vqman

just a friendly reminder from someone who didn't know any better.

I just saw a Midas commercial, and they make them look so trustworthy... rediculous..

when I used to drive a 1998 SE Maxima, i needed new brakes, and Midas brakes were cheap, so I went with them...you know, lifetime warranty..how could you go wrong?

My car stopped worse after the "new" brakes were put on than it did with the worn out OEM brakes. And the Midas brakes squealed like crazy. The Midas guy said squealing was not covered under the lifetime warranty. Nor was the poor stopping distances.

A complete waste of money. For me it's OEM or better for now on..

My 1993 SE-R is going to get an NX2000 upgrade when it needs new brakes...

-vq

liqidvenom

iTrader: (6)

yea ur right...i just had all 4 redone by midas and it feels like it stops differently and when i brake lightly it makes noise. Im just gonna ride this set out until i could buy a better setup.

Eric425

Do them yourself. They probably gave you the cheapest pads they could find. Cars typically don't stop better with new brakes unless they use superior pad material as a replacement. Or unless you're worn to the point that all contact material has completely worn away. Maybe they even stop worse, since the beveling has worn away on the old pads and there is more direct contact area with the rotor.

Bill Brasky

iTrader: (2)

or... you could do it the better way...


BY YOURSELF. I can't stand when people biotch and moan over the work someone did on their car... it's your fault for not doing it yourself.

take them off, get some Brake Caliper lube and a thin wire brush then pm me. I'll lead you through a step-by-step process. Brakes on a Maxima should take no longer than 15-30min per wheel.

bsetiawan

iTrader: (43)

The problem is that Midas brake pads SUCK. It doesn't matter who did the job or how much lube you're gonna put on those brakes, they are still gonna squeal like a pig.

Bill Brasky

iTrader: (2)

you know this how?

Midas uses the same manufacturer of pads for replacement parts as our shop does. They don't have their own brand of pads...

ten to one they just put on some Bendix bi-metallic pads on there with no grease under the shims. Hell, even with grease they squeal, but thats the nature of the pad. the non-asbestos organic pads don't sqeal as much (when done properly).

think: you really imagine some pimply-faced 16 y/o who gets paid jack **** an hour would want to do a thorough job on some random person's brakes?



no.

vqman

hey antonthegrey,

I'm not "biotching" about the work the guy did. I'm warning people of the horrible quality of Midas parts. It isn't the mechanics fault he's given crap parts. Your shop must not use Nissan OEM parts if you use the same pads as Midas.


and about doing the work "BY YOURSELF"...

sorry man, it may take 15-30 minutes for a guy that does it once in a while. But it would take me a little longer than that. and time is an issue for me, I go to school full time and I work full time, I also have a rental property and a 9 month old, plus my current house to maintain.

the kind of work I want to do "BY MYSELF", is stuff like putting an NX2000 "big brake" upgrade on my Sentra SE-R, or a turbo & intercooler. Oil changes and regular brake jobs (any schedualed maintenance) I'll leave to the grease monkeys.

-vq

vqman

do cars typically stop worse after new brake pads are installed?

the reason they stop worse is because they use an inferior pad material as a replacement...


-vq

JdoubleOe703

iTrader: (6)

i use bendix... are they good pads???

Mizeree_X

iTrader: (9)

Just curious, how long did it take for you to drive to Midas, have them install the brakes, and then drive home?

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

I'm with Mizree... you spent more time driving to Midas than it would have taken you to just do the work.
for the front pads, you need a lack, lugwrench, C clamp and a 12 (or 14?)mm wrench. that's IT!

It takes me about 5 min per side to do regular brakes.. Given the fact you don't do it often, okay, it'll take you 20.. but that's still less time than you spent at Midas- considering it still takes them the same amount of time to do it!

always goes back to one of the few rules we've all heard for years...... If you want it done right, do it yourself.

Pearl99GXE

If he says he doesn't the time then leave it at that.
Mizree and Matt are leaving out the fact that it takes time to go the auto parts store and pick up the new brakes. Time to get his tools together. Time to find the lugwrench and jack in the trunk. Time to jack up the car. If he does not have a hydrolic jack and jackstands, he has twice as long to jack the car. Time to pull the wheels.
It is now over an hour later and he still has not even loosen the caliber yet.
How about cutting the rotors, can he do it himself or does he have to run back to the autopart store to get that done.

