"Bob Shuman" > wrote in message
...
> Comments below.
>
> Bob
> The Midas radio commercials in my area (Chicago, IL) advertise the
lifetime
> warranty is transferrable to whoever purchases your vehicle so this is not
> as you state. (I've never used Midas and do them myself so don't know
what
> the catch is either...)

The Midas web site has the $39.95 deal, but it explicitly states that it's
for "as long as you own your car."
http://www.midas.com/promotions/coup...-thru1113.html

So obviously the Chicago franchises have a different deal. The offer also
states "plus installation." Does the offer in Chicago include installation?
$39.95 can buy some pretty good brake pads. Installation is likely to be at
least $75 without rotor turning.

> > 2. They use very low end parts, that don't cost them much, and they pay
> > their employees very little.
>
> No comment as no experience.

I do have the experience, unfortunately, though not with brake pads.

A real mechanic will likely save you money. First, he'll use better pads, at
a higher initial cost. Second, he'll be more willing to resurface good
rotors instead of just selling you new ones (on most cars, the rotors are
thick enough to be resurfaced at least once, and usually more times than
that, though early Saturns had very thin rotors that could not be resurfaced
even once). Third, he'll be less likely to tell you to change the brakes
before they need changing. Fourth, he'll be less likely to try to sell you
unneeded parts, such as calipers and other bits and pieces. Fifth, he'll do
the job right the first time.

The lifetime warranty for the Midas brake job is only on parts. Every time
the parts need changing you have to pay. So poorer quality parts mean more
frequent parts changes.

It isn't just on brakes that lifetime warranties are usually a rip-off. Look
at alternators. They warranty the part, but not the labor, and not the
inconvenience of being stranded. The parts are very poor. If you can change
it yourself then it may not be so bad, but if you're paying a mechanic to
change it, it is usually a bad deal.

JC Penney did have a lifetime warranty on car batteries to the original
owner. JC Penney still honors this warranty, more than two decades after the
product was no longer offered, and despite the fact that JC Penney no longer
even has auto service or sells auto parts. I guess since JC Penney is still
in business, the warranty continues, and JC Penney has decided to reimburse
Firestone car care centers (who bought the car repair business from J.C.
Penney) to provide warranty replacement (rather than have people haul old
car batteries into the department store). People that put these batteries
into their classic cars are still reaping the rewards.

I did know a guy with a 1963 Cadillac who got replacement transmissions
every few years from Aamco. But most of these lifetime warranties have a
clause where they are allowed to give you back the money from the initial
purchase, rather than fix it.