hmmm... where to begin.
Let me just say that I have a negative view of Midas.
Anyone seen those Midas commercials with the lie detectors? Everytime I see those ads it really gets me fired up. I not saying that the people working at Midas brake centres are liars, in fact, they are a nice group of people, but I have a theory on the way the company conducts its business.
At the time when I was driving my first car, I took it to Midas to get the front brakes done. The original brakes lasted about 2 years or about 60000kms and started to squeal. They changed the pads and resurfaced the rotors. I thought they did a good job. Then, after about 3 months of driving, I noticed that everytime I braked, the steering wheel would vibrate/pulsate a little when braking from 80kmh. Hmm... I didn't really bothered to look into it as I traded the car in and got a new car.
Then when my second car needed the brakes changed, I took it to Midas again for the front brakes. They did their normal procedures for changing the front brakes (same as first car). Again, after about 3-4 months the steering wheel started to vibrate when braking from high-speed. At the time, I didn't make any connections between Midas and vibrating steering wheel because I wasn't really sure what it was.
My third car was pretty much the same scenario as the second car. Only this time, I took the car in again to fix the vibration. Turned out it was warped rotors. Now I'm getting suspicious. So I did some research on the Internet on this warped rotor issue.
I found that the during repeated braking attempts, the pads heat up which could lead to warped rotors. When the rotors warp, you feel a vibration in the steering wheel. That's strange, I thought, I drove my car on the original set of pads til 100,000kms and felt no vibration. Then, on Midas pads, I get vibration only after 3-4 months? After further research, I found that not all brake pads are made the same. Certain pads, especially the cheaper ones, build up heat quicker and also heats to a higher temp... the rotors, not being able to dissipate the heat quick enough, will warp. Rotors warp because of uneven cooling. This could happen when you park after doing some heavy braking. Right after you park, the brake pads will still be hot, some of this heat is transferred to the part of the rotor that is closest to the pads, the remaining parts of the rotor (that part that you can see and is exposed to cool ambient air) will then cool faster than the parts closest to the pads... uneven cooling. Could happen when you're stuck in traffic jams, traffic lights, etc.
Also, when you resurface rotors, you are making them thinner, which may also increase chances of warpage. I'm not saying that heat is the only reason that causes rotor warpage, there are other factors such as unevent torquing of the lug nuts etc... But the chances that heat warping rotors vs. improper torquing of lug nuts is much greater.
Then I remember one of my co-workers who also changed their front brakes at Midas and also experienced warped rotors. Now I have a theory in my head.
My theory is that Midas puts cheap brake pads on your car knowing that it will warp your rotors and bet on the chance that you will bring it back to fix it again and take more money from you. Decent rotors are expensive and labour is expensive and Midas will make you pay for it. Unsuspecting or naive victims, like myself, will get ripped from scams like this.
Even though the people working at Midas have generally good intentions, everytime I see these stupid lie detector commercials, it gets me fired up because Midas, the company, is hiding something from you.
Ever since I started to change my own brakes, I've never experienced any rotor warpage on my front and rear disc brakes. I attribute this to the fact that I went back to the dealership to get the pads.
Any thoughts?
Let me just say that I have a negative view of Midas.
Anyone seen those Midas commercials with the lie detectors? Everytime I see those ads it really gets me fired up. I not saying that the people working at Midas brake centres are liars, in fact, they are a nice group of people, but I have a theory on the way the company conducts its business.
At the time when I was driving my first car, I took it to Midas to get the front brakes done. The original brakes lasted about 2 years or about 60000kms and started to squeal. They changed the pads and resurfaced the rotors. I thought they did a good job. Then, after about 3 months of driving, I noticed that everytime I braked, the steering wheel would vibrate/pulsate a little when braking from 80kmh. Hmm... I didn't really bothered to look into it as I traded the car in and got a new car.
Then when my second car needed the brakes changed, I took it to Midas again for the front brakes. They did their normal procedures for changing the front brakes (same as first car). Again, after about 3-4 months the steering wheel started to vibrate when braking from high-speed. At the time, I didn't make any connections between Midas and vibrating steering wheel because I wasn't really sure what it was.
My third car was pretty much the same scenario as the second car. Only this time, I took the car in again to fix the vibration. Turned out it was warped rotors. Now I'm getting suspicious. So I did some research on the Internet on this warped rotor issue.
I found that the during repeated braking attempts, the pads heat up which could lead to warped rotors. When the rotors warp, you feel a vibration in the steering wheel. That's strange, I thought, I drove my car on the original set of pads til 100,000kms and felt no vibration. Then, on Midas pads, I get vibration only after 3-4 months? After further research, I found that not all brake pads are made the same. Certain pads, especially the cheaper ones, build up heat quicker and also heats to a higher temp... the rotors, not being able to dissipate the heat quick enough, will warp. Rotors warp because of uneven cooling. This could happen when you park after doing some heavy braking. Right after you park, the brake pads will still be hot, some of this heat is transferred to the part of the rotor that is closest to the pads, the remaining parts of the rotor (that part that you can see and is exposed to cool ambient air) will then cool faster than the parts closest to the pads... uneven cooling. Could happen when you're stuck in traffic jams, traffic lights, etc.
Also, when you resurface rotors, you are making them thinner, which may also increase chances of warpage. I'm not saying that heat is the only reason that causes rotor warpage, there are other factors such as unevent torquing of the lug nuts etc... But the chances that heat warping rotors vs. improper torquing of lug nuts is much greater.
Then I remember one of my co-workers who also changed their front brakes at Midas and also experienced warped rotors. Now I have a theory in my head.
My theory is that Midas puts cheap brake pads on your car knowing that it will warp your rotors and bet on the chance that you will bring it back to fix it again and take more money from you. Decent rotors are expensive and labour is expensive and Midas will make you pay for it. Unsuspecting or naive victims, like myself, will get ripped from scams like this.
Even though the people working at Midas have generally good intentions, everytime I see these stupid lie detector commercials, it gets me fired up because Midas, the company, is hiding something from you.
Ever since I started to change my own brakes, I've never experienced any rotor warpage on my front and rear disc brakes. I attribute this to the fact that I went back to the dealership to get the pads.
Any thoughts?
