Mike Lucas
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2007
The purpose of this post is to make everyone aware of a predator that haunts our community in the Nashville, IN area. I have inside information to possibly one of the biggest scam artists ever to grace these boards. As such, my Identity will remain shielded. This post will be based on nothing but fact. I will not allow my own personal feelings to jeopardize the integrity of what I am about to say. Moderators and Administrators, before you delete this thread PLEASE read it in full and try to understand that the intent is to protect another unsuspecting member of our community from making a grave mistake with the party in question. This IS NOT SPAM and every bit of information within is fact and can be proven.
I have known Darren harden for quite a while. Some of you may know him as Doug Harden’s son. In the past both have proven to be good friends and worthwhile bases of knowledge for our local community. Within the past few years something has gone horribly wrong and Darren Harden has turned into what I would deem a habitual liar and thief. There are numerous people that have been ripped off by this scam artist, including some of his closest friends. What I am going to share with you are just a few select examples of Darren Harden stealing money, automotive parts and perhaps even vehicles from members of this very community.
I will begin with letting the cat out of the bag with the situation that lead to this post. Darren Harden was tasked to work on one of my friend’s cars (Mack on some boards) Mack has specifically asked me not to post this- but I simply cannot hold back any longer and I am sure you will all agree with my urgency when you read the story. (sorry Mack if you see this). Mack is a real easy going person and he bought his red IROC Camaro as a treat to himself after college. He tediously looked for a low mileage car of that year and color- this was his baby. He took care of this thing like it was a kid. It was kept simply immaculate- you could eat off any part of this car. Mack gets the itch for some more power, and consults one of his long time friends- Darren Harden. Mack specs out everything for a total and complete engine rebuild from the ground up including a new block. He goes over the specs with Darren and they decide to give the project a green light. Mack buys many of the parts and gives them to Darren, and also paid him upfront for the future work Darren would be doing on his car. We are talking about some big dollar items here- Diamond pistons, AFR heads, etc. Darren is tasked with gathering some more parts with the money such as a ZZ4 block. Without dragging this post out into a 10 page ordeal, Mack calls and checks on his car periodically- to which Darren claims all is well and going smoothly. Mack took on this task to help Darren and get some experience in building an engine. One day Mack shows up at Darren’s garage to help Darren on the process. Darren informs Mack that the engine is already together (Darren was to call Mack before assembly so Mack could see how things work) Darren points to a shortblock in the corner, claiming Mack could bolt his heads on it if he wanted. Disappointed, Mack begins bolting his heads to this engine. He gets the heads on and wishes Darren well and leaves. (Recently it was discovered that the engine Mack bolted his heads on to belonged to a different customer of Darren’s- Mack’s engine wasn’t even purchased at this time just another example of Darren’s lying and manipulation).
Time goes on and Mack periodically checks on the status of his car- to which he is told by Darren that everything is going according to plan and so forth. Things change, both parties get married- have kids, etc. Throughout all of this Mack is assured that his car is getting taken care of, but that it would take more time due to personal setbacks- no problem.
Over the past ½ year, Mack begins to get more suspicious. Darren is caught in several lies and bad dealings with other people, yet always seems to have the right thing to say on the phone when asking about a status update. At this point, Darren has had the car nearly three years. He tells Mack that it is completed- but he has lost faith in himself due to some soured deals, and he will have a man named Mike Lucas finish tuning the DFI system on his car- but assures him the motor is together, etc. Time goes on- and on- and on.. No car. Mike Lucas’ information can not be divulged, only an E-mail address. Mike doesn’t respond to E-mails. Time drags on. Finally Mack demands to have his car back. Darren tells Mack the car is back in his possession. More excuses follow as to why the car simply cannot be delivered. Weeks pass, still no car. Mack figures that since Darren is so incompetent he can’t bring his own car back to him- he will do Darren a favor and just come to pick the car up. More excuses- things such as the trailer isn’t parked correctly to download the car, Darren works all day and all night, etc. Finally Mack procures a trailer and has two friends drive him down to pick his car up at Darren’s. Once they arrive there is no car- anywhere. Darren gets caught in a lie. When pressured to get the car wherever it is, Darren claims “Mike Lucas” has it. Here is a quote about “Mike Lucas”
If that doesn’t speak volumes about how fabricated this Mike Lucas guy is, I don’t know what does. Darren even took his father Doug out to the middle of a corn field and said the shop vanished!!
