And the 03 has an exhaust leak Ive been dealing with. Its a very long story at this point. This is why I picked up the Bassani catback exhaust a few days ago. I need a new mid pipe (even tho the one on it is a new Pypes off road h) catback and maybe a drivers side exhaust manifold.
Long and short is that I know I mentioned not wanting to and not liking to do exhaust work or getting under there and dealing with stubborn bolts and not having the car high enough or the correct ways to get it high enough. Anyway I had an appt to get it done at my local Muffler Man who has done probably 6 or 7 cat deletes for me over the years in some shape or form, dropped it off, quoted $125 to swap it out, manager calls me mid day after dropping it the night before and says they cant eliminate the cats. We went back and forth because of course Ive had it done several times at this same location. I know its illegal if they get turned in, but it was always very loose with that stuff in Mi before since there arent inspections and ive never heard of anyone getting pulled over and checked for cats etc, ever in my life in this state. Besides the point now.....a guy at work recommended a guy who works out of his garage and used to own his own for years but down sized in the recession and has been doing it this way for years. I called him up and seemed very knowledgeable, experienced, ASE certified etc etc. Says he can do it no problem and that he does exhaust work all the time and has access to a lift close by at his dads collision shop if he needs it but he usually doesnt for these Installs, eluding to that he has done them before on cars several times. So 3 days go by and he says its done. I go there and immediately notice my exhaust tips are sticking out about 1 1/2" more than they should. So i ask about this and he says "it was like that already" I said "no it wasnt they sit just about flush with the rear valance cut outs". Regardless I pay the $120 for labor and he says its good to go. I start it up to leave and it has a leak. I pulled out because I couldnt turn around where it was, turn around come back and he was already in his house and wouldnt answer the door or phone! At this point I had to get to work so I left, called a few times from work and he answered (diff phone #). I tell him about the leak and he says it wasnt doing that when he tested it. I got under the car when I got home and see that he welded the whole mid pipe together, tried to weld it to the manifolds, and the catback too! I was beyond pissed at this point and called and called and he finally answered a text. We went back and forth a few times, and agree that he is to take it all off, start over, buy new parts do whatever needs to be done to make it right and he apologized. I figured at this point why not the mid pipe is prob ruined anyway. So fast forward 27 days and he still has my car and on day 28 says its ready and its 100% (there was plenty of back and forth during this time, he had every excuse) I documented my milage etc before dropping it off with a pic, he only drove it 5 miles so he wasnt at least driving it this whole time but he did have cars in and out during this time frame as I would drive by time to time to see what was going on (stalked). Anyway get it back and he says he needs $80 for parts etc from re-doing it. I tested it and it wasnt leaking and sounded good, so I reluctantly gave him $60 cause thats all I had on me and we were squared up. By the time I got home about 10 miles it was leaking in the same spot by the manifold, and in 3 other spots where his welds broke. Again back and forth with calls and texts and he wants me to bring it back and I told him F NO!! So as it stands now he ruined my entire exhaust system some how? Cracked or cut a bolt out on the manifold on the drivers side, hence the leak, used the wrong hardware in his attempt to at least bolt instead of weld this time to the manifolds, everything else he hacked up with welds was still done. Ive now taken it to 4 shops and they say its the worst job on an exhaust they have ever seen and when I tell them what happened they wont touch it, I dont blame them. All quotes are at 1k or more.
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