As far as I can tell, mine is the original with fifteen years and 200k miles. Is this unusual? The car has spent time in the rust belt so it’s not been coddled.
They detected a small hole at the welding of this little heat shield near the flange of mine after 170,000 km and 13 ¼ years with salted roads in the winters. I've replaced it with an Al-plated (and by myself Zn-sprayed) 3rd party spare part for only about 70 €/$ - will last forever, I hope. FP4 ?
OE muffler on the 2007 at 295,000 miles 1994 Suburban on OE muffler at 208,000 miles I've had a number of vehicles go over 200,000 miles on the OE muffler. The only muffler I've ever replaced was on a 1985 F150 about 10 years ago and I'm old.
I don't think I've ever heard of one rusting out. But then, we have less rust here; Still, there should be reports on PC if it happens with any kind of frequency.
It all depends on what the mufflers are made of and how the car is driven. Years ago, mufflers and tail pipes were made of mild aluminumized or aluminum coated steel. They corroded quickly and seldom lasted much more than five years. Midas and Meineke muffler shops were around every corner shopping center. They now do brakes as lower level of car services. Even K-Mart and Sears did mufflers. Some twenty years ago, manufacturers started using 409 low grade Martensic stainless steel. It is a lower magnetic grade of stainless steel that is now the industry standard. Low mileage aggregate short trips where the engines don't completely heat up will destroy mufflers and tail pipes more readily than longer highway miles trips. It's all about the moisture laden moisture that condenses at the bottom of the muffler and/or tailpipe and whether if they are "burned off" and ejected out.
It can last a really long time but use and environment (here in the lower rust belt of NJ) can take their toll. The muffler on my 2006 finally rotted through along the seam of the main shell a few months ago. Got a new assembly from Toyota- it'll probably outlive me. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Five years? Yeah right. I would get four or five years from a system because I drove 80+ miles a day commuting. Most people were lucky to get two to three years around here. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
As a kid, I remember the Midas TV commercial where one driver yelled over the noisy muffler of the car next to him and said, in his best Brooklyn accent, "Your muffla; fix it!'
Mufflers in general seem to be lasting a lot better. Better coatings? The Catalytic Converter reduces oxidants?
It had to do with EPA regulations. They had to guarantee them for 96 months or 80,000 miles. C.A.R.B. states require the entire exhaust system to be warranted for 180 months or 150,000 miles.
I had a 2004... muffler failed recently. its sold, but I have 2 2007s currently. One was getting kind of loud and that muffler is a goner. The other one I haven't driven much but I believe it is right behind it for a muffler replacement. Like a poster said above, they rot around a tiny (heat shield?) welded to the pipe, between the flange and the rear axle. I have a feeling if this weld was not there, it would not have rusted through. I pulled a resonator pipe from one at a scrap yard recently because my catalytic converter thief didn't leave me enough pipe to put on an aftermarket converter. The muffler on that car had the same ailment. I am going to try an Ebay "stainless steel" muffler out. they said that their pipes and muffler are stainless, so that might put me in a better place as compared with the stainless steel Walker sold on Amazon, that has issues with pipes rusting through in a few years. My 2007 with the leaky exhaust has 240K and the 2004 had 250K. The other 2007 has 190k. I will have to give that one a closer look. All I believe have been driven in the northeast.
