MikeN77386

Ok so this is going to be a little long - my apologies in advance...but there's a lot to say here.

So a couple of weeks ago I got it in my head that I needed a cat back exhaust system. I have had some good experiences with Auto Anything with other stuff I've bought so I go on and ask for a little advice. Their live chat has been helpful in the past and they point me to obviously the magnaflow but it's a little out of my budget right now. They point me to the gibson dual sport - and as I'm not in an area where we get the salt and other crud on the roads in the winter I go for the aluminized steel system. I also probably won't keep my truck long enough for the stainless to prove to be worthwhile.

I ask what the best price they can do on it is and after a little haggling they get it down to $400 with free shipping. Sounds reasonable.

About a week later it arrives...just as the black Friday/Cyber Monday gibson deals are coming out. Now it's 25% off so would bring it down to right at about $350 shipped. Darn. Well after a quick phone call and I've got $51 and change coming back my way. Awesome.

So weekend rolls around and I take the old one off...bolt the new one on. Really overall pretty easy. One thing I fought with a little (and I'll come back to this) was the hanger over the muffler. The hanger is a long hanger and should go all the way through the rubber hanger. Well as it was shipped I can only get it barely in. No problem. I get the pipes aligned and everything is good to go.

Fire it up and eesh it seems loud at first...and the shift points seemed goofy - engine was stressing probably more than it should have to get to the next shift point. At this point I wasn't very happy because this was causing it to be louder than it normally was.

So I shoot an email to Gibson Performance customer service explaining the situation and really not expecting much for help.Great I'm stuck with an annoying exhaust - I was thinking of adding a resonator back in or I don't know what.

It wasn't 20 minutes later I get an email back from Gibson customer service. Long story short they recommend that I reset the PCM to reset the shift points. Basically the power changed and the engine doesn't know how to react to it at this point.

I'll post the procedure later if anyone wants it.

So sure enough I try it and it's noticeably less annoying. Shifts when it should and when you punch it it goes. Perfect.

Side note to this I emailed the same email to Auto Anything and they offered to return/exchange for another system no questions asked. Also perfectly acceptable in my book.

Fast forward another week...and I run to the store yesterday to grab lunch for my coworkers. Back into a stall and I hear a "crunch". I'm watching my backup camera and saw nothing. What in the world. I get out and look and there's my pretty new exhaust sitting on the ground. Not the muffler but everything from the muffler back.

Of course it's raining...and kinda cold (for south texas) and I'm wearing my beloved Texans Christmas sweater...I'm sick to my stomach - how in the heck could this happen. I know I got the clamps tight and everything lined up great.

So I crawl under my truck and pull out the two pipes that had been pushed off of the rubber mount for the hanger when the tips hit the curb. Throw it in the back of my truck, pick up lunch and back to work...not thrilled with things at this point...wet dirty and exhaust obviously not sounding great.

Get home and dry fit stuff again...back to that hanger - I take a look at it and it's just not lining up right. I take a mallet and bend it forward about 2 inches - and everything fits how it should..hanger hangs an inch or so over the rubber - clamps nice and tight. All is right in the world.

Except my once beautiful stainless exhaust tips (one of the only places on a truck I'll go for chrome) are all scratched to hell where they dragged on the ground. Well crap. I get on gibson's website and am not finding anything for replacement. On ebay they are like $70...each...on my $350 exhaust...so I'm just gonna suck it up and leave them scratched for now.

Well on a whim I email the guy at gibson who sent me the procedure for resetting the PCM explaining what happened and asking if there was a good place to get the replacements - he emails me back in like 15 minutes this time - they are going to send me out replacments free - I pay shipping. Totally beyond and above my expectations. I would have been happy with discouned set or just helping me find a place that sells them online cheaper than $70 each.

So moral of the story is Auto Anything and Gibson have been awesome for me. Definitely will get my business again in the future.

Thanks for taking the time to read my story.

Mike

MikeN77386

Quick update - $15 to ship the exhaust tips to me.

I'll take it.

GregSBF

Good to hear. I've had a couple Gibson systems and really liked them actually. The swept side system I think it was called fit well and made my 08 5.4 sound the way it should have from factory. A little growl but not even annoying when towing. I had the same system on my 08 4.6 as well and also really nice sound.

MikeN77386

I had really only been looking at flowmaster and magnaflow until I was recommended them. I wasn't expecting a lot from their customer service just due to the price point. But they've been on point - very helpful and prompt in their responses.

Couldn't recommend them more.

BadAV

I had an aluminized Gibson Dual Extreme system on my Avalanche. I liked it a lot - it was not too loud and not too quiet - just about right. However, it rusted out at the rear of the muffler in about 6-1/2 years. Because of this, I would recommend anybody that lives where salt is applied on the roads in the winter buy a stainless system. I've never had an issue like this with a replacement exhaust on any other vehicle I've owned.

MikeN77386

Couldn't agree with you more. I'm a transplant - from Nebraska originally - if I was still there I definitely would have shelled out the extra $100 for the stainless. Salt and whatever other crap they put out will eat up the aluminized steel.

On this exhaust kit I'm pretty sure the muffler is stainless and it's just the tubing in between the cat and muffler and between muffler and tips that's aluminized. On the system I got it said lifetime warranty on the muffler just not on the piping. Which I understand I guess.

budgreen

Why'd you make me read that whole damn thing only to find out you're happy. You should put in the title GOOD customer experience.

MikeN77386

Lol I did mention at the beginning it was going to be long...

I guess I find it important to throw companies names out there when something good happens as well as a bad experience. Give credit where credit is due, etc...

ZEM

Glad it all worked out for you. I have the Gibson catback in stainless that I got from Autoanything and have zero complaints, love the sound!

MikeN77386

Thanks!