person who bought the vehicle from me would not be getting problems. I took a $25,000 loss which fortunately does not hurt me too much financially. But working with Alex who seems so sincere, sure put a dent in my ability to trust people.
Both sad and happy to pass "Bag End" on to adventures with a new owner. We purchased this Mitsubishi JB500 for $35,000 from OTTOEX in Portland in Spring of 2021, 4 months before its arrival from Japan. We flew to PDX and contracted Alex Williams and his employee, Sam to do an additional $10,000 in mechanical and upgrade work, emphasizing that cost was not an object and that we would like things as close to new condition as possible both mechanically and cosmetically, along with new flooring, solar, new exhaust fans, Dura Mat sound dampening, LLED lighting, new Webasto diesel heater, new Fogatti tankless water heater, and new ac/dc fridge. We stressed that we did not want "a project" and were willing to pay for a vehicle in the beautiful condition of those he had posted on line. We also stressed that we were in no hurry, which he appreciated as he had other vehicles who's buyers wished. Perhaps most importantly we requested the vehicle be looked at by a mechanic as we needed it to be road ready, since we would drive it from Portland to Iowa when we picked it up. In October, Alex called us to let us know the vehicle was done. He let us know we could leave the vehicle at his shop until we could get to PDX to pick it up. In January I was able to fly in and after a brief talk with Alex was on the road. Alex and Sam assured me it was all set to travel across three mountain ranges and half the country in the middle of January. The long litany of problems began with began soon after. Leaking main brake cylinder, leaking water pump, holes in the exhaust system, numerous mistake holes in the plywood platform that sucked the fumes into the cabin, flooring installed over rotted plywood, leaks from exhaust fan installation, cobbled water heater installation, faulty wiring installation on LED lights, non-working a/c. I'm going to stop there but there's so much more. And as they told me it was Road ready and wished me a safe drive they did not mention they had drained the water tank but not flushed out the brand new hot water heater, which froze and burst on the trip home. Later when I talk to Alex about all this he was very sympathetic saying it had been a bad experience for him as well. He had given Sam his employee this job to do and Sam had messed it up as well as another customer's vehicle. And that was his response. No effort at all to make it right simply a reminder that I paid for it everything and signed off on it and he offered no warranty. Buyer beware.
So in addition to the $35,000 I paid for the vehicle, the $10,000 I paid for the work which mostly had to be entirely redone I spent an additional $3,000 on mechanics fees as well as about 100 hours of my own time repairing the things that he messed up. I put a great deal of effort into making sure that the person who bought the vehicle from me would not be getting problems. I took a $25,000 loss which fortunately does not hurt me too much financially. But working with Alex who seems so sincere, sure put a dent in my ability to trust people.
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