Well, I never thought it would come to this. I was actually one of the people who strongly supported Helder's re-instatement to this board, now I wish I never had!

We all know Helder is good at what he does, and knows these cars....BUT....it seems some of his dealings have been not quite as good as on the surface. I have heard from quite a few people who are a little displeased with him.

Helder ordered a lot of parts through me, and was always quick to contact me, and in fact used to make a weekly trip here to pick up parts. As a result, I extended him a bit of credit, like some of my other good customers. It never USED to be a problem, he USED to make regular payments. I also lent him my engine hoist, since I rarely need it, and he can use it fairly regularly. Well, here I am in the position of needing my engine hoist, and the prick won't return my phone calls, presumably because he is avoiding me because he owes me money.

He has returned a lot of the parts I sold him, and has actually returned parts I sold to OTHER people for credit, and I never charged him any re-stocking fee. In fact, I always gave him special pricing because he bought so much stuff. Now, he is ignoring my phone calls AND pm's. He has not paid me any money since APRIL.....

I will have to go there myself I guess, to get my hoist back.
And if he doesn't have my money, I guess I will have to get satisfaction in some other form.

I would like to warn everyone else, however, that Helder is far from the "superhero" everyone has made him out to be, and is in fact VERY two faced. You might want to think twice before giving him any hard earned money...

Well, for what it's worth, Helder sold me what he called a "JDM EPROM ECU" and confirmed that it was for a "standard AWD 1g DSM" when replying to my PM's throughout the initial part of the deal. After receiving the part and doing some online research, I confirmed that what Helder had sent me was in fact an EPROM ECU from a 92-94 GVR4. A 1G JDM DSM EPROM ECU is not identical to a 92-94 GVR4 JDM EPROM ECU. Close, but that's only good in horseshoes.

I have yet to get any responses to my PM's asking him if he maybe mixed up two ECU's on his end. I'd prefer to have received what I was expecting rather than a unit that would require modifications to work as intended. If I don't hear something from Helder about this soon, I may have to consider him a bad guy as well.

That is the type of transaction I have heard about from a few others. Quite a few things not quite "as represented".
Not a good move for someone who wants to be/stay in business..but then, since he is getting out of business, maybe he just doesn't care??

My shell I picked up from him is not in the condition I was told it was. First time checking it out it had interior (just needed put back in) The shell was apparently RUST FREE! not a spot. Came with a cluster that lights up blue. When I go to pick it up. I asked where it was he said "nah man, I sold that. Your paying for the shell." part of the reason I was buying it was because of the stuff he said would be there. But then wasn't.

He was nice enough to throw in a gas tank. When I asked for it after he had said the only thing I would need to buy is a tranny, tcase, driveshaft, and front axles. He was reluctant but did. He also didn't have time to take the driveshaft out so I did get that too.

The shell has dings and paint peeling that I will need to fix. Checking it out underneath the is almost as much rust as my other talon. However from walking past it you cant see it. There are some rust spots that will need fixed too.

Im all for the price I paid for it. It is my dream car. But the mis representation of the car and what I was told. I probably wouldve looked for another one had I not already paid before I came to pick the car up.

Again my main issue isn't the price I paid for what I got. The shell is respectable and was painted not to long ago and shouldn't be too hard to get repainted. It was what he said I would get. So I gave him money for it. Then when I bring the rest of the money and pick it up stuff is gone and he says your paying for the rolling shell. Which ok but wasn't what I had thought was part of the deal.

Then there was issues picking up the car. Which he is a busy man I see. But he said give him a days notice he would pull the car out have it ready at his house.

I was trying to contact him a week before knowing Tim H. Would help tow. Finally got a hold of him tuesday. Said all was good. Called him up after picking up the trailer. Told us we would have to go to the storage yard and pull it out. Plus there was a trailer in the way and a truck with no keys WE would have to move.

This part was annoying to me enough when I got there I was already annoyed it didn't come with the parts I was told. Then to say we had to find our way back to the storage place and dig it out. At that point I was going to let it go my 6/4 talon was going to be coming home with me.

When we set off my fiance told me a comment about he made. About us wasting his day to come dig a car out.

Again. It just was a bad experience. I think again its mainly cause hes leaving and didn't care about future business.

he said he needed a NT waterpipe asap.
I went out to my shed in the winter, pulled it off, said i have it ready,

Total
$28.27- next day
$16.19- 1 business day
$14.12 - 3 business day

that was based on it being 30x10x10 and 3 lbs
on Canada post website


said no way hes paying that much for one!!!

like i went out of my way and got it out of my freezing garage for you, what do you want!

I'm going to sit neutral on Helder for the following reasons:

1: I needed a new Knock Sensor and a new crank pulley. I had it in 2 days shipped before payment.

