Rav 4. 3 Centre Exhaust Replacement

[jonjosar]

Just had one of those "bad news" "Good news" moments. I'd thought i could hear an exhaust blow for a while but the usual trick of putting a rag over the tailpipe didnt show up anything out of the ordinary. Convinced i could hear this noise, a quick look at the centre box on a ramp showed the box to be rotten around the welds.

My local independent quoted £290+vat for the full front pipe including the small cat at the front. Mr toyota quoted £1100 and something( i'm not sure exactly because i was in the middle of a mild heart attack after the 11 bit).

A bit of research showed that there was a replacement for roughly £50 available on eBay from Germany but i,ve decided to use a Bosal part instead. Bosal part number 279-445 is a "repair" part giving me a replacement box fitted by cutting the original front part of my exhaust as it seems ok. £143+VAT and its 2 year warranty which should take me far enough to trade the car in. Looking at the replacement, it seems a fairly well made exhaust, weighs heavy. Need to get it fitted now.

As i said, i'm hoping that this should last until i sell the car, thinking about the 2013 on 2.2 4WD as its going to tow my caravan. Dont think the 2.0 would have the grunt as my current 2.2 136 bhp is just about able to tow the van.

Has anyone anything to report on this newer model yet? Anyone used it for towing their caravan?