Midas didnt torque moms wheel locks properly, what should i do?

[Qxxx4]

So my dad brought my moms vehicle, a 2003 Land Rover Discovery over to Midas for a full out brake job. Not even a week later shes coming home and noticed things popping off the wheels as shed say it. She pulled over to the side and two lug nuts were missing along with every other one not even finger tight.

This is a pretty damn heavy vehicle and i got a good feeling the idiot that put the wheels and wheel locks back on only torqued them to 80ft/lbs instead of the necessary 100.

Im stumped on what to do, Should I go in there and yell at them?

They did MY q last month, a timing belt, drive belts, and water pump service, and its been running GREAT except for when i first start it it screeches for 1 second, is that BAD?

I am so angry that I am questioning everything theyve ever done. When they did my alignment they installed/balanced my new wheels for me and the drive home i heard a mystery noise, brought it back to them, and they found it was an obstructed brake dust cover.....then they charged me $40 for mechanical inspection, thinking it was a wheel bearing/something expensive beforehand, i was an ididot and paid that.The mechanic that usually works on my q is very knowledgeable and trustworthy in my opinion, but some other guy worked on the land rover.

I think a good resolution, since i not even sure if i could start a lawsuit for the loose wheel bolts, i think i should have the shop pay for a third party inspection of their work to my qx4 and moms land rover.

[bmlawless]

I think a good resolution, since i not even sure if i could start a lawsuit for the loose wheel bolts, i think i should have the shop pay for a third party inspection of their work to my qx4 and moms land rover.

A lawsuit would be a waste of time. What are the damages? I don't know about Canada, but in the US Midas only owes you what you paid for unless you had some damages that you can point to. They should replaced the missing lug nuts and any studs that were damaged as a result of the nuts being loose. As far as your Q goes, ask them to look into the noise at no charge and see what they say.

[Qxxx4]

nonono i hate lawsuits and lawyers and all that bs. my mom was shaken up but it seems like an honest mistake. I was at work last night and she called me this morning, not sure exactly how many are missing or if its all 4 wheels that were loose.

[Empty V]

Dude I personally wont go to one of those chain/franchise mechanics. We've got a ton out here and most of the dudes working there are high school dropouts who couldn't care less about workmanship. But it might be totally different where you're at. You obviously like the dude that works on your ride and that's tough to find.

I'd take it to a mechanic you can trust or if it's just brakes do it yourself. I say have them pay for new lugs and take it as a lucky break because they could have screwed up something else with much more sever consequences.

BTW you belt squealing is normal after a recent replacement. There is a break in period for them and the squealing you're hearing is the belt loosening up. If you tension the pulleys a little the noise should stop. If it just started I'd give it another week of good driving to make sure they're fully broken in and then adjust the tension.

Billy

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Here is my theory on those chain shops...

No mechanic, not even your local trusted mechanic, will work on your vehicle like you can. If you know what you're doing and you know how to complete the job, then you will perform said job with the highest level of perfection possible. The mechanics in those shops will get paid no matter how long it takes to do, say, a brake job on your car. They have no motivation to take their time and ensure everything is perfect on your vehicle. The faster they get the job done, the better it looks to the average consumer because then they have to spend less time sitting in the waiting area for their vehicle to be finished.

Also, the mechanics in these shop work on every make and model ever made. Usually they will be required to complete training and whatnot, but they will not possess specific knowledge on your vehicle. When I took my Pathfinder to STS to get an estimate to get the front brakes done, I asked the tech if they were going to repack the bearings. Both the tech and the guy at the front desk both argued with me telling me that this simply was not necessary and that they don't even touch the front bearings on a brake job. Needless to say, I didn't have them do the brakes and I never took my car back there again.

I'm not trying to generalize every shop tech that works for these chains, this is just my experience since I have owned my Pathfinder. I am sure that there are some really great techs working in these chains, but they are definitely very difficult to find.

The only reason I would recommend that people use a dealership, local mechanic, or chain shop is when they don't have the tools or space to work on their vehicle. Sometimes working on a car takes specific hard-to-find tools which can be very expensive and it is just more convenient to have somebody else do the job when the entire job will cost much less than buying a compressor for example.

Just my $.02

[miamiheat3332]

Pwnin is right, you work on your car with utmost perfection, since well its yours, you paid for it and you care about it, a dude in a shop its not his, he probably just wants to get his paycheck and gtfo of there. So pretty much no one will work on your car like the person who owns it, unless you take it to a really quality shop and are friends with the person etc.

[Qxxx4]

id have to agree, although things like a timing belt/water pump are not stuff i want to tackle, and the dealer wanted $500 more than I paid, meanwhile the mechanic i have dealt with before at midas did the job on this too so I felt more comfortable.

Things like a brake job I plan to do myself since ive done it before on other cars a long, long time ago.

