A laugh at the muffler shop

1220 Views 17 Replies 12 Participants Last post by White300zxZ32, Jan 19, 2011

KyleKidd

Discussion Starter · Jan 11, 2011

2

Bottom line is my soup can repair is now failing and I'm pressed to dive into my savings and replace my holey exhaust.

For shits and giggles, I drove on down to my local muffler shop. I watched through their bay windows as my precious Z was raised up on the lift, and their greasy monkey hands began feeling up my cars pipes.

After a few minutes, the man came to the waiting room and gave me an estimate of $1100 to replace one single side of my exhaust, from AFTER the cat to the muffler.

I was so taken back by this price my mouth dropped. I politely thanked the man for his time and noisily drove off into the sunset.

I've decided to go with an EBay special and will install myself for a total of $280 shipping and all. Both sides from the cat back.

Here is a picture of how my patch has been holding up:

See less See more

Status: Not open for further replies.

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

dumbestone

· #2 · Jan 11, 2011

Dayum, you got the patch in the wrong place!!

KyleKidd

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 11, 2011

It got loose and slid off. I just took the picture like that to show the size of the hole.

salvadoran300zx

· #4 · Jan 11, 2011

what in the world where they going to build it out of? space grade reinforced cryogenically treated polished titanium?

dumbestone

· #5 · Jan 11, 2011

Oh, I assumed your can was permanently fixed in place after the exhaust cooked the soup residue to the pipe. Thought maybe the pipe just grew another farty hole.

Luminar

· #6 · Jan 11, 2011

Kyle, what you just received was a "please go away i do not want your work, but if you're willing to pay this ridiculous amount, i suppose i'll do it" quote. If you were to supply the mufflers to use, they should charge you 500$ MAX for labor on a catback system.

yodaman

· #7 · Jan 11, 2011

let us know the quality of the ebay stuff.hope its not made out of tin.i was looking at that exhaust myself

KyleKidd

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 11, 2011

I asked him to tell me the labor and parts cost, he said $1050 just for the parts alone and $50 for the labor.

bigmatthew46

· #9 · Jan 11, 2011

Dude I would have told him to kiss my white ***. My $175 dollar ebay exhaust is doing just fine. If you want it quiet get the $20 dollar silencers. I got a custom built 2.5" with a twin tip sudo stainless muffler & the cat remove on my old Z31 a few years ago for $250. That guy must have thought you looked like a sucker.

jzack

· #10 · Jan 12, 2011

Wow - even here in Central NJ (a place that rivals CA in high cost places to live) I could buy the hardware and get a local shop to do the install for around $120 or so. It's actually is a pretty easy job to do yourself -- just messy with dirt/etc dropping on your face (LOL)....

FYI -- NAPA can get the right sized rubber hangers. I have an eBay muffler that's been on the car for few years with no issues and sounds just a bit more aggressive than stock. Not driving the car in the winter also helps a lot in keeping the rust levels way down...

zinistr

· #11 · Jan 13, 2011

Yes...that's the "kiss off" response. I'd wager the Ebay SS exhaust isn't "that" bad...especially if it's your DD. A local member of our club just put one on...I plan to check it out.

vigman

· #12 · Jan 14, 2011

NO it's the soup can penalty fee!

Mike

KyleKidd

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 14, 2011

bah, maybe I should upgrade to a coffee can. Those things last forever.

dumbestone

· #14 · Jan 14, 2011

Wrong use; coffee cans make great tail pipe tips.

RobertA

· #15 · Jan 15, 2011

They must have thought you were either desperate or ignorant. Or worse, they don't know what they are doing and wanted to charge enough to cover their learning experience mistakes.

White300zxZ32

· #16 · Jan 17, 2011

I have the same hole in the same spot haha and a few more farther back. Exhaust is on its way now.

alwzpkn

· #17 · Jan 18, 2011

The bigger question would be what kind of soup are we talking about (beans and bacon)? Did you tell the guy with $1500 more you could buy another Czar. That seems to be the hardest part of owning a Z is that no matter how much you spend on one the value stays the same. True believers (like us) put values on these cars the rest don't understand. I did a little search and found a engine and tranny combo for $1400 and a mechanic to install for $1500 but the car will still be worth $2500, on a good day maybe $3000. My motto would be to put enough money in the car to make yourself happy.

White300zxZ32

· #18 · Jan 19, 2011

That sucks, Where i live N/A's go for around 4300-4500 all day.

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

Status: Not open for further replies.