Zen and the art of muffler maintenance

I don't know about you, but I have never been a creature of habit with many things. I guess because I was born with an impulsive nature, I tend to like change, yearn for it in some instances. Take work, for example. When I was younger, give me a year in one place and I went stir-crazy. There was always a better opportunity to make more money, to improve my position. I got tired of people commenting on the swiss cheese appearance of my CV. So, as I got older, I stuck with jobs even though they were never perfect. Then again, what is? Who among you can rave about your perfect marriage? Are you rushing off to get divorced? Okay, maybe that's a bad example... but you get the point.

MY point is that, no matter what, it is always good to look around. Stuck in a rut at work? Keep your eyes open and apply for jobs you might like better. It's a crap shoot, because, as I learned not so long ago, something that looks like Little Red Riding Hood's grandma might turn out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. The move might bite you on the ass.

The ideal lesson for me culminated with today's amazing news that I would only have to pay $50 for a pipe to replace my car muffler's cracked resonator. When I went to Mr. Muffler in September (the one on Saint-Jacques in NDG for those of you living in Montreal), they quoted me NINE NUNDRED AND FIFTY dollars to replace the resonator and two attached tailpipes on my Grand Prix. I mean, WTF? When I went to a great little indy garage called Otto Pucher (12 Place Legault, right off De La Savanne, corner Jean Talon), they referred me to the Mr. Muffler next door, which quoted me $550 for a patch job they would gladly do for me. Crying the financial blues worked for me, because I was quite sincere about it. I have been financially blue of late.

Now, in the past, I likely would have grabbed the chance to save $400, bitten the bullet and had the work done. My muffler was almost done-for, I was breathing carbon monoxide fumes every time I was stopped in traffic and the cops would be nailing me anytime at all for a noisy muffler.

But I dallied. I procrastinated. I remembered my buddy Ami telling me about a year ago of a place in the north end of the city, near Saint-Leonard, called Kiko, that had the best deals in town for muffler repairs. Then, I went to another small independent garage I was referred to recently (SpeedZone in the Cote des Neiges district), where owner Mike also referred me to Kiko. So, I finally drove to Kiko this morning and met with the Spanish-speaking owner, Frankiko, telling him I needed the best deal he could give me. He checked the muffler for two minutes and reported that he could replace the part with a pipe, for just $50. I almost broke down and cried... or almost hugged the man, I was so overjoyed. And I had the job done.

I must stress that the part replaced with a pipe was NOT the catalytic converter, a replacement that would have been illegal. And not very eco-friendly!

I asked him, in French (if you speak neither language, you will need to bring a translator with you, as he speaks almost no English... or Yiddish, for that matter), how he could afford to do work for so little, when Mr. Muffler was raping clients at almost 20 times that amount. Very outgoing and charming (this cool 55-year old dude also hosts a Latino music radio show on AM radio 1610 in Montreal, Mondays to Fridays from 12:30 - 2:30 p.m.) , he explained to me that God inspires him to be good to people, to help them when they are in need. Had it come from someone else, I might have snickered inside. I mean, how many people evoke the name of God on their way to screwing someone? It was believable coming from him, however, as I looked around his busy garage and realized that he could easily have charged me hundreds of dollars more. Hardly an Einstein when dealing with cars, I never would have known the difference.

He didn't... and I am passing on this information in return. You may as well all benefit if you are in need and about to drive to Mr. Muffler to get massively ripped off. Hey, I looked around and was rewarded bigtime. It never hurts to try.

And if you do go to Kiko, even if you are just visiting Montreal, wish him a heartfelt Vaya Con Dios from Bram. He richly deserves the divine intervention.




Frankiko, at Mufflers Kiko, is found at 8657 8th Avenue, off the St. Michel exit, tel: 514-722-6603.

Mike at SpeedZone can be found at 7138 Cote des Neiges, tel: 514-504-4683. He does all manner of quality repairs and is quite affordable.

Ron Scolack of Otto Pucher is closeby, at 12 Place Legault in TMR, tel: 514-341-6493.He also does general repairs and has also been highly recommended.

I do not recommend Mr. Muffler for anything, unless you are in the mood to get massively ripped off. If you have no choice, at least the Jean Talon location attempted to save me some money. Boo to St. Jacques.