My exhaust has rusted out right where the down tube meets the catalytic converter. My local shop wants $1000 to replace everything from the exhaust manifold back to the converter (muffler and tailpipe are OK, only 2 years old). The manifold looks OK to me, and in any event this seems excessive. I'm setting my sights pretty low, too -- I just want to get it running for another year or two. Should I try to find parts from a salvaged car, or can someone recommend a cheaper way to get new parts on?

Thanks for any advice,

Brian

Find a shop that does custom exhaust work. If this is the only part that's badly rusted, then they can just replace that section between the header and the cat. I wouldn't expect that to cost anywhere over $150 since you'll be paying for an hour or so of labor and about $4 worth of pipe stock. Steer clear of mineke muffler or places like that, check for a competent private shop that specializes in exhaust work.

I just replaced the cat and head pipe on my '94. I purchased the whole thing for 125.00$ and did the install myself. Go to this website and see if they have the part for your year, I am betting it is the same one I just replaced!
http://www.performancecenter.com

Just thought I'd let everyone know what happened. I did my best to follow the advice offered -- I found a private shop that does a lot of custom exhaust work, and I made it clear that I didn't want OEM parts. They gave me two options: either do a very cheap quick and dirty job, or I could have everything after the manifold replaced for $600, which was $400 less than the first quote. I went for the second option. However, a day after authorizing the work, I called again to see whether the car was ready for pickup, and the owner said "Oh yeah -- your car has a really expensive ($400) O2 sensor that is recommended to be replaced whenever the converter is replaced. We called three places but couldn't find a cheaper one." So of course I said just put the old sensor back in.

Bottom line: it was the same price as the first estimate, I just didn't get a new O2 sensor!

At least the car is running well again -- back to 50 mpg.

I am curious about what anyone thinks about the pricing though:

front pipe with converter $260 <-- seems steep!
resonator assembly $98
muffler assembly $98
gaskets $15
shop supplies $25
labor 1.0 hour $73
tax $34

Hopefully others can find a better deal.

Everything except the front pipe seems fine. It looks like they quoted on an entire exhaust system from manifold back, which is fine if it's all damaged. I dont know why they want to charge you so much for the cat assembly, since they could just use a universal cat which is about $80CAD