My daughter had a vehicle which would not pass emissions. She was told by a friend of hers (not an auto mechanic) that she needed to have her catalytic converter replaced in her 1991 Honda and then it would pass emissions. She is living with us with her disabled son, and is unable to work, so we needed to pay for her repairs. Midas told us (during a "free" inspection) that they would do the catalytic converter, and that the vehicle also needed a LOT more work to be considered safe to drive. They assured us that by replacing the converter the car would pass emissions. They also wanted to do a LOT of brake work, including replacing the "safety proportioning valve, " which was quite expensive. I called several other mechanics, as well as Auto Parts' Stores, and they all assured me that the "safety proportioning valve" was something that virtually NEVER went out on a vehicle. The only time you might have to replace it is if the vehicle was in an accident. That's why they only sell it at dealerships. One mechanic friend told me he had never heard of anyone he knew ever replacing one - they usually last the life of the car, and the vehicle would give out before that particular part.

We were quoted $1, 300.00+ to do the brakes, just to get them to where they were "safe, " and this was with a $200.00 DISCOUNT!! We let them to the converter (at a cost of $385.00), which later turned out was not at all necessary for the car to pass emissions. Because her vehicle was older (1991), all she needed was for it to be smogged to get her tags. We then took the car, after being treated extremely rudely by Midas, to a local mechanic we use frequently. He did the brake work for around $300.00, MUCH cheaper than $1, 300.00, and told us we wasted our money on the converter.

It is sad to say that Midas tried to take advantage of my daughter and me simply because we are women, and they thought we were clueless about cars. However, my husband knows EVERYTHING about cars (he just doesn't have the time to work on them), and he told us we had been totally scammed.

We will NEVER go to Midas again for any reason. They are disrespectful to women, making them believe they are going to be driving an unsafe vehicle unless we let them do approximately $1, 500.00 worth of TOTALLY UNECISSARY work. Take your business elsewhere, have it done right, and for much, much less than at Midas!! They are scammers and cheaters!

October 23, 2007 I had my truck in at Midas location Manchester New Hampshire. I had paid for Midas touch maint package, Bulb lights and state inspection. I was advised that my Truck did not pass inspection due to muffler, and right outer tie rod. I was aware that I needed a tire rod but I didn't understand any other issues. 11 hours later on October 24, 2007 at 9:00 am in the morning my brake went out. The brake pedal suddenly went to the floor, due to the left brake hose rupturing. The metal part of the left front brake hose was bent up causing it to be in the incorrect position; which resulted in its failure.' Midas should have noticed this defect on 10/23/07 when Midas performed the visual courtesy check which I had paid for. It was advised in writing from Midas that, no immediate attention was needed for brake lines/hoses. How could this error been missed? Due to Midas missing this defect it has cost our family's safety, towing expenses, taxi cost, brake line and Midas bill, a total of $385.61.

Since that time our family has paid for another opinion on ALL work performed by Midas and found our exhaust doesn't need to be replaced. We have been advised that our filter was not replaced. We are appalled, disgusted and shocked that this was missed and work was not preformed at all. Our family is more upset that we paid for Midas to do a safety check and that check was NEVER DONE. Missing this caused our family to almost DIE in an accident with losing our brakes. Thank god no one was hurt.