Any advice appreciated.

so...needed new tie rod ends. After looking at all of the postings about how tough it can be if rusted, and with 14 years on mine, decided to wimp out and just take it to a Midas.

Long story short, now they have the tie rod ends out, as well as the threaded rods and are telling me that both of the threaded rods are frozen to the ends and need to be replace. Total bill close to $1K with alignment. If I want the car back with the old tie-rods in, would be $240 labor. I know, I shouldn't have gone to Midas, but what should I do now?

Thanks!

and fire and PB blaster//

if you can do that then pay them the 240 and take the loss.. no way 1k for ends

even $240 seems too high...
take it home and buy a small torch to break it loose

replace proposition and then align afterward. At the MOST it should run $400-500 at an indep. shop. I'm being charged $150 in labor for the tie-rod INCLUDING alignment on a top-notch alignment rack! Make sure they put anti-seize on the exposed threads for alignment (toe-in and out).

A story I have told here before, I too have been a victim of the "few hundred dollar alignment." Everything starts off fine, and then they come and tell you the tie-rod end is frozen... from there, things just get messy. However, 1k is crazy, and I agree that the $240 is steep but there may be no way past that one. For reference, I went in for an alignment, and they found my front passengers side frozen. After a few hours they had still not been able to move the tie-rod end, and had used PB, heat, the works. Unfortunately, in the process they basically had done quite a number on the inner tie-rod (bent, scraped, not a good situation). So, I ended up having to replace the whole tie-rod (inner and outer), and then an alignment. All of that, including labor and the alignment was a bit over $350, and this was in NYC (where they will get you on labor rates). So, 1k to replace both complete tie-rods is too high. I would also say walk away, but it looks like they might still get you with that $240. Good luck, and keep us updated!

~scrogers

After a few phone calls and an in-person visit seemed that they wouldn't even take the $240 and let me go. Was able to persuade them to break out the torch to free up the inners and just replace the ends. Total bill came to $485 include alignment, too high, but at least it was in the sorta-sane range. Next time I'm working on the car myself, it would have been less work and anxiety!

I'm not sure if this belongs on the FAQ but I think there should be posting titled "NEVER BRING CAR TO MIDAS and similar"

Thanks for all of the advice guys. No more wimping out from me.

hit them where it hurts, the bottom line..