Postby smj999smj » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:05 am
We haven't had a lot of traffic on this forum about OE (I'm assuming you mean a stock replacement, as OE would be genuine Nissan) replacement of the cat-back system. I think a lot of it has to do with the factory system being stainless steel and usually holds up pretty well. I decided to go the performance route on my '06 LE, but the stock system was in great shape after 150,000 miles. My '08 SE's system is still doing fine after 10-years and 220,000+ miles. I guess after a decade, we should be seeing more info on this topic.
For you situation, you didn't mention your year or engine. To my knowledge, there is no stock replacement for the V8 other than genuine Nissan parts.
For the V6, you have a couple of options. If you want your system to sound exactly like what came out of the factory and last as long as it did, the only true option is replacement with genuine Nissan parts; the downside is that they are very expensive, even if you get them at discounted sites like CourtesyParts.com or NissanPartsDeal.com, which I would imagine would have pretty high shipping costs added on. One could print out the costs on one of these sites and try negotiating with one's local Nissan dealer's parts dept. to match the prices, or at least get close, but without the expensive shipping costs.
For aftermarket, stock replacement systems, you often sacrifice the quietness and longevity of the factory exhaust for a much less expensive price. Pipes are typically aluminized steel rather than stainless steel; mufflers will vary in materials used for construction, from aluminized steel to stainless steel (Walker). Pipes typically have a short or no warranty while muffler warranties vary from a year to limited lifetime (Walker). At Rockauto.com, both Walker and Bosal offer exhaust system kits (cat back) for under $200, not including shipping costs of around $40-$50. The kits have everything you need: pipes, muffler, clamps and gaskets. The only thing not included is the rubber hangers, which you can purchase separately if needed.
The other option is to have a custom exhaust shop fabricate a stock replacement system for you. Most will use aluminized pipe unless you request and agree to pay for the extra cost of having it made in stainless steel. You'll have to make some phone calls in your area to get price quotes.