>Aren't Midas shops franchised?

Don't know.

> If so, the quality of service probably varies quite a bit from place
to place

Not in my experience. People were always smiling, nice, courteous; and
the resulting work was technically sloppy, in every Midas I went to.

>while the mufflers stay the same.

Every lifetime-guarantee muffler I've seen has remained shiny and
new-looking, while the pipes they put on with it have rusted out quickly.

>Kinda like a Big Mac.

"Special Sauce" is poor IMHO. MacLeans and McNuggets are much better,
and their fries are usually excellent. :^)

 -Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com   '71 VW Transporter
                                '80 VW V6anagon soon