[plug&play]

Good morning all,

The muffler on my 2013 Volt (with 85k miles and 4 years) fell off this morning on my way to work. It was rusted out.

Shopping around on the web I found it priced around $400-$450. With labor and such will probably cost me $600.

But then I looked into the warranty and it looks like it might be covered:

100,000 mile/5-year transferable Engine Limited Warranty (for Range Extender)
100,000 mile/6-year corrosion protection

What do you guys/gals think?

 

[Rickoshay]

I hope it is covered for you! $400 for a muffler sounds very high. Check specialty muffler/exhaust shops if you end up on the hook for it. Should be $200 bucks tops for the muffler and labor.

2014 Volt Premium - Safety pkg 1 and 2, Navigation

 

[PIYIRIO]

I'm pretty sure the corrosion warranty only covers the chassis. The best bet is the ReX warranty BUT I bet they'll fight it as it's a wear item (i.e. oil, air filter, tires). I would push since it's completely unreasonable for a muffler to fall off a 4 year old car*.

*reminder for me not to drive in Michigan in the winter.

 

[Bill Step]

pretty sad for a car this old and muffler falls off.

 

[Bill Step]

if you can,,measure the pipe,,vw has a clamp thats structural,it would slip over both pipes and lock them together.id of the pipes are around 2" if I remember correctly,or muffler shop could make an adapter to connect them back together.

 

[Qinsp]

Also check Emissions Systems Warranty. The muffler has been listed by CARB (and perhaps EPA?) as part of the emissions system since it can affect the MAF sensor algorithms. Emissions systems have long warranties.

 

[peevee]

a muffler shop can weld that back on.

 

[turboguy327]

That clamp isn’t factory. Somebody has played with that. And you should be washing the car in the salt belt.

 

[longflare]

It must be time for a sports muffler. lol

 

[mpmoore1979]

The muffler is only covered under the bumper to bumper warranty. No other warranty applies to the muffler and if it did, would only cover a defect such as a internal baffle not rust.

 

[AZ EV Driver]

Just looked at the underbody photos I took of my 2011 on delivery and there is no clamp in the location you are showing. The system appears to be a one piece from just behind the 1st cat all the way to the back. In my mind the muffler looks OK but the pipe and clamp is suspect.

That being said, this is one of the reasons I left Michigan 30 years ago.

VIN # B0985

 

[plug&play]

UPDATE:

Got it fixed at the local muffler shop. They re-attached the muffler by welding it. Cost me $80.

Went to two chevy dealers. Both said it was not covered under warranty. Dealers were only willing to replace the whole exhaust system for $1500. I said HELL NO!!!

Took it to the muffler shop and got it done in 45 minutes.


I did drive it in range extender mode before it was fixed just to see how it sounded and it did not sound to terribly bad. If it wasn't cheap to fix it I would have been driving it like that until the rest of the exhaust system fell off . No way in hell I would spend the $1500 the dealers were asking for.

 

[El Dobro]

That clamp isn’t factory. Somebody has played with that. And you should be washing the car in the salt belt.

Totally correct.

 

[plug&play]

You are correct. Clamps were put in place when chevy did work on the car under warranty for baffle replacement. That work was done shortly after I bought the car in 2013. They used two clamps and a connection pipe to connect the muffler to the rest of the exhaust system after they replaced the baffle. The part that broke this morning was the connection pipe between the two clamps. They should have welded it instead of using two clamps and a pipe.

Anyway, it is fixed now and I am happy it only cost me $80. It was not worth my time to try to argue with Chevy and the dealer if the original fix was done right or if it needed to be fixed under warranty.

Thank you all for chiming in.

 

[AZ EV Driver]

What the heck is a "baffle replacement"? To be clear the work was performed by the dealer NOT Chevy. I'm am confident that if Chevy had done the repair it would have been a replacement of the complete rear exhaust system. You are the victim of very poor dealer work. It wouldn't surprise me if Chevy paid the dealer for the complete part, the dealer only replaced the muffler and pocketed the price difference.

VIN # B0985