Okay, Midas has really pissed me off. here's the short version:

I took my '96 Land Rover into the Midas on Ken Pratt Blvd in Longmont, Colorado a couple weeks ago to have the brakes checked out. I knew they were bad. The diagnosis came back... new pads and rotors were needed, and the repairs would add up to about $1,400. Fair enough. I didn't want to drop all of that cash at once, so I asked them to do the front brakes first, then I'd come back and get the back brakes done a week after that. I also knew I needed an oil change, so I asked them to perform a high mileage oil change while they were at it.

A few days later I get the call. The vehicle was done. just shy of $800 for front brakes/pads and the oil change.

The day after I picked up the truck, I noticed that it was starting to run weird. I mentioned it to my friends, to whom I had been whining about the huge outlay of cash for the brakes. I had to drive up north to pick up my kid on Sunday, and the truck just felt BAD. Less power... bad noises... uncool smells. I kept thinking "How did they screw up the engine by fixing the brakes?" The oil change wasn't in the forefront of my mind.

On the way back from picking up my daughter, the truck was getting worse. Then the oil light came on. then it hit me. "They didn't put oil in the truck!"

I got home and checked the oil. Not a drop in it.

The next morning, I showed up as soon as Midas opened. I related the whoel story to the manager, Steve. He was immediately defensive, but agreed to come take a look. He checked the oil.

"Yep, it's empty."

No shit.

He looked under the truck.

"Yeah, you've got some small leaks... a lot of little leaks... but nothing that would drain that much oil that fast. I'll have my mechanics look at it as soon as they get in."

An hour later I was told that my truck had burned through and leaked out all of the oil from the engine. I've had this truck for about two years, and though it does have tiny leaks, I've never had a problem keeping oil in it, and the oil light has NEVER come on. Now I'm being told that 5 quarts of oil leaked and burned away to nothing in five days. No oil in my parking spot. No smoke pouring out of the truck. A quart a day without me noticing.

This, of course, is nothing short of bullshit.

"Check your oil in a few days, and if it's low, you'd better bring it back in and get those leaks fixed" said Steve.

I said "Okay, and what if I wait a week and there's still oil in it?"

Steve smiled "Good question."

"It will confirm what I have been saying all along" I said, "that you folks drained the oil and never filled it."

He said that they "topped off" the oil, and that there was nothing more they could do. I reminded him that filling a completely dry engine with oil is not "topping it off" and that if that oil didn't burn and leak out, I was going to be back.

It's been three days. I've been driving it normally. I check the oil at the end of every day. So far, the dipstick still reads "FULL."

I wonder how much damage was done to my vehicle in the five days it was driven without oil in it. Any ideas?

I filed a complaint with Midas corporate when I got home from the shop on Monday. I'll give it until Friday. I'll make sure I drive up north again so that I'm putting it through the same "rigors" I did last week. Unless all the oil magically drains away, I'll be back down there, and the annoying phone calls to Midas corporate will start.

EVERYONE has a boss.

And of course, I will continue blogging about it. :)