Buying muffler online?

[Tommymc]

My 96 Brighton wagon needs a muffler. The pipe behind it is rusted to the point that there isn't enough left of the flange left to work with. I could bring it in to have a new muffler welded...or for about the same cost, I could buy both pipes and replace them myself.

 

There are some online parts retailers that sell the parts at a substantially lower price than I can pay locally. AutoPartsWarehouse has the parts with free shipping. I'm looking at these parts:

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Subaru/Legacy/Bosal/Muffler/1996/Brighton/4_Cyl_2-dot-2L/W0133-1654272.html?loc=Rear&tlc=Engine+%26+Drivetrain

and

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Subaru/Legacy/Replacement/Muffler/1996/Brighton/4_Cyl_2-dot-2L/REPS961102.html?tlc=Engine+%26+Drivetrain

 

I'm not too concerned about length of warranty...I'm fixing the car to sell. Just need to get it by inspection. Any down sides to ordering online? I'm mostly concerned with the proper fit.

[SuBrat84]

my main concern with ordering a muffler online is shipping damage. The one time I ordered an exhaust system the muffler was all banged up because the parts were "too big" for boxes. You might want to find out how they package it!

[idosubaru]

if you're not concerned with lasting then yes, aftermarket suppliers are fine. ebay ocassionally has really cheap parts too. exhaust is just plain annoying, subaru wants $500+ to fix exhausts, that's preposterous.

 

i picked up exhaust parts off ebay for like $80 for hte converter for the same car a 1996 Legacy L in this case. the converter is on a friends car and about a year old and in HORRIFIC shape, i don't know if you could make something rust any quicker than this thing has. so yeah, they work just fine but they're definitely cheap and not intended to last long.

[Rooster2]

If you are wanting to fix the exhaust system, so it passes inspection, so you can sell it, then I would suggest going to a muffler shop (usually family owned) that does cut and weld. I recently had similar problem, shop used a saws all to cut out the rusted pipe that had a hole in it, then welded in a new pipe. Cost out the door was $46. They should be able to weld the pipe to the muffler with no concern about the condition of the flange.

[porcupine73]

You also need to look really closely at the point where you are planning to connect your new exhaust pipes too. For example if you're going at the springy flange point after the rear cat, those things rust pretty good too and I wouldn't be surprised if yours was just about ready to let loose at that point as well.

 

I had an exhaust leak where the muffler pipe joins the next pipe up. I tried to replace the gasket there with a genuine new gasket but it was still leaking. So I put a lot of jb weld over the gasket and it is still holding up thankfully.

[idosubaru]

good point rooster. an honest shop will do this very inexpensively and you'll end up with better metal too that hopefully won't rust in a year. parts are cheap...it's just metal pipe and welding - so you're paying time. they're set up to do this stuff quick it's just hard to find an honest shop not wanting $500 from you.

[Rooster2]

good point rooster. an honest shop will do this very inexpensively and you'll end up with better metal too that hopefully won't rust in a year. parts are cheap...it's just metal pipe and welding - so you're paying time. they're set up to do this stuff quick it's just hard to find an honest shop not wanting $500 from you.

 

Yea, too many shops want to convert a $50 repair job into a $500 repair job. They just don't want to let any customer out the door without paying hundreds, no matter what the job to be done. They even try hard to find something else that they want to fix. It seems worse at dealerships, or chain operated shops. It is all about greed, and covering expensive over head. The worst seem to be Firestone and Goodyear auto repair, and Midas muffler shops.

[porcupine73]

^^ that's also why any 'free' service is highly risky for the customer imho, such as free tire rotations, etc. It's all a chance to 'find' things that need attention. Now granted in some cases there will be an issue the consumer isn't aware of that needs attention. But lots of those shops can spot issues the second a car pulls in the parking lot hahaha. Didn't Sears get in trouble many years back for these sorts of things too?

[Tommymc]

Thanks for the replies. My thinking was that for under $200 I could replace both pipes and have it look good for inspection. Um, the rocker panels are getting punky (I just patched them with tiger hair) so I was hoping to limit the times this thing goes up on a lift.

 

I do have a local guy who will probably weld for cheap. I'm just not sure the muffler can be saved. The pipe is separated as it enters the muffler chamber. The metal "looks" solid there...the sheet metal of the chamber isn't rusted. I guess I can have my guy check it out.

[Allpar Mod]

Just an FYI on Midas. A while back, I was having an a/c issue with one of my Jeeps that I couldn't pinpoint. I took it to a local Midas shop and they did find the problem. My issue was with the parts cost figures. After I got their quote, and I insisted it be in writing, I called around to the parts stores and got prices for the low pressure line, where the issue ended up being. The difference in prices was astonishing. Midas had the prices jacked up preposterously.

 

When I went back to talk to the manager because I was just plain pissed now on how they looked to rip me off, he was surprisingly candid and took me behind the counter. The shops have a computer program supplied by corporate that sets the retail prices on parts used for repairs. The employee puts in what they paid for the part, wholesale I might add, and it computes how much they have to charge the customer. The markup is ridiculous. I couldn't be P.Od at the manager because he was just following policy. It turned me off completely to ever doing business with Midas again, though. I don't know if any other companies use a similar program, but it would explain the markups at these chain shops.

 

Again, another example of "caveat emptor". Buyer beware!!

[porcupine73]

That doesn't surprise me on the parts markup. I believe the general rule of thumb is to double the price on the part. I doubt that is exclusive to any particular chain. An independent shop might get away with less markup. Also the prices the parts stores were quoting you were probably a little higher than what they charge a repair shop that is buying a volume of parts from them on a regular basis.