Why I remain neutral is as I can see a lot of people have been rubbed the wrong way, Ziggy is owed money and it's taking forever to pay up.

Something happened with Paypal, I guess I didn't put it through right, and he freaked that it was going to take so long to do an E-Check.

When it comes to money owed TO him...

I've had only good dealings with Helder so far.

Everytime he's working on my car, I was able to watch and ask questions, like what was what, how that worked, etc. He'd always answer them for me.

The day I go over, I would have it done. Granted, 1 or 2 times, things were delayed. But it's usually because there's another car in his garage he's having problems with so there isnt room or time for mine that day.

He's also the one that got me back on the road after hitting that 4x4 log the next night.

I dont know...has anyone else heard from him in the last couple of weeks? Maybe he's just on vacation or something. I mean, his kids school just finished like 2 weeks ago.

His issues from what I heard are not his work. Like Ju said. He knows what he is doing and has helped out. I got a fuel pump from him awhile back. Not one issue with the transaction. Just the last time I dealt with him. Just seems he is letting go cause hes cutting out of the DSM world.

I wasn't going to post cause I wasn't really bothered by my dealings. But with the people I have heard having issues. I thought I would share my experience to.

Shame really cause when you talk to him. Espicially in person he's a really cool guy.

I know Helder did great work on my engine install, got it done quickly, and the engine I was putting in needed new parts, and he took parts that he had in his garage (new oem mitsu) and put them into my car, charged me for them yes, but taking it out of his own backup parts was really good.

I had my car back and running in a day and a half. I can't complain at all. He was a little pissed that my car wasn't ready for transport when he showed up, but rightfully so, he had to work nights aswell and was doing this before work. So I can't say anything bad about him, he did alot.

I think there are a LOT of people who have had good dealings with him, and there is no doubt he knows these cars and CAN do good work...but not paying for parts and then avoiding me and not returning my phone calls is just WRONG.

I also thought he was on vacation, so I wasn't going to post just yet. He last posted here June 29th, he last pm'd me on June 30th...saying he had another part to return, and claiming that I ordered wrong parts for him. Story there is he was standing right beside me at the computer when we looked up the parts (mounting straps for a fuel cell). He even GAVE me the brand name of the fuel cell, to save me from looking it up in my paperwork. Afterwards, he tells me they don't fit. I don't understand it, but tell him to get them back to me, and I will return them. Three months later, I STILL don't have them back, yet he wants me to credit his account MORE than what he paid for them, and is now saying the brand is wrong..the fuel cell was "RJS", and the mounting straps were "RCI". Even though this was HIS mistake, I would have returned them, had they been brought back in a REASONABLE length of time...

In any case, I was going to delay this post, thinking he was on vacation. On July 1st. I told him I would be posting this. I heard today (or guess it is yesterday now, July 8th) from a Customer that he was at Helder's July 7th, Helder was there.
That is another issue...Helder told this guy he had sent some of his parts back to me, that he didn't have them....but he never did.

Helder was GREAT when he wanted to be in business, and cared about his reputation. Now, it seems that because he no longer has to worry about his reputation here, he will screw anybody. In my books, this makes him a low-life.

Didn't he make a post in the Wanted to Sell section saying he was moving? So my question is, did he move already? Does anybody know where he moved/ is moving to? Seems like this was his plan all along. Ziggy I hope you get the money back without too much of a hassle. I am so sick of hearing about people taking advantage of other people on this board. Somebody does a good deed for somebody else only to get screwed over in the end. I have never met Helder so I can't vouch for what kind of guy he is, however I can vouch for Ziggy and the way he has done business with me. He has always been more than fair. Helder. Perhaps there is a valid reason as to why you haven't been able to contact Ziggy (although I highly doubt this is the case). Do the right thing and make things right with him before your entire reputation goes to sh!t.

I pm'd him and asked about the moving thing, and his WRITTEN english is much harder to understand than his spoken english, but he told me no, he wasn't actually moving, just getting out of the "DSM business". I guess some neighbours complained, and he said "cool off a little". Don't know if that means he is going back into it eventually or not. I know he is still driving a 2g himself, and in one of his last pm's, he even said he wanted to come see me for a short shifter for it, LOL. I told him as long as his bill was paid, and he paid for it up front. That was pretty near the last thing I heard from him..

I have also heard rumours about things not being well between Helder and his wife..not sure if that has anything to do with it or not? SHOULDN'T be my problem, though.

I also just want to clarify..I am not looking for sympathy or anything here. I will deal with Helder when I manage to get out to his place. I am just trying to give everyone fair warning that Helder is NOT the hero he has been made out to be, and if you give him your money, you may or may not get what you are expecting

Ziggy, I pm'd you.

I responded to your pm Mike..

Guys, you are notified when you get a PM. No need to post here about your otherwise private communications.

Also, I think it is best to keep the details about people's personal lives out of the discussion. That crosses the line IMO.

