tim_evans1 Posted November 3, 2013 Report Share Posted November 3, 2013 Hey everyone, My exhaust starting blowing or something the other day when I was driving home from work. Sounded grumbly and deeper. So I booked it in for a free exhaust check at the garage. It's a 1.4 16v The bracket thing I think is attached to the cat and that's broken off but also they said the back box and centre section both needs replacing. The cat on its own they said was 439 quid. Is this a ridiculous overcharge or am I just gunna have to fork it out?Its going to have to have it sorted before MOT in a couple months but I don't have 600 quid to throw at a car that cos a grand...If someone can point me in the right direction for sorting the bracket temporarily and where I could find the full exhaust cheaper it would be great thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted November 3, 2013 Report Share Posted November 3, 2013 Take it too a small garage to see if they can fix the bracket.You may want to check prices for centre and rear sections on eBay and get a price to fit at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted November 3, 2013 Report Share Posted November 3, 2013 Just had a quick look on eBay you could get a complete budget system for less than £130. Couple of hours Labour to fit should do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_evans1 Posted November 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2013 Cheers man. Yeh I had a look on eBay too but wasn't sure of what exactly I was looking at. Are you allowed to link the eBay item? I was worried about the cat not being the right one for the 16v because it will be different to the other engine types am I right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 (edited) Kwik fit are very very expensive, especially for jobs like this. They also have history of bulking up jobs by adding unnecessary work. I'd like to see this broken bracket they speak of, deeper roar to exhaust is more often than not a hole in the backbox or the join between the pipe and backbox rotting (what happened to mine). They were nicked on watchdog if I remember, for bulking small jobs..I imagine the reason they're giving you the replace the whole thing story is because the rear triple of the exhaust as in, centre box, pipe than back box not three piece but one whole piece, that is true, at least in it's OEM state. That doesn't explain replacing your cat.As Ray said, take it to a local small garage or an exhaust specific garage. They may well be able to repair the bracket if it's genuinely broken.For the rear triple, I paid £139 fitted. They told me the replacement was three sections so could easily be repaired. Edited November 4, 2013 by Skezza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Yes I think I paid about £120 for a cat back on my 1.0 Arosa about 5 years back at Farmers, which is owned by the guy who set up KwikFit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_evans1 Posted November 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Yehhh. I've had a look around but I can't seem to find the matched parts they were suggesting which was Vk9151 cat. £429.00 Vk397 £93.20 and vk398 £112.70 I assumed the noise was the blowing exhaust because of a hole or something in the back box. The bracket thing I think is broken as the exhaust is swung to one side and is definitely moving about and banging around which is scaring me a bit. I also had a look. Could get a mild steel full exhaust system from venom Motorsport for 230 quid. Would it even be an idea to get an aftermarket system like this and just get a garage to fit it? Thanks for your replies so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Yehhh. I've had a look around but I can't seem to find the matched parts they were suggesting which was Vk9151 cat. £429.00 Vk397 £93.20 and vk398 £112.70 I assumed the noise was the blowing exhaust because of a hole or something in the back box. The bracket thing I think is broken as the exhaust is swung to one side and is definitely moving about and banging around which is scaring me a bit. I also had a look. Could get a mild steel full exhaust system from venom Motorsport for 230 quid. Would it even be an idea to get an aftermarket system like this and just get a garage to fit it? Thanks for your replies so farIf it's just moving around I'd budget repair it until your next MOT. You can secure an exhaust using a universal exhaust mounting bracket. They sell them on Amazon for about £8. If you're a budget Barry Boy, you could also use a coat hanger, which would do pretty much the same job. Sounds to me like this wouldn't be much to repair, albeit temporarily and that's what you want, because no doubt at your next MOT, if the damage is as they say, it'll fail.That said, take it to an independent garage. In Sheffield no idea if you've got a chain, but we have one called Staffs Tyre And Battery, also National Tyres and Autocare. They're a chain, but they'll give you a much more reasonable quote + be honest about if they can fix the bracket. Your alternative is take it to your local backstreet welder and have them simply weld the bracket, which would ultimately result in no play. I'm not sure if that's good for an exhaust but we did the same on my mums old Isuzu and it lasted for 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stator Posted November 8, 2013 Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 Definitely take it to a garage to see if it can be repaired, I wouldn't trust KwikFit with anything other than a basic tyre, and even then you've got watch they don't slap on extras.When I was getting quotes for exhaust parts on my last car ATS Euromaster were the cheapest, but I never used them coz I scrapped the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 (edited) Definitely take it to a garage to see if it can be repaired, I wouldn't trust KwikFit with anything other than a basic tyre, and even then you've got watch they don't slap on extras.When I was getting quotes for exhaust parts on my last car ATS Euromaster were the cheapest, but I never used them coz I scrapped the car KwikFit are very cheeky and they're, how shall we say, a bit liberal with the truth. I once took my car in for a wheel balance and they tried to tell me it was unsafe because of wear on the engine mounts. My car vibrates a lot when idling, presumably because the engine mounts are worn out and they were all saying "wow that vibration is really dangerous, it could cause your engine to fall apart". I just allowed them to spew bile, humouring them as they went along and then asked how much they'd charge to fix it. £650!!! I told them I would probably need a cambelt sometime next year and that I'd probably get it done then or would do it myself. I've been told it's a pretty straight forward job. Jack under the engine, one mount at a time, maybe 2 hours? My biggest problem is getting new mounts. I looked on eBay, and they're all second hand :\ Edited November 9, 2013 by Skezza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartan535 Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 KF wanted to charge me £330 for my V40 Cat, Formula One in Chesterfield did it for £99 fitted - they are only 15 miles away from you - give them a ring - and it had a 3 year guarantee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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