Muffler Assembly: $1,000
For a thousand bucks, you could get a lot of work done on your car, and a repair shop in Vermont reviewed a quote from a “high-profile” repair shop that could have cost a customer nearly ten times the cost of the part itself.
A video was posted on TikTok by mainly_mechanics (@mainly_mechanics) detailing a quote from another shop that appears to have overcharged a customer for a part that he didn’t even need.
Quote: $1,264.40 for a New Muffler Assembly
It seems rather outrageous that a stock replacement muffler would cost over a thousand dollars to purchase. Apparently, it doesn’t cost that much, according to mainly_mechanics, while tagging TJ’s Auto Repair in Burlington, Vermont. In this video, he showed the quote that the other shop gave his customer.
The breakdown of the muffler replacement was as follows: $1,082 for the replacement muffler assembly, $17 for the gasket, and $4.24 for the nuts and bolts; then the rest is for about 48 minutes of labor, which totals $1,264.40. On the same quote was a note from the shop saying that the vehicle’s current muffler assembly “is rusted and leaks; will fail VSI (a.k.a. Vermont State Inspection).” The note is a bit of a scare tactic, which would otherwise render the car illegal to drive and register in Vermont.
The thing is, Vermont accepts repair jobs as long as the repair is as good as, or if not better than, OEM. A complete muffler replacement might not have been necessary in the first place if the muffler was damaged.
Parts and Labor ≠ $1,264.40
According to mainly_mechanics, the cost of a new muffler, if it were purchased by him as a business, would come out to $157 dollars. If the customer would like to purchase the part himself, the amount would go up by about ten bucks, and if the customer were to get the part through a retailer, it would total almost $300. Nowhere in any of mainly_mechanic’s quotes did they get even remotely close to $1,200, even after accounting for labor.
Including parts and labor, plus the $17 gasket, the $4.24 set of nuts and bolts, and the $159.99 for 48 minutes of labor, we get $348.23. That’s about a third of the price that the other shop would have charged the customer. The thing is, mainly_mechanics didn’t state this number themselves because, based on their assessment of the vehicle, the customer didn’t even need to buy a new muffler.
Didn’t Even Need It
The main issue here isn’t just the price of the part, but the fact that the car didn’t even need it in the first place. Later in the video, mainly_mechanics then showed us the muffler that was supposed to be replaced. It was determined that the exhaust gasket and the bolts were the only things that needed replacing, as the leaks were coming from there.
Moving to the back of the car, there were no such leaks to speak of. There was some surface rust, but not enough that would punch a hole through the body of the muffler or any of the connecting pipes. If the customer went ahead and spent on just the gasket and the bolts, minus the labor, he would have come out about $21 bucks poorer, then maybe about a hundred bucks in labor for the simpler job, and the total might come out to around $150 more or less.
A Misunderstanding?
In defense of this “high-profile” shop, maybe the customer was given an initial diagnosis without a thorough underchassis inspection. Based on the available information on the post, it could have been an initial quote, which was there to give the customer an idea of just how expensive it could get. Now, if this shop actually conducted the inspection and then quoted the customer its price for the muffler replacement, then there’s a problem.
The car in question is also a mystery. There was no mention of a year, make, or model of the car, which doesn’t give us a clear picture of what prices to expect for replacement parts. With a list price of $284, though, according to mainly_mechanics, it also calls into question where the part is coming from, whether it’s from an OEM or aftermarket replacement manufacturer.
Mainly_mechanics didn’t go into detail about where he sourced the $157 replacement from. You could speculate that the part was an aftermarket OEM replacement, while the part that the “high-profile” shop was selling was from the manufacturer, which could explain the high cost, somewhat (not really). Aftermarket or third-party replacement parts are designed to deliver similar performance to the OEM part that they replace, though there is a difference in price and quality, which is noted by the Federal Trade Commission.
Still, a $900-plus profit does sound criminal, but a quote is not a charge. I’d make an issue if that “high-profile” shop ended up charging the customer, but it’s a good thing he managed to shop around before bringing out his wallet. I guess the lesson here is to be aware of your vehicle’s issue and make sure that the shop handling it does its due diligence by properly inspecting your vehicle and showing you what’s wrong with it before any quote is given.
About the author
Earl Lee
News Editor