What is a fair price for a good performance shop to install a FI fullback exhaust?

[hifitodd]

Hello,

The title says it all. I just called my local shop who does very good work, but the quote was WAY higher than I expected. What should I expect to pay for a high quality shop to install FI downpipes + catback?

Thanks,
Todd

[jlaudio]

My local shop in CT charged me 90 bucks to put on a catback. from what i read though the downpipes can be a bastard to get off, sometimes taking 6+ hours unless you have a torch.

[vdubjetta02]

downpipes - $400
Catback - $100

[RS4in206]

My local shop in CT charged me 90 bucks to put on a catback. from what i read though the downpipes can be a bastard to get off, sometimes taking 6+ hours unless you have a torch.

Yes, the dp's were by far the hardest part due to the lack of working space. Took about 6 hours to get those off and put in correctly!

downpipes - $400
Catback - $100

+1

I was quoted 500$ for installation of dps and cat back but Im guessing the type of car you have and the level of difficulty for installation on your particular model plays a role in that. Hope this helps!

[JimmyBones]

Catback should be an hour labor at most.

Down pipes depend on your trans. Manuals should be three to four hours and Autos should be five to six hours. You have to lower the back of the subframe and then squeeze out the down pipes for an automatic.

The hourly rate varies between $75 to $130 dollars usually depending on where you live and the shop doing the work. MA usually is in the middle to higher end of that range depending on how close your are to a big city.

[hifitodd]

My local shop quoted MUCH higher than anything mentioned in this thread. Anyone know of a good shop in eastern MA (I live north of Boston) for me to call?

[M|R]

Your garage

haha seriously, shop around because most places are going to try and take you on the price. I was quoted $650 at one shop for a catback...fyi from the time I put it on the lift to the time I backed it out was about 2hrs.

[Excelerate]

To remove and install a catback takes an hour usually but it's the time a shop spends aligning the tips that matters. Tip alignment can take 30-60 minutes depending on how well the system fits. When we install a system we measure the tip placement from every angle and attempt to get all tips within a mm of each other on both sides.

Downpipes on the 4.2 take about 3-4 hours. Usually a couple of the studs break though so that can add some time.

[BWT]

My local shop quoted MUCH higher than anything mentioned in this thread. Anyone know of a good shop in eastern MA (I live north of Boston) for me to call?

Call up Advanced Tech in Gloucester. It should be right in your backyard depending on where on the north shore you live. Lee knows the 4.2 S4's well and his labor rate is very fair. I would expect about 4-5 hours of labor for a FI fullback install to get everything just right.

I had my FI fullback system installed by a BMW shop that claimed to know what they were doing and it looked like shit for about a year until I paid someone else to do it right. A good exhaust shop is very hard to find in the Boston area.

[c13h18n2]

Hmm. My custom made DP's were $400 with installation. Took about 8 hours to build them and install them. Same shop did cat-back install for $100.