Midas Mufflers Reviews

He then told me that the plastic case that held the headlight in had been broken during the repair and that I needed to go to the dealer on Monday to get a new part, bring it back to Midas and they would then repair it. They also stated the oil change had been done and I could come pick up my car. When I got to the shop, I informed them that I was not driving anywhere on Monday to pick up anything; and that I had brought my car in for a bulb replacement and oil change...nothing was broken until they got their hands on it.

At that time, Lisa informed me that "since it wasn't really our fault, and it wasn't really your fault, we are willing to go in half on the part with you". Not knowing how much half would be for the part (and simply not caring), I then informed her that nothing on my vehicle was broken when I brought it in...The bulb was out, that was all. Now my headlight piece is broken and there is a gaping hole where my headlight should be. From their tone and words used, I left with my vehicle under the impression that they fully expect me to pay for half of the part. Not only that, but I work Monday-Saturday and had taken the afternoon off on Saturday to get the BULB REPLACED and the OIL CHANGE ONLY...

Now I have to take time out of my schedule on Monday to take the car back to Midas. Also, my vehicle is now making a noise that it was not making on Saturday BEFORE I dropped my car off...hmmm. This particular Midas has been very problematic for several people I know and have caused me concern before, although at those times, they have been very apologetic and have made necessary repairs to fix any mishaps they have been responsible for. At any rate, when I go there on Monday, I will be picking up the headlight (that they kept), the part that they are getting, and I will be taking my car to Donio at the Midas on South Main in Salt Lake City...at least there is one employee that is there for the customers at Midas!!!

This was in October 2004 and after reading the news report about Midas it could be more stores as I was told it is the same owner. I did call them afterwards and spoke to a woman who worked there, she also seemed surprised about my situation and cost.

I was unemployed at the time, so the added distress being towed and then having to deal with an unexpected high cost with low mileage on my truck seemed very strange with unreasonably high expenses.

They continue to tell me that I need a whole new front end, and quote me for shocks and struts. $1400 later, I say no, take it off, I just need the car to work, I dont care about a bumpy ride, just need to be safe. They take it off, $698.45, I need new ball joints, new bushings, and they slipped an alignment in there. Turns out they forgot to add in their generous 2 hour labor charge - another $186. Total $897.47

Thats completely unacceptable for me, so I decided to take it to a local mechanic down the street. Not only does he quote me for almost 1/3 LESS than what Midas wanted, he also saw that I needed new rotors and brakes, and replaced those too. Total paid $500.76

Now, my problem here aside from the obvious expensiveness of Midas, but they didnt even tell me my brakes needed to be done, so it was $897 to fix only half of what was wrong. Now, when I got it back from the local mechanic, he explains what he did, how he fixed it, and that what midas wanted to replace - The lower ball joint - wasnt broken, it was in great condition, just needed to be tightened Never use midas, they are dishonest and prey on people who dont know any better. Youre better off with the local guy who will do an honest job.

No damage done, except to my state of mind.

Then just last week i had an oil change done, and the same day the oil was leaking out. 2 courts of oil emptied out within a week. I went back to them once again with the complaint. They are now trying to charge me almost $600 to get a oil pan gasket. If i don't get that fixed, its going to result in me having a blown engine. I can't afford somthing that wasn't wrong before a simple oil change.

I now have to get another job done that costs $691. Oil pan gasket, which was not broken before a simple oil change.

I told him that by no means I could afford that and asked him what would be extremelly important to get the car on the road safelly, otherwise I wouldn't repair it, he told me a tune up and install a new Oxygen sensor, this would take care of the problem(check engine light would go away and car would run ok), and later on I could come back to get the rest of the work done. So I agreed on $731.22 of repairs, $345.80 (highly inflated prize tag) for an Oxygen sensor, and $139.28 for sparkplugs (also highly inflated prize), $68.02 of Engine diagnosis plus $205.88 in labor costs.

When I picked up the car, it seemed fine (the problem was on and off, so this didn't mean the car was fixed), so I drove it home and the next day when I started it, it had the same problem, check engine light on and the engine shaking a bit while idle, SO i took the car back to Midas, this time I was greeted by Chris, and he told me he'd check the car and call me, when he called me later he said he had to replace the oxygen sensor they installed and that now I also need a different sensor it it would cost me around $400, on top of the $731 I already paid!

