Car repair con artists; NPD warns of uncertified mechanics

Let’s face it: no one likes to drive around with a dented car. The cost to repair body work damage can be costly. It can even hurt your wallet more when repair work is done by an uncertified mechanic.

“Nobody wants to have a damaged car. It’s a hurt to everyone’s pride, so that’s kind of what they’re preying on,” said Police Lt. Bryan McGinn with the Naples Police Department.

McGinn is talking about suspicious mechanics who appear to be certified but are not. One of the biggest hot spots these quick-fix mechanics have been lurking is in Publix grocery store parking lots throughout Naples.

“What we’ve seen is an intake or an uptick in individuals that are mobile, claiming to be mobile dent repair or mobile bodywork repair to vehicles and generally, as a general rule, what they’re doing is they’re approaching individuals that appear to have some sort of damage,” said McGinn.

The Naples Police Department and local repair shops claim that within the past three months, quick-fix mechanics have asked drivers for $250 in cash in exchange for parking lot repairs, such as repairing a dent or other bodywork damage.

“What these individuals do is they pack fillers, and they put different waxes and things into the dents and stuff like that, which ultimately, a lot of times causes more damage to the vehicle,” said McGinn, “Now this individual has to then go to an actual repair shop and the repairs can sometimes be double or more because of other damage.”

One of those repair shops doing the work is Supreme Collision. The owner, J.R. Nocera, said most of the victims affected by this scam are mostly the elderly and women 65 years or older.

“I would say, in the last three months, we’ve seen six of them, six cars, six or seven, and that’s a lot,” said J.R. Nocera, the owner of Supreme Collison. “After the car comes back to me, I have to add an additional $500 of repairs to the initial $1200 because I have to basically, in a sense, start fresh right from the beginning.”

Supreme Collision was also one of the first ones to alert Naples police. Since then, officers are protrolling the areas where those quick repair mechanics might be lurking.