Midas

Didn’t like any part of my experience. Went in with an engine code for a catalytic converter (1 of two). The guy says its $ 100 to diagnose what exactly needs to be done. I baulked and asked him for a quote to replace it, figuring I’d see if i was going to get the repairs done here (price) before spending $ 100 that would «later be applied to the repair work». He said it was impossible to give me a quote, even when I said, «lets assume it needs to be replaced». Nope, wouldn’t do it. So then I figured it is a chain and I’ve had good experiences at other ones in the past and I have about 30 minutes to pick up my kid from school and I’m in the process of buying a house so I don’t have time to drive all over town to get someone else’s song and dance. so I agreed.
While looking at the car they changed bays and backed my car out with the hood up, and then gunned it into another bay, with the hood up. I did not appreciate them driving my car around like they were pitting at the Daytona 500.
They come back 40 minutes later and tell me I need 2 cat converters and 2 upstream o2’s for a total of $ 2000. He shows me a quote and then sets it down on the desk and proceeds to ring me up. I paid for the diagnostics and then asked for the quote he showed me. long story short, he refused to give it to me and instead hand wrote $ 2085.00 on the $ 100 receipt i had for diagnostics. I asked for the one he set on the desk and he said it was, «for the owner to prove we aren’t just sending people away, that we are actually giving them quotes» which is hilarious since he would not «give» me the quote.
I asked for a photocopy and he says no. I asked him to print another one to which he replied, «i already closed it, I can’t». So I literally had him hold it up and I took a photo. When i asked him to hold it up, he literally told me how useless me taking a photo was.
All in all one of the worst experiences I’ve had in an auto shop in my life. Literally no aspect of the transaction was geared toward my satisfaction or benefit.
UPDATE: District manager called me and tried to make it right. Upping a star for that.

Well, if I could rate them lower than a one star, I would.
If you are on your way there now, keep driving to the nearest quick loan store or just keep driving.
I took my Chevy HHR into this shop on my way to work because my engine light came on during my travel. I asked for a diagnostic test because it seemed like a simple repair. They told me I would have to leave the vehicle because they were busy. I understood. They were busy and I went to rent a car.
I get a call at work 5 hours later saying they needed to perform more diagnostic tests on my vehicle because they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. This caused me great pause. I called back to ask them to just change the battery and change the oil with the intention to take my vehicle elsewhere to be diagnosed and left it overnight to see what the results of the $ 75 diagnostic repair were.
I get a call at work the next morning informing me of the list of issues with my vehicle, including a new throttle body, torn air duct, spark plugs, coils and on and on. I asked what the costs of the repairs were because I was skeptical. The guy on the phone quotes me $ 1,800. After picking up my phone from the ground, I told them to shut the hood and I was going for a second opinion.
When my wife went to pay the bill they were attempting to charge her $ 454 for an oil change, a battery an three diagnostic tests. When my wife questioned why they had to perform three diagnostic tests they had no good answer other than saying I had approved them. They were trying to charge me $ 85 for each diagnostic test. I guess one diagnostic check wasn’t good enough for them to diagnose an engine light. Adding insult to injury, I go to pick up my vehicle after work in an empty parking lot, after they were closed and find my vehicle unlocked. Total incompetence or their part or their way of trying to punish me for taking my car elsewhere? I will never know but you be the judge.
I took my car to Fletchers on Thornydale the next morning. They informed me that they could do the same work for $ 954. When I showed the mechanic the bill and results of their diagnostic check she just shook her head. She informed me that you do not need a diagnostic test on an HHR. She said all you need to do on this vehicle is perform a computer reset and the information from the reset will tell you what is wrong.
I don’t complain and I don’t write reviews. I do not begrudge a business for making money for providing a service. I do find it insulting when businesses insult my intelligence and appear to take advantage of people to line their pockets. I just want to prevent whoever reads this review to avoid the fleecing and shake down I received from this Brakemax. I fear they feed on the vehicle ignorant to pad their bottom line.

