Friday, June 12, 2015

A final Addendum to the previous post.



6/11/15 @ 1:59PM, my blog update was posted on Knightfoundation.net’s Facebook page. Here is the response from Robert “Video Bob” Moseley:

“Back in 2004, I bought a KITT replica from a Baltimore police officer who put the car on ebay. I played with it for a while and did some minor repairs but I didn't build the car. It was built by "Diamondback Automotive" in New Jersey. Not known for very good replicas.
I listed it for sale and was contacted by Justin and he made some offers on it. He offered me something like $17K for it I think? Its been over 10 years so I would have to research it. Anyway, he bought the car and came and got it and I never heard back from him again so sometime later I emailed him to follow up on the sale and he let me have it! He complained about all the problems he had with the car. Well, I did respond but never heard back from him again.
Unfortunately Justin needs to learn a thing or two about Pontiacs and movie cars. They require a lot of work.
In today's marketplace a well built KITT will run you an average of $40,000 for a turnkey car.
I think he got a decent deal.
Here is a video of that car in question:
http://youtu.be/8rr7ZeU_axk”

A little while later, I responded to his comment:

“Yes, the offer was $17k + my 1990 Firebird which was close to $3k shy of the $20k listed price on eBay. After I sent you the email of complaints, you DID NOT respond back. Had you responded after that message, it would have been in my inbox along with the other 10+ messages of correspondence. With my 20+ years of COMPUTER experience, it would be hard for me to miss a message like that. After over 7 years of dealing with all of the issues with the Trans Am in question, I have learned way more than two things about Pontiacs and movie cars. I own a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am with 188k miles. I've had this car for over five years now. The main issue in question here is not where the car came from, what you sold it for, and whether you think I got a "decent deal," but the long list of mechanical issues you failed to disclose of which I'm sure you were aware of since you "played with it for a while." Posting a car, ESPECIALLY a replica of this nature, on eBay (which was then sold off eBay) without disclosing the problems I'm quite certain you knew it already had when it came to something as serious as the crap dashboard electronics of which you said " Just plug in the speed sensor and the speedometer will work!" is immoral, unethical, and just plain wrong! But, you just didn't see it that way. No serie, Bob... I, "Justin needs to learn a thing or two..." is just how you see it. All the more sickening was it happening with a KITT replica which has been a symbol for truth and justice for over 30 years now, not lies and deceit.”

Of course, moments later, a response from the so-called Video Bob arrived. However, this response is where some fallacies (lies) peaked out again which is shown with my comments in blue. Just an important note, his content has been copied and pasted with NO alternations straight from the Facebook page.

“Justin, first of all, most of the things you complained about with the car were things that I never had any problems with. I made the above video right before selling you the car because I know it was going away and I wanted to have a memento of owning it. The car always started for me and everything on it worked.”

Obviously, it’s hard to prove what really worked when he owned it for the “while” and when I owned it after him for well over 5 years. However, if you go back and reread the previous blog post, you can see how “everything on it worked” but there were still a slew of mechanical issues, some being as simple as the rear brakes being non-functional right after I had purchased the car and drove it right to a mechanic a few days later… hmmm. 

“The information I got about the speed sensor was given to me by the previous owner. I was told that was what it needed.”

“Being 10 years later and actually building some of these cars it WAS that simple. There is a sending unit that adapts the speedometer to digital that works with various digital speedometers.”

So, here Bob goes saying he was told it needed a “speed sensor” and it “WAS that simple.” Surely, it would have been that SIMPLE, if the dash electronics weren’t faulty. But, alas, when he had it, “everything worked.” The only thing that did “work” on the dash besides everything being lit up before the glue melted and everything started to fall apart was the tachometer.

“All of that, none the less, you KNEW what was working and what was not and had accepted all of those things as you begged me for this car. As I recall I was asking much more for the car and you negotiated me down quite a bit.”

I begged him for this car? I don’t recall from the emails I sent and the one or two phone calls I had with Bob in which I “begged” him for the car. I may have shown excitement but that’s far from begging. Also, knocking a couple thousand dollars from the asking price with the ADDITION of my 1990 Firebird was not being “negotiated” down quite a bit. Heck, my Firebird was in better condition than this one in question for $17k+ and the T-Tops on the Firebird didn’t leak! But wait, Bob said the T-Tops did not leak on his car as well until I took it through a drive thru and learned otherwise. 

