I have an exhaust leak near the rear axle, I was wondering if i should have it welded back together or buy a cheap cat back off of eBay. Not really looking for performance, just the cheapest option.

 

Cheapest option is to have an exhaust shop weld it.

Is it at the flange or actual rusted pipe?

 

Getting the pipe welded is probably the cheapest, get some quotes. The downside to this is that the pipe is obviously deteriorating and it will no doubt develop other leaks. If you take the car to a muffler shop, they can look at things and tell you if patching is a waste of time or not.

 

its at the flange. And catbacks on ebay go for like 130, your saying it would be cheaper than that?

 

You could also put a sleeve on it

 

I paid $30 for a shop to weld on a new muffler.