Jeff, that was actually what the PM was about. I was asked to edit out that piece of information. I think, though, that the whole purpose of this post is to help people make an INFORMED decision as to whether they want to do business with him, and I think information like that IS pertinent. I know I would not want to leave my car with someone only to find out that he is having personal problems and moved on, possibly even taking my car or money with him.

It does seem as though now that Helder is getting out of the DSM side of things, that he now is just not giving a sh!t about anything to do with them, unpaid bills, proper ecus, just trying to get rid of things.

I hope things get resolved with you Ziggy because you don't deserve to get screwed over like this.

Jeff. I usually do not do that. I apologize. I just wanted to emphasis the importance of reading my PM.

Jeff, I agree. It crosses the line. Ziggy, we have different views on this but it is not my battle to fight. On that point, i'm done with discussing it.

Again, I don't even know if there is any truth to the rumours or not. I believe I DID state clearly that I have heard rumours to the effect, not "I know for a fact". I just think this is information someone might want to be aware of or investigate BEFORE deciding whether to enter into a business transaction with Helder, and I believe that is the purpose of this forum and this post. I do not believe a line has been crossed here. If the information is false, Helder is free to post and correct it...but I also think the fact that he is not responding to this post at all speaks volumes....I interpret it to mean he no longer gives a sh!t because he is getting out of the "DSM business", and his PERSONAL reputation doesn't seem to matter to him...

Helder hasn't responded because his computer is down, I am going over to his house Friday to pickup his laptop to get it fixed.
I will also tell him about this thread.

I know Helder is going to fix this, he is not a bad guy.

Is his phone down too?

His phone is not down, but the only way I get a hold of him is by going to his house. He is 99.8% of the time in his garage.
He no longer has a cell.

And his answering machine? I have left I don't know how many messages. Even when I was trying to contact him for other issues, I assume he was avoiding me because he figured I was calling him for money. For a while, he would respond to SOME of my pm's, but still never returned my phone calls...even though I would tell him by PM why i needed to talk to him...

Also, I noticed a lot of other people posting that they couldn't get hold of him, he wasn't returning their calls. I still think when he wanted to sell stuff and when he wanted to do business, he was always right there....but now his attitude is not very nice...

Well, not defending anyone, and no need to respond:

I should have like 6 "Bad Guys" because life does get in the way sometimes. Sure, we'd all love to be perfect and get everything done for everyone, but...

Not justifying the lack of phone calls, or anything else. But I'm sure in a moment the mods will say "Alright, let's wait for Helder to respond, and in the mean time, people have their warning". Hope this gets resolved well.

I've not ONE bad experience with Helder...

On a side note, this thread sure is popular LOL

I have had nothing but good experiences with Helder also.

Good experiences only from me also.

Just an update....Helder is being a weasel and not responding to my phone calls, or my pm's or this post.

I have recently heard that he will be away next weekend celebrating his birthday at the cottage. I have also heard he bought himself a bike...can't be THAT hard of for cash...if any of this is true. I guess we will never know because he is not MAN enough to respond. I phoned him again, no response, and sent him a strongly worded pm. The response?? "helder dapont has removed himself from this topic"....

so he has seen it, just he is a spineless POS .....

that's bullshit Ziggy, I hate that sh!t "X has removed himself from topic", like come on.

I just figure if I should see him riding that new bike of his, I am likely to get excited enough that I might accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes.....

Does anyone know where he works? Apparently he isn't going to be around this weekend, so I will probably have to visit him during business hours...

What's the out standing balance anyways?

Brandon I fail to see how thats any of your business unless you are helders accountant or something of the sort.

I've only had good dealings with Helder. He is hard to get a hold of by phone and by PMs, but I find going to his house is the best way to talk to him. I've been to his house 4-5 times and each time I never told him that I was coming, and each time been he is in his garage. I would not think twice about doing business with Helder, I belive he is a good guy.

I believe he WAS a good guy, while he wanted to be in the DSM "business"...but now since he is no longer working on cars, he doesn't seem to feel a need to honour his obligations or protect his reputation. That, in my opinion, is NOT a good person.

The guy sold me a Corolla intercooler instead of a Supra. And I am sure he laughed because I trusted him and didn't look in detail. I asked him later and never heard anything. At the time he used multiple names to log in I think. Simply put it was not worth my time todrag the issue on.

With this dude, everytime someone complains there is an army of die hard fans that get substantial sand in their eyes and possibly crack of their asses that his honourable character and his prestine reputation must not be tarnished.


I am sure he is jack of all trades and beats Jesus in honestly and other good things. But as far as I am concerened the guy could lose some 40 bucks in a street fight and I'd wouldn't lose sleep.


That shall remain my opinion how he is to be avoided and there is one more member having a less than hot experience with him.




Chill