"Most of the things you mention in all your complaints are simple fixes that are common on these cars. "

They sure were. However, one would think these so-called “simple fixes” would have been taken care of on “these cars” with an original price of $20k and sold price of $17k + another fully functional car. You sure did flip it alright…with the use of your fancy pictures and videos but until the car was in my possession, things really weren’t what they seemed. But, being such a child like you said I was below, maybe I played with it too much and started breaking it. 

"Bottom line, you bit off more than you could chew on your experience level and your budget."

Bottom line, if I had known beforehand what “hidden” issues this car had before I agreed to wire transfer the money and drive all the way to Texas to pick it up, I wouldn’t have even considered the thought of buying it for even $10k, let alone almost $20k with a trade in. But, of course, according to you, everything worked…

“You cry about patching an exhaust or a valve cover gasket? Really?”

When it comes to paying $17k for a car which should have been checked beforehand for such leaks, I sure do. But, I guess I didn’t realize Bob is a used car dealership who doesn’t check those things and it's buyer beware and buy as is, leaks and all.

“DO you realize what goes into these cars now a days?”

Yes, I DO realize what goes into these cars now a days but this isn’t about now a days. You can’t compare the present with the past.

“The last KITT I built and sold went for $50,000.”

Well, that’s fantastic. Pat Bob on his back. Obviously, as Bob stated and everyone else already knows, Bob did not build my car so that statement is irrelevant. Also, if Bob was referring to the one he built and sold for $50k being more of a "turnkey" which is taking a car and rebuilding from the ground up, the car he sold me was FAR from a turnkey. It was a car with over 100K miles with basic maintenance, redone interior and body work, and OK paint job. It wasn't redone from the ground up...

“I am currently working on a KITT for client for $75,000 that has a Corvette LS3 in it with a 6 speed auto, new interior and new everything. A lot has happened in 10 years dude.”

Again, this has nothing to do with the topic at hand. A lot has happened in 10 years, dude. But that still doesn’t change what has happened with Bob selling a mechanically unsound car 10 years ago for the price which exceeded far more than it was worth. But I guess because it was all “Knight Rider,” it should have been worth more, even though it was a pretty looking Trans Am with a bunch of crap KR parts thrown in. If I had kept my mechanically sound Firebird, I could have spent close to that on functional parts and a decent paint job and would still have it today but you live and learn…

“The car I sold you was a car I bought, kept a few months and flipped. I did not build it, all I did was fix a few things on it. It was my first experience with a KITT car (as is yours) but you have to be able to put time and money into these cars.”

True and I’m sure we all may have learned now, you should work on fixing the mechanical issues with a Trans Am before slapping KR conversion parts on it and especially if you even want to “flip” a car so the owner of said car doesn’t have to deal with expensive non-simple repairs without even dealing with the crap KR conversion parts yet..

“My very first car was a 1982 Firebird and I know I won't make any friends here by saying that the 80's Pontiacs were not good cars.”

I will leave this one untouched because I’m not getting into that can of worms… 

“I also had a 87 Grand-Am. It was also crap.”

Another one I’m not going to bother to get into….

“These cars require a TON of work and money to be right.”

I don’t disagree with what Bob said here. However, one would think spending the price of a new car for an older “custom” car, a lot of the mechanical issues would be tended to. But, like I already stated above, it’s a “KITT” car so the prices should be jacked up to reflect that, even though the majority of the “KITT” parts turned out to be worth less than stock parts because stock parts… work!

“One of my employees is Eric Thompson who previously worked for Rob Louisell building KITT cars and he told me that the cars I am building are some of the best he has ever seen.
We have build over 20 Delorean Time Machines, 4 Bluesmobiles, an A-TEAM van, Robocop OCP car and a lot of other cool stuff.
So please don't judge what I currently build to a car I flipped that I bought from someone else and resold 10 years ago.
That is not fair.”

I was not judging what Bob currently builds to a car he flipped that he bought from someone else and resold 10 years ago. I was simply pointing out what happened 10 years ago in regards to a car he “fixed up a little” then flipped with a lot of more than “simple” issues with just the car itself which was faulty without disclosing such before the sale. But, we all know, according to Bob, “everything worked.” I guess faulty rear brakes, worn head gaskets, gaping holes in the exhaust, leaky T-tops which leaked right through the upper console electronics, and more…. was no big deal to him. After all, he just had it for a while and flipped it for quick cash, most likely because he didn’t want to deal with the issues on his own. That is not fair!

“Furthermore, when I did try to follow up with you after the sale all you did was spew all your sarcastic hate bullshit at me and to be honest, no, I had no interest in dealing with you any further if you were going to act like such a child about it. It was obvious to me that I was not dealing with someone mature enough to deal with the situation at the time and judging from you now I would say things have not changed much.”

