don't trust the Midas touch

[a.d._510_n_ok]

I took my 510 to a Midas shop today for a front-end alignment. Bear in mind that this car is an '80 with 128k original and that the only other two owners besides myself were elderly gentlemen.

 

I hit a hard bump a few months back and thought, "Man, I bet that knocked the front end out of alignment". Sure enough my front tires started wearing on the inner side and a little wobble showed up in the steering wheel above 55 mph.

 

I called Midas today, made an appointment and handed 'em the keys. I gave 'em my cell number and said, "Call me when ya get 'er done" and the manager said, "Sure thing - shouldn't take more than forty-five minutes".

 

I walked to a little place for breakfast and, sure enough, just about forty-five minutes later my phone was ringing. I asked if they got 'er done and was told, "No, no....no....your front end is shot. Three of your ball joints are wore out and one of your tie rods is shot."

 

I said, "Alright, just have it off the lift when I get there." The guy said, "Well, if I leave it up there I can show you what's wrong and write you an estimate....". Nope. Not necessary - just have it off the lift when I get there."

 

So I get there and the car is still on the lift. The manager says, "Let me show you what we found......" and I told him, "Look, I had the front wheels off the thing less than five months ago when I had new tires mounted. I greased everything then and checked the front end parts myself. I'm not a certified tech but I was an Army mechanic long enough to know when a ball joint is bad."

 

He said, "Well, I guess we could go ahead and try to do the alignment then....". No sir, just take her down off the lift and I'll be on my way.

 

He lowered the lift, backed it out of the bay, got out and handed me the keys. As I was squeezing my 6'1, 220lb fat ass into the thing an old hippie looking guy who had driven up in a flat bed wrecker with a Dodge ram on the back starts shaking his head as he walks around the Dat. He comes to my window and says, "A damned Datsun! Don't you ever sell this thing! You gotta car for life, man! You can't wear these things out!".

 

He then turns to the Midas manager and says, "Hey Bill - where ya want this Dodge?". I drove off at that point.

Edited February 28, 2009 by a.d._510_n_ok

[Gensaiken]

these places are just as bad as some of those independent shops that say you need a whole new exhaust when all you need is a little bit of welding on a muffler.

 

I just hate shops that do this stuff. Tell you its wrong when everything is fine. :mad:

 

Glad I have mechanics that I can trust.

[moparvwfreak]

or how about places that write down your EXACT orders so things dont get screwed up, then dont follow them? had my new (used) wheels mounted up and told the tire jockey i wanted them checked to be sure they weren't bent. no sence in mounting a tire on a bent rim right.... well i have not one but TWO bent rims. yeah... love people that dont listen. oh well. i'll eventually have em fixed but not right now.

[jrbd10]

I agree totally, like for the carbs i want to instal, i took it too a shop i have never be too before and asked the guy can he do it. I trusted his previous work building dragsters and there name is Tg's Performance. He says he can do it and it would be no proublem. Then he tells me the car sounds off when he turns it on. It has an exhust leak i tell him. he says yea it sounds like it but it could be internal. i laugh and say no man its just the gasket. he wants to rip it open and find out nothing is wrong only the gasket. well i tell him just get the gasket then well go from there. so he agrees. i leave the car hopeing i will have a new cam and the carbs installed by Today. Great news! thursday he calls saying he quits. And fucked my whole science project. That means 4 days wasted in the shop and all he did was fix my trans bushing. that wasnt even part of the plan, the driver just got pissed because he couldnt find the gear(it was confusing if you dont know where is what, and when you think your in 1st it still felt like neutral) he changed it. thats it. so pissed off we pick up the car and he leads us to a new shop. these guys however are way better. this guy looks at the carbs and flat out says no, i know someone who can though. and I can supply the carb parts. (he was a carbs supply store/ machine shop) so earlier today he says the guy has the car but is having proublems getting a cam...and well the goal is to finish in two days. i need the car by monday for testing. im praying it happens.

 

dont mind my dumbfounded spelling errors :)

[datsunrides]

:blink: 3 ball joints? :blink: You should have asked him to show those 3 ball joints to you! :lol: I see why you left.

 

Mark

[banzai510(hainz)]

jrbd10

i leave the car hopeing i will have a new cam and the carbs installed by Today. ???????

 

good luck. That isnt going to happen!!!!!!!!!!!!

why say that unless he is a Datsun/nissan shop How many shops have spare Datsun L series lash pads(of varios sizes) and rockers right on hand.

