The flex pipe on our ’09 broke @ 35K and the car is always garaged. It wasn’t terribly noisy, but since it’s my wife’s car I bit the bullet and decided to change the pipe myself. It wasn’t easy finding an aftermarket pipe. Summit Racing has one made by AP for $128 with the gaskets. The pipe and gaskets were sent directly from the AP factory. Fortunately I have a work pit, and I would not recommend attempting this job while lying underneath the car.

The three front nuts came off with some persuasion. But the two rear flange bolts that connect to the catalytic converter pipe were rust welded into a solid mass. I used an angle grinder to cut the nuts and heads off the bolts, and then a chisel to separate the flanges. Then I had to release the rubber supports to lower the catalyst pipe enough to be able to drill out the seized bolts. That took several hours. The old flex pipe was a struggle to remove because it just barely clears the body. The new pipe wouldn’t go in for the same reason. I had to grind off about 1/8”” off the top of the rear flange to get it to clear the body. The front gasket is weird in that it doesn’t fit into any recess – it’s just a ring that you need sandwich in and position into place equally. I suspect that might be why the flex pipe broke. The end result was a success. But be forewarned – this is a bitch of a job.