GREENSBORO, N.C. — When Neal Luck purchased what appeared to be a clean, well-maintained used car from a local dealer, he wasn’t expecting a safety hazard lurking just beneath the paint.
The trouble began when a basketball hoop fell on the car’s passenger side. The damage seemed minor—until a visit to Mid-Town Auto’s repair team uncovered a startling truth. As hours of painstaking work removed mud- and Bondo-like filler, it became clear: the quarter panel had been heavily patched over a major structural crack, hiding serious damage beneath a glossy scarlet coat.
“That was all mud—this is where the original crack was,” a technician explained as he chipped away at the panel. The concealed damage wasn’t just cosmetic. “There’s so much mud there, there is no structural safety for that vehicl