Hi. I took my car in to my mechanic this morning for a standard oil change. While I was in, he told me that the flex pipe is cracking and should be replaced. He quoted me $850 for the job mentioned that the whole pipe assembly includes the catalytic converter.
I did some poking around on the 'net and discovered a bunch of people mentioning this problem and some indicated that this can be fixed without replacing the catalytic converted and would run about $200.
I’m wondering if anyone can cast some light on this and tell me if it’s recommended that I replace the whole thing, or if I should look for a second opinion/mechanic?
A bit of basic info. The car has about 135k miles on it and drives like it’s almost new (hey, it’s a toyota). I put about 300-400 miles on the car a week with my commute, so I’m racking up the miles and I want to keep the car for a while.
Any advice that can be offered would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance
It’s like seeing a general practitioner for a tooth ache! You need to go to a specialist. Call your local muffler shops and ask them if they have a cost effective solution. One of them may be able to weld in a new flex section and pipe without needlessly replacing the expensive catalytic converter. They do this kind of work day in and day out.
I had the same issue on my 4 cylinder 1996 Camry at around 136K miles. I had a local muffler shop cut out the cracked flex pipe and weld in a generic new one for $96 (the dealer wanted $650 I think). my car is now at 209K and I have had no issues. I would check with a local muffler shop and see what they can do for you.
i changed mine myself for $45.00
35 for a new flex pipe, and 10 for new clamps, and a grinding wheel. (and a couple hours of my time)
but it does depend if there is enough straight pipe, before and after the flex pipe you havem since you need space to cut out the old one, and slide the new one on, and reclamp it.