Well, that's why I added the "in your opinion" bit. I don't want him to put himself at risk. I mean, if there's no love lost there I would love to know the answers to the questions I asked but I also understand if he doesn't want to answer.

Thanks for the answers. I would never have kept the twin SC kit - I just wanted my kit and was thinking about holding onto it until Sam/GTM delivered what I was owed. I'm not a thief.

I'll tell you, the only reason I didn't was because I didn't want to screw someone else over who was in the same boat I was in.

Also he used a personal sickness (brain surgery) and a death in his family as excuses for not shipping my kit. Was that true or just horseshit?

I'll let Mike reply, but everything needs Sam's god blessing, so it's not surprising that if while he was out, the shít hit the fan and they just didn't ship anything

No worries. I can certainly understand that it was tempting, but you are absolutely correct that someone else was in the exact same boat.

As for your question about the group buy. It looked like it was going to be a big hit. We were excited, the members were excited and it looked like it was going to be the veritable A-bomb in the Z world. But Sam kept giving me the runaround and lying to me about the cast manifolds. I learned that the tooling hadn't even been paid for and was still outstanding when I left back in December/January. Why? I have no clue. I suspect that the issues with the mandrel bender and the associated tooling played a role in that.

Let me just say that outsourcing manufacturing is a bitch and the only way to really pull it off is to have a rep there or within driving distance so that you don't just become another number. The double sided sword of that for Sam is that if his suppliers are within driving distance, they too could pop by the shop and say "where's my money?". A threatening e-mail carries very little weight, but a 6'5' guy looming over you is a bit more uncomfortable. While the law states that you cannot open a can of whoop *** on a deadbeat buyer, you never know how clearly that guy is thinking and whether or not he is willing to go to jail over $30k. I guess that's why Sam keeps his gun at work.

So wow. Yeah, he knew that the kits would never be built. Ok well, there's your legal action folks. I don't think his LLC will protect him from a fraud charge.

Yes, I remember meeting you and I think it would have been awesome to have a cost analyst on board. The company really could have used your services something fierce.

As for the Mitsubishi failures, that would have been a huge problem and would've killed the company just as quick as not doing anything at all. It was a rock and hard place position, no doubt.

The conundrum is that there is no one single thing that destroyed GTM. There are a lot of factors and a lot of variables. However, the thing I always seem to come back to is that ethics has a lot to do with it. ******** will get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

I don't think it would've been this bad, lol
But they had other issues, manifolds, etc...

And I'm right there with you on the last statement.



I am actually really sad the ride is over... It's been over for a while... Just more amazing that it's actually for sure on it's last legs

Actually, while Sam was gone Pablo and I were able to get a little more organized and bust out some kits. I was actually able to give accurate lead times based on what we actually had in inventory, what was in the queue and prioritize accordingly. Don't get me wrong, once Pablo and I got things organized we realized what a colossal cluster fuch things were and not being able to order turbos or superchargers (due in part to Sam's unwillingness to let us handle business and partly due to the fact that our account was on hold due to the massive debt he had not paid) made it especially challenging. Nevertheless, we made some things happen.

Once Sam got back, everything went back to "business as usual", only worse because he hadn't really taken the time to recover from his surgery and was practically useless through no fault of his own. His short term memory was gone. I mean, he couldn't remember a conversation he had 30 seconds ago. I don't know if he has recovered from his short term memory loss or not, but someone that is mentally handicapped to that degree shouldn't be running a business and most definitely not be responsible for other people's money.

Wow, so the brain surgery/death in the family stuff wasn't bs after all. I would have bet against that.

Wow, I don't even know what to say... other than I'm glad I got my refund. Everything makes sense now though, and Mike, thanks for that. I have also talked to Mike several times, and Pablo as well. For about a month straight I talked to pablo on a daily basis. That being said, I do believe Mike and Pablo, as well as all other employees at gtm are great, knowledgable guys. The only problem was Sam, and thats unfortunate. I wish all gtm employees the best, and anyone that still has money tied up with Sam, I truly hope you get what you are owed one way or another.

That's dedication IMHO....

I'd have sold my house though, to have my name last!

Let's just say that if a wastegate failed to open, bad things would happen, yes?

