I took my car in to fix a dent & didn’t hear back for months – I found wild truth behind the delay after reading review
TWO women were each promised repairs by a seemingly legitimate mechanic - then their cars disappeared for months.
They found each other online and discovered why both their cars were missing.
Keri Boyce and Lisa, whose name was changed to protect herself, ran into Joe McDaniel at a coffee shop two separate times.
Boyce recalled meeting him at a Starbucks in South Carolina after he approached her to talk about her Volkswagen Beetle.
"I’m thinking he’s good people," Boyce told ABC affiliate WSCO-TV.
Both women said he started the conversation by complimenting their choice of cars.
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"He said, ‘Oh my gosh. I love your Beetle.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, me too.’ So we start talking about the Beetles," she recounted.
"And then he goes into, oh, well, he works on cars and he has a shop in Fort Mill."
Then he offered to fix her dents and a broken taillight.
Boyce, who used to work for a newspaper, was guarded - but he seemed legitimate.
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"He had a website. He had a business card," she said.
"It actually seemed pretty professional."
For Lisa, her introduction to McDaniel was similar - but he offered to improve her Nissan Leaf EV.
He claimed he could make it charge faster.
"He said, ‘Oh, I can do that for you for cheap because I used to work for Tesla,'" she said.
Both women agreed to let him fix their cars - Boyce paid him $900, and Lisa paid $1,200 - and then neither had seen their cars for two and a half months.
Boyce employed her investigative skills and found Lisa's post about McDaniel on the NextDoor app.
I was just angry. I didn’t realize this is her car. I thought this was his car.
Lisa
She reached out to Lisa, and both discovered they'd been played by the same man claiming to be a mechanic.
Lisa had been driving Boyce's Beetle as a loaner while McDaniel was supposedly fixing her Leaf.
"I was just angry. I didn’t realize this is her car. I thought this was his car," said Lisa.
Boyce said she reached out to McDaniel and demanded her car be returned.
She told the outlet that he left her car at a fast food restaurant with the keys left in it, making it vulnerable to theft.
"I was just dumbfounded when I picked it up because I just went, ‘What, what is this?" she recalled.
How to avoid being scammed at the repair shop
Motorautocar and the AARP have east-to-follow tips to avoid being scammed by a repair shop.
- Motorautocar suggests asking to see parts that have been replaced or to see old fluids after they were swapped. If the shop says that's impossible or refuses, it could be a sign it wasn't done.
- Ask for a walkaround of the repairs that were done. Most mechanics are happy to show you what was done in the shop. While being walked around, look for evidence of repairs like the area being cleaned off, shiny new parts, tool marks on the bolts, tools being out or nearby, etc.
- Before taking your car in, look at other customer reviews on Google, Yelp, or Facebook. Many customers only review a company if they have negative reviews, so keep an eye out.
- For costly repairs, consider getting multiple opinions. If two to three shops suggest identical repairs, it's likely to be true.
- Test a new shop with minor issues you're aware of to see if they add anything to the repair bill.
- If applicable, bring someone to the shop who knows about cars to have them double-check or read a repair bill.
- Get everything on paper. Not only is it important for your repair records, but it can help protect you if legal measures are necessary.
Source: Motorautocar, AARP
The repairs he promised were not done - instead, the Beetle was in worse condition than before.
The hood had caulk on it, the broken taillight was taped on, and the rims and spoiler were painted black.
To add insult to injury, her dashboard was lit up like a Christmas tree.
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Both drivers said they filed police reports against McDaniel, but they were told the matter should be handled civilly.
Reporters attempted to contact McDaniel, though they never heard back.