So, basically, I paid $731 for sparkplugs and an oxygen sensor, and now they want more money to fix it. I want my money back or the car fixed, and they won't do either unless I pay more. He told me I can call corporate if I'd like, which I will, good luck with that right? I lost $731.22 and my car just like before. Plus the stress to have to deal with this.

well, when I said than then I have to find another job situation became even uglier, my day off was settled for friday, this 4th of july was a friday, and when I came on saturady to pick my check, I was forced to work though it had to be my day off, when I finished all work orders and start to gather myself to go home, Wade stated that it is only 2-45 not a 3pm, so I answered that this my day off and he told me that he will terminate my position in company, I said fine with me, but you owe me 2 weeks pay check, today I got only last week paycheck and when I requested check for the first week, Wade said that I didn't work at all this week and I was forced to leave.

I lost at least 600.00 plus 20% commission which I suppose has to be around other 2000.00-3000.00

Took my truck back to Midas and told them what was going on. Left it there 2 DAYS before THEY CALLED ME. WE CAN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG. (They wouldn't provide any paper work that they had done any work of any kind), handed me my keys and thats all. I set the trip odometer when I left it. It still read 0 when I picked it up. They had not touched it. I called them. My wife and I went out to lunch. Leaving the restaurant, I had no brakes at all, and then smoke began pouring out from the right front wheel! OK, lets try a set of calipers, $450.00.

I hung up, called their competitor Mienikie muffler up the street. Took it there. New calipers, $360.00, plus, one of the wheel cylinders MIDAS REPLACED WASN'T WORKING AT ALL! Now the brakes are fine. Midas is the absolute worst buisness of any kind I have ever dealt with, period. You can have a bad muffler, a brake light or headlight out, but brakes are serios business. Go to Midas and kiss your money goodby and drive at your own risk. Everthing I just stated is the absolute truth.

This went on for months. I was afraid to drive it, especially when my small grand children were with me or my wife drove the vehicle.

When I received the Invoice It stated that I declined to authorize the repair. Also I noticed that the invoice said that all I needed for the repair was a high side valve which cost $1.00 and two cans of refridgerant which cost $34.00. They had made me wait for two and a half hours and just charged me $44.03. I realized that they had just wanted the inspection fee. I was told that they would call me in a few days when the part came in.

I paid $44.03 for nothing. They had no intention of fixing my air conditioning. I realized this when I noticed that the part only cost $1.00 and I was quoted a price of $204.00 for the repair. It did not take two and a half hours for the to find out that they did not have a part.

My family and I went through to Hamilton for the weekend and on our way back the brakes were vibrating when braking and the squeak had come back. I phone Midas and took the car back to them to re-checked. I told them that the 'squeak' had come back and that the brakes vibrated when braking. They informed me that they could not find anything wrong. So I thought okay we will see how things go. The next day I took my car to work and the noise was getting quite bad. When I got to work I was told by one of my work mates to take the car to the machanic he uses which is situated at the back of my work place.

He diagnoised that rattle from front suspension on braking. Found that front brake pad sticking to brake calipers, so he serviced both sides. This cost me $113.62 to get done. When I phoned Midas and told them what had happend. Sean said that I should have given them the opportunity to fix the problem. I told him I did. Then he said I did not explain the problem properly to his leading hand.

I also mentioned to him that my son who was working on a construction site along Alfriston Road, so my car speeding at some rediculious speed and it looked like he was really 'thrashing' the car. He said that he was testing the brakes. I told him that it is only fair that he should refund me the money $113.62 that I had to pay out to the other garage to get my fixed and safe. I told him I was going to complain and he said that this was fine. Then starting quoting me some rubbish about consumer rights or something.

Then to top things off, the car started to make a 'whinning sound' and the brakes were vibrating upon braking even worse. I took the car back to the new machanic and he found that the shudder from the front wheels was from the rotors which were worbed and right front wheel bearing worn. So he had to skim both disc rotors again. This had been put on the invoice from Madis as one of the jobs they did on my car. This repair cost me $408.31. I should have heeded the warnings from people that told me not to take my car to Midas, But I thought I would give them a benefit of a doubt.

I took it in again, only to find out that the wait would be a couple of hours before I could get in. I asked if I could make an appointment for the following week, they said they could fit me in. I returned a week later only to find that there was no record of my appointment. I waited another three hours to get my car back...can you guess? the squealing continued even after the third time.

I contacted the regional manager and told them I wanted my money back. He swore up and down that he would oversee the job himself and get me in and out in an hour. I agreed and took it in. Before he gave me my car, he said "you need to get new tires because there is a wobble on the front wheels that is caused by bad tires. Here is my card if you want a good deal..." He handed me a business card for a tire dealer in a nearby city.

