Flex pipe repair?

[ShakeNbakeA6]

my exhaust on my A6 3.0t has a pretty good leak and sounds like absolute crap right now from a failed flex pipe. I had the car in a shop and I saw the ripped pipe myself but I am being told to replace the whole downpipe with a new cat. that cat doesn't seem to be bad itself no loss of fuel mileage, acceleration or o2 sensors going off and I am going to do a test with an IR thermometer to check the inlet and outlet temps. I have seen that this is a pretty common Audi problem and many have just welded new flex pipe in relatively cheap. Should I look into doing that or shell out the $1k+ for a whole new downpipe?

[n8henn]

a local exhaust/fabrication shop can weld in a new flex joint for a fraction of that. Had mine done for like $80. Good as new!

[SinCityA6]

I don’t see a reason to replace a cat when doing flex pipe. Sounds like someone is trying to pad their bank account at your expense.


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[95blkmax]

what the guys above say!

A flex section is something simple, no real "must be OE" science behind it. Go to a local mom-n-pop exhaust place and support your local small businesses on this task :)

[ShakeNbakeA6]

Going to get it done next week. Thanks for the advice I love this supportive forum

[NASAudi]

what the guys above say!

A flex section is something simple, no real "must be OE" science behind it. Go to a local mom-n-pop exhaust place and support your local small businesses on this task :)

He's right. Mine had a hole busted in the side and I wend to a locally owned muffler shop and they replaced it with a new one for $85. Audi wanted told me i had to buy an entire new exhaust. The flex pipe itself is cheap. Dont let a mechanic see those four rings and charge you what HE thinks you can afford. Good luck

NASAudi