After having my little exhaust problem, my parents took the liberty of taking my car while I was at school and getting Midas to check it out.

They brought a report back that said I needed a new muffler and "Exhaust Pipe" (Y/B-pipe?), new CV Drive Axle's, and a Front End Alignment. On top of that I"ll need new front tires.

They told me $1,100 for the Muffler, Exhaust Pipe, and new CV Drive Axles. And the Front End Alignment would be about $400 and the new tires another $2-300.

Sound about right? They also told me I have 3 cats?

 

thats a way too much for whats listed.

$400 for a alignment is crazy, should be under $100 at most.

axles should be at most $300 parts w/labor.

the prices i listed are still on the high side so put that into consideration.

with the rest of the money you can get a really nice catback and aftermarket y-pipe.

so yea all in all that's wayyyyyyy to much.

 

YEs that si way 2 much

Hes right when he said about 100 for an alignment( i get mine for free) and if they are going to charge you that much get a decent aftermaket kit and get another shop to weld it for u. shouldnt cost too much for that.

and 3 cats dont u mean a 3 way cat?

 

Take my word for it ... TRUST THE MIDAS TOUCH! That is if you need someone to tighten your lug nuts cause they came lose. Otherwise else DO IT YOURSELF!

 

our cars have 3 cats. 1 in each of the front pipe sections and the rear main cat. Exhaust work is not that easy to do yourself. alignment price is way too high. Tire price is ok depending on which tires.

 

Agreed, Exhaust work is a biatch. Stay away from midas, meinekes, and dealerships. Go to a local mechanics shop or race shop. (as for quick lube joints, Valvoline is by far the best. trust me ive worked at goodyear, jiffylube, and valvoline.) just a bit more info for ya.

 

midas is crap.. i got my exhaust dont there and tey fawked it all up .. now it rattles against the rear beam...

muffler= $100 max
b pipe = $150 at most places
cv axles are $55 at autozone...
u do the math

 

I went to Midas just to have them look at it when the emergency brake wasn't working. I was not going to have them actually work on it though. Gave me an estimate for about $1200 to do rear brakes (rotors, calipers, pads, and 2 new cables). I had to keep myself from laughing in their face. I went home, ordered the parts and did it myself for around $300.

I also went to Goodyear last week for an alignment, I had a $10 coupon so it was only going to be $59. Instead they said my control arm bushings were shot. Got another outrageous estimate of about $1100 to change both control arms. I am going to order them and change them next weekend. Should cost me about $150. I don't know where they get their parts from, but the control arms they quoted me costed MORE than the dealer.
I will probably still go there for the alignment though once I get it fixed.

Just gives an idea of how much these places are ripoffs. Either buy the parts and DIY or go somewhere else!

 

Labor rates is what you most of the $$ for...
Standard labor rate around here is about $85/hr last time I looked

 

If you ever make it to NYC i know a guy who will do the work for a very reasonable rate if you bring the parts. He works for meineke but does it on his own too.

 

I paid 189 something for a catback from Midas..... Works fine....

 

everyting you stated should be under $1000 EVERYTHING if dont at the real place. I only see maybe $250-300 in parts.

 

Midas' are individually owned so it's a gamble. This one is trying to swindle you.

 

No, they don't. They have one catalytic converter.

The two in the y-pipe are precats and are effective/useful only on cold start situations.

Example of a pre-cat:

 

a precat is a catylitic converter. It is not the main cat but it is one none the less. was a nice try though.

 

Nahhh......

 

So where can I get some good CV Axle's? I also need to replace a seal on the left side, I've decided I'm taking this to a local shop and just buying the parts myself. As far as CV Axle's and Seals go, any good brands to go with or should I find OEM parts?

Could someone also give me a quick run down on how the whole CV Joint/Axle and bearings and control arms and stuff works. Rather new to this and actually don't even know what CV stands for... Constant Velocity?

I've decided on the Warpspeed 2.5" System, $590 and then I just have to pay for whatever the CV Axle's and Seals cost.

Also, since I am having wear on the inside of my front tires because of the front end needing to be aligned, would it be ok to get my front end aligned, and the CV Axle's replace and then just rotate the back tires up and the front ones back? Just to bide time until i can save up enough $$$ to buy some new tires (and rims! ).

