Who said Midas knew brakes??? Not Me

Ok, so as you know I was supposed to go visit Julia this past weekend but due to car problems that didn't happen. Here's the story:

Thursday of last week I took my car into Canadian Tire... told them my problems (car shakes when you apply the brake) and asked for a quote. A guy phoned me back and said I needed front and rear brakes and rotors... and that he wasn't sure if I needed caliphers but he'd charged me anyway. So to make a long story short, their price quote was $1250 plus taxes. I almost fell over... but luckly my chair was there to catch me! Naturally I decided that a second opinion was in order.

** PS) Just so you know about a month ago I put new brake pads on the front.

Later that same afternoon I took my vehicle into Midas. It just kinda made sense to me... if you want groceries, you go to a grocery store... if you want to do banking, you go to a bank... if you need new brakes, you go to a brake specialist! I was met at the door by a very nice employee (actually there were two of them)... they immediately took my vehicle into the bay and began looking at it. A few minutes later out pops mister mechanic with my diagnosis... it needs rear brake pads and rotors (HE SPECIFICALLY TOLD ME THE FRONT ONES WERE FINE). Because I had Emma with me and dinner time was fast approaching I made an appointment to return the next morning.

Friday morning, the morning I'm leaving for my weekend with Julia, I take my car to Midas. About an hour later it's ready. Fast service, friendly smiles, and a polite wave as I'm leaving the building - of course these things don't come free - $500 was the end price! All is good right? WRONG!

There I am driving down the 400 in the center lane when the vehicle infront of me slams on his brakes for no apparent reason... so naturally I hit mine too. I was keeping my distance from him, travelling at about 120km/h. Instantly as I touch my brakes, MY CAR STARTS SHAKING! The very same problem I just had fixed. When I let the brake off, my car veered to the left. I'm thinking to myself "what the f*** is going on here? Didn't I just get this fixed?" The only thing I could do was pull off at the next exit and find a place to get my car inspected. Well what do you know.. I'm driving down the road in Bradford, and what to my wonderful eyes should appear? A Midas! Yep, that's right... I wheeled in there, got out of my car and gave the man across the counter my story (and I was not a happy camper... I was pissed... I was more than pissed... I was so frustrated I was about to cry). It only took about 10 seconds (and one really unimpressed look on my face) to get a mechanic to look at my car. We took it for a test drive together and here's what he said:

"THIS CAR IS NOT SAFE TO BE ON THE ROAD. I CAN'T BELIVE THEY LET IT GO LIKE THIS. WE WOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO SEND A VEHICLE ON THE ROAD IN THIS CONDITION. YOU DON'T HAVE ANY BRAKES. IF YOU WERE TRAVELLING AT A GOOD SPEED AND NEEDED TO APPLY THE BRAKES IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION YOU WOULD GO RIGHT THROUGH THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU." You should have seen the look on his face when I told him that a Midas store serviced my vehicle.

Anyway, long story short (shorter)... I had my vehicle fixed today by Master Mechanic. Great service. They explained to me how the braking system works, why my rotors were garbage, and what caused the shaking. They were very polite, extremely respectful, and all together wonderful. After diagnosing my car they gave me a call to explain to me what they were going to do, and then gave me a price quote... $300. Oh yah, I forgot to mention, they drove me to work too. When I picked up my car they showed me my old parts and re-explained everything they had said on the phone. I WAS 200% IMPRESSED.

So for those of you who think that Midas knows brakes... i urge you THINK AGAIN. Please do yourself a favour and go somewhere else. Also, please send this story to everyone you know who owns a car!