“To be honest”? So, now Bob was being honest here and stated he did not respond to the message I sent him of which he said he did in the other response highlighted in red in the first paragraph in the beginning of the blog. If it weren’t for the bullshit I had to put up with obtaining the car to the bullshit of owning the car with another $10,000 or so I had to shell out just for the mechanical aspects of the car alone to the bullshit of hearing nothing but negativity from family members and everyone around me about getting such a “lemon” of a car, maybe I would not have acted like such a child spewing sarcastic hate bullshit at Bob. Oh, and for the record, in the past 10 years, things have changed quite a damn bit. Getting screwed in the past and bitched at in retail for things which were way out of my control, has taught me to not take shit from anyone these days and, if and when the opportunity arises, expose the truth to those who screwed me in the past so others can see what kind of character they really were (and still are unless they too changed) as well as teach others to learn to not trust anyone these days with anything because, in the end, they too will get screwed. As for my character, well, with my degree in criminal justice, background in private investigation, security, and computer company of my own creation which is 95% based on word of mouth referrals, I am not afraid to say my character is in good standing. 


If you want to complain about your car, dig these guys up and give them an earful, this is who built your car...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoaoGZovZBc”

No need. It’s no longer my car. Also, they were NOT the ones who sold the car they built, Bob did.
With all of that being said, this conversation is now done. 

There is no point in continuing this banter because I have stated what I had to state which was backed up by facts and Bob rebutted with he had to say based on his opinion and spewing out some marketing for his business here and there as well.

To those of you who read this, I greatly appreciate your time and I hope you have learned something from this. I did not post all of this to say Bob is a bad man and you should not visit his shop and maybe buy a car or two from him. I posted this because I did not believe in his judgement when selling me the Knight Rider conversion he “flipped” and, after reading his responses to the topic at hand, his lack of any remorse in regards to what I had to put up with for many years with a car sold by him where “everything worked.”

You can look back at my past posts and see what I had to put up with and more nonsense I had to put up with people whom I thought could be trusted as well but only cost me more money and more problems. This is the end of me owning a KR conversation. Whether I attempt the purchase of another one or parts to make a partial one remains to be seen as I have other priorities to tend to.

Lots of luck with the rest of you and your conversations!!

- Justin

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Probably the last post on this blog for a long while but I had to because it's URGENT!

I no longer have the Trans Am I was going to work on. I'm not going to bother to get into it.

I've decided to write a final post because someone I remember from my past  popped up on a Knight Rider Facebook page and had this to say with a picture...



"I would like to invite everyone out to our shop this Saturday for the biggest collection of Movie and TV cars ever in Texas!


We will be shooting our TV show "SCREEN MACHINES" and ABC NIGHTLINE will also be covering the event. We will have lots of cool celebrities and contests, just check out the event page for all the details!
See you Saturday!!!"

The truth shall now be set free!!!!

If you want to check out the lovely cars, that's all fine and dandy. However, I would dare not purchase any if I were you because they may look good and what Mr. "Video" Bob says about them may sound GREAT but, take it from a guy who actually bought one close to ten years ago which turned into nothing but a Knightmare!

Bob was curious and asked how everything was going so I sent him a response. Since I had not received any more contact from him, I thought his curiosity killed him like a cat but I was wrong. He's still doing what he does best... making a huge profit by showing off and then selling his half-ass made cars for a profit so he can continue to live large while the others he sells the cars to live broke trying to fix the many repairs the cars need...

Below is the message along with response I sent him in regards to his "curious" email:

Note: The blog links are no longer active because I haven't updated my main website in a long while. However, the blog is still here http://blog.justinrocque.com/ and you can search for the related things if you wish.


Hey, this is Videobob, who sold you the Knight Rider car....

Hey, Videobob, who sold me the Knight Rider car,
This is Justin, the dumb ass, who decided to trust another person once again, who spent a shit load of money and a shit load of time to get the so-called "Knight Rider" car, which after a few months of having it, turned out more into a KNIGHTmare than a dream come true.


I was just curious what you ever did with it (to it)?

Curiosity killed the cat, like my first stripper girlfriend (which lasted for a week) used to say but I'll be a nice guy again and help you with your curiosity, after all, that's what the whole "Knight Rider" show was about and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to get my hands on the car in the first place.

So, you want to know what I did do it?
Well, let's see.......

