Business Profile: Mahopac Auto Body
Jerry Cosenza wanted to work closer to home.
After spending 25 years commuting to Mount Vernon in southern Westchester County from his Cortlandt home, the auto mechanic wanted to own a business where the drive would be short and he could spend more time with his family each day.
That’s when, driving along Route 6, Cosenza spotted a vacate property that used to be an auto repair shop, but had been empty and an eyesore for several months. Though he knew it would take plenty of time and effort to clean it up, Cosenza was drawn anyway, knowing that it ultimately meant more hours with his wife and kids.
“I took advantage of a situation that popped up,” Cosenza said. “I spend two more hours out of the day with my family.”
For the past couple months, Mahopac Auto Body has been opened with Cosenza bringing the car garage back to respectability after it was an ugly view in the community for far too long.
The clean up effort was extensive and seemed to take as much effort as running the actual business. There was debris everywhere, Cosenza said, including parts of cars and actual cars that dated back several years. He estimated it took at least a couple of months to clear the space and going forward he hopes to do some more landscaping to spruce the area up even more.
When everything was finally put into place, Cosenza had several community members and surrounding business owners come by to thank him and wish him luck. One elderly woman even brought him flowers for his efforts.
“If I lived in Mahopac myself, I’d do the same thing,” he said. “It’s your neighborhood, you want it to look presentable.”
Along with car owners dropping their vehicles off at a better looking garage, quality work is another aspect customers can come to expect from Cosenza, who works the business with his 19-year-old son.
As someone who started working on cars when he was 13 with other kids in his neighborhood, Cosenza has always been adept to what it takes to make a vehicle drive smoothly. He said he “just loves cars.”
By 19, he opened up his own place and continued to gain experience. Part of his business model was getting paid by insurance companies to fix cars and other usual walk-in traffic.
Right now, he solely depends on walk-in traffic, but believes he can succeed off of that. As more people get to know him and his shop, the more they’ll be drawn to bring their car troubles to him. With a gas station, a car dealership, and car rental shop all located in the same area, Cosenza certainly moved into the right spot.
“The business is there,” he said. “It’s just going to take some time.”
He said every car is an investment and fixing it properly and proactively are keys to keeping the vehicle on the road. When customers come to him, they know they can expect excellent work.
” I treat every customer and every car the same way,” he said. “It’s guaranteed work, it’s quality, I use the best materials and like I said I have a lot of experience in the field.”
Mahopac Auto Body is located at 255 Route 6 in Mahopac and its phone number is 845-628-0828.
