How Annoyed Should I Be By This?

"That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms" (thatbastardkurtis5)
10/18/2018 at 16:17 • Filed to: None

I finally got the Jetta registered on Monday, so I decided to bring it to somebody to try and get the flex pipe replaced. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened yet because I brought it to these guys.

Now, Monro did some brake work for me on my Tahoe a month ago and it didn’t go great. It went in for a rear brake line, but another line broke when they were taking the first one off, and they blew out a third bleeding the system. I get it, that shit happens with brakes. But today is making me wonder if maaaaaaaaybe they just straight up screwed me.

I dropped the car off last night, talked to the guy and told him what I wanted: drop the downpipe, cut out the flexpipe, weld in a replacement. Thats what I want, and thats all that I want. I do not want anything else. Do that or do nothing.

They call me this morning and the guy tells me it needs a whole exhaust system, because the whole thing is rusted, and that’ll be $1475 , by the way.

I laugh at him and say its a $500 car, all I want is the flexpipe replaced. He tells me they can’t do that (which is fine, by the way...if your policy is to not just replace flexpipes, I can live with that), but if they just replace the front section (downpipe, flexpipe, cat) it’ll be about $800.

And right here is my issue: the guy says to me after telling me the $800 figure that they don’t know if the back half of the system is even leaking/bad because the leak at the flex pipe is so large. Excuse me? So if you don’t know if the catback is bad, why was the first thing you did to try and sell me one?

Here’s the thing man, the catback might be bad! It could be crazy rotted, it could absolutely need replacement. But you can’t tell me I need it, quote me a price, then tell me you don’t actually know if I need that $675 worth of work because of how bad the front part of the exhaust is. You could have even said the front half would be x, but it might also need y and that’ll cost z if necessary. I’d have been totally cool with all of that. But I’m not at all cool with how it actually happened.

So I picked up the keys to the car and now I have to find somebody else who’ll just charge me $150 or so to drop the downpipe and weld in a new flexpipe. This shouldn’t be that god damn hard. I’m about two days away from ordering the flexpipe and going to Harbor Freight to buy myself a welder.

DISCUSSION (19)

BeaterGT > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/18/2018 at 16:36

You would think for a place called Monro Brake and Muffler, they would be able to diagnose a bad caliper on my Subaru...nope. Fixed it myself, saving myself from further aggravation.

Poor_Sh > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/18/2018 at 16:42

Pretty sure the Monro in the pic is the one close to me. Hit and miss. Great customer service in my experience, but still tried to sell me way more than I needed. Same with Midas though. I got the whole “too rusted t o fix” on my Eclipse exhaust years ago and a different Midas had replaced it like 4 years before lol

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Poor_Sh
10/18/2018 at 16:56

I think they’re just lazy, they want to cut the whole thing off and hang up a shiny new system instead of doing actual work.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > BeaterGT
10/18/2018 at 16:57

Its annoying to me, because I don’t always have time to work on my own vehicles...I could do this repair myself, but I’ve got other shit to do and now I don’t trust them so I can never go back. Now I have to find another place, and finding a decent mechanic is like starting to date somebody...really awkward.

Nisman > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/18/2018 at 16:57

Monroe blows. A real exhaust shop will be able to replace the flex pipe without dropping the down pipe... will be cheap. Monroe just throws parts at shit.

OPPOsaurus WRX > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/18/2018 at 17:00

sorry but ur probably dreaming that it will cost $150 to cut weld and all that on what sounds like a system that is possibly near un-reparable . It cost me $200 to get my wive’s exhaust back on. all he had to do was cut the flange off the cat and weld the whole cat- back back on. He didn’ t even have to remove anything as my wife had already done that w hen she drove over a curb.

to remove cut weld reinstall is probably going to be more than $150. It sounds liek the system is pretty beat up. he might be able to tell you that the front part is junk and thinks the rear i s too but the front is in such bad shape that he can;t test the rear part.

BeaterGT > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/18/2018 at 17:03

I’m with you 100%. I can work on my cars but sometimes my time is limited and surely a brake shop could figure out my brake problem. They kept telling me I was warping the rotors and even that they resurfaced my (brand new) rotors! Wow, thanks morons ! There is no way I could take another car there in good conscience.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Poor_Sh
10/18/2018 at 17:05

Midas almost fucked up my cat flange too. I told them to just cut the old rusted welded bolts off and put new ones in. Not only did they make an incision in the cat flange (it seals but just ) but they also ruined the flange on the exhaust side, so muchso that one of the bolts wont go though the hole. I had told the mechanic beforehand that I was changing the cat-back exhaust but I DONT want the stock system to be ruined. At least they did not charge me anything for it.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/18/2018 at 17:08

my votes on harbor freight

they are screwing you... and exhausts are a pretty easy jobbie

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/18/2018 at 19:04

The rest of the system looked fine to me when I was under it on Monday, I think they’re full of shit.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/18/2018 at 22:18

Try to find a good Indy shop to do it for you. My BIL has to do the same thing for his Passat, but there were two of them. He found a small Indy shop that would do it. Right about $150-200, so yeah you should look around. He got a couple of those similar full exhaust quotes too.

OPPOsaurus WRX > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/18/2018 at 22:22

Possibly. The way you talked about the brake lines giving way as well made me think the underside of your car is full of rust. I went through a similar thing with my old explorer. The new England winters were dissolving the truck part by part

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/19/2018 at 05:30

Oh, the brake lines were on a different vehicle...that was my Tahoe, the exhaust is on the Jetta.

glemon > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/19/2018 at 22:33

Yes--Not familiar with these guys, but yes I'd be pissed. Sounds like they are incompetent, or trying to rip you off, or perhaps a little of both.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/28/2018 at 15:48

Find another shop. An exhaust shop.

They are probably more inept than dishonest, but either way, part ways with them. And give them a dissatisfied review on Google. Don’t come off like a screamer, just give them two start and say that you have the impression that the left hand there doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/28/2018 at 18:23

I ended up bringing it to a guy who used to do a lot of work on my old work van. He couldn’t just swap the flexpipe, but I bought a cheapo one and he said as long as it has a flex and a flange, he’ll make it work. That’s the kind of mechanic I like.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/28/2018 at 18:53

Jetta; not a diesel, is it? I had a VW diesel with a flex pipe that broke once or twice, but engine mounts probably would have helped. Long time ago, though.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/29/2018 at 13:28

Nah, 1.8T. The downpipe I bought was apparently wrong so I just ordered the right one, hopefully that’ll be done this week.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
10/29/2018 at 13:33

I’m a VW guy from way back, but not recently. I considered buying an ‘09 Jetta 5-cyl briefly, but bought the ‘11 Mazda 3 instead.