There are definitely memories I cherish and there were some good times, great parts, and awesome work. That's partly why I didn't leave sooner. There were things that really sucked, but there were things that were pretty damn awesome too. It certainly wasn't boring. lol

I wish the white dragon would have been finished...that would have been epic!

Lol, at least I got to see the White Dragon in person although Sam was really Nazi about me taking pics of it even though the owner of that car and SS had asked me to take pics of their cars... Lol

... I might have missed it, but whatever happened to that project? :stirthepot:

It's on a god damn lift at GTM... Such a shame

Sold to the highest bidder !?!

All it needed was good media, a solid video of it smoking tires or launching from a roll on the highway against another exotic!

In this Social media scene you'd never ask what it traps!

That's not surprising. Sam wants tight control over information and you never know what he's told a customer.

Before I left, we were going to make it even more awesome using the new V3 manifolds. For all I know, Sam is probably still giving the owner the dog and pony show. He'll drag that on for years if he can...there's a 240sx there that was there before I started working there and was still there when I left...5 years later.

But don't think that showing up with some muscle is going to get you any traction with him. Sam held onto a guy's MR2 for ages and when the guy showed up and starting giving Sam hell, Sam called the cops and had the guy removed from the premises.

Now that he's in bankruptcy, it will be significantly easier to reclaim property he's "holding" as he has no claim to it anymore.

omg that's mike... Holy crap I often thought after seeing you go that it was a for sure sign of a sinking ship.. What a shame because you guys had such a good thing going. Good luck to you mike..

After seeing this thread and all the issues all i can think of is that several 350z owners attempted to warn people here about GTM and the known issues from the shop and where berated and banned............... and that was years ago.

now everything they said would happen has happened, and it is the exact same thing as what happened to the vq35 crowd.

That is always a red flag and a sign of dishonest practices, and observing that behavior can apply to most people and situations in life. Transparency always follows good intentions. I cannot imagine the burden on one's self to try and keep such a false show going for so long.

GTM reputation has followed them accordingly as some of us from the g35/350 said it would happen. The factors that played in the demise started loooong ago just had to be able to read between the lines and you would've noticed.

I can remember the only positive I'll take away dealing with gtm was actually speaking with Mike. There was a thread (which was cleaned up of some posts) where Mike reached out to me and asked me what he could do to help. I considered that to go above and beyond his responsibilities as an employee of a company being bad mouthed. Mike, best of luck to you moving forward. Stand up guy.

They had some great products even if it wasn't theirs. The Garett turbo kits are pretty good. I sold my stage 2 kit after over a year n 12k miles. My manifolds were the few that DIDNT crack.

MY only reason buying a GTM kit was I needed a good turbo kit and at the time gtm was the only company making turbo kits for the g37/370 platform (darn you BP and FI for not making your incredible kits sooner)!

I'm glad to see that the admins have finally shut the door and are being active in protecting the community. While every newbie should do their homework, it's good to have someone point you in the right direction also. Modding these rides ain't cheap and I can understand the frustration of dropping serious hard earned money only to get burned. Hopefully this bands the community together.

Sorry to hear all the victims aka creditors. You need to file a proof of claim in the case, file motion for turnover if your car or property is being held. go from there

Pretty ****** up if you ask me. Things happened for a reason. Last year i called and spoke with Sam about some 650 for my new car at the end i didn't do it and after hearing alot of bad things about GTM delivery and etc, even worse.

Now this...its a shame how thing end.

Karma. What goes around, comes around. :shakes head:

Just curious, what's the issues with the Mitsubishi turbos that would cause such a high failure rate? Are they really China knock offs stamped Mitsubishi?

Don't worry too much people, knowing sam he is already working on a new company name and a new business to do it all over again...

I used to believe this. Now it's my belief that karma is generally very busy and could use some help from time to time. Sam is a prime example of karma being very busy. Hopefully someone or something will assist karma in his case.

He already had a case of it when he had his head cut open.

Agreed. Stupid evil people will have stupid catch up with them. That is what most people think of as karma. Smart evil people get caught much less.

Wow... just wow!
 

http://www.the370z.com/members/digit...93-jawdrop.png

That's good to know. Thanks, Mike. BTW, the admins can update your forum name. You're definitely welcome to stick around.

