Re: Midas Muffler
Midas and Tuffy are the only rip-off joints still here in my neck of the woods. Being in the auto repair industry I have an educated outlook on them. No I have not used them in many years. When I did I was a 17yo kid, Grandma & Grandpa gave me a car with Tuffy shocks, mufflers and brakes on it. Took it in for brakes, was told I needed calipers, rotors and warranty pads. Grandma had just had calipers and rotors replaced at the last service. Can we say rip-off?<br />Took it in for a muffler, was told exhaust pipe, resonator and tailpipe all needed to be replaced because they were rusty and "weak". Grandpa had just replaced exhaust from manifolds back less than two years before. Can we say CHEAP parts at premium prices or rip-off?<br /><br />Now that I'm in the profession I have quoted jobs to customers from Tuffy. Latest one was a harmonic balancer. Tuffy quoted over $100 for the part and $125 for labor. I saw the written quote. I quoted the job at 1 hour ($55.00) and full list price on the part of $70-$80. It was the exact same part. In fact, I had to wait and order the part because Tuffy had bought the last one from my supplier. They told me so. So Tuffy wanted more than $225.00 for the exact same job I did for $135.00. And I had a full mark-up on the part. A friend of mine had Midas replace an outer tie rod end on his Dodge 400. It cost him better that 1.5 times what he was quoted at a local independent shop. He felt obligated to have them do the repair though, because the tie rod end separated in their parking lot when they were backing the car out. Being unemployed I checked with Tuffy (they've been advertising a position for three months now) and even with these sky-high prices the techs still don't make $32K a year. My reputation and integrity are too valuable to me to lower myself to Tuffy's level.<br /><br />So I think I will start my own shop, charge a fair price, and do a fine job with honesty and integrity. And good for you Mark, you should shop around. But you should also show loyalty to a shop that treats you with honesty. I know I would tell a customer that constantly shops around and argues with my price where the door is. I will do an honest job at an honest price. If someone wants it done cheaper, there's another shop that will do it cheaper, but not better. The customer will pay more in the long run.