GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Anyone have any Midas feedback for front pads?Do their pads produce more dust than OEMs?Is their pad life significantly different ( better/worse ) than OEM?I have a 2005 at 110k needing some pads.

Do it yourself and save some $.

totally! easy to do even for a noob! Just make sure you don't overtighten the lug nuts when finishing or you can warp rotors.

Plus one diy if you trust yourself.a job that seems easy to some could easily be messed up by others, ask questions and search around before you tackle it if you decide to try it. As for midas, impossible to say because I'm sure there could be great differences between locations. Allthough a midas near my home is who I trust when a repair exceeds my capabilities. They are a little pricier than other places but the only place I have been to yet that I would trust near my car. I have limited car knowledge, and I have been in other shops after hours of diognostics and finally stepped in and gave my two cents, they treated my like an idiot about it. So I took the car home ordered the part I suspected was the problem, and I was right. ....anyway good luck

When you pay a "mechanic" to do anything on your car you are taking a gamble. He / She may be an excellent technician, competent, honest and trustworthy.OR.....He / She may be a complete schmuck who damages more than he fixes, overcharges you for what he does and sells you extras that you don't need.If you do it yourself, the competency issue is huge if you are not at all skilled and prefer to push paper on a desk. The honesty factor is a given for you convince yourself what you need and you may oversell yourself if you don't know what you are looking at.A place like Midas often (not always) hires entry level or barely competent mechanics. Most often those who can't make it in a "real" repair shop.There are some good people that work in those places as well though harder to find from all reports I read and hear about.I myself don't trust a mechanic as far as I can pick him up and hurl him....which isn't very far. I was in the industry for a number of years so I know "who" works there and how they work.Shops like this also make their money on low fetching prices. Once in the shop and the car is torn apart it becomes a matter of safety and you NEED to replace this or that. Often this extra work is indeed needed for mounting clips wear, rotors warp and items rust and become unserviceable. Inexperience also breaks things!An honest competent shop will tell you about these potential needs ahead of time but agree to just look at your brake pads, will take a test drive before quoting you a price to feel how the brakes work and react. You can tell if you need rotors 90% of the time with a simple drive. Today it is rare they actually wear below specs without first warping and giving you tell tale signs via your foot.Go ahead, proceed cautiously and recognize that their in the door pricing is most often NOT the out of door price you will pay.We won't even get into the problems that the inexpensive Chinese Made brake rotors present. They warp and become junk way faster than real Toyota brake rotors do.Let me close with stating that Midas Shops are a franchise operation where the one in my town may be horrible but the one 20 miles away is excellent. Ask you neighbors for experiences, not us.Dave

Quote, originally posted by djkeev »Let me close with stating that Midas Shops are a franchise operation where the one in my town may be horrible but the one 20 miles away is excellent. Ask you neighbors for experiences, not us.DaveThis is def the best advice in this situation. When it comes to any shop, even dealer shops, ask your local friends and neighbors as they are the ones who have experienced those particular shops and can give you proper feedback. I could easily say that two Midas' that I've went to are horrible, yet the one you are considering could be the best shop known to man. Def ask around locally.