Not many as there is not a huge demand for them.

[DRIVEN]

I think most shops bank on the notion that they can dazzle you with BS. I like to think I'm pretty mechanically inclined but sometimes you just have to let someone else do it. I took one of my cars to Meineke about 10 years ago to have the exhaust "professionally" done after an engine swap. Simple 2 into 1 through a quiet muffler. The work was sub-par, they upcharged me 25% over the quote (because it was "custom application") and about 2 weeks later the muffler blew apart when the car backfired. There was a warranty on it but I was so pissed I just put a Flowmaster on it in my garage All this because I didn't have an extra 20K to buy an exhaust bender. There are a lot of great shops out there but it seems that most of the franchise/chain shops are staffed by the guys that would be making your french fries if they could just pass the test for that food handler's card.

[Guest jaimesix]

Midas....LOL

 

I have one story to tell.

 

Back in 1999, I was driving my Datsun B210. Since Midas offered a free estimate on brake jobs, I decided to go to one of the shops ( the one on Huntington Beach, on Beach, close to Adams...) and get the car on the lift. I was not interested in repairing my car there, I was going to do the job myself, but I wanted to see the bottom of the car on a lift, and use the occassion to make my own assessment while the Midas guy was to deliver his sales speech.

 

Car on lift, I could see one rear wheel cylinder was leaky, and one front wheel had pads that were worn out, a common occurence on old cars, when people decide to save money and change pads on one side only.

 

Well, the guy finishes his speech, and checks the car, then giving me his assessment.

I pretended I knew nothing about cars, so while I was thoroughly looking at the bottom of my car, and its condition, I made stupid comments, like, "What is that?, is that the master cylinder??" ( while pointing at the transmission..:eek: ) I wanted this guy to think he got his Xmas wish list paid for by this unsuspecting guy driving in a Datsun....LOL!!!

 

The evaluation was laughable, the guy told me the complete brake system was a failure. I needed wheel cylinders, master cylinder, rotors, drums and brake lines.....I was in perill of loosing my life...according to Mr expert:lol:

 

I told him....yes, that is not good, I definitely do not want to play with death, I have my savings and I will be back first thing in the morning, at 8am, to turn in my car.

This guy's eyes seemed to pop out...I am sure he was thinking about the money he was going to make, not only Midas ripping me off, but for sure, himself ripping Midas off as well. ( a pack of rats, all the rats nibble at each other....rats!!!)

See ya tomorrow, please make no other appointments, I have to make sure I can get out of here by 11am.:) ( ya right, lose customers, that is right, loser!!! )

 

I left in awe, reading an estimate that said, $550 dollars, labour, parts, warranty....:lol:

 

On my way home, I stop by a parts place, to find out about some parts I needed for my jeep. A parts place on Garden Grove Blvd, close to Beach Blvd.

I knew the guys there, good people. Guess what, I made a comment about Midas to the guy, and he replied:

" Jaime, we are the supplier of parts to that Midas on Beach Blvd. They called as asking for some prices......"

So I said, that is funny, did they ask about a Datsun B210 ???

" Yes, they did"

To my surprise, they asked for the parts needed for their bogus brake job.

In their estimate Midas was charging me $79.00 dollars for each rotor ( disc )

parts store price $19.00 ea :lol:

Master Cylinder, store price, $40.00 dollars, Midas Price $140.00:eek:

Wheel cylinders, parts store price $10.00, Midas price $30.00

...and a bunch of crap that made me laugh!!! ( It would had made me mad had I fallen for those guys )

 

So Midas not only does unnecesary work, but it charges not half, not double, not three times, but more than that in parts.

19 dollars become 79 dollars...that is 300% more!!!:eek:

40 dollars become 140 dollars...that is about 250% to 300% :confused:more!!!!

 

In sum, garbage, Midas is garbage, because they pay low wages, hire people with no experience, and have managers that use the stores for robbing customers, while Midas itself pushes managers to cut corners and inflate prices, so the store orders managers to steal, managers themselves steal from the store....hire untrained goons......Midas is a rat cave, where rats eat at each other while their cave is falling appart!!!!LOL

 

Jaime._____________________________________________________

[Wharf Rat]

I would love to be a fly on the wall at one of there sales rep. X-Mass partys

 

Bend over for the Midas touch

[jrbd10]

ok to fix my story...