Anyway- here is the climax. After confronting Darren about not having his car, Mack gave Darren an ultimatum- one week to produce the car. ONE WEEK. Darren originally said that he needed a few days, but Mack gave him a full week to produce his car- finished, unfinished, whatever. He just wanted his car back. The entire week Mike Lucas supposedly was working. He was so busy he couldn’t even take a lunch break to unlock the garage so Darren could get this car. Darren begged Mack not to inform his father, Doug. After the week’s deadline lapsed, Mack began looking into legal avenues to get his car back and informed Doug. Darren still wouldn’t even give Mack an address to this Mike Lucas character’s shop. Mack agreed to give Doug 3 EXTRA days to try and get to the bottom of it. In short, Doug now believes there is a Mike Lucas even though the man can’t be reached by phone, address or anything. The only person to have ever seen or talked to the man was Darren. Naturally in those three extra days, Mike has been out of town. Mack still has no clue where his car is even at right now.
Other things I can attribute to Darren Harden:
-Two people I know of had to fight tooth and nail to get parts they had dropped off to Darren back. Not only did Darren not do the needed work, but he also sold their parts in some cases!
-Darren bought a car and installed a completely messed up engine in it, then sold it to one of his GOOD FRIENDS telling him the engine was fresh, etc. He then had an entire bag of excuses as to why the engine was blowing out smoke like a freight train two days later. After a few months of foot dragging and excuses, Darren supposedly fixed the problem. Not a month later the engine is blowing smoke rings again.
-Darren subbed a person to weld turbo headers for him. Darren supplied junk tubing and a junk welder to do the job- the guy that did the work didn’t want to work with the stuff but Darren told him to just give it his best shot. The headers looked terrible. The guy doing the work felt bad (even though it was technically Darren’s fault) and offered to only take 200$ for the work instead of the 300$ they agreed on. Darren was fine with that but would have to send money later- Money never arrived. Darren was questioned again and said he would send it. Money never arrived- NOW Darren is claiming that the owner of the car was supposed to pay this guy, and that it isn’t his problem.
-Darren has been caught using customer’s credit cards to pay for parts for other projects of his. A several thousand dollar convertible top was supposedly bought to finish a customer’s car- ran through the customer’s credit card. Top never arrived- come to find out Darren ordered the top COD and didn’t have the cash to pay for it. No idea where the thousands of dollars went. Darren finally took in money for another job and paid for the top- Robbing Peter to pay Paul.
These are just a few examples that I can cite off the top of my head. Some of you are probably asking “well- why don’t these people go to Doug Harden, he seems like a reasonable guy” Doug Harden has been informed about his son’s terrible business practices. Doug harden has even bailed him out a few times, yet when Darren gets banned from posting on certain boards because of some of the aforementioned dealings, Doug Harden allows Darren to continue to post under his name in these forums. To put it bluntly, Doug Harden has on rose colored glasses when it comes to his son. He feels that Darren just gets badmouthed and so on and that things just aren’t his fault. I understand as a father it is probably a tough pill to swallow, but here are some of the responses Doug has given when questioned about his son:
“People need to mind their own F^(KING BUSINESS”
“ BUTT THE F%(K OUT!”
“People expect everything from Darren but don’t want to give him any credit”
“There are two sides to every story”
”Darren doesn’t charge rent or fees on all his buddies cars that he has helped work on”
Real professional and mature responses, right? Its obvious that Doug is going to side with Darren regardless of what happens-blood is thicker than water. Darren has made his bed and if Doug wants to get in it with him, that is a choice he makes.
What I want to tell YOU is to stay AWAY from Darren Harden. If Doug or Darren read any of this, I challenge you to respond and try to disprove ANY of what I have said- ANYTHING. I can back up everything that is in this post, but I can assure you Darren cannot back up anything that comes out of his mouth. To date, there have been VOLUMES of bold faced lies Darren has been caught in. Still need more proof- google “Darren Harden” and see what comes up-sort of Ironic that it is a post about how he has ripped yet another person off.
