OK.

I have a 2k1 with 43K miles on it. I have factory exhaust and wish to keep it that way.

I have been noticing that I have been getting more and more of a "rice" sound indicating that I have a hole or a leak somewhere. Upon visual inspection, it appears that the weld on the flange that connects the muffler to the B pipe has busted. So, it goes Muffler-->small curved pipe--> flange -- Other Flange<--bpipe <--- cat...

Well, they want to replace the muffler to the tune of 280... are you F'in kidding me? Well, quickly he knocks it down to 200 flat. At that point I say "there is NOTHING that can be done to the existing hardware?". He gives me a song and dance about rust blah blah (You can see the weld bead still on the "broken" part)...then says "if you want I can cut the pipe reweld a flange on it, be about 125-150 and I cant gaurentee anything". WTF...the shops labor rate is 69 an hour. So over two hours to do this?

SO...my question:

Are these valid rates and points, or am I being taken to the cleaners (as I feel right now). I have no real desire to replace the muffler. I think I am being jacked because I want them to do work versus a simple R/R.

Hopefully I can get some good feedback on this.

Colonel

 

Your best solution is buy another org member's muffler in the For Sale section, they are usually very cheap.

 

I have the option of being able to search, and while I am not a wizard at it, I did not find any instances of mufflers for sale prior to posting.

 

Go to a Mom and Pop garage they do that all the time. Geez I have a guy that will weld anything and do it cheap. They are just after your money. I have a 95 stock exhaust that I still get welded, a 2k1 with 43k should be no problem for rust.

 

Try a few different shops...I've had a local shop quote me $40 to weld on a muffler before.

 

I'm a 2k2 owner with the same issue, dealer wants $625, local shop $295, meinkee $350, $125 if I supply the muffler (that's also the same cost of a muffler at the auto shops). Meinkee offered to cut and weld for "discount rate" of $85 (says he doesn't know if it'll hold) but the other shop said that it can't be done. Tomorrow I taking it to another mechanic, that'll cut and weld or replace it for a final opinion. Your best bet is to check the other shops/junk yards/people in your area. Smaller shops tend to get business through word of mouth.

 

they can weld it or sleeve it.. they just want to sell you a new muffler.

 

Seems that there are more buyers than sellers at the moment for 5th Gen mufflers in our Classifieds.

Like already said, try a small shop that will weld it for cheap. You can also try to find one at junkyards, using www.car-part.com or similar sites.

 

I got them to sleeve it for 40. Best I could do. Maybe its time I learned how to weld.

BTW, I was VERY surprised how quiet it was w/o a muffler. Ricey, but not "omg I am deaf" loud.

 

thats bs man, people are right that should fix it up for no more than 30-40 buks, takes 10 min at most!!! on the other hand it will continue to rust, mine actually fell off (well was still hanging on hangers) best bet is either find a used oem from a member here, or a used aftermarket ss set up. i got a used obx catback for under 200 shipped, all ss not a spot of rust, thats what i recomend.

 

The flange fails all the time on maxima's. It's happened twice on my dads 96 and once on mine already.

I went to Midas, and had them cut both pipes, slip a sleeve in and weld it, for a grand total of $53. Its held up so far, going on 3-4 months.


James

 

Well, it was 40 bucks plus tax. Both flanges were cut off and a sleeve installed in between. So, going to another stock muffler is out of the question now.

I know that the piece in the middle is prone to rust, so I am going to paint it with rustoleum primer and paint in an attempt to get the most longevity out of it. Since the Maxima is now my winter beater, it will be in the salt and snow.

And it better last a couple years. Otherwise I just might have to go Kentucky style and run around w/o a muffler.

 

Hehe, I had the same work done on mine last winter and it cost me $40... One shop said it was irrepairable and tried to sell me a whole new muffler and a B-pipe...

 

Yeah, thats where I started as well. I was like "BS...give me my car back". They just want to sell a R/R job versus ACTUALLY thinking and FIXING the car. **** man, I can do an R/R. Dont need to pay you 70 bucks and hour to do that.

ALthough I WILL pay you to cut, weld and FIX the current environment.

 

Yup, I had a similar conversation with the exhaust shop that wanted to rip me off... Then I went to Budget Exhaust and they did it in 5 minutes

 

Did the same thing. I will bet 100$ that the 'patch' will last longer than the crappy-made-to-break flanges ever did (4 years in my case) and the rest of the system will hold up as well, seeing it's nice stianless steel.

They specifically designed the two flanges to fail.

 

From what I was told, everything is SS except for the flanges - hence the rust... Go figure... Whoever designed that...

 

Was given a huge raise from Nissan... It has prob, made them tons of money in usless exhaust repairs.

 

Yup, he saved the company tons of money by using a lower quality most likely cheaper material and ensured future revenue from repairs on it...

 

Saving money was not the goal. The goal is to design a part to fail outside of warranty period so that they can make more money.

Manufacturers and dealers don't only sell you a car but they also calculate all the work that will have to be done afterwords. 30K for the car + 5K in repairs in the first 5 years. It's all about generating a revenue stream.

Igzy, too boot, it's only the flanges by the rear muffler to the mid muffler. The falnges between the mid muffler and the cat is SS, the CAT and the headers SS or some real heavy duty stuff.