Buyer BEWARE "Stan Seader" Mopar transmission builder from Coraopolis, PA

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Howard1784

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First and foremost, I take full responsibility for not doing my due diligence on researching this individual. It is very rare that I "slip up" I'm embarrassed that I ever got involved with this a$$ clown!

I bought a transmission from Stan Seader who advertises multiple Mopar transmissions on Facebook Marketplace and is a member here as Dart540. The trans was bought in June 2024 which was placed in storage until the install around Feb 2025? After loading the trans in my car I spent over an hour talking to him in the parking lot about my LE retirement, cars and Street Oulaws. He bad mouthed John Cope and A & A Transmission which I found odd and should have been the first red flag
After the trans install, I drove the car normally around the neighborhood to get acclimated to the new driveline set up. I was planning on going to a car show one day and upon driving to the gas station the transmission went up in smoke. I contacted Seader that afternoon at which time he was cordial and said he would take care of me, warranty the trans and to send him the build sheet. He would have one built in 2 days and agreed to meet me half way in Pennsylvania to exchange the bad transmission for the good one at no cost to me. I was ecstatic.

2 weeks later I contacted him at the time of dropping the car off to have a shop remove the transmission for me and inform Seader to be ready to meet on an agreed day. He said he did not have a transmission built and questioned who I was at which time I had to rehash the whole situation and what he said 2 weeks prior. He said he had absolutely no recollection of our recent 1 hour phone conversation or anything that was discussed at his shop originally and he admitted he has a "memory" problem but would build a transmission and contact me. He eventually contacted me several days later and sent me a bill via text message. I WAS FURIOUS.

I contacted him on the phone at which time his demeanor took a 180 and he advised me the transmission failure was my fault, accused me of "beating on it" He then proceeded to deny that he initially agreed to fix it AND said he was no longer going to meet half way to make the exchange.He accused me of scamming him. He also denied building me the transmission in the first place. THIS GUY TURNED INTO A RAGING SENILE LUNATIC. He was rude, arguementative, and disrespectful. He was yelling at me thinking i would back down take the loss and be scared. After his belligerent nonsense, Stanley stated in an angry tone, to bring the failed transmission to him within a 2 hour window to his shop and he will "see what happened" He said he was afraid of getting arrested by my LE buddies at the original meeting halfway point in Pennsylvania. (I was like this dude is NUTS!) I had a 2 hour window to be there and 2 hours only! I advised him he was tetering with borderline fraudulent activity by selling bad transmissions to the public, screwing a retired LE officer and if this is how he conducts business with the public. I responded in utter and total disbelief, "You are really going to do this to me!!!!!!!?" He replied that he "didn't give a fuc$" When I asked him if i decide to drop everything and drive 4 hours, would he would give me a receipt for handing him the transmission back his response was, "HELL NO!" (I testified to this as well)


That was the nail in the coffin. A reasonable and prudent person would not have driven several hours, give him the failed transmission and be left with nothing. With his "memory issues" he could easily say a transmission was never dropped off or just keep it etc etc etc. I certainly did not trust him at this point. I elected not to drive 4 hours because:

1. there was no guarantee he would have been at the shop
2. There would be no written proof that I gave him the transmission in which he could keep the transmission and I would be out the trans and money.
3. He has serious memory issues and conveniently forgets our conversations


I chose to take him to Pennsylvania Court as a more appropriate resolution.

I located a local transmission builder who is very familiar with 904s. Aside from ALL THE INSTALLED PARTS FAILING that Seader installed, he noted the direct clutch inner lip seal was undersized for my application and that the snap ring in clutch for the Bellview return spring was installed incorrectly by Seader. The entire transmission had to rebuilt AGAIN.

Fast forward to court, Seader testified that he sells his transmissions "as is" with absolutley no warranty or guarntees and I "knew that." I testified I would not have purchased the transmission "as is." AS IS is not listed on his for sale listings nor is it indicated on his Facebook Marketplace ads anywhere, nor on his receipts, nor did he indicate this verbally, otherwise, i would have looked elsewhere. Now you all know that if you chose to buy his parts. He is running a transmission business from a rented garage and I trusted him. Had he backed his work, I was going to to repurchase the old trans as a spare. He would have made money as well.

Coincidentally, I ran into another member here on FABO who bought a race transmission from him (unknown to me) for his race car with a warranty and he indicated he would not have spent that money without one. I kept him informed of my situation.

I confronted Seader about said warranty and he denied that he agreed to that warranty with that person

So, the defendant was dishonest in court regarding warranties. He also was dishonest about receiving docs I sent via ups with signature confirmation. He testified he never recd mailed docs, yet, I had his signature that they were recd and signed by him. Small minor dishonest statements, but dishonest nonetheless and this sets a pattern of behavior.

Well, the court sided with the defendant without an explanation. I later discovered after a Pennsylvania court records search that he has had numerous unspecified civil lawsuits dating back several years as a defendant.

Interestingly, court personnel also noted that even if a person wins a monetary award in Pennsylvania, they typically do not collect the proceeds because Pennsylvania does not force defendants to pay. He noted the best way to get paid is to know where the defendant banks and the Sheriffs can seize the money from their account. WTF is going on in Pennsylvania?????

I am a retired LE officer and if he screwed me over, imagine what he would do to you. I dont want anyone else to go through what I did because he sold me a poorly built transmission that failed from normal street driving and in the end called me a scammer and blamed me for the trans failure.

In closing, he testified in court his transmissions are sold in an AS IS basis. He does not put this on receipts or his Facebook business advertisements. Well played on his part for unsuspecting customers for not writing this on his receipts but now you have been warned.