If other people have had run-ins with Darren Harden, this is the time to bring them out in the open. Post them up. This stuff has gone on FAR too long with this scam artist and I think the jig is just about up.
I have known Darren harden for quite a while. Some of you may know him as Doug Harden’s son. In the past both have proven to be good friends and worthwhile bases of knowledge for our local community. Within the past few years something has gone horribly wrong and Darren Harden has turned into what I would deem a habitual liar and thief. There are numerous people that have been ripped off by this scam artist, including some of his closest friends. What I am going to share with you are just a few select examples of Darren Harden stealing money, automotive parts and perhaps even vehicles from members of this very community.
I will begin with letting the cat out of the bag with the situation that lead to this post. Darren Harden was tasked to work on one of my friend’s cars (Mack on some boards) Mack has specifically asked me not to post this- but I simply cannot hold back any longer and I am sure you will all agree with my urgency when you read the story. (sorry Mack if you see this). Mack is a real easy going person and he bought his red IROC Camaro as a treat to himself after college. He tediously looked for a low mileage car of that year and color- this was his baby. He took care of this thing like it was a kid. It was kept simply immaculate- you could eat off any part of this car. Mack gets the itch for some more power, and consults one of his long time friends- Darren Harden. Mack specs out everything for a total and complete engine rebuild from the ground up including a new block. He goes over the specs with Darren and they decide to give the project a green light. Mack buys many of the parts and gives them to Darren, and also paid him upfront for the future work Darren would be doing on his car. We are talking about some big dollar items here- Diamond pistons, AFR heads, etc. Darren is tasked with gathering some more parts with the money such as a ZZ4 block. Without dragging this post out into a 10 page ordeal, Mack calls and checks on his car periodically- to which Darren claims all is well and going smoothly. Mack took on this task to help Darren and get some experience in building an engine. One day Mack shows up at Darren’s garage to help Darren on the process. Darren informs Mack that the engine is already together (Darren was to call Mack before assembly so Mack could see how things work) Darren points to a shortblock in the corner, claiming Mack could bolt his heads on it if he wanted. Disappointed, Mack begins bolting his heads to this engine. He gets the heads on and wishes Darren well and leaves. (Recently it was discovered that the engine Mack bolted his heads on to belonged to a different customer of Darren’s- Mack’s engine wasn’t even purchased at this time just another example of Darren’s lying and manipulation).
Time goes on and Mack periodically checks on the status of his car- to which he is told by Darren that everything is going according to plan and so forth. Things change, both parties get married- have kids, etc. Throughout all of this Mack is assured that his car is getting taken care of, but that it would take more time due to personal setbacks- no problem.
Over the past ½ year, Mack begins to get more suspicious. Darren is caught in several lies and bad dealings with other people, yet always seems to have the right thing to say on the phone when asking about a status update. At this point, Darren has had the car nearly three years. He tells Mack that it is completed- but he has lost faith in himself due to some soured deals, and he will have a man named Mike Lucas finish tuning the DFI system on his car- but assures him the motor is together, etc. Time goes on- and on- and on.. No car. Mike Lucas’ information can not be divulged, only an E-mail address. Mike doesn’t respond to E-mails. Time drags on. Finally Mack demands to have his car back. Darren tells Mack the car is back in his possession. More excuses follow as to why the car simply cannot be delivered. Weeks pass, still no car. Mack figures that since Darren is so incompetent he can’t bring his own car back to him- he will do Darren a favor and just come to pick the car up. More excuses- things such as the trailer isn’t parked correctly to download the car, Darren works all day and all night, etc. Finally Mack procures a trailer and has two friends drive him down to pick his car up at Darren’s. Once they arrive there is no car- anywhere. Darren gets caught in a lie. When pressured to get the car wherever it is, Darren claims “Mike Lucas” has it. Here is a quote about “Mike Lucas”
If that doesn’t speak volumes about how fabricated this Mike Lucas guy is, I don’t know what does. Darren even took his father Doug out to the middle of a corn field and said the shop vanished!!
