Citroen C4 Aircross Muffler

Silencer pricing spans R100 to R2,800 depending on the model and the material, and a twin-pipe stainless rear box comes in around R999 at fitment centres. Pro Citroen Spares and our supplier network carry stock for the C3 and Xsara. Ask what material you are being quoted on, because mild steel and stainless at similar prices are not the same purchase.

The rear silencer has rusted through, in most cases. If it has not, the other candidates are a cracked manifold, a torn flexible joint and a heat shield that has come adrift — each of which sounds different and comes from a different part of the car. Getting under the car with the engine idling and listening along the system takes two minutes and saves buying the wrong part.

Fitted, budget R1,450 to R4,650 at an independent for a quality stainless rear box. Mild steel comes in below that and, on a coastal car, frequently does not survive three winters. Stainless lasts around a decade, and it sounds better as it ages because the internal baffles are not corroding away. On a car you plan to keep, it is the cheaper option over time.

A pinhole in sound metal can be welded. The difficulty is that silencers rot from the inside out, so wherever a hole has appeared the surrounding wall is already thin and the weld tends to blow a larger hole rather than close a small one. Exhaust paste and bandage will hold for a few weeks and no longer. Two rounds of patching costs more than a stainless replacement.

Pro Citroen Spares and our supplier network carry silencers for the C3, Xsara, C3 Aircross and C5. For less common models, most fitment centres will fabricate a box in-house, which is often cheaper than a catalogue part and can be built in stainless. Send the engine code and tell us whether the original was single or twin outlet, since that changes the mounting.