Thread: Did I just get Ripped off?

Yep .I'm with you on that one. IMO all new mufflers have a short section of pipe with two opposing slots to allow a clamp to crimp the exhaust pipe . Yours looks standard.

Originally Posted by theelms66

Yep .I'm with you on that one. IMO all new mufflers have a short section of pipe with two opposing slots to allow a clamp to crimp the exhaust pipe . Yours looks standard.

Yeah, for all I know, I have been ripped of twice. For one, they said they would install a NEW Hi-flow muffler and it certainly doesn't look new, does it?
And two, they said Hi-flow, but I have noticed absolutely no change in performance or sound. I can't prove that it isn't hi-flow, but if they ripped me off by using a used muffler instead of new, they also might have ripped me off by using a standard muffler...
Starting to get ****ed off the more I think about it...

Throw a magnet and a wire brush at it. Should answer the "stainless" question at least.

The rear pipe extending from the muffler cannot be new as the flange bolts appear untouched . Therefore should be able to see a new weld at the muffler end of that pipe.

Some mufflers are supplied without nipples, so yours isn't unusual. That's so they can be fitted closer to a bend such as one that goes over your rear axle. Example muffler on ebay:

MUFFLER Oval 409 Stainless Steel 3" MEGA FLOW 14" Long HIGH FLOW NEW | eBay

The internal pipe is bent in a gentle 'S' bend and is perforated. No idea about the paint but I'd consider asking the fitter the reason for it. It might be some fancy "ceramic" heat protective paint, I wouldn't know. Overall I think you got more or less what you paid for.

Ummm. Sorry but I'm really not seeing anything untoward here. Looks like the section between the two exhaust hangers was replaced with a new muffler and new bit of pipe. Which is what they were commissioned to do. Haven't touched the flange or pipe there, no need to. Exhaust joints often paint the mufflers and welds/joins to make it look a bit "better" to the average punter. Note that many mufflers do come without spigots, or they are cut off flush prior to fitting (don't need them if you are welding). Only thing potentially iffy is that they've sprayed the whole muffler, which normally they wouldn't in my experience. Just the joins. Might not be stainless? Or maybe someone just got overly enthusiastic with the rattle can... If you went from a chambered standard muffler to a straight-through I'd expect a note change at least. If you went to a "Hi- flow" chambered muffler the difference may not be easily detectable. A decat will really wake up a turbo motor. Downstream stuff has a lesser effect.

Originally Posted by chilla

..... yesterday I spent $160 and had the centre muffler replaced with a supposedly brand new stainless steel straight through hi flow muffler.
There was absolutely no power difference or difference in sound. ....

$160 for stainless?
Chinese 'stainless', which could be anything.

if you hear and feel no difference, then your old muffler was probably fine.

I disagree with the comment made above hat downstream exhaust stuff has lesser effect.

On my Tdi it made a huge effect.
On brother's Td5, when he got the car, it had no mufflers at all, horrible on the hwy, far too loud for a refined vehicle, and too much drone.
He had a hi flow centre box fitted to shut things up .. which it did ... a lot. But it lost a bit of perkiness.

Do you know if the old muffler was original, or after market?
Being a D2, ie. near on 20 yo now, you'd think it was non original, so maybe the muffler they removed was high flow, good quality and in good nic.
So you wouldn't notice much difference.

Did you get ripped? I doubt it.
The shape of the now painted muffler looks to neat. If it were old, you'd expect at least one scrape, or ding, or deformed shape somewhere, more so the front.
Looking at the shape of the front seam, you'd have to guess it looks to be more new than old.

$160 for a new stainless muffler? .. highly unlikely. Considering they'd have charged about $80 for the first hour worth of work, and that it takes less than an hour to cut and shut a muffler in place for a workshop ... $80 for a cheap high flow muffler from a shop sounds about right.

Had you paid closer to $400-500 for that job, I'd say for sure you'd have got ripped off. Unlikely they would have painted the entire muffler if it were stainless, just a bit of silvery anti rust stuff on the welds.

if it was stainless then the paint wouldn't stick properly