You don't know his situation. He said he doesn't have the time. Just leave it as that. He already has to pay the price for going to Midas. The man was giving a warning to the others that might be considering doing the same.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You usually get what you pay for. Even less alot of the times. There are good pads available for the maxima and crappy pads. Given Midas' prices, what ones do you think they use?

Dave B

I'm being totally serious here, it takes longer to remove the lugs than it does to change the pads. Changing the pads involves removing ONE bolt and the caliper swings up to gain you access to the pads. We're talking maybe 1-2 minutes to remove and swap in pads.

Need to replace the rotors? Remove the two bolts that hold the caliper and then safely hang the caliper. The rotor will either slide off or you'll have to use a bolt or rubber mallet to unseize rotors from the hub. Replacing a rotor takes about 10 minutes.

Buy a Chilton's manual and you'll be amazed at how easy these cars are to work on. Over the past 5 years, I've saved myself about $3000 in repairs/maintenance for my Maxima and my wife's Legacy. I don't have a lift or special tools either. My time is limited too, but for all the money I save doing it myself, I can make the time. Shops screw you. Pure and simple. They've got to make money.


Dave

Frank Fontaine

I know what you guys are saying, but give the guy a brake, I mean break. He's merely trying to tell people to steer clear of Midas, he doesn't need a lecture on how he should manage his time! If I were local, I'd do the brakes free of charge because it's so simple and I have the tool for the rear. But there are things that I would prefer not to do myself either--plugs, o2 sensor, water pump, etc. I am putting in a ceramic tile floor in my "spare" time--what would take a pro 2-3 days takes me weeks, rip up the vinyl, rip up the luan subfloor, install a wonder board subfloor, cut the tile, set it, grout it, etc. I didn't do the Corian counter myself, I paid through the nose for it. One, only way to get a DuPont warranty, and two, the pros do a better job. We only got so much time outside of our jobs, ya know? I'm not ripping anyone, just asking that you fellas show each other some courtesy, sometimes the posts are ridiculous, like some "Father Knows Best" episode. What's amusing on TV Land isn't here, my .02.

vqman

it was on the way home, while I was waiting, I did homework on my laptop...

-vq

vqman

Matt, you can't do it "right" with junk parts.

end of story.

the parts were crap, not the install...

-vq

vqman

i have no jack stand,

the only jack I have is the one that came with the car.

c-clamp? what the hell is that?


$3000 over 5 years isn't really alot of money to me...if I don't have to get dirty doing routine maintenance...

the whole point of this thread is to take your car to the dealer for brakes, not Midas, and let the dealer put good quality Nissan parts on your vehicle. Unless you like to monkey around in your garage.

-vq

vqman

exactly. This was 4 years ago (like i said at the beginning of the thread, this is a 1998 Maxima. I traded that thing in a while back...

-vq

vqman

Did I mention that I go to school full time and I work full time, I also have a rental property and a 9 month old, plus my current house to maintain.

just the thought of trying to learn yet another thing (while learning how to deal with my kid, learning the ins and outs of the rental business, learning new stuff at work all the time - I work in "Transport Analysis" with the phone company, and anyone who knows what that is knows it's a mentally demanding job.

I don't want to add another thing on my "to do" list..

because adding a brake install to my "to do" list involves multiple items...

one: go buy a chiltons manual
two: go buy jack stands
three: get a c-clamp
four: figure out what the hell chiltons is talking about
five: take off the wheels
six: wonder if I'm doing it right (these things are supposed to stop me when I'm doing 120mph)
seven: put everything back together,
eight: find a place in my cramped garage for my newly purchased jack stands
nine: clean up garage, put tools away
ten: take a shower
eleven: wash dirty clothes

I finished my own basement. A guy came and bid it for $20,000. I thought he was crazy, well I decided to do it myself, and $15,000 and a year later I was finally done.

If I could, I'd go back and pay $5000 more to have my time back, PLUS, I'd have my finished basement 11 months longer...

saving $3,000 over the course of 5 years on doing routine maintenance (with my finacial situation) isn't worth it. My time is worth more than that. What I can with my time is...nevermind. A do-it-yourselfer will always think saving $50 when it took them 2 hours is worth it...

me? not a chance.

