Midas of Sierra Vista Steve Grimes Mnager of Midas car repair , car repair estimates , auto mechanics , midas oil change , auto brakes , automotive repair , midas brakes , auto repairs , auto body shops , vehicle repair , car brakes , brakes repair , Sierra Vista, Arizona

I followed your link.  The entire thing sounds ridiculous.  Quoted as per your complaint at the link:

"9.28.2012 Friday

9:00 AM 2000 Kia Sportage towed to Midas because still under 90 day labor warranty for replacing spark plug and wires. The reason being that the engine cranked vigorously yet would not start and I suspected a poor electrical connection. I showed Steve Grimes invoice #0300649 and said that my car cranks but won't turn over.

11:00 AM Grimes opens hood of car in parking lot, disconnects battery, (thereby killing all stored trouble codes), removes 4 bolts of the timing belt cover and says to me, There is no markings on your belt, your belt is worn, you need to replace it. Grimes said that the timing mark was rubbed off because the belt is so worn.and "See the darker strips where the teeth are on the other side? It's worn." Grimes gave me a $673 estimate. After calling a friend, I then asked Grimes, If the belt is bad isn't it most likely that there would be bent lifters?" Steve replied that he would have to do a 'top dead center' to check for leaks. 

On Sunday, 10.14.2012, realized that Grimes was wrong because a 2000 Kia Sportage according to kiatechinfo.com is a freewheeling engine and is NOT an interference engine where a skipped or broken timing belt would be a catastrophic failure. "

Disconnecting the battery does not erase trouble codes stored in the PCM.  The Malfunction Indicator Lamp on the dash might go off, but the codes will still be stored in the PCM until cleared with a computerized tool.  If a timing belt breaks on a NON-INTERFERENCE engine, such as yours, no it will not cause any "catastrophic failure", however, the vehicle will crank but it WILL NOT START.  
They quickly disconnected the battery and removed 4 bolts in front of you"  How long did this take?  Takes longer than that to access the top timing cover to see the timing belt.  And, if I'm not mistaken, there are actually 5 bolts to the upper timing cover on that Kia.  There is, however, and engine cover on top as soon as you open the hood which has 4 bolts holding it on.  However, removing this cover wouldn't allow you any quick visual access to the timing belt.  Only the drive belts....completely different belts.

Then you continue to say the following on your link:

"9.29.2012 Saturday 

11:00 AM After I picked up car key and invoice # 0302132, I opened up the hood and the bolts were barely hanging onto the timing belt cover. I tightened bolts and reconnected battery myself. Closed the hood and locked the car and left it over night at Midas parking lot to be towed on Sunday. At this time there was no signs of a boiled over battery with acid corrosion all over the wires on Saturday.

Sunday, 9.30.2012

Towed to another repair shop because I was given an estimate hundreds less to replace timing belt if that was the problem. I did not open the hood of my car on Sunday.

Monday, 10.1.2012

At other repair shop, Chris told me that the battery was boiling over with battery acid, (probable overcharge), after replacing battery, cleanup and checking of wiring and connectors - the car started and ran just fine. The basic problem was fixed: a poor electrical connection. I have since operated the car without problems.

Wednesday 10..3.2012

With the new battery and Chris who had disconnected and reconnected all wires during his testing - the car runs fine. The battery was $111.99 and with labor, supplies & taxes, the total bill was $385.06."

You were quoted "hundreds less" to replace a timing belt that calls for nearly 4 hours to replace?  Not likely. 

Who "overcharged" your battery?  Midas probably woudn't have touched it, since you seem like a pain in the butt customer and seeing as how it was still "disconnected".

You went nearly 3 months without any sort of electrical problems after the spark plugs and wires were replaced.  Sounds to me like you had a buddy under your hood for some reason.  He/she did something wrong, then you tried to take it back to Midas and blame them for it.   Or, your'e a disgruntled ex- of this Grimes guy you keep mentioning.  

I could go on and on, but I won't.  Long story short, your entire complaint just seems fabricated.  It seems like YOU are the one scamming someone else. 

And, NO, I do dont work for Midas.  

Ignorant can be educated.
Crazy can be medicated.
There's no cure for Stupid.