I asked him what he was talking about because my tires were under a year old and there was no wobble before I brought it in. He said that it couldn't have been them because he had overseen everything. I drove off to an awful wobble that got horrendous as I drove down the freeway. I decided to go back, but at the last second drove to my mechanic across the street. He looked at the tread in the tires and said he didn't see a problem. He drove the car and noticed the wobble so he put it up and decided to take the tires off. He took them off by hand!

It turns out that not only had Midas not tightened the lug nuts, but they had also not surfaced the rust under the rotors, so they were sitting awkwardly on the wheel. I was told, immediately after contacting midas for my money back, that I would get a full refund...that was two months ago. driving on the freeway with lug nuts not tightened. fifteen plus hours of visits. $550 on four bad brake jobs

After doing this,he asked if I had ever had any work done on the A/C. I told him no and that I bought the truck new in 2001. He said it was rare that a compressor would go out with mileage under 60,000. He said he thought it had too much Freon in it. David said he could flush out the system and recharge to see if it would hold. I then asked, if that didn't work, would he be willing to work with me for the recharge and then a new compressor and he said he would.

$131.05 later, I left the business with cold running air and I didn't have to have a new compressor. I was told earlier this morning (at another business), my compressor was running weak and that it needed to be replaced. I got one of those gut feelings I might be being had, so I called around and even went online to see what a new compressor would cost. A friend of mine told me I should call Midas to see what they had to say and I am glad I did.

David is an asset to this company. Besides being friendly, he was most helpful in answering questions. I can only hope the compressor holds out and that the recharge was truly all that was needed. I left Midas a happy customer and would like to say at this writing, I'd return again in the future. Thank you David.

The Next day i took my car to a mechanic near my house. The mechanic said the water pump broke and caused the engine to overheat and in the process damaged the engine and has become unusable. The water pump broke as it was defective. I filed a case with Midas about the same with (Faxed the below documents) the original invoice provided by Midas in Sep 2007, Estimate to fix the damage, letter explaining mechanics observation of what happened to the car and email from the customer service with the case ID.

Below is the exact words of mechanics observation about the damage to the car Upon Inspection engine suffered major damage due to overheating. Currently no compression in any of the cylinders. Vehicle overheated due to diffective wate pump (Customer recalles that it was installed on 09-11-07 along with Timing belt at Midas in west springfield/Currently closed)

Response from the Midas customer service is that The insurance for the franchise would be appraising the claim and may accept or declain this claim and they would be mailing the contacts of the insurance of the Midas franchise @West springfield(currently closed) If the franchise's insurance declines my claim then can i go against the Midas or the Midas Franchise@ west springfield to get my claim reimbursed.

1. Estimated cost for fixing my Car is $1778.06 2. My car has become useless as the engine of no use any more. hence i am to share a rental car with my friends to commute to office costing me more than $350 per month.

$78, Not the money, but also the lying and thinking they can get away with it.

While not important to some, I missed my son's recital because the car wasn't ready as scheduled. I had to go back twice for an appt. that obviously wasn't scheduled like I was told. I feel $244.00 in labor is a bit much for replacing 3 parking brake cables.

Leo was irritated that I was not 'buying' the repair, and said that if I did not get the pipe replaced, that they only had to honor the warranty by giving me the replacement parts, and I'd have to have them installed elsewhere. I told him that all I wanted was the front muffler system and would be willing to completely pay for that portion out of pocket--no warranty needed. He absolutely refused! They insisted that I take the car elsewhere. I stayed in the bay with my car until they had taken it down off the lift and backed it out and parked it. I removed my paperwork from their clipboard, asked for the Assistant Manager;s name, and he said that all I needed was his first name, Leo. I then asked for the replacement parts, and now he refused that also! By the way, I have ALL the original paperwork.

I still need the muffler components replaced--and have arranged to have the front pipe repaired.

I called up a buddy of mine to get the number online from his home computer. I called and the corporate office told me that in order for them to repair/replace the transmission I would have to come up with half of the cost. I tried contacting the BBB but to no luck. They said it would take them too long to get to it. I was overcharged, my warranty was basically ignored.

He said I could apply for a Midas card with which to cover the payments, but when I picked up my car I had to pay $1,037.99 up front.

My brakes continued to squeak, took car in and was told nothing was wrong. The squeaking continued, so I took the car to another Midas shop since it is under warranty (did not tell them it was under warranty until I got estimate). This shop gives me an estimate for new VSD brake pads and new rotors. They tell me that I have Autozone pads and not VSD pads. They also state that the rotors are now below the minimum specs and need to be replaced.

In addition, the noise from the car becomes even worse! I went back the second day and asked the manager the reason for the noise, he said the noise is from the front part of the exhaust system on which nothing has been done! and he told me to replace that part, I need to pay additional 258.58$ !!

