My old 94 Corolla was in need of a little TLC. There had been a leak in the exhaust, up near the engine, for many months and not doing anything about it only seemed to make it worse. When I bought it from a neighbor last year it been used as a station car for a couple of years. Which means it was driven to and from the train station every day - about 2 miles each way and never over 30 mph. The first time I took it on the highway I discovered it was seriously out of alignment and shook like a chihuahua at any speed over 50. So if figured it was time to take care of that too. Plus it was due for an oil change. I was hoping I could continue to ignore the state of the tires.

I brought it to the local Midas shop. The bad part of the exhaust was, of course, the expensive part because replacing it meant replacing the now damaged oxygen sensor. In addition to the wear from the poor alignment there was some dry rot in the tires so they had to go. I didn't even know Midas sold tires, but I decided to just go all the way.

I got to the shop and explained to Steve at the counter that I needed it to be done in time to pick up the daughter at her camp at 3:30. The camp was only a few miles away so it didn't need to be ready too much before then. Steve said they could have it ready on time so I walked a couple of blocks to the library to work on the whole "FIND A JOB" thing.

I walked back to Midas to get there at 2:30 when they thought they would be ready. It turns out that ran into a little trouble. The part of the exhaust they needed to remove was original equipment. It had been on the car for 14 years and 146,000 miles. It was a lot harder to get off than they expected. They were probably not going to be ready on time.

I had considered this possibility earlier in the day and had a Plan B. Our other car was with my wife at the hair salon about a 45 minute walk if I pushed it. Probably closer to an hour in the heat and humidity. Before I could even start to decide if I was hitting the road the head guy Kevin hit me with plan C.

If they didn't have the car ready on time Steve would drive me to pick up my daughter at camp. When the time arrived when I would have to leave, everything was done except the alignment. So Steve and I drove to Southport to pick up my daughter and had a nice chat during the five minutes or so we had wait for cam to let out.

By the time we made it back to the shop the car was ready and waiting.

I have no doubt that had I made that walk to get the other car, temporarily stranding my wife, this would be an entirely different post and I would have an entirely different opinion of Midas of Fairfield. Now, thanks to their generous help and tremendous service they have gained another loyal customer.

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