the other night i was driving through my town and wound up hitting a raised manhole cover on a street that was being repaved. there was really no way around it since it was a very narrow street, so since my car is already lowered on progress springs and i still have a stock exhaust system, my cat hit the manhole cover straight on with some pretty nasty results.

sooo, now i've got an exhaust leak that actually sounds kind of nice SOMETIMES, although it does get kind of annoying. i'm including a video to satisfy all your needs. you'll also be able to notice where the manhole made contact with the resonator as well as where it separated from the exhaust (you can see black from the exhaust around the leak).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVzrd7aRha8

I've been thinking about suing the city of newark for the costs of the repair (as much as I'd hate to be the douchebag suing for any little thing, I really can't afford this right now). visiting a nissan dealership an a meineke for quotes on similar repairs then hoping for the best in court; but that's still a maybe.

so what would you guys do? sue? full exhaust replacement or just a new res? (i did enjoy the quietness of the stock exhaust but this has sparked a little bit of an interest in getting an aftermarket exhaust, nothing ricey sounding though, i can't stand that).


just looking for general tips or ideas.
thanks.

 

Wow, I think I might just "accidentally" do the same thing to my car

But I have to admit the sound is really nice! But I am not sure if it would be healthy keeping a leak at that spot. A replacement is a must so I would just go with whatever is cheapest.

 

haha yea i was a little excited about the new sounds at first

 

Just buy a high flow cat and replace it yourself. $60 tops and there yah go.

 

You sure that's the cat? Looks like it may be the resonator...

Well, here are a couple options.
1. Find a used stock cat or rear section, from junkyard or for sale on the org, where ever, and have a shop put it on. Save money on parts
2. Look into a new stock replacement (not from dealership), again have shop put on. Cheaper that dealer.
3. Look into aftermarket/performance parts. Since you're going to have to spend the money, this may be a good reason to do it now.
4. Take to shop and take off resonator and do straight pipe where it was hit.

What other options does he have?

 

yeah, why are you calling the resonator a cat?

 

oops. fixed that. well i might as well get a new cat too though right?

 

No reason to unless it's bad...

 

test pipe, and Greddy SP2 and dont look back