Is this the type of service Midas is supposed to give? Is the price for the Muffler for Nisson Altima correct (Part number: 230913, price: 269.41$)?

Midas told me the transmission sensor needed replaced and the transmission fluid needed flushed. I asked Midas to make the necessary repairs and paid almost $500.00. It seemed to be running okay, but later that week the same problem started to occur and soon the check engine light came on again. I took the car back to Midas to get it checked again. After two days and my repeated calling, I was told that they could not find the problem and everything with the transmission sensor was fine. They finally said to take it to the Honda dealer as Midass machines could not locate the issue.

I went to Roush Honda and was told that the Transmission sensor? was bad, which was the very part that Midas had told me they had replaced and was running okay. I called Chris Bazell, the manager at Midas, and he told me, very impolitely, that Honda had not done enough testing. He asked me to come back in and he will show the Ohms rating on the transmission sensor. Im not a mechanic, so seeing the Ohms rating would mean nothing to me. As far as I was concerned, I paid $500 to Midas to have my car fixed, and they did not fix the problem, so I have to pay Honda to get it fixed again. I asked them to pay for my repair work at Honda or reimburse me for the work they did and he very rudely said they cannot. I asked if there was anyone else who I could contact, to which he said he was it.

Midas neither fixed my car, nor reimbursed the money I spent to get it properly fixed at Honda. I truly had a horrible customer experience and will never go to Midas again nor will recommend Midas to another person.

We spent almost $500, hours and hours of our time calling, dropping off, picking up our car...and still had to go to the Honda dealer to get the same part replaced, and had to pay for it all over again.

The next day I noticed a leak and the oil light was coming on. I never has this problem before. I contacted the operation manager and brought the car back on 2/12/07. He explained it was only a coincidence that I had this problem.

Apparently a loose or blown gasket.I was offered no compensation. I immediately took the car to a competitor who advised me they saw problems in the workmanship and advised me to take the car back. I requested a call from the owner no response yet.

Estimates to repair the proble $300 plus cost of the part.

Now, its past the 90 day warranty and the brakes are still grinding and grabbing. I'm wondering what other damage is being done? I've contact the Midas and am waiting for a reponse. I am going to take it to a reputable service center and have them check everything out to make sure the car is safe to drive.

After exactly one week, my front brakes were squealing worse than when I brought the vehicle in. I took it back to Midas, and they re-worked the rotore (really, this time) and sent me on my way. I suspect they only used "stop-squeal" on the brakes, because a few days later, they began squealing again. After exactly two more weeks, I took the vehicle back, and was told my front pads would be replaced free of charge, and I would get "a break" on the labor for the back pads which were now squealing as well. So far...not impressed with Midas.

A nice passerby stopped, jacked my truck up and the whole wheel fell right off. All of the lug nuts were sheared. Apparently, the Midas mechanic did not tighten my lugs nuts when he put my tire back on after the brake job. The police came and said if I had gone one more mile the tire would have come off and my truck would have rolled over. He said he might have been coming to a different kind of emergency. After a $100.00 tow (Sunday night), I went to Midas on Monday and they put my tire back on. I filled out a form to get my $100 back for the tow and I still have not heard anything.

Damages: We almost died on the highway. It took every last dime I had to fix the car to begin with and as a single mom of 5 kids this was devastating.

When I was ready to leave I said it will be nice to drive a quiet car ... and the response was, "Oh no the car is still rattling!" Feeling rather discourged I paid a LARGE bill of $100.93 and left. The car was shaking terribly. My heart was in my throat as I tried to turn around to get back to Midas. I cannot describe the shaking of my car and how bad it was. I had brought in a driveable car and now I could not drive it at all!

I said "What did you do to my car?" To which he said, "Nothing." They put the car back in the parking lot, the doors closed behind me and there I was STUCK. I had to phone a tow truck to get me to the dealership.

The next day the dealership discovered that the vacuum line to the transmission had been disconnected. At another cost of $89.70 it was replaced. I brought in a car for a vibration which was running great and ended up with an undriveable car needing a tow and another repair due to poor workmanship and an uncaring staff that closed the doors and left me there with no way of transportation.

They wanted to charge me over $300 for labor (close to $150 an hour worse case) and over $400 in parts. I'm not against a business making a profit, but gouging customers because they drive a "luxury" vehicle is ridiculous. Labor should be $70-80/hour maximum and the parts should be no more than $300. I will never use or recommend them again.

