General How much?!! Exhausting prices.

[DemonPandaOwner]

Hello all.
Question: How much should I be looking at to replace the exhaust on the 1.2 Panda dynamic 2004?
I've tried in vain to extract quotes from Kwik Fit and Halfords over the phone. I appreciate they can't be exact without seeing it but they won't even give a ball park idea. I don't have time to book an appointment, leave it with them for an hour to fiddle and "inspect", and decide it needs everything changing, then go back again because they've got to order in parts.
The local independent said £250 if it all needs doing. Does this seem fair?
The back box definitely needs doing as it's spewed all it's soundproofing over the last few weeks and there is a definite clanging at times. I'm not in a position to do it myself.
I did consider a mobile mechanic but any ideas or recommendations on what to do would be appreciated!
Thanks

 

[Ians Panda]

Last year i had a complete new exhaust fitted to my 1.2 euro5 by my local m.o.t. mechanic for £165. It's a cheap one though, but still looks like new almost!.

 

[DemonPandaOwner]

Thanks for that Ian. I'm thinking g about just going with the local guy. They always do the mot and are.pretty upfront and honest if there's something Dad can fix cheaper or easier. They told.me last year when the exhaust stuffing first started coming out not o worry about it, so it doesn't seem like they're trying to tout for work. That's my issue with the kwik fits etc.

 

[Ians Panda]

Thanks for that Ian. I'm thinking g about just going with the local guy. They always do the mot and are.pretty upfront and honest if there's something Dad can fix cheaper or easier. They told.me last year when the exhaust stuffing first started coming out not o worry about it, so it doesn't seem like they're trying to tout for work. That's my issue with the kwik fits etc.

Yeah the kwik fit type places are always expensive and sometimes try to upsell other stuff.
To be honest if you don't mind crawling under the car with jack stands, have a go fitting yourself! i will next time

 

[DemonPandaOwner]

Yeah the kwik fit type places are always expensive and sometimes try to upsell other stuff.
To be honest if you don't mind crawling under the car with jack stands, have a go fitting yourself! i will next time

If I had the time and space I'd be willing to try. But current circumstances don't allow unfortunately. If you don't mind my asking, which part of the country are you? I'm on the London/ Essex borders, so everything seems to be expensive!

 

[Ians Panda]

If I had the time and space I'd be willing to try. But current circumstances don't allow unfortunately. If you don't mind my asking, which part of the country are you? I'm on the London/ Essex borders, so everything seems to be expensive!

West yorkshire. You know like Last of the summer wine!

 

[DemonPandaOwner]

Very nice. Much more scenic than our concrete jungle!

 

[koalar]

I paid under £60 for the parts front and rear and manifold gasket, came with hangers yes it was a few years ago, the three part came from three different motor local motor suppliers

To pay someone

I would guess £150 ISH would be a more fair price

I just need a windscreen on a Suzuki, took a fair bit of phoning round to get a reasonable price, maybe a dozen or so, quotes ranged from £150 inclusive to over 400 plus vat

 

[DemonPandaOwner]

I paid under £60 for the parts front and rear and manifold gasket, came with hangers yes it was a few years ago, the three part came from three different motor local motor suppliers

To pay someone

I would guess £150 ISH would be a more fair price

I just need a windscreen on a Suzuki, took a fair bit of phoning round to get a reasonable price, maybe a dozen or so, quotes ranged from £150 inclusive to over 400 plus vat

What kind of Suzuki? There's a guy on YouTube, Lawries mechanical marvels, who had a suzuki Jimny he was looking to dispose of a while ago. He's Ipswich based i think. If that is any help. ( probably not.)

 

[koalar]

What kind of Suzuki? There's a guy on YouTube, Lawries mechanical marvels, who had a suzuki Jimny he was looking to dispose of a while ago. He's Ipswich based i think. If that is any help. ( probably not.)

Alto, but thanks

Should be done in the hour or so

 

[MrMagoo]

Last year i had a complete new exhaust fitted to my 1.2 euro5 by my local m.o.t. mechanic for £165. It's a cheap one though, but still looks like new almost!.

That's a reasonable price. Kwikfit wanted £350 several years ago to replace mine. I replaced it myself with £25 for the rear box.

 

[jrkitching]

That's a reasonable price.

I'd agree.

In the midst of the supply chain issues after covid, I gave Euro almost £200 for the two main exhaust sections and what I got was absolute rubbish; I had to do some fettling to get it to fit properly.

But I needed an MOT and there was simply nothing else available off the shelf anywhere at that time.

 

[DemonPandaOwner]

That's a reasonable price. Kwikfit wanted £350 several years ago to replace mine. I replaced it myself with £25 for the rear box.

If i could I'd give it a go myself. But sadly circumstances don't allow at the minute. I did look at Euro car parts and, with a 25% off discount, the back box and centre ( which were done within a few months of each other 8 years ago), plus one of each bracket came to £170. So I don't suppose £240 + VAT is too bad.

 

[DaveMcT]

The last axle I fitted to our 1.2 was pretty horrible and quite noisy. The 1.3 diesel has a centre box that removes the gear shift boom. These pipes will fit the 1.2 but you'll need to make up a connecting pipe to connect the catalyst outlet to the system. IIRC, the tube size is bigger on the Multijet.

I let them bed in for a few weeks. When the welds start to look rusty, a coating of copper grease anti seize will protect the welds. It's not quite as good as the aluminium spray but its a lot better than peeled off metal spray, because manufacturers never remove the welding mill-scale.

 

[jrkitching]

When the welds start to look rusty, a coating of copper grease anti seize

When I took delivery of the Panda from new, I rubbed copper grease into all the exhaust seams (I actually took the backbox off to do this; easy on a brand new car). It lasted 12 years so well worth doing.

Some say exhausts rust from the inside out; there's not much you can do to avoid this apart from avoiding short journeys. But they also rust from the outside in; they fail when the rust meets in the middle.

On a Panda/500; do the same thing with the front bracket securing the back end of the manicat to the gearbox.

 

[koalar]

When I took delivery of the Panda from new, I rubbed copper grease into all the exhaust seams (I actually took the backbox off to do this; easy on a brand new car). It lasted 12 years so well worth doing.

Some say exhausts rust from the inside out; there's not much you can do to avoid this apart from avoiding short journeys. But they also rust from the outside in; they fail when the rust meets in the middle.

On a Panda/500; do the same thing with the front bracket securing the back end of the manicat to the gearbox.

The OEM fitted exhaust is pretty good

I got 150K and 12 years approx out of one although the back box did loose its outer skin a couple of years earlier, without any treatment

Which isn't far off a ford diesel I had which lasted only slightly longer

It does depend a lot on how you drive it and where you park it

Cheap replacement steel exhausts are never as good

Fitment
Longevity
Sound

 

[DemonPandaOwner]

*** Update ***
Just got back from the garage. Turned out I only needed a new back box. So £140 all in. Not too bad I suppose for a small independent.
Just got to fix the leak, and the rusty springs, and th seat covers, and...

 

[Hunter43211]

I paid £80 for the whole system, but i bet installation will take another 40

 

[DemonPandaOwner]

I paid £80 for the whole system, but i bet installation will take another 40

I guess it depends where you are located. Being on thr wrong side of the London /Essex border usually means paying more sadly.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Now £35 for the flexi, 140 for the centre and 40 to 80£ for the rear. Cheapest ones maybe 25% less bur not worth the trouble in my opinion