vlad2007lexus

My rear muffler has a hole (due to rust) and I am looking for a budget option because mufflers are expensive, mostly because of shipping.

The bottom of my exhaust muffler looks good, so I am thinking of carving it out and using another car's muffler to lay it on top and solder it all together. Has anyone done this? What do you think of the idea? My mechanic didn't want to do it, he says it's a patch job that will last two years but I suspect he simply doesn't want the hassle. I could find someone else to do it though.

Also, what other car's muffler should I use for the patch? Ideally I would use an LS but I haven't found anything in my area so I am tempted to use perhaps a Camry or an Avalon. Is there a rear exhaust muffler that is similar to size and shape of my LS that you can recommend?

LS460-2007-SWB-190k miles.

Thank you!

Marc780

Your mechanic is right. Patching the exhaust system is usually pointless. The only reason I'd ever try to patch a muffler is if I were selling the car and even then I'd still inform the seller that I did this just so I could sleep at night. I think I'd pick up a muffler at a salvage yard or even Ebay, before I'd try to patch a muffler, mainly because most of the Lexus exhaust is supposed to be stainless steel anyway on most models, which means your chances of finding an acceptable used one that fits, is better than it would be for other, lesser cars - I have seen them used for $140 on Ebay.

Cooker883

My 460’s mufflers rotted out too — their top parts mostly. OEM replacements were a lot of money. Off we go to Midas: $375 for some glasspacks. A little droney under and around 2000 rpm. But otherwise reasonably quiet, and the car picked up around 3 - 4 mpg.

vlad2007lexus

Ok so I got the idea of taking a salvaged muffler from another car and welding it at the pipes. This should be a much more durable solution. The trick is to find a car with a similar exhaust system. Any ideas?

Marc780

Sure, what I'd do is find the part number for the LS460 mufflers. Then just search the part number. That same muffler is in use on many models of car, it shouldn't be hard to find a cheaper one. But just casually looking on Ebay I saw a brand new but off brand, muffler for $150. And nationwide there are plenty of people selling used mufflers stripped off old LS460's. The best part of that is, some of those are stainless steel, which lasts far longer than the thin gauge sheet steel used in most mufflers. If I found a used and reasonably undamaged muffler in stainless I'd buy even a used part and not think twice about it.