Anyway- here is the climax. After confronting Darren about not having his car, Mack gave Darren an ultimatum- one week to produce the car. ONE WEEK. Darren originally said that he needed a few days, but Mack gave him a full week to produce his car- finished, unfinished, whatever. He just wanted his car back. The entire week Mike Lucas supposedly was working. He was so busy he couldn’t even take a lunch break to unlock the garage so Darren could get this car. Darren begged Mack not to inform his father, Doug. After the week’s deadline lapsed, Mack began looking into legal avenues to get his car back and informed Doug. Darren still wouldn’t even give Mack an address to this Mike Lucas character’s shop. Mack agreed to give Doug 3 EXTRA days to try and get to the bottom of it. In short, Doug now believes there is a Mike Lucas even though the man can’t be reached by phone, address or anything. The only person to have ever seen or talked to the man was Darren. Naturally in those three extra days, Mike has been out of town. Mack still has no clue where his car is even at right now.
Other things I can attribute to Darren Harden:
-Two people I know of had to fight tooth and nail to get parts they had dropped off to Darren back. Not only did Darren not do the needed work, but he also sold their parts in some cases!
-Darren bought a car and installed a completely messed up engine in it, then sold it to one of his GOOD FRIENDS telling him the engine was fresh, etc. He then had an entire bag of excuses as to why the engine was blowing out smoke like a freight train two days later. After a few months of foot dragging and excuses, Darren supposedly fixed the problem. Not a month later the engine is blowing smoke rings again.
-Darren subbed a person to weld turbo headers for him. Darren supplied junk tubing and a junk welder to do the job- the guy that did the work didn’t want to work with the stuff but Darren told him to just give it his best shot. The headers looked terrible. The guy doing the work felt bad (even though it was technically Darren’s fault) and offered to only take 200$ for the work instead of the 300$ they agreed on. Darren was fine with that but would have to send money later- Money never arrived. Darren was questioned again and said he would send it. Money never arrived- NOW Darren is claiming that the owner of the car was supposed to pay this guy, and that it isn’t his problem.
-Darren has been caught using customer’s credit cards to pay for parts for other projects of his. A several thousand dollar convertible top was supposedly bought to finish a customer’s car- ran through the customer’s credit card. Top never arrived- come to find out Darren ordered the top COD and didn’t have the cash to pay for it. No idea where the thousands of dollars went. Darren finally took in money for another job and paid for the top- Robbing Peter to pay Paul.
These are just a few examples that I can cite off the top of my head. Some of you are probably asking “well- why don’t these people go to Doug Harden, he seems like a reasonable guy” Doug Harden has been informed about his son’s terrible business practices. Doug harden has even bailed him out a few times, yet when Darren gets banned from posting on certain boards because of some of the aforementioned dealings, Doug Harden allows Darren to continue to post under his name in these forums. To put it bluntly, Doug Harden has on rose colored glasses when it comes to his son. He feels that Darren just gets badmouthed and so on and that things just aren’t his fault. I understand as a father it is probably a tough pill to swallow, but here are some of the responses Doug has given when questioned about his son:
“People need to mind their own F^(KING BUSINESS”
“ BUTT THE F%(K OUT!”
“People expect everything from Darren but don’t want to give him any credit”
“There are two sides to every story”
”Darren doesn’t charge rent or fees on all his buddies cars that he has helped work on”
Real professional and mature responses, right? Its obvious that Doug is going to side with Darren regardless of what happens-blood is thicker than water. Darren has made his bed and if Doug wants to get in it with him, that is a choice he makes.
What I want to tell YOU is to stay AWAY from Darren Harden. If Doug or Darren read any of this, I challenge you to respond and try to disprove ANY of what I have said- ANYTHING. I can back up everything that is in this post, but I can assure you Darren cannot back up anything that comes out of his mouth. To date, there have been VOLUMES of bold faced lies Darren has been caught in. Still need more proof- google “Darren Harden” and see what comes up-sort of Ironic that it is a post about how he has ripped yet another person off.
If other people have had run-ins with Darren Harden, this is the time to bring them out in the open. Post them up. This stuff has gone on FAR too long with this scam artist and I think the jig is just about up.
