Exhaust flex pipe repair (cut and weld a new) + rear shocks replacement + spark Plugs

[sheva7]

Good morning all,

I am still driving my Chevrolet Aveo LS 2008, it has 90K miles now, still loving it.

I have a couple of questions, especially because I went to a shop and he notified me some repairs to perform

1/ the shop notified my that the exhaust flex pipe was loose. He thinks I should change it. For 175$, he would cut it and weld a new one, I think it is a typical repair. I don't have a welder, saw, and protections. Is it worth trying to buy all of these and do it myself?. How often do you change your pipe?

2/ THey see some traces of leaking at the two rear shocks, and recommend replacement. It is true that the tires in the back are more used than the from one. Do I need full replacement? should I change the front one as well? How often do you change the shocks?

3/ I wanted to change the spark plug and he told me that I don't need to do that, that I should better be waiting for the engine light to turn on to change them. I read on the forum that users change them after ~25K miles. Should I just change them for better car efficiency?

Thanks,

Ben

[avguy]

On my 2005 there is a retainer ring which attaches to one end of the flex pipe that broke loose fairly early. You might want to crawl under and see if that's what he's referring to. If so, that's an easy fix. The rear shocks are very easy to replace yourself, and a good way to get into DIY if you haven't done much and are interested in getting into that. How frequently the various suspension parts get replaced depends a lot on the condition of the roads you drive on, and also how good you are at avoiding whatever problems those roads do have.
On the plugs, if the mechanic means wait until you get a CEL/randon misfire, that would be the first time I've ever heard that advice come from a shop. Proactive maintenance means doing the routine stuff BEFORE you have problems. I just recently installed a set of NGK for $10 in around 20 minutes. With 40K miles on the old ones, was that too soon? Don't know, and for $10 don't really care either.

[sheva7]

Thanks avguy!

I'll definitely do the spark plug replacement before I get the misfire signal!

[JusteR]

+1 on the plugs. I wouldn't wait for the light.

FWIW, the flex on my 08 hatch SV is just starting to leak also. I am starting to hear a drone. the braided section has been loose for 6+ mos. and I cut the ring off to keep it from rattling. We usually do those for around 125 candy bars, I'd shop around and see if you can get a better deal (someone you can trust, of course.) I am at around 130,xxx miles. If you aren't hearing any noise, replacement would be strictly PM. just like plugs before the light comes on (VBG)

HTHY