Touched by the Midas Touch, in a bad way

[Matt Timion]

We took Jenny's CRX into Midas to have them replace the o2 sensor. We chose a muffler shop at the recommendation of the guy at Pepboys. The old o2 sensor was so stuck that he was afraid he was going to ruin the o2 bung by putting too much stress on it. At Midas we could at least have them weld a new one in if it was ruined.

While the car was there Jenny wanted them to run a diagnostic on the A/C system to figure out what was wrong with it. The diagnostic cost $40.

The diagnostic determined that the entire A/C system needed replacing. They said it would cost $1000.

FOr a car that cost her $700 to buy, $1000 was a bit too much to spend on an A/C system that she'll use 4 weeks a year.

So while I was gapping the spark plugs today I noticed something that I never noticed before on this car. There is no A/C belt. Odds are the A/C system will be fixed with a new belt, which will probably cost around $30.

Now we're trying to figure out if we want to demand a refund or not for the "diagnostic."

The moral of this story is to not trust the "Midas Touch," because they'll often times touch you in bad places...