I went in to Midas Muffler first thing MOnday morning. I was told that my oil had been very dirty, and that what had come out the bottom of the car had been that residue. The manager told me that he almost didn't change my oil that day because the dip stick had been rusty and it had looked like the oil hadn't been changed for awhile. The dip stick looked fine - he said that the new oil and "additive" had cleaned it. I watched them drain the remaining oil out of the engine and it was dark brown and the service person said it felt sticky. The oil had just been changed, and I commented that the oil looked very dirty.

The manager absolutely refused my request to take the filter with me "just in case" there was a problem. I took the car immediately to Transatlantic Motors where it is being looked at today. I believe Midas did not put new oil in the car, and, if they did, they failed to tighten the oil filter properly.

If I had a liftime warranty why did I pay the same price as a special. I should not have to pay for pads again I feel you owe me $30.00. I strongly feel Midas cannot take my money, argue with me and expect me to continue to be a faithful customer.

I had him change the spark plug, then had him check the others. I sat there with him and watched him one by one pull out all Motorcraft spark plugs, although they had changed the wires to Bosch.

I had to pay $80.00 to get the car put on a machine to find out what was wrong with it. I then had to buy eight more spark plugs and I had to pay for labor to get the new ones installed.

On my way to work, I stopped to get gas. I crawled underneath and saw that they did NOT touch ANY grease fittings! I called them back and asked why my truck wasn't greased. They were unapologetic like it happens all the time. Took it back in the next day, dealt with a different guy and got the same attitude. He said the oil change normally didn't include a lube. I showed him my reciept that says "lube, oil, filter". He acted like he was doing me a favor by greasing it. He offered nothing for my time or miles that I drove there. Not even an apology. I wonder how many times they get away with this? Never again, Midas!

I then asked the location to stop work on the car. They asked me to pay $68.50 for inspection and reassembling the brakes. I paid this amount and took the car to a Firestone service center where I got the same work (new brake pads, new front rotors, rear brake adjustment) done for $236.00.

I went back to the MIDAS location and attempted to obtain a copy of the original estimate. I pointed out the difference in cost for the front brake rotors to the manager on duty. Upon which he physically grabbed the estimate out of my hand and asked me to leave and threatened to call the police for trespass.

When I called Saturday morning he said he was backed up and that I should bring my car in about 1:00 and leave it! There was no way I gonna leave my car with the experience I have had thus far! So I called another car shop and they traded the alternator for a new one and installed it. In the meantime John calls and says, "Bring my alternator back in or pay me my money." This after I have called and complained to corporate office, who told me to wait two days and a corporate manager would call me back.

We look things over. Besides front brakes, which I did need, they tell me my rear brake drums are worn out and that BOTH rear brake cylinders were leaking. I show the mechanic how to use his inside caliper to measure the rear drums and we decide the rear brakes are OK. I feel they had probably given the rear wheel cylinders a squirt of brake fluid to generate the leaks.

Anyway, they do fix the brakes for over $400 and I get out of the place. Now the grand finale -- 6 months later I am selling the pickup and the buyer has it checked out by a competent garage. The front brake calipers had been put together on the WRONG sides - costs me again to straighten out what Midas had done wrong!

I took it back on 04/16/03 for the same problem. Now, the first time they did a complete brake inspection to find out the problem. I call the store ahead of time to inform them that I was bringing my vehicle back in. When I arrived I talk with Fred and informed him that my problem still existed. He stated that new brakes will make that sound until about 500 miles or until the brakes sets; I guess that is Midas lingo. After a brief discussion with Fred, his final words to me were, "What would you like for me to do?" I replied, "Look at my car and see where this noise is coming from." With an attitude he said, "Fine."

My car went for a test drive and the technician drove it into the bay and started inspecting the vehicle to see where the noise was coming from. Chi Chi was the tech's name. He shows me where the rear brakes were making the squealing noise. The wear indicator was grinding into the rotor and the left rear axle of the car. I got real upset first because I brought my car for the problem the first time and they said, it was fine except the front needed new brake pads and it was the rear brakes the whole time. Now, I'm wondering if my front brakes ever needed replacing. Second, I had to drive 45 miles to get it looked at since Louisville is the closest place to Fort Knox that had a Midas shop.

I paid $80 for the front brakes which I may not have needed, $116.38 for the rear brakes. Now, peep this; while putting back on the left side of the rear brakes Chi informed that I may need a new caliper. During the road test it noted that the caliper was bad, fine no problem. They put a new one on, the only problem is they ordered a loaded caliper from their parts vendor which took an hour plus to get there. The loaded caliper comes with everything including include brake pads; I already paid for brake pad anyway because my warranty is free replacement of brake pads. Thus, during the same day I was charged $174.33 this time for the bad caliper. I was there in that shop from 11:45 to 16:00 hrs. And you can see the money I spent for the problem.