--------------------------
Here's where I wanted to point out all the thing's wrong with Midas, and I didn't even have to go visit to figure it out.

Thing he told me parent's:

* A New Y-Pipe WILL be louder, draw attention, AND set off my CEL.
* I will get pulled over for it, and fined $2,500.
* I will not pass emissions tests.
* He also told them it's illegal to have my car lowered. (My car is barely lowered, I'm dropped on stock springs and Tokico Blues)


and...well, just look:

 

they're probably quoting your for an oem y pipe which lists for like $800

 

You can get remans at any auto parts store (autozone, advance, napa, etc), or order them online. OEM axles suffice. There's nothing wrong with remans, unless you plan on putting a lot of power to your wheels... then I'd go with a pair of raxles. The seal I would recommend buying from the nissan dealer.

 

Get some New Cardone CV's, not remans from Advanced Auto. Yes, do buy the parts yourself & just pay the labor to install them.

 

hey dude give me the $1800 dollers u going to spend in midas and i will leave the car in better shape then they will

 

So you would buy three catalytic converters?

A pre-cat ASSISTS the main cat and is integrated into the y-pipe, mainly by heating it up faster. It's ok to be wrong.

 

Hey , he never said he was goin to have Midas do the work!

 

Raxles.com are the best for our car. They are not required, but the best.

 

It's ok FR33 , LOL

 

I edited my last post, I scanned in the invoice, didn't black out anything. They didn't take the VIN and got most of the information wrong, I'm surprised they figured out it was a Nissan

Thank you.

 

Thank you :-)

 

the precats heat up the main cat? the main cat is not fully functional until fully heated. Until it reaches that point, it is the precat that is removing the harmful emissions. There is a reason you dont have to reach operating temp to pass emissions. Why? becuase they dont help the main cat, but instead do the job of the main cat until the main cat is in its operating zone. You are right,

 

a new y pipe will make it slightly louder, but not enough to get you pulled over or even notice it with your music on. It will not set off a cel, and as long as you warm your car up completely you will pass an emissions test

please DO NOT go back to midas, go somewhere else

 

Just replaced my front axels due to ripped cv boots

Both side 530.00 included labor.

 

well i guess when u cant do things urself u have to pay the piper

 

Anyone have on a 2.5" Magnaflow SS Single Tip Muffler? I'm curious as to the sound of it, the warpspeed compeltel 2.5" system comes with that one, wanna make sure its not ridiculously loud before I order

 

Exactly. I was only saying that there are not three catalytic converters.

Also, if the two pre-cats, as the rest of the world knows them, WERE catalytic converters the O2 reading from the upstream and downstream sensors would produce the same signal thus indicating a fault. I'm assuming you know what an O2 sensor does. If you don't I can explain that as well.

 

You can try the exhaust sticky at the top of the forum to get an idea.

 

This should be informational for everyone:

 

Hey at least they were honest, they told you a CEL would come on with an aftermarket Y-pipe, they just forgot to mention it would be from the tech forgetting to plug an o2 sensor back in.

 

Find an honest, capable, local mechanic to do that work. Ask around, or look for one that is always busy-they must be doing something right. I've had to try lots of mechanics since getting my driver's license and driving older-no warranty vehicles. Or test a few out by having them do a $300 repair, not all of the 1500 dollars worth of repairs. how many miles on your car?

 

I've got 106,000 on the car

 

This piece of evidence alone should be a strong indicator that you don't want these clowns eating lunch on the hood of your car.

 

UGH My parent's are being ridiculous, simply ridiculous. Since the illiterate grease monkey at midas and a "renowned mechanic" family friend all said the new Y-Pipe is a bad idea, they are *****ing me out for getting it anyway.

They all say I'll get a fine, that it's illegal, and that I won't pass inspection because I won't my 3 catalytic converters XD, and guess what they say now? Turns out I have 3 resonators too. Well anyway, I need to find local installer's because talking to these people are going to drive me insane!!!!!!

If my CV Drive Axle's are going, and my boots are ripped, does that mean I should replace the joints too? And if I get under and take some pictures would you guy's be able to tell me what's wrong?