My local shop told me it was not possible to keep my dual exhaust setup with an aftermarket transverse mounted muffler Due to the aftermarket muffler being much smaller than stock. I had the stock transverse muffler singel in dual out. Is this BS? They charged me 500$ to replace the cat and muffler with stock parts I think I really got hosed

In my opinion you got screwed.You can get get a magnaflow high flow cat for around $100.00.I`ve never paid more than about $40.00 for a flowmaster or magnaflow muffler.I buy them off of ebay or 2nd hand but even new they dont cost much more than 100 bucks.I paid about 130.00 for my 3" flowmaster I pipe installed.Paid $150.00for my custom y-pipe/new muffler install,and I only paid $50 bucks for my ceramic coated hookers.Some of my stuff was used but good as new.If I had to get a cat I`d have about as much in a performance exhaust as you do in a stock exhaust.I`d be pissed

If I understand your muffler question it seems they lied to you about that as well.

i bought a hooker aerochamber transverse mounted muffler with single in and dual exits for about 60 bucks. i got it installed for another 50 bucks. yes you got ripped off. im not sure why they would say that, but just go back there and tell them about what you found out, and if they will not correct the problem tell them youll alert the BAR (bureau of automotive repair)

muffler shops usually try to rip you off. my mom payed $500 for a new exhaust in her second gen camaro. they told her it was all rotted out. as we found out later they just patched a hole in the muffler. so you live and learn, when i had my car in the shop for exhaust i waited outside and watched the guy for a couple of hours. even though i got on his nerves he was alright with it. :P

Maybe look around and get quotes from other shops.Get some better quotes and and tell these guys you`ll go to the BBB or something.No way it should have cost that much.Thats like the cost to remove an engine.I`ve been quoted around 500 for a trans rebuild if I remove/replace it and buy the upgraded parts.

You guys were right. I feel horrible. It ended up costing over 700$ once it was all done. they even welded a little smiley face onto the pipe, *******s. I checked on the magnaflow site and they had a system for 500$. I am never going to take my car to that shop for anything ever again.

The first thing they said was it was against there policy to put on any parts that I brought in. I was going to get some parts off summit because I saw a cat on there for 83$ that was a direct fit for my car. Then the other problem I think was with the guys welding skills. He said he couldnt fab anything up with a smaller aftermarket muffler.

just curious did they tell you thats how much it was going to cost before they did the work or after?

Guys... they're kinda right... he has a dual exhaust setup... you cant use a single in dual-out muffler with dual exhausts... unless he's talking dual tips?

you'd need to get a dual-in dual-out muffler at least, and running dual exhausts over the axle like that isnt easy or simple.

Sure it is. You can buy over-the-counter true dual systems for our cars now.

Bottom line.$500 bucks for stock parts is insane.

Yeah they said it was going to be 500. plus labor Its my fault for being so trusting to them. They said that thats just how much the stock parts cost. Oh well. I am thinking of selling the car now for more then I paid for it to get some of my money back.

insane, maybe, but im sure a GM replacement cat is not cheap, even if it is stock and crappy

muffler (any auto really) shops do rip people off on a regular basis. i work for advance auto parts and across the street is a car-x. one day car-x ordered a muffler for a vw something (dont remember what) and it was like 120 their cost.
so this lady walks in about a half hour after we delivered it to car-x, adn asks for a price on the same kind of muffler (before anyone asks it wasnt the same sales person, the comm person is in the back), so we give her the retail price of 160 something. later that day car-x had the nerve to call and bitch us out because it turned out it was the ladies car they were working on and they sold her the muffler for like 350 dollars. and she saw us drive back across the street after delivering it.

Just so you know, muffler shops that say they "don't accept parts from the customer" and have to buy the parts themselves - RED FLAG!!!! Unless the part you provide is wrong or will not work, they are just trying to buy crappy parts themselves to mark them up high and make a profit!

Also, you can have a dual exhaust set up with a single in dual out, you just have to have a Y-pipe collecting right before the muffler single in. It's kinda defeating the purpose of a dual exhaust if it collects into one pipe, no matter how short that pipe is, but yes they could have done it. Also, unless this aftermarket muffler was smaller than 1.5" in diameter inlet, you could've gotten away with using it, it's called a reducer. They just ripped you off, simple as that. Sorry dude