Midas

Reviews 4

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David VANDE ZANDE

Hopefully things have changed here over the last few years, however, Ive been searching for a new mechanic recently and came across this Midas which reminded me of a very negative experience I had here about 2 1/2 years ago. At the time, I was a student at Kent State and therefore didnt have much money to spend on car repairs. I was having issues with my Volvo S60 overheating and shaking when it idled and brought it to this Midas simply because it was close to my apartment at the time. After a mechanic at the shop inspected my car, I met with the manager to discuss the issues and what it would take to fix them. I made it very clear to him that I didnt have much money - especially money to put into an older, high mileage car - and was looking for the cheapest possible way to fix the major problem(s) in order to make my car safe and "driveable" once again. I was told that although he understood and was empathetic to my situation, there was a lot that needed to be done in order to get my car working properly once again. He explained that the water pump was bad, that certain wires were corroded, and that two belts were badly worn, and all of it needed to be replaced. For these "bare minimum" repairs, I was looking at about $1500 in work. He also went on to say that my tires were dangerously worn and my brake pads (both front and back), as well as rotors (front only) really should be replaced/repaired and this work would cost me an additional $600. I was tempted to call my parents and beg for help in order to come up with the $1500 I needed to cover the bare minimum in repairs, however, thankfully I decided to get a second opinion. I ended up getting my car towed to another shop, whose name I wont mention as Im not trying to "advertise" for another mechanic. It was a tough decision as I was still charged about $100 by this Midas for the inspection, and I now had to pay for another tow truck but thank god I stuck to it. The new shop gave my car the same inspection and told me Id need a new water pump and suggested that I seriously consider replacing my front tires when I had the money. I never mentioned my experience at Midas but asked if any wires and/or belts were worn and needed to be replaced to which I was told "no". I then asked about my brakes and was told that my calipers and rotors were fine but that I should consider replacing my pads in about 10 or 15 thousand miles. My total bill at this shop was about $400 for a new water pump. I also brought my car back a few weeks later for 2 new tires which costed me about $180 - changed, balanced and all. I drove this car for another 50 thousand miles after this until I was in an accident and the car was totaled. During that time I never had to deal with ANY issues involving any wires, belts or rotors. I sincerely hope this dishonest and money hungry manager was fired in the meantime but nevertheless, this Midas lost a customer for life. Based on the fact that I literally caught them trying to scam me, I give 1 star and would give zero if I could. My advice to anyone dealing with this Midas is, if their advice seems to expensive or extensive, get a second opinion!

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Anonymous User

I had a new muffler put on by them 2 years ago, and they charged me $140; the muffler was $100 and labor was $40. Overall, it was a reasonable price. Recently, I noticed that my now only 2-year old muffler had completely rusted, causing two holes to form in it. Since I was guaranteed free mufflers for life 2 years ago, I returned to Midas expecting to only pay about $40 for labor. Instead, their estimate was almost $300 dollars, despite the free muffler. They wanted to replace almost my entire exhaust system. After refusing all the additional parts that they said absolutely needed replacing, my total was still $140, $80 of which was for labor. They said that they could lower the labor cost to $70, but I asked why it wasnt $40 like it was 2 years prior. I was then told that they never charged only $40, that $80 was the norm. After arguing with them for a time, they lowered the overall price to $125: $70 for labor, $30 for a new tailpipe, $10 for clamps, and the rest for taxes. I then agreed to the service. Approximately 2 weeks after this service, I noticed that my car had gotten loud again. My muffler was loose, almost falling off my car. Upon inspection, I saw that they had put the wrong size muffler on my car. The hole was too big for my tailpipe. Instead of putting the correct size muffler on my car, they used this larger one and put sealant along the inside to form a temporary seal, keeping my car quiet at least for a while. Also, one of the clamps that they used wasnt even holding the muffler to the pipe. In the end, I spent $5 on a new clamp and an adapter and fixed it myself. In short, the mechanics that work at this location do not know what they are doing; they are not the professionals that they claim to be.

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Thomas Steiger

I wanted to leave a second review but can not with Google. Today I stopped in about 5 minutes to seven to have a flat tire repaired. I thought they closed at 8PM. They did not hesitate to repair my flat even though I came in 5 minutes to closing time. When I did finally notice they had actually closed and I came in so late I appologized....their responses were pricless. Ryan and Chad Jones both told me not a problem and neither would want me to be stranded even if it took them an extra 15-20 minutes after they were closed. I know I would not have been that understanding if the roles were reversed. This MIDAS is first class and will always have my business. Thank you so much. Below is my first review as well. Thank you Stow Midas. You went way above expectations today!!!!!!! Best pricing I found. Very reasonable. Cheaper than I can do myself. They were not only better priced then Mr Tire and Munroe but they also installed 4 new shocks and still beat evryones price for just the exhaust. They showed me exactly what was wrong and worked with me for the cheapest and best solution. Brian Thompson is a newer manager there and he has restored my faith in this store. I had not been there in over 5 years from a bad previous experience and now with Brians help they turned this store around. I would recommend them to anyone over ANY competition in the area. If you havent been here in a while, the new management is top notch and the service techs are great as well. Wish I could give a higher rating than 5 stars. Very pleased

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Anonymous User

Ill echo the sentiment that this is the worst place you can take your car. I was suckered into the store via their 20 dollar oil change advertisement. In the coming months, I had the following incidents take place in two visits: Visit one: Ask them to replace windshield wipers. I get two hundred miles into the trip and realize that they forgot to put the wipers on. Yup, no back story, no nuance; I took the car in to get the wipers replaced and thats it, and they somehow screwed it up. Visit two: Suckered in by cheapest price in town for brakes, I took my vehicle in and asked for a quote and inspection. The manager lied to me and told me that the rear brakes as well as the rear calipers needed to be replaced. Consider that replacing calipers on a Honda is almost unheard of. Total cost of 700 bucks. I told the pushy and cocky manager I would pay for the estimate but no thank you on getting the work done, and he lied and said the brakes "all fell apart" and that he could "give me a ride home in his car, but he couldnt put anything back together." I was so angered by the aforementioned brake experience that I changed my front brakes at Firestone in Kent on the same day. While Hondas require front brakes to do most of the work, my front brakes currently have 80 percent wear left, while my rear brakes- the work of Midas- have 60 percent left, and squeak at almost every stop. Ive never written a review for any company before. The shady and incompetent work of Midas inspired me to break the trend. Avoid at all costs.

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