Holy Cow, that looks absolutely terrible. I would contact the muffler shop business owner and see if he would fix it for free due to the shoddiness of work and wait for his response. If the owner says he's not going to do anything about it, then "tactifully" suggest that you may go to the State Attorney General Office for further assistance.
Another avenue of a possible solution may be the public news media like a local TV Channel News Station. Sometimes they have a "Consumer Fraud or Consumer Complaint" division that will actually send a TV News Camera Crew out to the bad business and do a featured news story on the issue. In the past, these are extremely effective. No business owner wants to be shown on film and interviews in a negative manner plastered on the evening TV news. So, this may be another tool of leverage in addition to the State Attorney General Office and even more effective as State Government move really slow, and TV News teams move really fast with fast results as they don't want the story to get old and stale.
Thus, my attack plan would be in this order:
(1): Talk to the muffler shop owner nicely and kindly ask him to "re-do" the total installation free of charge. If he agrees, then take no further action. If he doesn't agree, then "suggest" that you may be forced to take further action to include the State Attorney General Office and more importantly, his shop will be featured in a TV News Story about the shoddy work. If the muffler shop owner still refuses to comply, then you MUST take further action in steps 2 & 3 below (give the business owner "one last chance" to redeem himself before you actually drive away).
(2): Contact State Attorney General Office. Expect very slow results.
(3): Contact the biggest and most powerful TV News Station in your area and pursue a featured news story regarding the issue. Expect swift and immediate results, because the TV news media has a 100% success rate when exposing rip-off businesses in the local community.
In any event, I would not just lay down and eat-it. I would take action in a precise step-by-step manner. Be very nice and tactful in your communication with the muffler shop owner. Yelling and screaming solves nothing. When one step fails, you must take it to the next step until the issue is finally resolved. The TV News Story should be the absolute last resort; but if the business owner forces your hand, then it will get the job re-done for free. Plus, you'll get your pretty Dragon featured on the evening TV news!!! Let us know how things work out.
Lastly, you must have not read the latest "muffler threads". The overall viewpoint of this forum have determined that the Magnaflow Brand IS NOT the best muffler for the VX. The very best muffler by far for the VX is the now famous "Dynomax - Super Turbo" muffler. Do a forum "search" for DYNOMAX SUPER TURBO and specifically look for a thread entitled "Muffler Help Needed", then prepare yourself to be impressed.
Reply With Quote