Looks like my project is at a standstill even if I had the funds for it. :/

Mike,

I appreciate that you took the time to acknowledge and apologize for the degrading comments towards me, and Boosted Performance. I just don't understand why people would work in that type of environment, and knowingly be a part of a VERY shady business that screws people over daily. On the flip side...we all need a job to put food on the table...and I get that. The things you have said in this thread are disturbing, and I knew about most of them....hence the lack of mutual respect I guess....shops do talk amongst themselves....I am sure you know that. Your name was unfortunately associated with the shady business practices, and that is hard to shake.

Maybe Sam felt threatened that he would eventually be out of this market as well due to the competition stepping up, and making (IMO) a better product (especially the TT kit from F.I) than he had to offer? I don't know, as I am just a drop on the bucket (if that) in this industry, and have very different way of doing business, on a much much smaller scale. I don't know how he thought this was going to happen with cheap turbos that would blow up on the first test drive. I guess it just takes that "special" kind of person which everybody knows Sam is. There is something to be said about treating your customers the way you would want to be treated....it goes such a long way.

I think you are a stand up guy, and would want to do thing right by delivering solid products to enthusiast/member. It is unfortunate that you were a part of GTM, who unfortunately has such a horrible reputation. I do wish you all the best in the future, and hope to see you around offering your honest expertise/opinions without the GTM drama that once kept an eye on every move you made.


All the best...water under the bridge, apology accepted.

Sasha

Sorry guys I tried reading it all but I'm at work, did mike answer this question directly???

Looking at their bankruptcy balance sheet, that appears to be exactly what he was doing. He had several lines of credit maxed including a $60,000 amex bill (lol)

It totally appears that way but I would like a witness answer from the inside for legal reasons...

Holly Molly.........

I read this topic since the beginning of
(from a great distance from Switzerland)

Very sad that a great company like GTM ends in such a disaster

I wish all employees and customers
only the very best.

Keep your head up Guys :tup:

Greetings from the other side of the World
Ivo

Wow long but very interesting read. Mike does sound like a stand up guy and I give him so much credit for coming on here to explain more in detail. I hope you join Team Stillen and bring your talents over to an awesome company for great success. Maybe help them release a Twin Stillen SC ;) Everything happens for a reason, keep your head up and good luck to everyone.

I don't doubt it for a second that he's got another business name ready to swoop in to keep GTM running

Sasha,

Thank you for your response. I accept responsibility for having been a part of GTM and having supported the company. I believed in the products and sold them willingly despite Sam's shadiness. As a passionate enthusiast, it is undeniable that the product was solid for the most part. Passion is why I stayed. There is simply no other company within a 30 minute drive of where I live that could even hold a candle to the positives of working at GTM. The negatives, however did motivate me to look elsewhere for employment on multiple occasions. I went so far as to apply to Stoptech in Compton, but since GTM was a commercial customer of theirs, it may have seemed to be a conflict of interest to them. So, yes, working for GTM has definitely been a detriment to my career. That said, I am not above admitting that some of my bitterness and frustration may have shown through in my interviews with other performance companies. It could also be that the companies were hesitant to hire someone that lives over an hour away without traffic. California traffic can easily add an additional hour to a one hour drive and punctuality is important no matter who you work for. Also, with a wife and two kids, it is not as easy to up and move for a new job unless it is very compelling...especially when the cost of living where most performance companies are is almost double compared to where we live.

That all said, I am extremely passionate about automotive aftermarket performance and there are a lot of guys that would give their left nut to work in this industry. That passion is what drives me to bust my *** wherever I work. Hell, my old boss in Seattle has invited me to move back up there and start a new venture with him, especially since my name is untarnished in the Subaru community up there...I just really, really, hate the rain. Seattlites can keep their 40 days straight of rain. lol

I digress. I have to say Sasha that what you do is nothing short of amazing. For you to work full time and come home and weld those beautiful welds, deliver outstanding customer service and put up with the flak and BS you got from GTM shows that you have the kind of drive and passion that few can even understand. I respect you greatly and was really disappointed that Sam wanted to see your hopes and dreams crushed under his boot. There is more than one way to mod a car and while I get that, Sam couldn't tolerate the thought of someone else outshining him in any way.

In all honesty, I don't have an answer for you. There is simply no way for me to truly predict Sam's actions or motivations for doing what he does because the story always changes. It makes it very difficult to discern the truth when you listen to him...even when he's right there in front of you. He's just that skilled with his delivery.