Trust the Midas Touch?

Rust holes in my resonator pipe. Doesn't sound good, does it?

But that was the diagnosis I received from the technicians at Midas this morning after I took my 1998 Honda Civic in for an 11:00 appointment. With the unpleasant rumbling sound emanating from under my vehicle, I was hoping the problem was with the muffler. I had purchased the muffler from this same Midas location three years prior. And since I still owned the vehicle, Midas would have replaced the muffler for free, (not including labor). So I thought this would be a cheap repair. Not so.

Turns out, the 3-year old muffler is in fine shape. But the resonator pipe, (which basically runs from the resonator back to the muffler) was thoroughly rusted out. The resonator sits just behind the catalytic converter. I think the resonator pipe is also known as the exhaust pipe, but since I have very limited knowledge of the underbelly of my car, I really can't be sure. But one thing I do know is that I am $418.72 poorer. But with a shiny new Resonator, (and pipes), my car does run much quieter.

Even though I can "hear" an improved difference since the repairs were made, it is difficult to convince myself that I got a fair deal. Mainly because after I got home, I took a closer look at my paperwork from the "muffler replacement" in 2005. It seems that in 2005 when the muffler was replaced, Midas also would have replaced the exhaust pipes. But today when the technician showed me the problem under the car, he pointed out rusty, you guessed it, exhaust pipes. (which today he called resonator pipes). The big expense on today's invoice was for the actual "resonator", which the technician didn't even point out to me as a problem. (Then again, maybe he did, and I just didn't realize it at the time).

I know this all sounds confusing. But whenever I leave an auto repair shop, two things are guaranteed: 1) that I'll have some buyer's remorse because of my lack of auto-repair knowledge, and 2) I'll have a lighter wallet.

But what can you do?