 

i leave the car hopeing i will have a new cam and the carbs installed by Today

 

what i forgot to mention was that i left the car on Saturday moring. hoping my car would be done by today which was at that time (Friday). so no haniz i wasnt crazy thinking in one day it would be done.

now the car is done but by someone else...pics are coming soon

[hang_510]

I was going to do the job myself, but I wanted to see the bottom of the car on a lift, and use the occassion to make my own assessment

 

:thumbup: i think ive done that with every car ive had :D

[HRH]

To be fair, it's all about who owns the business, whether it's a franchise, or if it's an individual, and how honest the service writer and owner is. Midas is one town can be great, in another one a horror story. I know a lot of shops I wouldn't take my car to, but who buy their parts from NAPA. (Not going to mention any, as I like having a job!)

 

It's like anything though, if you go in unaware, you can really get taken advantage of. I have my network of good shops and Datsun affiliated people here in Spokane, so I'm all set, but if I ever move somewhere else, crap, I'll have to start investigating all over again! And I would have to convince my Datsun guru to move, can't live without his skills! :D

 

I remember a fellow employee, and older guy who was a Dodge man, who replaced all his front end hardware on his Dart or something, and took it in for an alignment. They told him all the front end hardware was shot and needing replacement. And he asked them, do you know who this is? Well, he told them, and they sure as shit got his car off the rack as soon as possible and fell all over themselves. But that kind of story, that just haunts businesses for years.

[lynchfourtwenty]

thats the reason i do my own work, well alignments i dont do but i only take it to les schwabs for that an i dont let em touch anything else.. well other then mountin an balancing new tires an such... i do it all from engine swaps to brakes jobs..

[Guest jaimesix]

Hi.

 

Yes HRH, I hear you. Not all the stores are messed up. Franchises have different owners, consequence of which good shops and bad shops can perfeorm under the same name.

 

That is most unfortunate, and franchise executives should implement sting operations to detect those stores that endanger the franchise as a whole.

 

A problem is the kind of people these franchises (some, the bad ones ) hire. Guys with little or no experience in both management and mechanical knowledge are hired and given the wheel to control a location. Those guys see the opportunity not as an opportunity to excel and avance, but as an opportunity to make money. Overcharging, fabrication of facts, poor quality parts , lack of integrity.

Hiring cheap workers because the salary offered can not hold any better is a big mistake that comes back to haunt these businesses and eventually ends up being more costly that having hired a more expensive staff, but productive and successful.

 

There are very good honest shops out there, but chain stores or franchises that hire cheap labour end up sinking in Titanic proportions. Places like Jiffy Lube......the guys working there look like teen agers that came out from behind a play station, straight onto changing oil.

 

That is the big problem, the salaries in this economy do not match the cost of living, corporations, franchises all around and in all sectors ( food, auto repair, garmentry, retail...etc ) run successful endeavors while their employees make crap wages. Those employess have no skills and soon will start stealing from the businesses to make up for what the cost of living demands.

 

Like water, like gravity, cost of living reaches a point that can not be ignored, companies paying poverty salaries are trying to cover the sun with one finger, but we know it aint so.

 

Jaime.___________________________________________________________

[Edz280zx]

Sounds like Walmart to me....

[philip1]

when my dad was in school they took a new car and put fresh new front end parts on it a perfect alignment and then took it to local shops to see what would happen. Every shop rang up a total front end rebuild, because they said "it's all worn out" errrr. I would never trust a "tech" with my car ever again.

[Moisabamf]

I trusted his previous work building dragsters and there name is Tg's Performance

theres your problem:D

the mechanic i take my car to tries to sell it right in front of me:D

[jrbd10]

moisabamf, i meant i trust his ablity, but wasnt sure on his willingness to work.

[a.d._510_n_ok]

Piss on it - I swapped 'em out!

 

For $25 per ball joint + my labor it's cheap insurance :lol:.

 

 

[Guest jaimesix]

Piss on it - I swapped 'em out!

 

For $25 per ball joint + my labor it's cheap insurance :lol:.

 

 

 

Had you gone into a Midas shop, those bastards would had hanged you from the ceiling, hitting on you like a kid birthday pinata !:eek: untill your last penny fell off your clothes!!!

 

And Midas uses the cheapest parts they can find, charging you as if they were using dealer genuine stuff. Midas sucks!:lol:

 

Jaime._____________________________________________________