First of all, why is your car in the shop in the first place? Does it have an exhaust leak?

 

I had it in the shop for basic maintenance I can no longer do at this time. They do an all around inspection inspection. The engine does have a slight appealing roar.

 

I’d ask them for a cost breakdown, that seems pretty excessive for a basic flex pipe replacement. Make sure they don’t swap your cat for a cheap aftermarket one…

 

There is no flex pipe under any car worth $1500. That price is more appropriate for your cost on an OE catalytic converter. You could buy a flex pipe from a farm & barn type store. If you have a Mills Fleet farm store not too far away, they have generic ones that you might be able to cut & clamp a new one in. Parts stores also carry flex pipes, but I do like Mills better. At the core, you have significantly cheaper options than that shop.

If they can actually justify that price, make them show it to you. If you absolutely have to let somebody else do the work, it probably shouldn't be these guys. Get other estimates from exhaust shops if there are any nearby.

 

I did one, I bought the flex pipe part for a few dollars new on eBay and took it to a muffler shop, I think I invested a total of $75., this was maybe 20 years ago... or less.

 

The OEM part, they replace the whole section of pipe, and possibly your whole exhaust, surprise it doesn't cost more. That one section of pipe includes the CAT, so it cost a lot for OEM part. If rusted out, they replace a good chuck of the exhaust. An exhaust shop will cut out the flex pipe section only and weld on new one for a few hundred bucks. Dealer will not do this and replace whole pipe.

My 2005 is leaking in flex pipe section as well. I bought aftermarket parts for whole exhaust and will replace myself. Major leak in flex pipe section, leaking small amounts elsewhere. May I ask if your support bracket fell off? Mine, studs came off and the bracket from rust. Resulting in rattle sound.

Dealer uses OeM parts. The flex pipe only does not exist as an OEM part, so they replace at a minimum that whole section, that justified the cost. The section includes the CAT. OEM exhaust parts cost a lot. If the fasteners rusty, may have to replace sections.

$1500 sounds about right to me for OEM parts. Verify their claims. Use a shop vac, and put in muffler and blow air. Put hand on flex pipe portion. I felt a LOT of air coming out when I did this.

 

Thanks John,

This is very good to know. I believe my support brackets are intact. The car runs smooth and relatively quiet, with the exception of a gruff but relatively low decibel roar from the engine.

 

Take the car to an independent muffler shop. Assuming the rest of the exhaust system is OK, they will cut out the leaking flex pipe and weld in a new piece of flex pipe. Here in the states that repair would cost about $150 - $175.

Mike

 

or just get the whole pipe assembly from rockauto for like 150 plus shipping

 

No

No man

Sh No

I believe you'd get your ass kicked charging me something like that

You should have a tire kid that will do sh like that for cash


Next time it's in for tires and up on the lift , get under there and talk it over with him

It's your car,access ,get the parts

Cash on the side

Believe me, the kids in these shops are all.for it ,just gota get past the manager ,or throw him a bone ,no body says no to cash

Nobody

 

Let Mieneke or any other exhaust shop take a look at it...

 

Replace just the flex section.

I have had this done on 2 Toyota's, it was under under $200 ea. They sell replacement flex sections, the shop will cut out the old piece and weld in the new one, mine is 6 years old now and still good.

 

Go to a local independent muffler shop. Check Nextdoor, local Facebook group, or Google map ratings to find a good one. The shop will have an amazing welding machine that can install the new part with a tiny strong bead.

 

The local independent muffler shop replaced the flex pipe on my 97 Camry last fall for $65, and I thought that was kinda high. LOL, glad I don't live in an area charging a couple hundred bucks.

 

Avoid any chain shop. Always. Everybody there is on commission.

 

The function of the flex pipe to absorb the vibration introduced by the engine.
My last change was $30 flex pipe bought on Amazon and taken to a muffler shop who cut the old one and welded the new one in. This has been mentioned several times above.

 

You can get the section of pipe, goes from exhaust manifold to post catalytic converter for a short bit, for less than $200 from aftermarket. This is the four cylinder model, likely 2AZ-FE

The OEM part number is 17410-0A370 . Just FYI the bracket I circled in yellow, is the bracket I was talking about. The two studs rusted off completely and part number 17584B completely fell off my car. The dealership I went to, after getting frustrated throwing the parts cannon at replacing parts trying to diagnose the whining sound, they did not tell me that 17584B completely fell off. I discovered this myself, comparing the diagram to my car, and realizing something didn't look right.

The OEM part has a MSRP of over $1600, so your $1500 estimate from the dealership with labor, not bad at all.

However, this is just a steel pipe lol, so aftermarket is fine.

How's the rest of your exhaust system? At 17 years old, it's likely leaking elsewhere. My 2005 Camry, the nuts on the studs on the exhaust flange that go to this piece of pipe are in good shape, I don't think I will have issue getting them off. The rest of the nuts on the rest of the exhaust, not so much.

For about $200 you can have a shop weld in a new flex pipe only. Or for about $200 you can replace that whole section of pipe.

Do you or are able to do the non-welding work yourself? If your flanges are also leaking on either side of this pipe, might run you $400 if you have a shop do it. If you have flex pipe replaced and both flanges repaired at the shop, you could get that whole section of pipe for half the cost with brand new aftermarket parts. Might as well as just get brand new aftermarket part.

What I'm saying, replacing just the flex section, if the rest of the exhaust is in bad shape, probably doesn't make sense if you do the work yourself.

My exhaust is leaking at the flanges and around the muffler. So I'm going to replace post exhaust manifold onwards using aftermarket parts.

Whatever you do, I'd confirm that it's actually leaking before doing anything, if you can.

 

Due to an injury, I won't be doing any work on my Solara for some time, but I really do appreciate the response and in depth graphics.

I wouldn’t let them do it right away. Try another shop or two. Something doesn’t add up, especially if you don’t have a service engine light.

Wow! The absence of a service light should have been the first thing to come to my mind. My car runs fine and the check engine light is not on at all. Thanks Man.

 

it will only throw a code if the leak is before the downstream sensor and sometimes not at all if its in the flex section cause well, it flexes so it can temp. seal the leak

 

Great detailed observation. I had not gone into that much examination of this issue, but do appreciate the perspective of someone who has the precise perspective of an engineer.

 

well i mean look at it like this. im getting tech. here lol the downstream sensor can only monitor leading up to it. it has no idea what's going on after the the sensor, so therefore it can not monitor it. also metal expands as it heats up so even it ya got a light when the flex heats up it will temp. seal it enough the light goes off until it flexes a certain way

 

Thanks "Demoncow". I am not nearly as detail oriented with these things and appreciate the heightened perspective.

 

That's what we're here for

 

it will only throw a code if the leak is before the downstream sensor and sometimes not at all if its in the flex section cause well, it flexes so it can temp. seal the leak

I know I'm late to this comment thread but maybe it will help someone in the future. I just replaced my flex pipe in my 2005 Sienna and it wasn't throwing a 420 code before, now it is. I'm troubleshooting it in another thread so I won't go into detail here. I had to replace an oxygen sensor when I couldn't remove it from the original section of pipe, so I'm hoping I just got a bad aftermarket sensor.