Unknown how much of that expense could have been avoided if my problem was fixed the first time. I feel Midas owes me dearly.

As I was checking out the gentleman told me that it would be 21.00 for the "brake inspection". He then proceeded to tell me that it would have cost me $140.00 at the very least to turn my rotors and replace the pads. I then asked him what happened to the $89-$99 he quoted me over the phone and he denied it.

As I was checking out the gentleman told me that it would be 21.00 for the "brake inspection". He then proceeded to tell me that it would have cost me $140.00 at the very least to turn my rotors and replace the pads. I then asked him what happened to the $89-$99 he quoted me over the phone and he denied it.

I waited for the manager to discuss the tech's evaluation and was advised of the same analysis and told that they would not replace the muffler unless I had the pipe replaced as well. The technician advised that the car was just "old", and some noted oil on the underside of the motor was from "old age" and that the pipe had to be replaced even though there was no rust through, appeared perfectly sound, and the assessment was made with the end of a tapping flashlight. I felt as if there was an attempt to have me replace unnecessary parts for a significant cost before a "lifetime" warranty was honored.

The shop owner called me on the telephone to advise that my complaint to Midas had been referred to him, and he advised that policy prohibited honoring the warranty if other components were deemed necessary. He offered to "give" me the muffler with no continued warranty. I plan to take the vehicle to a dealership and have the exhaust system inspected and ask them to provide a written report which I intend to use in a possible lawsuit against Midas and this franchise.

In addition to having my life endangered by the failed brakes, I missed two days of work dealing with the automotive repair. Also, the company that finally completed the work did so at 50% less than the Midas quote.

Within two weeks my front left wheel began to squeel severely. I had to have some other work done to my vehicle so I took it to my regular mechanic. He checked the wheel and informed me that the brake clips had been mounted incorrectly on that wheel and went ahead and replaced them rather than allow me to drive on dangerous brakes. I later contacted Midas home office to attempt to obtain reimbursement for the repair work. The service manager (I assume since he never identified himself) recognized the problem initially, but after a few minutes of conversation (and my ultimate request for reimbursement) he ceased to recognize the part in question and began to accuse me of trying to scam him.

"I didn't just step off the boat," he said. I have since written to Midas again and am awaiting a response.

I left with the car and went to another brake mechanic was told me the only thing I needed was new rotors, not front or rear brakes. Had the job done for under $70.00.

I think Stephen was ready to take advantage of a women. He tried to talk me into work that my car didn't even need. Needless to say I am very disappointed in the Midas Co. I have learned a leason to beware and get a second opinion for your car as you would with your health

Over the next 2 days I kept hearing a small sound in the left front (where the repair was done). Fortunately for me and for my life I decided to go back and let them look at it. I got about as far as Midas' fron door when I heard a huge grinding and tearing sound. I stopped in their parking lot and their mechanic looked at it. He said that the bolt that holds the transmission to the wheel was not there and that, quote, either their mechanic had failed to put it in or that it was put in so loose that it fell out or that it was put in so tight that it broke. They put a bolt in and the manager test drove it.

I thought I was just going to let this go, but the whole story has just haunted me. I went on my trip (in the Rocky Mountains) and I was terrified the whole time. I have never been fearful of driving but that trip gave me anxiety attacks. I have reconsidered contacting Midas because I may be doing in injustice to any other of their customers who may have either a fatal accident or very serious injuries stemming from (a similar occurrence).

This caused me emotional damage, since I am a woman, and feel they were trying to rob me because of that fact. In addition, how can someone not do a quality strut/bearing replacement without an alignment? They told me it was standard, but they couldn't do it. So they do things that aren't necessary, and don't do things that are required to test and validate the repair.

I asked again about the master cylinder, and he said "yeah we checked it out, it's fine." I picked up my car that day since I couldn't afford $1000.00 repair work at this point. When I picked it up I talked to him again about the problem, the costs, and the master cylinder. A week later I brought my car in to the Chrysler, Plymouth, Jeep Dealer. Guess what! I needed a new master cylinder $180.00. I had asked Jeff specifically about the master cylinder three times.

Well, four a week (before I could get a second opinion) I thought I was totally screwed and didn't know where I would get $1000.00 to put into a $5000.00 vehicle. I even went through the for sale ads one day looking at buying a new car.

