Took my 97 Legacy Wagon for State inspection today, had an exhaust leak and had dealer replace part of the exhaust. This is what the tailpipe looks like now:
http://web…_006RS.jpg
Is this normal? What are those welds? The dealer claims this is how the parts came. To me, it looks rather amateurish.
JK
In the state of Colorado, before this State Inspection scheme was done away with, the tailpipe had to extend beyond the car. I can’t remember how far, but it wasn’t very much. You’re right, what they did was the simplest, cheapest fix they could put on it. All they did was put a smaller piece of pipe in the original exhaust pipe. Did they give you an explanation why? Because, it isn’t doing any good. If it was meant to restrict exhaust output, they accomplished nothing because the weld is not complete all the way around. It can’t be a noise baffle because, again, the weld isn’t complete and there is not enough added parts to baffle anything. How much did you pay for the repair? I only see about $15 in parts and about a quarter hour labor.
I should explain that everything from the rear catalytic converter back is new. This cost $1200.
JK
Crawled under the car. The muffler is marked “bosal MER-293”, if that means anything.
JK
Bosal manufactures OEM factory exhaust components and aftermarket exhaust parts.
I have not bothered to try and track down the part number you gave so I do not know if that number is applicable to the exhaust as it came from the factory or if that particular number is the aftermarket equivalent.
Many factory parts are very high in price and I guess this is water under the bridge now but that 1200 dollars would have had me backing up very quickly. Many exhaust components can be found in the aftermarket for much less than this.
An example:
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=MAR&MfrPartNumber=251184&PartType=15&PTSet=A
This does not necessarily mean the dealer was ripping you off by being so much higher. When the dealer procures a part from the distributor (Subaru of America) the dealer often gets hit pretty hard on the price because the distributor is not going to cut the dealer any slack. Tack on the markup and it can become near obscene in price.
I would not worry about the welds too much. They’re fine and will never be a problem; and for 1200 bucks they better not ever be!
Looks to me like someone tack welded a chrome exhaust tip onto the exhaust pipe. This is a common “dress up” on exhaust pipes and may well have been on the new muffler when the dealer got it. It certainly won’t hurt anything.
I’m wondering why an exhaust leak required an entire cat-back exhaust replacement. But, without seeing what it looked like before it may have been a good idea.