Nothing like driving through a puddle and having the water wash away whatever rust was holding your exhaust together.
That's exactly what happened to my fiancee and I a few days ago, as we were driving our '03 Subaru Forested, 186,000 miles on it and counting, original exhaust apparently waiting for the right puddle to wash it off the car!
Car's quiet, go through the puddle, car's loud. We both look at each other with the most awesome "WTF?" looks on our faces. When it's safe to do so, we pull over, look under the car, nothing hanging low, so we can at least get it home and check it out the next morning.
That time comes, I start it cold, THREE leaks make their existence known.
Pretty much every connection point from the catalytic converter back, plus an extra hole in the side of a pipe, just for good measure.
Good thing I'm crafty and don't mind turning wrenches!
A quick search on craigslist and I find someone selling a brand-new Subaru exhaust for $150, and it was even the RIGHT ONE for the car!
A little more hardware from the local auto parts store, a few hours of battling 14-year-old rusted hardware under the car, and the car's quiet again, and for a fraction of the cost that would've been if we had gone to a muffler shop or the dealer (we had gotten quotes before and the lowest one was about $700, parts/labor total).
Woo-hoo!
