Just out of curiosity - I don't see a Larini 3x8 muffler listed on the Ricambi site (maybe I missed it). Is this muffler an "odd piece" (not talking about the defect on this particular one) that you do not normally stock?
"but it looks like someone might get a good deal!!" Maybe - but it just give me a bad feeling. If Larini got the part wrong that everybody can see, what about the innards that can't be seen? Where is their quality control that let that obvious defect out of the factory? I mean, c'mon this isn't a $50 Midas muffler - these things cost 2.5k! It's a good thing that Ricambi actually looks at their stuff. Most companies would have never noticed the defect and just shipped it out. Then the new owner would have had to deal with the hassle/expense of return IF they even figured out why it wouldn't seal. Again, I'm impressed with Ricambi because they made it extremely clear on the auction exactly what the problem is and that, because it is a factory defect, it is not returnable.
It seems to be a pattern.......... Daniel lays it out for us in an honest way. We can go for it - or not - - but with RICAMBI, we're never pulled by "non truths". Love ya, Daniel............ Hank
This is an easy fix...the exact same thing happened to me when I got my X-ost for the GT4...I contacted the factory and after sending them pics they admitted their fault and apologised...I went to a few exhaust shops and picked up two gaskets for $5 that did the job perfectly....no leaks what so ever.I let the factory know and they offered to send me money for the gaskets but I didnt wory about it...oh at first they offered to replace it but shipping it back wasnt feasable..here is a pic of what I looked like as well as the gasket I used.. http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/3766/boxingday07005kk6.jpg http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/2811/3p20gaskettn51qa4.jpg
If your car is a Euro and has no cats then I dont think this will fit....This is for US spec with single cat
Just an FYI about Daniel and exhausts. Some years ago (3 maybe) I purchased an exhaust from Daniel, it was, I believe, the first he sold for a Dino from a company that he may mention here if he chooses. It didn't fit, AT ALL. Daniel and I talked about it, and he GAVE me the exhaust for $0.00. It had many more issues than this one does, took my mechanic about 4-5 hours to fit, and cost me about $900 all in to install. If that one cost $900 to fit, this should be a fraction of that. And did I mention Daniel GAVE me the exhaust? And more recently, I put Tubi tips on my 360, they didn't fit either and needed the retro-fit this exhaust appears to need. Took a couple hours for the mechanic to do. I wouldn't be concerned so much about internals of this. Getting a bend in a pipe wrong, or a bevel doesn't surprise me, and shouldn't be a difficult fix. Someone, bought right, could get a hell of a deal here. DM
I know I'm beating this to death and I apologize but I can't help it... "Getting a bend in a pipe wrong, or a bevel doesn't surprise me," But this should be totally unacceptable to everybody. Midas can put a muffler in a car and it will fit perfectly for less than 100 bucks. An aftermarket muffler maker that charges you THOUSANDS of dollars JUST for the muffler has no excuse for it not to be absolutely perfect in every way. But obviously others do not feel as strongly about this as I do...
I do....you just said it b-4 me... I find its difficult just to get someone to call me to do work around my home too.(electrician etc..)
IMHO it is not worth the money, $2-3K to place an aftermarket stainless exhaust system on a 308 or 328 series car. They all sound very similar to the factory exhaust and the only feature they really offer is a less restrictive flow. So MAYBE you pick up an additional 5hp???? That alot to spend for so little in return. just my $.02
That's a -lot- of money for a bent part that isn't even visible on the 328. Still, congrats to Daniel for getting rid of it.
I find I have very mixed emotions about this... I'm glad Ricambi, who I think a lot of, was able to get 1600 bucks for the muffler. OTOH, I can't imagine what sort of idiot, er, I mean "enthusiast" would spend that amount of money for something with no warranty and because of the obvious defect, without wondering if internally the pipes even connect to each other. Bizarre.
That's pretty harsh. I was willing to go to about 1/2 of the final sale amount, figuring a welded-on 'test-pipe' would remove any concerns about the missing bevel. Don't see any correlation between the missed bevel and internal pipes, and don't these things normally go for $2500+?
Agreed. I don't think 1.6k is all that out of line. Lots of guys here have paid plenty more just to enhance the sound of their cars. The remedy for the defect seems pretty straight forward. Looks like an easy repair that could be done by your aveage DIY type with a die grinder.
I guess maybe I'm just off base here but they way I look at products is this: If something so obviously wrong and in plain sight of the "quality assurance" folks at Larini was shipped out. How can you possibly be confident that the portion of the muffler that is INSIDE where you can't see it is OK. Remember, there is no warranty so if you buy it and find out that the guy that put it together that day had a bad night or was just playing a joke on everybody and didn't actually weld it up internally...what's your option? Don't say, "That can't happen," because it does happen. If you think folks on an assembly line/plant don't do stuff like that on purpose, you've never worked on one... I'm glad Ricambi got their money out of the muffler; I hope whoever bought it is happy with it and that it works fine because if it doesn't, he's out 1600 bucks for nothing. "Nice going Mike. Now I'll never know who the winning bidder was." I don't understand how anything I have posted has anything to do with knowing who the winning bidder was... ???
Don't forget it was an auction. The winning bidder may have bid more and at least one more "enthusiast" bid $1590.
