Exhaust fell off and split, legal to drive?

TheCleaner

TheCleaner

Active Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
304
Location
Newcastle, England
Car(s)
2004 Clio dCi 1.5 100HP
Shock horror occured while I was out of town to the beach maybe 20 miles away, when all of a sudden the car got very loud. I'd noticed the exhaust was hanging quite low previously, but one of the clips keeping it on had corroded and fell off, leaving the exhaust to support its own weight, in which case, it snapped in half.

I ended up thinking on my feet, and having no rope with me, used jump leads to secure the rear, now cold section of the exhaust, up, and trapping the jump leads in the door to keep it secure. Its worked a treat, and allowed me to get back to my uni home, and then also drive home, hopefully to get it fixed.

My question, is it legal? I'm wondering if i might be pulled by the police for noise, and likely air pollution, and if i can be charged.

By the way, heres a pic, what you guys thinking, new exhaust (the car was only ?250) or just some welding, of the exhaust back together, and then welding on some new clips?

how the exhaust is without support, undriveable....
http://img337.imageshack.**/img337/6372/dsc03420ui3.jpg

.....until some ghetto rigging with jump leads.
http://img524.imageshack.**/img524/4951/dsc03418ka9.jpg
 
If it rusted apart where it did it probably means it's about to do the same somewhere else. After struggling with many half-assed repairs previous owners did on my Disco I've adopted a new saying: fix it right or don't even touch it. Besides, you'll probably save more hassle and money in the long run by just replacing it now.
 
Yeah you're better off replacing it because this old one is rusted anyway (that's French build quality for you :lol:), and with a brand new exhaust, the car will run a lot better and smoother as well. ;)
 
the way i see it... any repair worth more than 50% of the car's value, means time for a new car.
 
hey guys, thanks for the input, and jensked, i posted pics, have they not shown up?

anyway, luckily my uncle is good mates with a garage manager so i took it there, and ?25 and an hour later, i had a brand spankin new underbody exhaust fitted, and my rear right tyre bath checked for punctures (i had suspected a slow one) and having found that there wasnt a puncture, replaced my valve, all free of charge.

So ?25 isnt bad at all, and now it runs so much nicer. Glad i got it sorted, but mainly, thank God i decided to swap the jump leads i carry in my car to be the extra long ones!!
 
what he meant was we want more pics, how it looks from outside, not just underneath.
 
?25 quid is a bargin, I think you owe someone at least a 4-pack
 
more like a 24-pack! super bargain you got there! just don't break it again :p
 
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