Factory Subaru Exhaust Parts

How Much Does Exhaust Replacement Cost on Average?

Your Subaru might be one of the ruggedest, most reliable vehicles out there today, but that doesn't mean its parts can't run down just the same.

When that happens to the exhaust, repairs can get pricey quick, running anywhere from $300 to $2,000 or so -- and that's just to start with. Obviously, replacement costs depend on how extensive those repairs are -- not only parts costs, but labor costs also; they can average $1,700 or more for catalytic converters, for instance, plus $800 for mufflers, anywhere from $30 to $500 for resonators, $850 plus for exhaust manifolds, and upwards of $750 for tail pipes.

Of course, you can try to avoid that kind of bill, or at least mitigate it. Here's some advice on how.

Keep Repair Costs Down: 3 Care and Maintenance Tips

Run regular inspections. Check the catalytic converter (cat) every 100,000 miles or so, and the muffler and/or resonator about every 2 to 4 years. It'll go a long way to helping you recognize the signs of a bad exhaust before things get worse.

Diagnose a Check Engine light ASAP. The warning can show up for anything from a loose gas cap to a misfiring engine, a failed oxygen sensor (a known issue for Subaru Forester models, for example), or a faulty catalytic converter. Plug in a code reader or an advanced scan tool and troubleshoot any error codes that it reads. It's a good way to, say, take care of this or that bad part before it becomes several.

Take care of repairs sooner rather than later. Even hardware like bolts and hangers can get broken, and breakage just leads to more. It's common for exhaust manifolds to crack and start leaking, too, not to mention for gaskets to fail. Plus, corrosion can set in, and pipes themselves can fail, doing even more damage to your system. Replace whatever you need to earlier, and you're less likely to end up with a catastrophe.