On Monday, 11/3, the temperature warning light on our PT Cruiser came on whenever idling at long stoplights. Since we were about to embark on a cross-country move, we brought the car to Midas, telling them we suspected that the electric radiator-cooling fan was not coming on. The Midas technician inspected the car and told us that the problem was a leaking radiator and loss of coolant, giving us an estimate in excess of $1400; trusting their supposed expertise, we left the car there.
When we called Tuesday, we were told that they had discovered an additional leak at the water pump, and would replace the water pump and the timing belt. They told us the car would be ready on Wednesday morning.
When we came to Midas Wednesday afternoon, we were kept waiting until 4:00pm, when we permitted Midas to charge $1768.10 to our MasterCard after being assured that the car was fixed and tested.
While we were still idling in the parking lot, the car overheated worse than before, releasing clouds of steam. We handed it back, and at closing time were assured that the car had now been fixed and tested. It immediately overheated and released clouds of steam. After turning it off long enough to cool, we drove without stopping to the nearest Toyota dealer and traded it in on a new car for our cross-country move, having lost two days, and losing about $2000 in trade-in value because the car had not been repaired. The Toyota manager later tested the car and wrote us that the problem was that the electric radiator-cooling fan was not coming on.
On Thursday, we telephoned Midas Auto Service to request an adjustment of the charges, but the Service Manager and the Baltimore Area Manager both refused any compromise on the charges. Next we called Capital One to dispute the Credit Card charge; after months of making us submit more and more information, they informed us that Midas had declined to cooperate and Capital One was not going to help us.
We also wrote to Midas headquarters, but received no reply - we subsequently learned that Midas is used in at least one MBA program as a case study of corporate policies which can lead to fraud by franchisees.
We reported the dispute to the Baltimore BBB, but Midas did not bother to respond to their inquiries, leaving the case open.
Finally, we reported the case to the Maryland Attorney General's Office, which approached Midas to seek a resolution, but Midas declined to negotiate.
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