I've been on vacation for the past 2 weeks and for $hits and giggles, I ran by the Midas shop near me to see what they would charge for a Magnaflow Magnapack Cat-Back install:

796.99 for parts
100.00 for labor

Roflmao, I asked why it was so costly, quote,"Well, its a high performance exhaust system, guaranteed to boost your power by about 30-40 horses." He went on to say he had the exact same set-up in his corvette and that he had to change to a flowmaster Cback because of wheel spin and noise.
I was there for around 5 min and pretty much let him do all the talking, because I just couldn't believe the that was coming out of his mouth.
I've already ordered my catback anyway and will install it myself, just thought it would be interesting to see how much money I was going to save:

500.00 for parts and beer
0.00 for labor

400.00 saved for more parts and more beer

 

Jesus dude, that's insane....the labor part isn't WAY off, but a little expensive.....I had my cat back and prochamber installed for $80 cash money......the guy cut me a deal if I paid him cash! ha ha....probably cause he just put it in his pocket and didn't claim in.

Oh and I paid less than $796 for both my magnaflow catback and prochamber with cats.....about $96 dollars less.

What a rip off man! ha ha ha....and 30hp, whatever. I know vettes probably respond well to mods, but come on that guy is an idiot and its scary to think he works on cars for a living and still doesn't have a clue.

 

LOL
I hate people so much...
You can't get away charging those prices... and should be shot... 30-40 hp ... having to remove it because of spinning his tires? I guess everyone better recall they're Z06's!?

 

i think its funny your spending 500bucks on a catback that gives maybe 5hp. I dont know why those things are soo much money.

 

I've found that most guys that work on cars at ANY chain (including dealers) establishment know exactly two things, jack and **** and jack left. I don't trust mechanics as much as I don't trust lawyers, telemarketers, or short-big-nosed-scientologist actors with latent pedophilia. That's why I learned the theory and practice of wrenching as much as possible... now I can do my own work and lie to myself instead of being lied to by a MORON like the Midass doof you happened upon.

Does that read too... mean spirited?

Pimpin player style though. Let that guy BS his way out of a customer. Gotta love the low-forehead types... heheheh. Way to start my day off with a grin.

 

I could have got the CB for under $400

 

ha ha ha....very funny stuff! I agree....Hey r3dn3ck is it possible to hire you to help me when I need stuff installed?? ha ha ha....I figured I'd ask cause you live darn close and you know WAY more about mustangs than anyone I've ever met..ha ha

 

I went to midas once to ask how much they would charge for 2 weld on 40 series flows....guy quoted me $400 bucks!!!...i could not believe it..
fawk midas!

 

hire... hell dude, come on over and we'll hang out and play on the cars. If you wanna pay me, cool... but not totally necessary. Many of the newer guys in the Stang scene around here come over and do mods at my place. It's just more fun when you can have someone show you how easy most of it really is.

I know a lot but I have a little bit of humble pie left... I don't know everything. fortunately my neighbor is also the top wrench at Apex and a pal of mine so if I ever get stuck or have questions, he's there and usually pretty happy to help.

 

jeebus 4.6... that's pretty bad. Note to self... Never go to midas.

 

Thanks I really appreciate that....I'll be sure to send you a pm sometime soon and maybe I can tag along and learn some things.

 

Aye, that would true, cept I'm getting the catback for the sound, not the hp gain, I love the way magnaflows sound. As for hp gains, I have fallen into the darkside and am saving for a procharger. My original plan was to keep the GT mainly stock and use it for a daily driver, but after lots of reading and researching, getting a procharger, 2800 stall, 4.10 gears, LT, catted x-pipe and such appeals to me much, much more hehe. Step one will be getting a baseline dyno run this saturday. I'm planning on doing a dyno run after each mod install. The shop that has the dyno is like 4 miles from my house and I get a discount there being a member of Austin Area Stangs.

As for the guy at midas, he was definitely not a mechanic as far as I could tell, rofl, he worked the front desk and placed the orders. Hell, he had to call the main office just to get info on what I asked him about.

 

yet he finds it within his power to quote you hp gain figures... hehehehe wowzorz.

I know why they're so much money... because people are willing to pay it, just like 3 dollar a gallon gas. I have a particular affection for my Borla mufflers but I wouldn't have paid what they cost at retail. I've never actually paid for any exhaust upgrade as a matter of fact. I traded a rifle stock for a set of flows like 5 years ago and swapped through LM2, Magnaflow, and finally my borla's. My Bassani X pipe was a gift from a pal that owned a mustang tuning shop. Point is, if you're cheap and willing to wait you can parlay some neat deals with zero dollars spent.

 

You'd be suprised in the HP gains you'll get with just adding a catback and mid pipe with your 4 valve....even the CAI will get you some decent gains.

That's sweet your going to get a dyno run after each mod....I really wish I would have done a baseline run before modding. I installed everything and took it straight to the dyno....oh well.