-vq

vqman

^^^^^ 5 posts above (call me a post ***** if you want)

-vq

Dave B

I still think you're crazy

The money I've saved is a great thing to me, but the fact that I did it myself makes me feel good. I have learned a great deal about cars thanks to all the work I've done on my Maxima and prior cars in the past 10 years. I use to be timid to work on cars and other visually complicated equipment. Now I'm willing to do nearly everything except drop a tranny or tear a motor down and the only reason I don't do that is that I don't have a large enough garage for the work. In time that will change too. Thanks to everything I've learned by working on cars, it has allowed me to do nearly all my home improvement. That includes installing and wiring an attic fan, replacing/trouble shooting plumbing, sweating pipe, replacing subflooring, sheet rock repair, foundation repair, general wiring, installing sinks/toilets, tiling, etc. Yes, basic stuff, but it's still stuff most home owners don't bother messing with themselves.

I'd steer people away from buying Midas brakes, but I'd also steer them away from buying Nissan brakes too. In my book they're both overpriced crap. Good brake pads give good braking and buying good brake pads at a "chain" or dealership is nearly impossible. About the only way to get good pads is to buy them yourself and pay to have a shop install them. Of course for the money you'd spend on install, you could have bought yourself a floor jack and jackstands.

For less than $500 you could buy yourself a quality floor jack, jack stands, Chiltons manual, metric wrenchs, metric sockets, rachet, torque wrench, breaker bar, screw driver set, voltmeter, MityVac (vacuum kit), shop light, flash light, magnetic pickup, spring compressors, air compressor, oil drain pan, and a vise. All these tools would pretty much allow you to do everything on nearly any car except maybe build up motor. The tools can also be used for other household jobs too.

I get great pride and joy out of doing things myself. Sure I break things, but for everything I've broken, I've fixed 20 other things. The learning experience is the key. Now I understand the purpose of nearly every single little vacuum line, sensor, solenoid, etc the resides under the hood and I can trouble shoot the problems that develop. I also know when a shop mechanic is BSing me or friend. That saves money too.


Dave

vqman

well dave, the time I have spent in school is allowing me to buy a house with that big garage you say you will one day have, the new house my wife and I are building has a 3 car garage, the house is roughly 3200 square feet.

I couldn't have received a bachelors degree working on my car. I make $30,000 a year more than I did before I started school. multiply that over 5 years, and we're talking $150,000. (kind of makes wowing over 5 G's look silly if you ask me.)

read on there is more...I acutally have mechanical experience...

But now I can afford a nice home for my wife and kids, and now I won't have a crowded garage, so I can fit some shiny new jackstands in the new big garage.

I used to work as an avionics tech on Cobra's and Huey's in the Marine Corps... fun fun!

I can tell you what each of these gauges do, and how to trouble shoot them and the components that make them tic. But I wouldn't touch anything unless I was trained on it. My first mechanical experience was a disciplined one. I learned not to mess with stuff unless you know exactly what you are doing. Are brakes easy? probably. but I've never done them. and at this point in my life it's not worth taking the time to figure it out when it only costs $75 to have some installed...I didn't know all brake pads weren't created equally.

the point is, I know how to turn a wrench. So it's not like I'm going to have a tough time learning how to work on my car. Right now, I just think my time is better spent getting my degree.

When I was 20, I replaced the radiator in my 1987 Accord LXi...took me 5 hours...it was my first automotive mechanical experience. A shop could have done it in an hour, but I saved myself $100 doing it myself. When I was 20, $100 bucks was a lot of money. nowadays? $100 is worth it to save myself 5 hours of work....

have you ever rewound an alternator or starter?

I did it everyday when I worked at TWA. Generator's, fans, fuel pumps, hydrolic pumps, you name it, and i tore it down and rewound it.

Would I rewind my Sentra or Maxima's Starter or alternator? HELL NO!. I would be without my car while it took me a week to de-engineer the thing, and then I'd have to make the tools to get the coils the right size, etc...I could take two weeks (2 or 3 hours a day)

Just because you know how to do something doesn't mean it's always worth the effort. Does it feel satisfying to do it yourself? Sure. Does it feel satisfying to know you've taken time out of your day to spend with your kid? yes..

tools:
I have a chiltons manual for my 93 Sentra, I have a whole slew of wrenches and sockets, both metric and standard. I have at least two screw driver sets, an air compressor I bought when finishing my basement, and a bunch of other crap I can't even begin to right down...too much.

