I have a 1999 Nissan Sentra with 85K miles on it.
Recently I started hearing some rattling noise and I promptly took it to my car mechanic. They took a look and are telling me that the exhaust system is rusted at a few spots and the things holding it in place came apart.
So, to get me completely situated, they would have to replace the exhaust system which comes to about 750$ in parts and 200$ in labor.
I was wondering if there would be any other alternatives that I need to consider.
If I have to put a 1000$ on this car, I might have to start thinking of replacing it.
hmmm … well, you could take your car to your local high school or college shop, and see if they’d like to fix it for you as part of student training. Might could yield a small discount at least, but you’ll likely be out of the use of the car for a while, maybe several weeks.
And you could take it to a different shop and get a quote there. Tell them yourconcerns, maybe they can come up with a temporary fix. It is important to get this fixed though, could be dangerous, now, but esp in the winter when no fresh air is flowing in the passenger compartment.
It’s not uncommon for exhaust systems to rust a bit in a 1999, esp if you live in an area where they put snow melt salt on the roads during the winter. With only 85k on the car, me, I’d just have the exhaust system fixed and drive on. Should last for another 10-15 years, and much less expensive than a new car. 85K is practically new on modern cars.
Any decent car repair shop can weld new stuff in, In fact one guy I know had it done for $100, at my regular guys, but it would have been less at Dave’s All American Muffler, Kenosha WI
You can get all the exhaust components for your vehicle from the cat back from Rockauto.com for about $100.00. Then it’s just a matter of removing the rusted components and install the new components.
You can’t weld on rusty components. It just blows holes thru the metal. Better to replace everything.