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Longlife Stainless Steel Exhausts


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I had a back box made in a franchise in croydon and tbh I wasn't happy with the end result , they couldn't be bothered to unbolt a flange so cut it off and sleeved it to centre pipe instead and box was really loud with the car being an auto at the time so they agreed to put on another box but said I had to re use the chosen tail pipe tip and they would charge me extra too , the tip itself was poor quality and not the same shiny material as the box so overall poor service and quality for me and even when I desperately needed a centre Pipe I refused to go back so instead I went to powerflow but they too can be hit and miss as I had a front pipe made in one branch and service and quality was great but the branch lost there certificate with powerflow and they were waiting to hear about it being renewed but they didn't so went to another branch recently and they had to alter the pipe for another manifold and they really bodged it and ruined the great work of the original powerflow branch , my advice would be make sure you research the branch well wherever you want to go

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There is a lot of consideration in price and Longlife are one of the cheaper franchises. Check things like pipe bending against mandrel, is the stainless steel 316?, are the tail pipes single skin, rolled edges which are cheap or solid which are expensive.

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I used infinity exhausts on my supra and found they were ok, I think they have moved now, they used to be based near junc 18 of the M5 but I think they have moved again.

One of the hangers came loose about a year later so took it back in and they fixed it straight away, no charge and didn't ask to see the warranty info, pretty decent service.

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After looking at reviews via google of Longlife dealers, it would seem customer satisfaction is very mixed with Longlife.

Seems to depend upon where it's done and more importantly who is there at the time and at any given particular branch to do the job.

Longlife product quality is quoted for being very high, T304 grade British stainless steel though-out, but reading between the lines it would seem some franchises maybe using lesser grade materials [or some parts of...] and the skill level of the fitter can vary greatly.

A case of go to the wrong place and get a crap job done, or go to the right place and get perfection.

The local Longlife franchise dealer near me is a BMW indy garage with fairly good reports and reviews on Facebook, nothing bad to note. I know a couple of local Beemer drivers so will ask them about the place. He maybe worth the gamble.

Fortunately i'm not in any hurry, my existing pipe is still working okay, it looks like the 11 year old original being so rusty, but could maybe last another year or two...

Edited by Crazy Cat Lady
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I doubt that there will be much difference in the quality of material used by different dealers using the same franchise name.

The way these franchises work is that an individual dealer "buys" a longlife or powerflow franchise and so gets permission to use the brand name - and at the same time they commit to buy the materials they use from the central company - so each franchise dealer is a company in its own right, but they have brought the right to use the franchise name and they are committed to buy the materials they use and the advertising etc. provided by the centre.

The result is that quality of material should be consistent - the weakness in this business model is often quality of workmanship. It basically comes down to one franchise holder being better than another - and so asking whether longlife or powerflow are any good is largely pointless, as it will actually come down to the differences between individual franchise owners, some longlife or powerflow franchise holders will have higher standards, better employee training and more concern for customer care than others.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update:

Just paid a visit to my local Longlife dealer at Oswestry, and got quoted for £375 to include VAT and fitting.

I've asked for a quiet system,

plus a slightly smaller rear silencer to allow it more room so it don't clank against the heat shield.

The manager has a very good reputation for BMW service, tuning, and diagnostics but they work on other makes too, especially with the Longlife exhaust franchise.

He's also qualified to do exhausts himself but has a lad presently undergoing TIG weld training and won't be available for a couple of months all going well.

That gives me some thinking time g-scratch.gif

Debs

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