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So Monday morning last week I hopped in my 07 TL-S and heard a cacophony of exhaust noise upon start up. I assumed that the flex pipe on my J-pipe had sheared or that some other leak had occurred. I work for a car dealer and so the first thing I did was have an apprentice lift the car to investigate and he informed me what I guess should have been obvious to me. Someone cut the third catalytic converter out from my car.
Unfortunately, whomever did this cut out the flanges on the J-pipe and catback, and so to repair this properly (in my opinion) pretty much the entire exhaust ought to be replaced. I've asked my insurance to have the car inspected and quoted for repair at my preferred Acura dealer whom I have a good working relationship with so I'm hoping they will also agree that the car needs almost everything replaced. Another avenue that I'm considering if the parts are going to be on an excessively long back-order is to ask for an allowance comparable to replace the J-pipe, cat, and cat-back myself otherwise. My car didn't have any other damage other than some minor scrapes on the underside.
For those wondering where this occurred - I park my TL in the deepest corner of my buildings underground parking lot.
My car is currently sitting at aforementioned Acura dealer and so in the meantime I've borrowed my mom's absolutely lovely condition ILX. Will update with the results, hopefully a very shiny new exhaust system.
damn, that's crazy to hear that two low lying sedans would be jacked up in order to get the cat cut off.
why wouldnt the criminals target a higher ground clearance vehicle to make it easier!?
I really wonder how much money they can get for it. Like how do they figure the risk/reward is worth it to Jack up a car and probably use a loud ass saws all to cut out the cat. Why not take the wheels as well.
Wow, even in that garage, too. Sawzall must have made a hell of a racket.
I had this happen in my 2G TL, almost identical scenario. Started it to go to work, was loud as hell, then looked under to see a 2 foot chunk of pipe missing... I know how you're feeling.
Because they cut the flanges, the cheapest and easiest method would be to have an aftermarket third cat welded back in. To make it back to how it was originally will cost $$$.
If your state doesn't do under car inspections, I would just put a piece of pipe there. Otherwise, next cheapest option would be finding universal cat and welding it there. You can also weld couple bolts / rods so guy trying to seal it will just destroy his saw.
Originally Posted by dopeboy1
I really wonder how much money they can get for it. Like how do they figure the risk/reward is worth it to Jack up a car and probably use a loud ass saws all to cut out the cat. Why not take the wheels as well.
Guy who buys cats from us gives something around $60-80 for that cat. Probably more if you go to the place that recycles them yourself. Not worth the risk considering certain models have much more expensive cats, or much easier access (trucks and vans).
BTW guys that do this type of job often aren't too bright. Here we had customer with "stolen" exhaust:
Thief couldn't finish cutting the cat for whatever reason, so he stole the rest of the exhaust system... you know resonator and muffler. I wonder how much he gained that way. This cat is around $180 if I remember correctly.
crazy that this happened in Vancouver! I know the underground garages are sketch sometimes, but for the most part pulling something like this in one of those is crazy to me. sucks that this happened man, I have my old 3G catback still. if you need any of that piping just let me know
damn, that's crazy to hear that two low lying sedans would be jacked up in order to get the cat cut off.
why wouldnt the criminals target a higher ground clearance vehicle to make it easier!?
sorry to hear. hope Insurance helps you out
I had this thought as well. There are quite a few much newer, much higher ground clearance SUVs in my parkade that seem more profitable and or easier targets. The only logic I can come up with is that because my car was in that back corner it was a 'safer' choice where they were less likely to be heard or what have you.
Originally Posted by dopeboy1
I really wonder how much money they can get for it. Like how do they figure the risk/reward is worth it to Jack up a car and probably use a loud ass saws all to cut out the cat. Why not take the wheels as well.
The wheels would have definitely been more valuable, for sure, and my car doesn't have wheel locks either.
Originally Posted by mdnborg
Wow, even in that garage, too. Sawzall must have made a hell of a racket.
I had this happen in my 2G TL, almost identical scenario. Started it to go to work, was loud as hell, then looked under to see a 2 foot chunk of pipe missing... I know how you're feeling.
Because they cut the flanges, the cheapest and easiest method would be to have an aftermarket third cat welded back in. To make it back to how it was originally will cost $$$.
Sorry that happened to you man.
Thanks. I'm sorry you had to go through it too dude. Having another cat or some pipe welded in place would definitely be a quicker and cheaper solution, but I'd prefer to have an as stock as possible setup in terms of flanges, what have you, going forward. If my insurance isn't amenable to what I want this is probably what I will do.
Originally Posted by MyGuti
crazy that this happened in Vancouver! I know the underground garages are sketch sometimes, but for the most part pulling something like this in one of those is crazy to me. sucks that this happened man, I have my old 3G catback still. if you need any of that piping just let me know
Appreciate the offer man, I'll let you know. If I end up forgoing insurance it would likely come in very handy.
Sorry to hear. Took thieves only a few minutes to cut the cats out of my SUV.
It was parked in a high traffic area. I know those isolated parking spots are nice for peace of mind in regards to door dings and all, but the visually obscurity might have given the thieves a bit more peace of mind too. Who knows.
