Help Zane Complete a Dream

Gday ,

My name is Zane Watherston i am 21 years old and i have created this gofundme in hope, with a little help from the community i can finish my 4x4 Turbo diesel GU Patrol Build.

Let me shed a little light on what has driven me to create this. Earlier on this year i made the first big step into creating my future car and to live the life i work for. I met a bloke who at the time i thought was a genuinely good guy and we got talking. This guy happend to build trailers for a living but also had a love for building cars and helping people create their dreams!! After a few weeks of back and forward messaging, talking directly and contemplating applying for my first personal loan i decided to take a step up and do just that. Being my first major purchase and the start of a pathway towards a future i was as nervous as it gets but also excited to build my dream.

So the build started and i paid half of my total price as a deposit and this was invoiced under the company name, i had seen the car physically and the motor and the transmission, he insured me this car would be one of a kind and even he was excited to build it, i was promised a respray in any colour of my choice and a rust free chassis , the build was originally said to take around the 2 month mark.

The car was then put on a tow truck and towed to the sprayers. Whilst at the booth i decided to wrangle up everything that was needed to complete the build inc. full Superior remote resivoir shocks and brand new dobinsons coils along with brand new pannards ect, only to take some of the work load so no one was stressing throughout the build. I drove to brisbane to pick these up…. all the parts were collected and brought back to the work shed where to car was being built. and stored together. A few weeks had gone by and i had heard nothing about the spray job so i went down to the work shed and asked myself. The sprayer hadn’t even prepped my car for a spray yet and this is where things start to go down hill, The sprayer happend to be one of the builders ‘mates’ and he would make sure it was done!! Mean while the car was getting ‘prepped’ i decided i would clean the motor up free of grease grime and dirt in preparation for the install, i went down to the work shed and to my surprise my engine and transmission were missing , i questioned the builder and he made me aware that the shop was too messy and there was too much shit laying around so he took the engine ‘home’ and that flew straight over my head as at this point this guy was becoming what i thought was a good friend. At this stage he had his personal car that he had to drive and his partner was without a car and would’ve had to ride a moped to and from work , i didn’t like the idea of that as i’d never put my partner on a moped, so me being the generous giving person i am leant my 2009 VE SV6 to them while they sorted a car for them as i thought he was my mate…. after a few weeks my car was returned with a full tank and they were full of thankyous . The builder who at the time was my ‘mate’ asked for my help on the low as he was in a bit of debt with the ‘government’ he asked for a fair bit of money which would end up being the rest of my total and the second half of my deposit, and again me being the giving, caring person i am, i paid him the money,this wasn’t invoiced……. but he was full of thanks.

It had been now 6 weeks at this point and still no news on my spray job , i again questioned the builder to where my car is and within 24 hours my ute was back at the shed in all its glory .

A few days had passed and i hadn’t heard a thing about the installation of my motor , i assumed he was busy so i didn’t say anything. i then recieved a message from his partner saying he was on stress leave and left me with a contact number for the person who would be running the shop. i sent my wishes in hope that he’d feel better soon. the messages that followed that is what has led me to make this post.

”your engine and transmission have been seized my queensland police, and your suspension has been stolen”

my heart sunk and i sat on my bed staring blankly, i shortly after called his partner and she advised that the builder was in custody awaiting trial for multiple charges of stolen goods. i didn’t know what to do….

Since then i have been in contact with the officers that ‘seized’ my engine and they were very cooperative but they also advised that during the raid that had happend my engine or transmission were never seized or taken. i remember the builder saying he took my engine home but there home was raided too…… no engine or transmission were siezed during that raid……

i contacted the person who was running the business at that stage and explained what my engine looked like and he explained to me that it went into a different car ….. so myself and another customer had paid for the same engine and it was no where to be found.

So i now have a cab and a chassis, no engine or transmission, no custom tray that i paid for no drive shaft , tail shaft or no suspension as it was all stolen.

i now do not get to attend my family christmas camping trip all because i thought i was doing the right thing with the right people.

I have learnt a lesson this time around but i will always continue to be a generous person and give help when i can.

I write this post with the feeling of guilt in my stomach in absolute hope that the four wheel drive community can come together to really just help a brother out and help me pursue my dream build.

Every dollar will help and i will be sure to give when i can. i look forward to sharing with you the finished product