A couple months after I had it, I decided to have a mechanic friend of my uncles check it out. Long story short, he had to fix the rear brakes because they were not working at all. He noticed some leaks by the valve covers on the engine and also a leak on the bottom of the car where the transmission is. The car was also pretty loud when I brought it over and he said it shouldn't be that way. Apparently there was a big ass hole in the exhaust manifold so he patched that up. After hearing about all that shit, and after having the car for a couple months, I was starting to get a tad pissed and a tad concerned because I remember being told the car was in pretty good drivable condition and didn't really need any work done. Boy........was I surprised and quite shocked. I've been blindly deceived again in my wonderful life!

Feel free to read about this in my blog: http://www.justinrocque.com/blog/2005/07/over-month-now.html

Now comes the new year, where I finally was able to come up with enough money and time to get the tranny leak checked out. Long story short with this one too….. I had to get the tranny rebuilt and some other bottom parts of the car taken care of and there goes… $2300 for that!! It was around that time I started to realize what an ass I really was after spending $16000+ for an almost 20 year old car, with a non-functioning dash and bad transmission. After all, according to the person who sold it to me, there was no mechanical problems with it. I started to think I’ve been lied to about this car now, as far as the mechanical stuff and everything else about it goes. And for $16000+ I spent on this car, I  could have gotten a new car with no problems and a warranty; something like a Dodge Magnum maybe or something. But no………I had to get a car close to the age as me from someone I never met before, yet whom I decided to trust anyway with money which wasn’t mine to begin with, a week of time which I really couldn’t spare because I had to find a job, and a drive which almost killed my uncle and I quite a few times on the way and back from Texas. What a fantastic state that was to visit!

Feel free to read about that, here: http://www.justinrocque.com/blog/2006/01/taco-bell-really-is-toxic-hell.html. Oh, and after getting pulled over 6 times because my taillights were too dim…. I had to get those fixed as well and what a chore it was, as you can read on that blog post as well!

Oh, and about the dash, which you said all I’ll need to do was hook up the so-called wire of the speed sensor to the dash, well……. Why don’t you have a read at this:

“Justin,

So you are the one who bought the Videobob car.

Videobob contacted me some time ago and seemed to be willing to fix everything before selling the car and then I did not hear anymore from him. 
It is disappointing as your description is very similar to what he wrote to me, not being the original owner himself.

The manuals will surely help. A speed sensor will also help. Trying to do part of the installation yourself might also help unless you find people willing to do this at a stereo shop.

I am not sure where to start, and I know that this will scare you. The set in this car might be a copy of my early design and might never work without modifications. Unfortunately there have been an unknown number of sets produced by fiberglass guys which all seem to have been assembled in the exact same way and on which I always find the same errors. Maybe this is not the case, but it could be. We would need close up pictures of the electronics to find out and I do understand that they are already installed in the car. My best advice at this point would be to take the dash electronics out and to have it tested, calibrated and repaired if needed. 
This is a service available from Jupiter.”


I went to Sound Insights to have them check out all the wires and also put that speed sensor wire into that digital speedo but it did not do a damn thing so I emailed Christian for some advice, only to get more pissed about this so-called “Knight Rider” car, which, according to you, was in pretty good condition yet…… there is no working dashboard in the car! And you said it was drivable? Interesting. Oh, and just one more thing about the dash….

The glue liquefied from the heat and eventually the dash just fell apart and the center dash cluster is out so now the dash is just a piece of fiberglass with a bunch of wires clumped in it. Oh, and about those wonderful 2-Tvs in the dash too, which, according to yourself, “just have to be hooked up to work…….” DO NOT WORK AT ALL!! They are broken TV’s. It’s probably because it’s a 10 year old dash which probably never worked anyway but just lit up like a damn Christmas tree. You can read a little more about that here:  http://www.justinrocque.com/blog/2005/06/here-i-am-again.html
And here is some info regarding the nose, which had a noticeable dent on it near the scanner when I first got it anyways, even though you said on the site there was no dents or scratches, http://www.justinrocque.com/blog/2005/05/here-he-is.html. Now I guess I had more of an excuse to get a new one of that, which I then purchased (out of my own pocket!), http://www.justinrocque.com/blog/2005/12/not-worth-updating-with-all-negativity.html.
And here is some info regarding the leaks on the engine getting fixed, which cost another chunk of…….$300+ http://www.justinrocque.com/blog/2006/04/another-fucking-day-another-fucking.html

