I have a small hole on the top of my origianl Honda rear muffler; looks like due to rust. My mechanic recommends replacing it with another OEM Honda muffler with an estimated installed cost of around $350. I can get it done cheaper by using an aftermarket rear muffler. He says it will rust out in about 2 years and need to be replaced again, hence the stainless steel Honda muffer. What do you think would be the better route to take? Car has 139K miles; I plan on keeping it for many years hopefully.
Is the rest of the exhaust system made from stainless steel? If not then it makes no sense in installing a stainless steel muffler. There are cheap aftermarket mufflers and then there are quality aftermarket mufflers. I’ve installed quality aftermarket mufflers on my Honda’s and got many years of service out of them.
Tester
I recently had the original rear muffler replaced on my '97 Accord. My mechanic installed a muffler from his normal parts supplier, not Honda OEM.
I do not anticipate the replacement muffler rusting out in two years. Ten, maybe, but not two. If replacement mufflers rusted out every two years we’d all be complaining to our mechanics. I’ve never had any replacement exhaust system part rust out in two years, and I’ve replaced plenty of exhaust system parts, none of them OEM.
As long as you install a decent muffler you should be fine.