[turtle777]

Ok, so da wife's car engine light came on, so she went to Midas to get it checked.

The dude there said it's gonna cost $ 80 to run a check. WTF ? And my wife agreed
So, after that diagnostic, they said there is a hole somewhere that lets in air to the engine. To find where the hole is, they'd have to run another diagnostic for $ 170. WTF ? And then on top of that, the cost for the repair ?

Whatever happened to free repair estimates ?

To bad that she agreed to that paid diagnostic. I told here on the phone to get the heck out of there. I'm not going to do business with them again. Charging $ 250 to tell me what needs to be fixed and how much it's going to be ? Rrrright....

[/rant]

-t

[BlueSky]

Yep, it is a scam. My engine was making a weird noise and my Toyota dealer wanted $80 just to LOOK under the hood. I told him **** it, I'll live with the noise.

[Eriamjh]

Almost always, those places will count that fee towards the repair if you get it fixed there. Did you? What was the problem?

But $170 to find the problem the $80 test found sounds like a load of crap.

[The Godfather]

Originally Posted by turtle777

Whatever happened to free repair estimates ?

They went away when small car shops didn't keep up with technology, and allowed Midas, Pepboys, etc. to monopolize the car repair industry.

If you live in a house, you should be learning how to fix your own car. But for now, your onlyl option is to cough up the money.

[ThinkInsane]

Midas are scumbag thieves, nothing more. My mother took her car there for an oil change once. when they did their 'complimentary inspection', they handed her an estimate for $1200 with a slew of 'critical safety issues' that needed to be fixed asap. She was understandably upset, especially since the car was 18 months old and still under warranty, to which the guy told her "You can get it fixed under warranty at the dealership, but I wouldn't recommend that. Not if you want it done right". When I got down there, I made sure no one was happy.

I stopped in there once because I kept hearing a rattle that sounded like it was coming from the exhaust. The good folks at Midas told me I needed a new catalytic converter. I thanked them, drove to Cole Muffler, and had them check it. The guy there looked at it, put the tail pipe back in the hanger (it had been knocked loose when I went through some rough spots at camp and that was causing the rattle), said no charge and wished me a good day. Guess which company gets my business now.

[turtle777]

Well, TS, that confirms my thoughts about them.
I wouldn't be surpirsed if I get the car fixed somewhere else for less than the $ 80 they charged for the first diagnostic.

-t

[macroy]

I would suggest you use a shop that specializes in your vehicle... Many times, your symptoms may be diagnosed without having to hook it to a machine since they see the same type of issues daily. And I find that they do a much better job at fixing it than a non-make specific mechanic (usually, but there are always exceptional mechanics that work at gas stations etc.).

Just my .02.

[bstone]

Pep Boys replaced the water pump on my Explorer. They did it well. On the receipt it said, "2 gallons coolant". I drove away and a few miles later saw the engine overheat meter at maximum. I stopped in at a mom & pop repair center and the Master ASE mechanic put it up and said, "You have *NO* coolant in the radiator at all. They never refilled it."

Driving for miles with no coolant cracked the headgasket and cost $1100 worth of damage. Pep Boys "denied" the claim saying it wasn't their fault or some crap. Then the transmission went out, also cooled by the radiator, $2300 for a new one.

I am meeting with a lawyer later this afternoon. We're gonna sue.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by bstone

Driving for miles with no coolant cracked the headgasket and cost $1100 worth of damage. Pep Boys "denied" the claim saying it wasn't their fault or some crap. Then the transmission went out, also cooled by the radiator, $2300 for a new one.
I am meeting with a lawyer later this afternoon. We're gonna sue.

Wow, that really sucks.

-t

[SSharon]

bstone you forgot to mention that you have given up on not only pep-boys but traditional fuel as well. Also, I hope you win.

[angelmb]

I know about a guy that while in holidays came to an Audi dealer to replace the motor oil since there were no SAAB dealer near there. Audi guys 'forgot' to do the job but gave the car as 'ready to run', thus… SAAB guy with a dead engine.

[Salty]

This is why I have runners

[baw]

Midas and Car-X are bad. Do not go there.

[rocky2]

Here in Japan, you can get an engine oil change done at any gas stand. They just put a thin tube down the dipstick pipe and suck the old engine oil out before refilling from the oil filler in the camshaft. In my case, the Shell station grease monkey said he could not get all the old oil sucked out so he went underneath and did the final drain by cracking the plug in the sump!
Filled up with new engine oil, I drove off and after about 25 miles noticed that the automatic shift was changing oddly. As luck would have it, I drove by an agent and they kindly put it up on a lift and took a look. The grease monkey had drained the automatic transmission! The agent refilled the transmission (for free) and no harm seemed to have been done (I drove the car for another 5 years and never had any problems with the transmission) but you can guess what I said to the manager of that Shell station; Japanese can bow very low when they think there are in deep **** wih a ruined $5000 transmission.
With a name like Midas (a Greek king renowned for greed), I'd stay well clear of that outfit too.