When picking up the car, we were told that there was more labor than expected, so the total charges were $500, $50 parts and $450 labor. Not happy about the charges, but glad to have the problem fixed and done with. We picked up the car after hours to find that the car makes the same exact noise. It runs no better and now we doubt if the manifold even needed to be "fixed." We now have a vehicle in the same condition, charged for work that didn't fix our specific problem.

Midas supplied me with a written estimate charging for a tailpipe and labor. They are claiming the tail pipe needs replacing so therefore I should have to pay labor. However in the replacement of a muffler the tail pipe must be removed weather or not the tail pipe is replaced. In other words, there is no additional labor from replacing a tail pipe when replacing the muffler. The muffler is cut out and the old tail pipe is disgarded. I informed Midas I would pay for the tail pipe but no labor. This is after Midas attempted to charge me not only for the muffler, the clamps and labor.

They discarded the original estimate of $180.00. I said the muffler is covered so they changed it to $133. Then after much discussion they agreed to remove the clamps from the estimate along with some of the labor. However, I was still being charged $40 for labor. I then took the vehicle to another Midas franchise and they gave me an estimate of $132. This estimate included $75 in labor, $37 for tail pipe, and $18 in supplies. I inquired about the supplies and they said that included clamps and gas to cut the old one out. I then instructed them to return the vehicle to me and I left after receiving the estimate.

I plan on taking the car into the dealership and then entering a small claims court case against Midas. I feel I should only have to pay for the tail pipe and the gasket for the muffler. I disagree that the tailpip needs replaced. The muffler is damaged internally. It is common to replace a tail pipe when it can not be separated from the muffler due to corrosion. However, the muffler does not have large amounts of corrosion at the tail pipe muffler interface. The tail pipe in this case is probably salvageable.

Volkswagon said that it was the most ridiculous thing they had ever seen. Jeff was embarrassed and again said to order the correct system and that Midas would pay for it. By then i had lost 3 days work. By the time the parts came in Jeff no longer worked at Midas. The new manager was very nasty and only refunded the $191 for the original Midas system and gave me a very difficult time stating that that was the correct system. I told him that I wasn't a mechanic but I did know that my exhaust does not exit the side of my car. He finally gave me my money and the money for the pipe that they had ruined trying to cob something together.

I veered my car off to the side, trying to control the car that now did not have a front wheel. My car stopped inches from a metal guardrail. As I tried to fix the tire, a good samaritian stopped to help me. It was determined the lugnuts were missing and I would need a flat bed tow truck, which I ended up waiting two hours for on the side of the highway, alone, a female and at night.

I had the car towed to the first Midas I knew of in Evanston (my previous home) and left a note for the managers to call me. They in turn had the vehicle towed back to the Western location. I was called by the manager who apologized profusely saying they would handle all costs related to the damage because it was the mechanic's fault for not putting the tires back on correctly. So, they promised to put the tire back on and have the body work done (damage had occured to the fender when the wheel flew off).

I went to pick up my car and they didn't help me back it out of a tight spot wedged between two cars and a guardrail. And guess what happened. They all stood there and watched when they should have backed the car out for me. Consquently, the guardrail caught on my bumper and the bumper fell off. I had to get that fixed now too. After I picked up my car, weeks went by and the insurance company they promised to have call me, didn't. I kept calling the manager at least twice a week.

Not until I got my father involved and he called a regional manager, did something happen. I was told that I was supposed to have an estimate done (was not originally told this). I had the estimate done and as I dropped it off one of the employees told me that, "I didn't have to make so much trouble about this all and I shouldn't have involved my father." Basically threatening me and trying to intimidate me. I did receive the check in the amount of the estimate and have had the work done.

Everyone I spoke to said I should have sued them for endangering my life. If anything this mechanic should have been reprimended for his careless work. The fear I had waiting on the side of the road, yelled at by the towman for having kept my motor on ( in case someone came up to my car, I didn't want it to appear I wasn't paying attention) and paying out of my own pocket for the AAA towing charges.

I didn't charge Midas, because, yes, they did intimidate me and I don't want to ever deal with them again. I am a young, independent woman and I guess for the emotional impact I would have to say it upset me that I was someone seen as a non-threat to this company and picked on through intimidation. All I wanted was my car fixed for something that was THEIR fault and they acted like I inconvienced them and had already filed some sort of suit, which I probably should have.

I was told my car was unsafe and they would not install my replacement muffler. Just because I didn't choose to have them do the repairs with their exorbitant prices, they were not going to honor my warranty. I'm not allowed to get my brakes fixed somewhere else? Just what does a lifetime warranty mean to them?

I told the mechanic that evidently this "lifetime warranty" means absolutely nothing if they can dictate to me who will do the repairs and that I have to have my brakes fixed before I can get a muffler installed. It took 3 hours to get an estimate and I missed a half a day of work to accomplish absolutely nothing.

