Cost To Fit Exhaust System

[Seanos]

I bought a set of exhaust system including dump pipe and cat for my R34 GTT. It should be a direct replacement to the factory ones without any modification. Called up a few mechanics and mufflers around the area and got an average quote of $250-$300. I've been told it requires at least 3 hours to fit them on!! Is this reasonable? I looked up online and people saying it should take under 1 hour to replace the whole thing... I got a feeling all the mechanics and mufflers are just try to rip you off...

[DJBarnstar]

The dump pipe can be a pain but apart from that its only a few bolts. With a hoist should take under an hour. Why not give it a crack yourself. What can possibly go wrong?

[Seanos]

That's what I thought too. One end of the dump pipe is connected to cat already and the other end just need 5 bolts. Every mechanic I called tells me how hard it is to connect it to the turbo but isn't it as simple as just tighten the 5 bolts? I would have given it a crack myself if I got all the tools :-(

[Rolls]

Some of the nuts are a bit of a prick on the dump pipe, only get half a turn on a spanner there.

[Bsa]

Exhaust bolts are a prick to undo especially off the turbo. You will also want to buy new rubbers because it easier to cut the old ones to revove it. If you feel like you can do it go ahead but make sure you have a good jack and stands as you will be wobbling the car around while fitting. Get some high temp gasket goo to be sure you don't end up with exhaust leaks

[Seanos]

How long do you reckon to replace the whole thing Bsa?

[Bsa]

About 1 or 2 hours max if you have all the parts ready to go it's fairly straight forward but can have some problems like flanges not meeting 100% but easy to overcome

[Bsa]

I can give you a hand if you want if your local

[Seanos]

Umm looks like there's no honest mechanics any more around my area these days....

[Bsa]

They have over heads from owning a shop they will always be more expensive. I bet if you look it to a exhaust shop it would be cheaper

[Seanos]

Actually the quotes I got from mufflers are generally higher than normal mechanics. I got a quote from a normal mechanics for $100 but needs to wait till next week. Everywhere else gave me ridiculous quotes. I'm Sydney is that "local" to you?

[Rolls]

its more because it isnt worth their time there is no markup from selling an exhaust to you.

[Trozzle]

If you were in Canberra, I'd do it for dinner lol

[boiracer]

i know the feeling... i wenrt and saw my local exhaust guy yesterday about building something custom.......and he flat out told me he doesnt have the time or capable hands to make anything nice like he used to

made me a sad panda, hes done some seriously awesome work for my family and our cars over the years

[Seanos]

Thanks guys. I just took the car to a mechanic around the area that I didn't call in the morning and he looked at the pipes quoted me $80-$160 for the job which is equivalent to 1-2 hours work which I think at least is reasonable base on your help. He doesn't want me to stay there to watch him and ask me to pick up later. I think he probably just want to take "as long as he wants" and charge me more later... somehow I feel very hard to trust any mechanics.... I will let you know how much in the end.

[89CAL]

The hardest part of doing the dump is getting the bolts out in one piece. there very prone to snapping. i have CAT high tensile bolts and anti-sieze on mine so it makes it easy as when i want to take the dump off now

But that's probably why they were saying the dump pipe was hard. if you snap a bolt in there, there's not alot of room to get it out

[AngryRB]

Your 100% right , mechanics can be full of it, i have gone must be atleast 5 workshops for different jobs and all really let me down,

i just had a dump made up, took them 4 weeks to do it, they didnt event weld in the 02 sensor for me, i drove it away and it was banging and vibrating on the engine, then i took a look under and the whole exhaust is hanging down, no cat bracket on it, hanging off the turbo housing, can you believe that????? and to make it even worse this was done by a respected mechanic/fabricator on here which pisses me off everyday that i think bout it, $1000 spent and im very very dissapointed. no way im going back to wait what... another 4weeks F#%k off!!

be very very careful who is working on the car and make it clear what you want done and what you expect, thats my lesson learnt.

seems to be alot of cowboys doing work and charging too much..

make sure you check what they have done and that its not all hanging low with a shit paper gasket on the dump cause as i learnt , thats not the right gasket and a previous mechanic actually gave that to me to put on along with there shit china dump.

venting... ok all good now..

There should be a naming and shaming thread on here

[Seanos]

OK the guy charged me $140 including new bolts and nuts. I still think I got over charged by a little. He actually left the car on jack so I could inspect the work. It seems very straight forward to me. All hangers and connectors fit perfectly to the car there's nothing special you need to do you bolt them on. The pipe that coming out of turbo's waste gate (or engine?) that connects to the front of the dump pipe was not hard to reach at all... especially if you could stand under the car! This is definitely a job around $100 don't get fooled by those untrustworthy mechanics they will just BS their way out and hoping that they could catch a fish...

[AngryRB]

OK the guy charged me $140 including new bolts and nuts. I still think I got over charged by a little. He actually left the car on jack so I could inspect the work. It seems very straight forward to me. All hangers and connectors fit perfectly to the car there's nothing special you need to do you bolt them on. The pipe that coming out of turbo's waste gate (or engine?) that connects to the front of the dump pipe was not hard to reach at all... especially if you could stand under the car! This is definitely a job around $100 don't get fooled by those untrustworthy mechanics they will just BS their way out and hoping that they could catch a fish...

spot on, they can be like predators waiting for young guys with too much money to throw around, maybe thats the typical stereotype i dont know.

Good to see you got a good job done for a reasonable price,

[Seanos]

@SliverS2 I totally agree. We should have threads here list those "reputable" mechanics that does not try to rob your hard earned money... and those mechanics that try to charge you 3 times of what the job should really cost... Maybe a list for a reasonable price you should expect for different mechanic jobs...