I don't have a jack stand though, nor do I have a good hydaulic jack. But in October, when I get that new house finished...and I move in, I'm going to start working on my Sentra. I plan to put on a turbo, the NX2000 brake upgrade, 370cc injectors, etc...

I'll have fun doing it. But replacing brake pads on an automatic 1998 Maxima SE (appliance) is not fun, nor worth my time.

$150,000 in 5 years Dave.. One Hundred and Fifty THOUSAND dollars...

-vq

vqman

here's another beautiful picture of the Pilots seat...



-vq

MrGone

iTrader: (30)

I am beyond confused here. You want to do brake swaps and ****, yet you dont even know how to do a basic brake change, or have the tools to do one?

Thats like saying you plan to build your own motor, yet you'll take it to Jiffy Lube or you dont know how to get the oil pan bolt or oil filter off.

Dave B

That's cool. I'd look into getting a new house too if I intended on staying in Kansas City over the next few years, but as of now, we have a baby on the way and our 2400 sq foot house is plenty big for one child plus I enjoy my $600/mo house payment to much to part with it right now. The way I look at it is my wife and I can continue saving 8% and investing ~15% of our net so we can buy the house of our dreams in the near future.

I tell ya what, I wish I had never gone to college. I should have gone to a technical school and got trained in welding/automechanics. There's a lot more money out there for that type of work compared to most of the jobs that are out there for college grads.

As of right now, I make about $32K more than when I first started out in environmental consulting 6 years ago. I'm currently interviewing for another job which may get me an additional 15% unless my current employer wants to match it plus a few %. In a nutshell, money is money to me. It doesn't matter if I'm spending $100 on something or $2000. If I can save my money doing super simple jobs then I'll do it myself, ya know? The way I see it it's money I could spend on a nice dinner, toys for my car, investing, etc. I have a hard time throwing away a dollar, I couldn't fathom throwing away thousands. Yes, it does take my time, but I'm the kind of person that would rather be busy doing something after work than sitting on the couch. I know much of my free time will be taken up by the baby which is completely fine, but it still won't stop me from taking a few hours out of my month to perform simple maintenance on my cars and house.

I know I can't change your mind, but my whole point was to show others that working on Maximas and most any other popular late model cars is terribly easy. They all have the same components and work the same way, basicially. People are constantly overpaying for insanely easy work. Yes, brakes are a very important and serious component on a car, but barring ABS systems, braking systems in general are simple and nearly idiot proof to mess up when working on them.

I tell ya what, when you need simple work done to your 03 Max or SE-R bring it by and I'll gladly take your cash. Wouldn't you rather get screwed over by someone you know rather than some slimeball at a shop j/k No peeking when I'm doing the work because I don't want you seeing how easy it is.


Dave

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

Not trying to stick irons in the fire here, but in the time it's taken you write all these long replies, you could have done the entire list of things required to do the brake job.. buy parts, tools, figure it out, do the work, clean up, etc.

I see where you're coming from.. I just graduated a year ago myself. I was married, working 50+ hours a week, taking 18 hours of engineering classes, AND going 70 miles home every weekend to help my dad rebuild a house for my sister- where I put in another 30 hours on sat and sun with that.
I know what being busy is as well.. Yet I still found time to do routine maintenance myself. the ONLY time I ever paid anyone to work on my car was when my tranny blew up the night before an exam. I called enterprise, had a car delivered, and mine towed.
they also f***ed up more stuff than they fixed. next time I'll just keep renting a car until I have time to fix it myself.

you're obviously intelligent enough to perform the work- just gotta manage an hour into your day to DO the work.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

I understand his position. But he should consider this. You have an advanced degree and highly advanced skills. But you just intrusted your car to Midas. Just think of the skill level there.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

Midas uses key value **** from your local nissan dealer, at least the one that TRIED to rip me off did. $800 for front and rear pads and rotors, and caliper hardware. Did it myself for $250.

vqman

read the entire thread...

then you'll get it.