(Thinking out loud: I was thinking he could have easily taken the failed trans, fixed it and resold it OR given me money back and part ways at which time I could tell people that he took care of me and made it right. No harm/no foul. That's how I would have handled it. Now it going to cost him in the long run as far as I'm concerned)

In my opinion, there is something seriously wrong with his behavior and how he treats his customers. I believe he has a mental illness. I have dealt with alot cruddy people in 25 years and he takes the cake as one of the most incredible embiciles I ever dealt with as a professional. He even tried the, "He threatened me, my family and job" BS. (Useless diversion tactic) Really, you have to do better than that tough guy! What's next, are you going to "have my badge" Been there, done that! What's funny is how he played Billy bad a$$ over the phone but was a little mouse in court.

I made this post with facts, truthful accounts and his own words so you all could make an informed decision on purchasing one of his transmissions
 
FYI most states that I'm familiar with (granted only OH and FL) have no way or do not care to enforce a court monetary settlement.

If you win, it's up to you to collect.

Imagine how pleasant that might be.
 
I live in pa and have had to sue twice . one for a transmission that was not fixed and if you win the case and they do not pay you pay more money and the Sherriff of the county it is in will deliver papers and pick out items for a public sale and auction them off if they do not pay , I had them do this twice and got the money both times so I don't know what county you were in but the district judge should have explained that to you , they also have to re imburse all costs to you,
 
I live in pa and have had to sue twice . one for a transmission that was not fixed and if you win the case and they do not pay you pay more money and the Sherriff of the county it is in will deliver papers and pick out items for a public sale and auction them off if they do not pay , I had them do this twice and got the money both times so I don't know what county you were in but the district judge should have explained that to you , they also have to re imburse all costs to you,
this was an arbritration case in front of 3 attorneys deciding. I can appeal within 30 days. No one explained anything to me despite my best efforts
 
And nothing will happen "here" on fabo. Sorry and thanks for headsup. Maybe he's friends with Richard Cranium @badlilred79 , I see the thread by @RedlineRed was closed.
Actually, if someone googles his name or searches his name here, this thread should pop up. My main objective is to warn Mopar enthusiasts of his businesses practices and warn them that his "built" transmissions as sold AS IS. He does not say this verbally or in writing. At least he did not advise either way to me.

He does go to Carlisle and I hope he does not take his transmissions there to sell to unsuspecting buyers unless he explicitly states they are sold AS IS UPFRONT. I will have no problem standing in front of his spot warning others.
 
Anything under 10000 can be done through the district judge in the district he is in, I have to assume you agreed to the arbitration with lawyers instead of a judge so you are probably screwed at this point but you can look up the district judge in that municipality and give them a call. My daughter in law is the administrator for 2 counties in pa and I am sure you could have sued him , sorry about your luck sounds like you had a pretty good case.
 
From looking into his history on the forum, it seems like this dart540 guy just cares about making sales, so ****-em.
 
Anything under 10000 can be done through the district judge in the district he is in, I have to assume you agreed to the arbitration with lawyers instead of a judge so you are probably screwed at this point but you can look up the district judge in that municipality and give them a call. My daughter in law is the administrator for 2 counties in pa and I am sure you could have sued him , sorry about your luck sounds like you had a pretty good case.
Yeah, I looked online and the court of common pleas was the only thing that came up so I went there and it was considered "arbritration" I was not informed of any alternatives and I later learned of the "magistrate" No one could tell me anything about the process OR the difference between the 2. The Alleghany County Court website is not user friendly nor are there any instructions on how to file a small claims. The folks in the filing office could not answer my basic questions and they NEVER answer the phone. The one time I was able to contact an employee, he was rude, condescending and unprofessional at best. He had the nerve to tell me that "I should have researched better" It should not be a hidden secret to the general public to file a claim and it was expected that I know all the legal terms and the process. The Sheriffs office was no better. They failed to inform me of many things like the 30 days to execute service etc I formed the impression that Pennsylvania gives preference to Attorneys to handle court matters. An explanation of the law in the ruling would have been nice. I can still appeal at the tune of another $100 or $200 plus additional sheriffs fees and travel expenses. I thought I had a solid case too and it doesnt make sense.
 
Yeah, I looked online and the court of common pleas was the only thing that came up so I went there and it was considered "arbritration" I was not informed of any alternatives and I later learned of the "magistrate" No one could tell me anything about the process OR the difference between the 2. The Alleghany County Court website is not user friendly nor are there any instructions on how to file a small claims. The folks in the filing office could not answer my basic questions and they NEVER answer the phone. The one time I was able to contact an employee, he was rude, condescending and unprofessional at best. He had the nerve to tell me that "I should have researched better" It should not be a hidden secret to the general public to file a claim and it was expected that I know all the legal terms and the process. The Sheriffs office was no better. They failed to inform me of many things like the 30 days to execute service etc I formed the impression that Pennsylvania gives preference to Attorneys to handle court matters. An explanation of the law in the ruling would have been nice. I can still appeal at the tune of another $100 or $200 plus additional sheriffs fees and travel expenses. I thought I had a solid case too and it doesnt make sense.
Sorry to hear of everyone’s troubles with him. I pray he gets what’s coming to him. Kim
 

Some ppl are not very mechanically inclined. And if he has the cash to pay for it why not. No harm no foul. Kim

You can't say no harm no foul, because having other people do his work is what landed him in this situation.

My issue with all this is first and foremost... there's two sides to every story. I'm not saying Howard is wrong. I'm not saying Stan is wrong. But... there is very little mechanical/technical info here. The claim, "the transmission went up in smoke" could mean anything. There's at least two separate parties involved with working on this vehicle at the time that it went up in smoke.

So after he got screwed with the transmission build, he "located a local transmission builder" and is having yet another unknown do his work for him.

Again not saying either party is wrong, but there's more to it.
 
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