I was told by the manager thathe could replace the pipe and muffler for $119.99. After I told him not to do anything that I would come and pick it up he then told me that, well he could do it for $89.99. Since the only thing that had ever been done to the exhust system on this car was the back exhust I feel like I was being ripped off. If he had not mentioned "patches on the muffler" I might have believed him.

When I returned to pick up my vehicle the manager, Greg, asked me how was the truck was shifting when I brought it in. I stated the vehicle was shifting excellent and the truck was brought there for exhaust work not transmission problems, the trans work was preventive mantanice.

Greg stated that after they did the transmission work the truck was not shifting right so I drove it and it was slipping very badly. When I returned to Midas Greg stated he would like to keep the vehicle another day, he wanted to make sure the service tech did not put the wrong filter in. Greg stated he would not want to put a new transmission in my truck.

I went ahead and left it overnight so they could correct the problem. I called Greg the next day and he told me the service tech placed the gasket on wrong and the vehicle was working fine. I returned to pick up my truck. I took it for a test drive and found the shifting problem was not corrected. When I spoke to John in Greg's absence he informed me the could not figure out what the problem was he also stated that nobody test-drove the vehicle before the transmission work was done.

He told me that they would need the vehicle one more day the problem needed to be resolved. So I left it for another day. I called Greg the next day he told me the problem was fixed and the truck was shifting good. I returned to pick up my vehicle. Greg told me it slipped a little but the last time they drove it, it was fine.

After three days of no answers I paid the bill and asked for a discount he gave me $45.00 off. The vehicle started slipping two days later. I have had two transmission houses look at my vehicle and have been quoted between $1800.00 to $2300.00 dollers to fix the problem. Both places stated the procedure that Midas uses is detrimental to transmissions.

Robert should sue Midas in Small Claims Court, assuming he can get a couple of mechanics from the other garages to testify as expert witnesses on his behalf.

So Midas fixed the brakes and life was wonderful. About a year and a half after that the brakes were giving me trouble again. No problem -- into Midas I went and they brought my name up on the computer and fixed my brakes. This April I went to Midas and told them I needed my brakes looked at. I told them I had a lifetime warranty. The man said I would have to produce the paper that stated that. I told him that it should be in the computer.

He told me that they dump all the files after two years so if I didn't have the paper I was out of luck. Now I can't afford to buy new brake shoes and here's a company that turned on their own word.

I can't afford to get my car inspected because I know theres something wrong with the brakes. I'm scared to death that the brakes will fail and I have no other form of transportation.

The only thing that was not fixed was the anti-lock brake light. They told me I had to take it to a Toyota dealership to get it fixed. So I did. Evans Toyota Dealership fixed the anti-lock brake part and they inspected the work done on the front brakes. Their mechanic found "front caliper pins were wired in with mechanic's wire" So I had the dealership fix it because if these pins were to fall out my brake pads would fall off. So I did not want to take it back to Midas to have it fixed because on the way over my brake pads could have fallen off if that wire came out. The dealership charged me $53.64 to fix the problem.

I went to Midas today to get a refund for the work the dealership did ($53.64) and any charge of inspection done on the pads because they were paid to inspect everything and fix it. The manager at Midas told me that there is a law that prevents customers from going to another place and having work done to a vehicle and trying to get a refund. He said that I should have brought it to them to fix it. I did not want to bring it to them to fix if this is the kind of work that they do. Plus if my front brakes failed because of that then I could have been in an accident. I even showed them the billing of the work that Evans Toyota did and they would no believe me they said they don't even have mechanics wire. How do I know this?

Fortunately the tech at Midas put the old part back on incorrectly which caused the car to break down and that led to the discovery of several old parts that were listed as new on the bill.

This is a matter that will require more than myself going to Midas and asking to be refunded for the total cost of the Major Tune-up, the total cost of all of my towing fees, as well as the total cost for the repair to the vehicle. There was also another mechanic who also determined the same problem.

I believe that the consumer needs to be responsible and not assume that they are always being ripped off. Services like this web page do more harm than good. Midas International has a toll-free customer service number listed on all paperwork. I suggest that all customers take the time to read the actual warranty and ask questions prior to having any repair work done. If you don't understand the warranty, ask ... if you still don't understand call Midas Customer Services for clarification.

Warranty work applies to most everything -- tv's, vcr's, home appliances. Do you have proof of purchase? Where is your warranty paper work? Get responsible. Purchase a filing cabinat and save your paperwork! Consumers should also read the laws that pertain to warranty items.