And here is some more updates for you about my car, and as you’ve probably noticed, my fantastic life I’ve been living…. http://www.justinrocque.com/blog/blogger.html.
Does all of that fill your thirst of curiosity? I sure do hope so because it’s took me around 2hrs to type all the above in my shitty security booth with only 3hrs of sleep today because, as you'll find out in my blog, I work 2 jobs, 70hrs+ a week, and sleep only 4hrs a day because most of the money I've been getting has been going to this car and my other debts because of it......
Oh, and one more thing…..as far as the brand new weather-stripping with non-leaky t-tops… well, let’s just say I went through an automatic car wash for a test and…..forgot to put on my swimsuit! So much for non-leaky t-tops, which I heard someone say as well…….
And how can the weather-stripping be new, if, after only a few months, started to crack and chip away? I wonder…….

Oh and one last thing… about that gullwing “death wheel,” well, one knight on my way to my security job, while making a turn, the gullwing kept turning without even turning the wheels so… long story short and after almost dying……the wheel stripped and I had to spend another $40 to get a round one. So much for the Knight Rider "Gullwing" affect, which will cost another......$900 I do not have to get replaced......

How long have you had this car for again? A month or more? And you did not notice any of these issues at all??? If not, I find that quite surprising. Oh, and I forgot to mention…..non-working windshield wiper fluid! As much as I’d like to get that fixed in case I get some good luck bird do on my windshield, I just have no money to do that non-crucial thing. Oh, and I won’t get into the whole A/C thing because that’s another story…..

Do you have a web page?

Why, of course! Here it is www.justinrocque.com. You can also look at my blog for info about my fantastic (sarcasm, if you didn't already notice) life as it stands right now…… http://www.justinrocque.com/blog/blogger.html. And here is my knight rider-based one, which hasn’t been updated in quite a while because I’ve been busy working 70hrs+ with about 4hrs of sleep a day with nothing to show for it but no personal life (at least when only working and not hanging out with people, I'll be less likely to get screwed again!) and a trailor trash-looking car..... http://www.knightindustries2000.com/

Car shows?

After all the above, what’s to show now? A $16,500 trans am worth no more than $6,000 now with a non-functioning dash, scraped nose, dented fender, round steering wheel, etc.? I was going to bring it back to that Hooters in Tallahassee but....... at this rate, It'll probably be another 10 years.

Any upgrades?

Is the rebuilt tranny considered an upgrade? How about the upgraded “steering wheel’? Or the upgraded alternator, which cost $250? Or maybe the upgraded windows, which are now tinted because I'd get heat stroke without a tint because of lack of A/C? Or the upgraded front brakes or maybe the upgraded nose and scanner, which have not been installed yet because I have less than $200 in my bank account and still can’t seem to find a left fender anywhere? Or maybe the "upgrade" of glueing the rear-view mirror back on.........after getting pulled over for driving with only the fog lights on because they were bright enough at 2AM with nobody around and after a fucking ticket for not having the rear view mirror on and a warning for not having the headlights on. There went another $20 with the god damn cost of the police officer looking at the damn thing to make sure it was on, signing the ticket, and another $10 or so for the court cost of them putting it in the system and another $5 or so for the damn kit do glue it back on KITT! Yea........thanks! Yet I still, for some odd reason, think about becoming a cop in this city.

Just curious.....

Too bad I didn’t use my curiosity to search on the wonderful web before I bought the car because after doing a search about it on google and on the Knight Registries about it, and emailing Christian about it, I’d probably have you drop the price down way more… because after all, all you sold me was a trans am, with a lit up non-functioning dash, leaky engine, bad tranny, stripped wheel, etc.….I also wish I had kept the Firebird I had before this one so I can use that as an actual “drivable” car until this one is fixed because it’s been risky every damn day now and I’m lucky I just got one speeding ticket so far! I wonder where that Firebird is. Maybe it too got sold on Ebay for $10,000 to some sucker like me? The only cool thing right now about it is having quite a bit of people notice it every week but…….. It sucks because there’s nothing really to show, which ends up making me more pissed but that's my life as I know it; too much bull shit and not enough good shit to even out.
Oh, btw, just outa curiosity, how is that Delorean doing? Also, how is that NEW Magnum you got with all that money you weaseled me through that prop "Knight Rider" car?

- VB
- JR

So, there you have it! If you do decide to go to Bob's lovely Prop Shop, do me a favor and hand him a bag because he'll need that to empty the shit he's probably still been full of all these years!

There it was all pretty and ready to be sold....



You can look at the rest of this blog for sad pictures of how it turned out to be...