Supposedly the recycling plants around my area record the information of anyone who brings in a cat. Hopefully it has lead to some prosecution, but I'm not sure how it could to be honest.
Sorry that happened. My buddy owns a small car lot downtown and crackheads steal catalytic converters from his cars all the time. Apparently they are especially fond of prius' the funny but not funny thing is he never realizes until a customer wants to go on a test drive and is met with the beautiful yet unexpected symphony of open exhaust.
Parting words, get wheel locks asap if you don't have them.
Cats from Prius (and older Toyotas in general) are crazy expensive. Not sure about exact amount and don't want to lie, but expect >$500 for OEM cat from Prius (maybe even ~$800).
My insurance has approved the replacement of the entire exhaust system of my car, at the dealer, with brand new OEM components. Parts total is close to $4,000, and a few of the parts are back ordered until early December (cat and cat back iirc). As a downside they've hit me with a 'betterment' charge equating to 20% the cost of the more expensive parts, or roughly $600 on top of my deductible. I'm not super pleased about the extra cost but I would rather have nice, new OEM stuff, so I think I'll bite the bullet and pay it. Perhaps I'll try and convince the dealer to let me keep the old catback.
My insurance has approved the replacement of the entire exhaust system of my car, at the dealer, with brand new OEM components. Parts total is close to $4,000, and a few of the parts are back ordered until early December (cat and cat back iirc). As a downside they've hit me with a 'betterment' charge equating to 20% the cost of the more expensive parts, or roughly $600 on top of my deductible. I'm not super pleased about the extra cost but I would rather have nice, new OEM stuff, so I think I'll bite the bullet and pay it. Perhaps I'll try and convince the dealer to let me keep the old catback.
I would agree about keeping it. They should have zero issue giving it back to you since it's yours.
- j-pipe is $370
- converter is $465
- rest of the exhaust is $770
- gaskets, nuts, hangers, etc. under $100
Let's add ~$200 for shipping due to size.
You're looking at ~$2.1k. Even going by the list prices, and adding all shields, you would come up under 4k.
Still I wouldn't replace the whole thing but it's your car and your money. I mean for 4k you can buy another TL, get the whole exhaust out of it, and then have the rest of the car.
Or just get the exhaust used from the junkyard if you want to have 100% oem.
Can you source your own parts and install yourself to make up the difference? Some dealers overcharge on parts.
Originally Posted by peter6
How the hell did they came up with 4k in parts?
- j-pipe is $370
- converter is $465
- rest of the exhaust is $770
- gaskets, nuts, hangers, etc. under $100
Let's add ~$200 for shipping due to size.
You're looking at ~$2.1k. Even going by the list prices, and adding all shields, you would come up under 4k.
Still I wouldn't replace the whole thing but it's your car and your money. I mean for 4k you can buy another TL, get the whole exhaust out of it, and then have the rest of the car.
Or just get the exhaust used from the junkyard if you want to have 100% oem.
I probably should have been a bit clearer, these prices are in Canadian Pesos and so that will account for some of the difference. I trust this dealer, they're a part of my dealer group and they give me parts at their cost when I buy stuff otherwise. I guarantee they charged my insurance more than they would charge me personally.
I know this is far from the most cost effective option, but I am okay with spending a little extra and having nice stuff.
I got the car back from the Acura dealer second week of December. I ended up having to fork out a few extra dollars (a % of the parts cost) to insurance for what they call 'betterment', basically that the new exhaust increased the value of my car overall. Pretty good joke, right?
Overall I was alright with paying a little bit more to have it repaired this way, however:
The alignment of the exhaust tips were pretty bad. The driver's side was off center only slightly, but the passenger side, seen above, was pretty much touching the bumper on the inside. Would this sort of thing bother you? The used $200 exhaust I bought on craigslist was bang-on with zero fiddling.
I went back to the dealer shortly after getting the car back and spoke directly to the shop foreman about the poor alignment of the exhaust tips, and he basically told me to go pound sand - that there wasn't anything to adjust. It was the sort of the thing where I definitely could have twisted their arm into fixing it, but I could also very easily have one of the techs from my own dealership fix it. As you can imagine this left a not great taste in my mouth, and I'll probably only be deal with their parts department going forward instead of having my TL serviced there.
Originally Posted by nist7
Hey did you check with the building/parking management?
I'd be worried for the thieves coming back for a second helping....
I did indeed. The way the thieves broke in seemed obvious after it happened and they've since added more plexiglass to the gates to try and prevent the same thing from happening again.
Any half competent exhaust/muffler shop can straighten it for you. My wife bumped the trash can with our mdx and put hers out of alignment that I couldn't fix by adjusting the hangers. They heated up the last turn and bent it back slightly. Has looked great ever since. Charged me 30$ and took them 15 minutes. Be careful if it is touching the plastic bumper that it doesn't cause a fire hazard, low chance of actual fire in normal conditions but sitting in traffic in the summer for a hour could be a different story.
11-09-2020, 08:13 PM