-vq

Frank Fontaine

Dave,

You're one of the SR people here, and you know a lot, that's why I'm replying to your thread. I understand. sometimes when you DIY the satisfaction you get more than compensates for the fact that it took a lot of time to complete a task. Of course, that's how you learn. But the dude that started the thread was only saying stay away from Midas. Yes, that's common sense, but we all get lured in to some cr**** place sometimes due to wanting convenience.

I like to save money. When I got quotes to do EP Henry pavers for my house, the range was 7-11 grand. I wanted to laugh in their faces, how hard is it to lay some bricks around the house and install lighting, crushed rocks. tar paper, level and pitch it? I can buy the materials and DIY for less than 1/2 of the cheapest quotes. But ya know what? When 2 dump trucks, 2 Bobcats, and 7 guys show up at the house to do the job, one begins to realize that me and my hockey buddies ain't gonna realistically get the job done, at least not as well. People are getting all philosophical, this degree and that degree and how much time did it take to drive here and there.

Me and my g/f are headed to the Big Easy tomorrow, so I wont be back on the forum until next week. Dang, Bourbon St. is best spend with your guy friends, but oh well. It's hard not to have a good time down there. But can we possibly go somewhere besides Pat O'Briens!"?????

Have fun guys.

vqman

Jeff, this was 4 years ago, back when I had a 1998 Maxima.

The guy that replaced my brakes replaces probably 10-20 sets of brakes a week. I think he has a pretty decent skill level (even if it's only installing brakes and mufflers.)

the problem wasn't his skill level. It was the quality of the parts.

how many times do I have to repeat this?

-vq

vqman

a special thanks to Frank Fontaine and pearl99gxe

thanks for understanding the point I was trying to get across and not telling me how to spend my time.




oh and Dave B, if you want to go back 6 years, I am making $40,000 a year more than I was 6 years ago...
-vq

Dave B

I recommend the St. Charles Tavern for the best f-ing gumbo in Orleans. It's a dive, but man can they do gumbo and red beans and rice. For a really good dinner, try Jackamos. Both these places are located near Loyola and the Garden District. Stay away from the trendy joints. The food isn't near as good.


Dave

Dave B

Hey man, sacking groceries doesn't count!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I managed to get myself an 12% raise today (got a job offer and asked my boss if they'd match). I'll find out tommorrow...which is my birthday. So that would push me close to $40K too. ***** is out and ready to measure.


Dave

vqman

new orleans,

the last American city that I want to go to, but haven't been..

I'll have to do Marti Gras one year with the guys...

we'll all leave the ladies behind.

-vq

vqman

sacking groceries?

that was 13 years ago...I'm damn near 30 years old.

6 years ago I was a Network Installation Foreman..pulling cat-5, fiber optics, etc. We occasionally configured the Networks when the client didn't have their own administrators.

-vq

vqman

in that period of time, maybe, but I'm a pretty fast typer..

but if I was buying that stuff, I wouldn't be sitting at my desk pretending to be working...

Boss man thinks I'm working as long as he hears me typing away and staring at the computer..

if I leave work and go install brakes I might not be able to afford the payments on the Maxima. (or the new house we're building)

-vq

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

You're comparing a brake job that requires basic hand tool knowledge to laying down pavement, a $10k job? You should try to come up with better comparisons.

Bill Brasky

iTrader: (2)

wow... just.... wow.

first of all, Jeff was talking about *your* skill level to take your car to a Midas dealer and ahve them put ****ty parts on it. you should know better....

oh, and the college thing? forget that.. while the other kiddos are fretting loan repayments, i'm making 45k a year. AT 18 YEARS OLD. you don't need college to be a Technician/Diagnostician... you need experience.

oh, another thing, i'll have you know that you can request what parts you want on your car. Sure, you'll pay more, but you dont seem to care... you'd be foolish enough to take your car to a dealer anyway (unless you have that nice warranty thing... )

For serious though... if you don't want to take time from the kid, have him with you. I'm sure glad my father did when i was 5... All of your excuses are just those: excuses.

oh, dave b.... $500 bucks for all of that? where do you go? Harbor Freight? lol. Try $500 bucks for a torque wrench alone....