[Empty V]

id have to agree, although things like a timing belt/water pump are not stuff i want to tackle, and the dealer wanted $500 more than I paid, meanwhile the mechanic i have dealt with before at midas did the job on this too so I felt more comfortable.

Things like a brake job I plan to do myself since ive done it before on other cars a long, long time ago.

I did my front rotors/pads last year and as you know upgraded last weekend to better parts. Doing it by myself the first time was ok time but when my buddy and I did it the 2nd time it was a blast. Stuff like this is what makes guys guys! Plus driving off and the car actually stopping is an awesome feeling.

Billy

[fueler]

Sorry man but its something youve got to expect with local shops. My favorite wheel and tire shop always puts my lugs on at like 100+ psi and they break at least one lug nut everytime. It is something I have gotten used to.

Personally, I have like 6 or 7 total lug studs on my Q right now that were in such bad condition, they are guaranteed to be crossthreaded and will probably snap next time i try to take my wheels off. One of them has already snapped short but the wheel shop somehow managed to get a lug nut on it !!

I still go to the shop because the savings i get on tires still outweighs the cost of broken lug nut studs.

Yes the only way you're going to know it's done right is if you do it yourself. Unfortunately that is not an option for MOST car owners. Also most car owners are oblivious to things like this and wouldnt even think about it until lugs started falling off, just like Qxxx4s moms case..

Personally i think about it... whenever i have this mexicn tire shop touch my lugs, the first thing i do is go home and i re-torque my lugs to around ~82 myself just for peace of mind.

[fueler]

oh and midas shouldnt have charged you for that brake noise - sounds like something they caused themselves. They should tighten your serpentine belt for free, since its related to the t-belt job. New belts stretch and squeal on startup if they are not re-tightened a few months after a t-belt / water pump job.

[Mikey178]

I've never taken my vehicle to these mechanic shops as they are all about turnaround time, they wouldn't take the care and time to do a repair job that you could have spent a weekend doing.

I personally think you shouldn't have to pay for the brake noise issue. Even with the loose lug nuts, thats real carelessness, your moms lucky she noticed the lugs falling off, I'd hate to think that if she didn't see it happening and then too many fall off and the wheel would come off going ahead of her, could u imagine that???

Man, I'd make quite a scene at the shop and explain to them that things could have been worst. I think they should inspect the bolts on all wheels and replace all the lugs on those wheels that have any missing as a "goodwill" measure. Not sure if most repair shops still have the "goodwill" policy

[Buzzman]

whenever i have this Mexican tire shop touch my lugs, the first thing i do is go home and i re-torque my lugs to around ~82 myself, just for peace of mind.

Good advice.I've been doing this for years.Anytime a shop has had my wheels off, I re-torque them when I get home.Peace of mind, like you said. It also reduces the risk of your discs/rotors from warping if the lug nuts are on properly, by the way.

[fueler]

It also reduces the risk of your discs/rotors from warping if the lug nuts are on properly, by the way.

Absolutely. These shops dont even tighten them in any particular order (they just do one by one) Hell on your rotors!

[K03sport]

Sorry to hear about your dilema. The best thing to do when taking your vehicle to a shop is to take advice from Stone Cold Steve Austin, and that is DTA.

Don't Trust Anyone.

So, no matter what work is done, always double check to make sure that all is in good order. Sure, sometimes it is hard to look at or even identify where the work was done, but a visual once over and some hands on should expose any faulty work.

I too had lug nuts left loose after a tire rotation, but putting my hands on all of them revealed 3 out of 16 loose. Same goes for when I had a fuel filter replaced. I checked under the hood and the filter was not replaced, even though it was supposed to be done.

There is nothing that says you can't check your car before you leave the shop. I did it after every oil change right in front of the service writer.

Hopefully with your issue, the wheel holes aren't messed up. That would be the worst I would thing would happen with loose lugs and missing studs.

[Qxxx4]

yeah turns out no lugs were missing just very loose, mom blew things out of proportion on the phone.

Dad took the LR back today and they retorqued the lugs and told us if anything is of concern to come back no charge...damn straight.

[WPGQX4]

Hey Qxxx4Do you have a Costco close to where you live. If you do, take it by the tire shop there. Go in and ask the manager if he could have a look at your moms truck. We don't normally want to do work on vehicles that don't have Costco tires on them but sometimes we make exceptions.

What I'm worried about is that brake shops are infamous for putting anti-sieze all over the lugs and studs. That crap or any lubricante on any wheel assemablly is a recipe for a disaster. The lube doesn't allow the nut to torque down properly. When you torque it with the lube on it will stretch the studs farther than they are designed to stretch. You will get studs that are damaged for good if they are stretched to far. The other issue is I don't think they would have cleaned any of the mating surfaces before they put the wheel back on. This leads to joint settling and can cause wheel offs as well.

We get the best training in the industry, and I for one hate to see s*** like this happen when its so easy to avoid. Sorry for the rant, its what I do for a living.