Muffler Repair Get Second Opinion

I have a 2001 Saab 9-5 Wagon with a little over 100,000 miles. Seems to run just fine as I change the oil regularly at 3-5,000 miles faithfully. My wife Monika took the car to Concord, NH a couple of months ago to a meeting and when she just about got there she could here some scraping noise and when she got out of the car she could see there was a problem. She asked for some help and a few guys said that there was metal hanging from under the car near the muffler.

So, when Monika was leaving a REALTOR meeting in Concord she stopped off at a garage and they told her she needed a new muffler and that the heat shields were rusted. They told her the muffler was so loose that it was ready to fall off at any moment. When Monika got home I noticed it was loose but it wasn’t all that bad. I called my mechanic and he said a new muffler would cost around $850.00 to install and he would order one and call me when it came in. I still have not heard from him.

We are headed to Washington D.C. for our annual REALTOR conference the second week of May. So, after much prodding and insisting I finally took Monika’s advice to get a second opinion and I called Meineke Car Care Center in Plaistow, NH. I had them change the oil and asked them to give me a price for a new muffler. They took me in at 10:00 this morning and by 10:40 I was on my way home.

Ernie checked me in and as he returned from the shop and mentioned I didn’t need a muffler as it was just fine and not leaking and it only needed to be anchored as it was a little loose. It is stainless steel and does not rust. The heat shield’s were rusted but not falling off. He welded the piece to the frame that was loose and changed the oil and I was all set to go. It cost me $20.00 to get the welding done.

It pays to listen to your wife and get a second opinion. I am pissed at the garage in Concord as they were definitely trying to take advantage of a women woman.