Loud banging noise from under car when driving - think exhaust is knacked - how much might a replacement cost - is it worth just replacing damaged bit - where is the best/cheapest place to get it fixed? Car is an old VW Polo.
Depends what is wrong. It could just be your heat shield is lose which is dead easy to fix but makes a right racket! Have you had a look under the car (don't need to lift it, should be able to see it by just getting on hands and knees, putting phone on selfie mode and taking a pic under car can be handy too)?
Heat shield came loose on the back box section of my previous car. I ripped it off and popped round to a garage who told me to just leave it off. Had the car another three or four years afterwards without it on
Same. Mine came loose so we put a washer on it that was bigger than the hole (saw a great video of one made out of a Fanta can but decided to get a proper one). It then came loose on the other end years later and so we decided to just rip it off and have done with it. Bloody autocorrect keeps changing loose to lose!
Mine changes on to in every time too which is annoying. I've heard of so many people taking the heat shield off that it makes me wonder why it's there in the first place if the car is fine without it
recently it had an MOT and report flagged up that 'exhaust front flexie pipe deteriorated' so I guess part if not all of exhaust need replacing - cost?
In terms of the flexi, it depends on the garage and their skills. Some will want to replace the full front end which would cost a pretty penny! You (if you felt confident and had the tools) could replace just the flexi pipe by cutting it off and welding a new one on, or you could find someone to do it for you for much much cheaper than replacing the whole thing. Where abouts is the noise coming from, what sort of noise is it and when does it do whilst driving?
Thanks JD - loud noise comes form sort of below engine - and there's a banging noise when I start engine. I am able to top up oil and check tyres - that's the limit of my mechanical skills!
It does sound like your flexi could be the culprit. You want to take it to somewhere that is happy to do some welding otherwise you'll be having to replace all the front section including the catalytic converter etc. which you (probably) don't need.
thanks JD - will pop it round to a guy who knows about cars and does some simple jobs. Think I'll get a straight opinion from him then I take things from there. Cheers,
did the rounds of exhaust fitters this a.m. - best price at Malcolm's Cemetery Road - had car on car lift and I was shown the exhaust - completely knacked. It's been on the car for 12 years so can't complain!
Agreed! The other two places I went to said that the exhaust sounded as if it 'had gone' and because of its age would need replacing. They didn't actually get the car on the ramps to do a proper inspection as Malcolm did - being able to see the sad state of the exhaust reassured me I wasn't being conned - the whole system want replacing.