We got scammed here. We bought a Groupon for $ 20 for an oil change wit the understanding what there would be an up charge for synthetic oil. So we expected to walk in having paid $ 20 already to pay another $ 20 – 30, still being cheaper than the full priced $ 80 service. Well these scammers behind the counter decided that they would charge us the full price for a synthetic oil change, then make a $ 20 discount for the Groupon. We walked out paying $ 64 and change, on top of paying for the group on. All in all, the only deal we got was not paying for the «environmental taxed.» Wow. Thanks Midas. Groupon is supposed to be a way to earn repeat customers, take a hit in the beginning, wow them with your service, make a customer for life. Midas’ golden touch turned our sentiments to stone.
Update. Midas contacted. They still didn’t see how paying $ 20 on a groupon to get $ 20 off of the service wasn’t a good deal. All in all we saved $ 6 off of a full priced service after buying a $ 20 groupon. If we knew we’d only be saving $ 6, we’d have shopped around for a better deal elsewhere. Double fail Midas.

Bill and staff were fast, courteous, informative and very helpful. Pleasant experience, would highly recommend. Had an oil change done however asked if they would check out 3 – 4 other items needing work, and they did so and gave me quotes and honest advice. Thanks! You Rock.

Had my oil changed here about a month ago and the service was spectacular! I made an appointment (which I would recommend) and was in and out in less than half an hour; and they didn’t try to push to sell me anything extra and unnecessary. Definitely will be using them again!

Disappointed in the service managers rude demeanor. Talked down to me to sell me more then I asked for. This place used to have great service! I don’t know what happened. Sad to see things go down hill.
Since posting this comment the corporate and district manager has called me they did not ask me to remove my comment but they were doublechecking the see of it was legitimate. Which it is!

It’s pretty sad when they have to give away free oil changes to get a good rating on Unilocal

I’m not sure where Dave & Kamal went, but this was a clean shop. I have seen a bunch of those con games before. This isn’t one of them. Sometimes you get different opinions and that is OK. To give this place a one star is ridiculous. I went there for an oil change today, very skeptical because of the previous reviews and I was happily surprised. Yes they identified some problems, but they gave me the option of taking care of it now or next time. They identified the same issue that another shop did, nothing more and nothing less. Everybody was courteous and the customers in the waiting room seemed to have known the staff for a while. I trust these guys and so did they.

These guys are not to be trusted. They run a pretty nice-​looking operation, with smiles and first-​name service. I have been impressed with the way they have treated me in the past. This morning, however, they lost a customer. My wife had been complaining about some squeaky brakes for a few weeks, and there was some shakiness on braking, so I made an appointment with Midas. They put the car up on the lift, inspected the brakes, and then broke the news to me. My pads were almost worn through (they said less than 3 mm was left), and the rotors were «below spec» and couldn’t be resurfaced to fix the shakiness. So new pads, and new rotors, both front and back. He also suggested a brake fluid flush (though they hadn’t inspected the brake fluid). All told, it was going to be $ 700 and change. I was almost ready to just have it done, but I decided to at least call around to get a few competitive bids from others. The guys explained that he «happened» to have all the parts in stock today, and that he could get it taken care of in under an hour since the car was already «taken apart.» Luckily I stuck to my guns and left.
As it happened, I ended up going to another place that impressed me with their price and service. So I’m sitting now at a brake shop, expecting to have them do the same work prescribed by Midas. But guess what? My pads and rotors are fine. The guy took me out to SHOW me the pads, and there is AT LEAST 5 – 7 mm left on both the front and back. The rotors are plenty thick for resurfacing as well. So I’m having this place do the resurfacing for $ 140.
Sorry, Midas. You just lost a long-​time customer because you tried to con me into paying for service I didn’t need. You just lost all my future oil changes (used to go to Midas all the time) for two cars, as well as any other typical service needs. And in today’s internet-​connected, user-​review-​centric world, you are likely going to lose much more than just my $ 700 of brake service. I hope this review discourages hundreds of your future customers from doing business with you.

The customer service here was fantastic! Very thorough but not too pushy. I had a groupon for an oil change and tire rotation, and I was in and out in about 20 minutes (I made an appointment ahead of time). The man at the front was very courteous, and made sure to use my name and say goodbye when I left.

Do not trust these guys!!! They told me that my tie rod ends were bad on my truck and wanted $ 309 for the repair. I had my company mechanic look at it and determine that there was nothing wrong with them and it was an upper control arm bushing instead. They were going to replace it and then tell me that I needed more repairs.