Just a FYI to all those considering buying the Monza exhaust from Pacesetter.... i come from the Mercury Cougar boards (now a happy 2.2 5spd L61 owner) and the Pacesetter system they sell for the Cougar is notorious for rusting, cracking, and generally just being bad. Given, the design may have been improved for the Cobalt, but just to warn those who may purchase this kit due to its lower cost, u get what u pay for. there are horror stories of 75% rusting by the end of the first FALL that it was on the car. if i am wrong, feel free to correct me... also, if anyone has the system and has no probs, please post it up. the Cougar boards would love to hear about it. hope i could help

 

Do you have any actual experience with the product for the Cobalt? Or is this just an assumption based on similar products?

 

Now i have heard the same thing from people who have owned honda prelude to have rusted. But i have heard good things about it on other cars (except the cougar you just mention) and i have a monza pacesetter for about 2 years now and just inspected it not too long ago . So far it seems fine to me . In fact my car is now in the dealership for repairs because my cat on the downpipe has rusted up and is falling off so i think the pacesetter can withstand rust longer then the stock in my opinion (remember this is simply my opinion) at least on the cobalts version.

 

Ive had no issues with mine, ive had it on about 3 months, and the guy i bought it from had it for about a year, still looks perfect. As long as you rinse the thing off every once and a while, you shouldnt have any issues. Remember they arent stainless steel, they are painted, so they are not going to have the same life expectancy either. But for $200 you cant really beat it.

 

Yea, I am that guy, no probs here, a little occasional maintenance and I had no problems, but then again when people take care of their things, problems tend to be less, but overall the pacesetter is not a bad route to go with, and esp for only $200 like Reign said

 

exactly. I think the people that get this exhaust understand that there's a reason why it's 200, (i got mine for 169 from ttr)

that being said, i had mine on for about a year, through the nasty new jersey winter, and when i sold the car it still looked damn good. there was ZERO rust on it, no flaking on the tips like everyone says, etc.

when i first bought the exhaust, i asked aaron about it, and he said the same thing. you get what you pay for. but, he also said that they have come a long way as far as bettering their products in the last 2 years.

 

Yep i agree with you say .You pay for what you Get

 

I agree I had a cat back from pacesetter(on my cavy) do to its very low price I considered. I put it on and no more than a month later it was crap. the sound changed, the piping started rusting, and the baffles in the muffler were shot. It sounded like I had marbles stuck in my exhaust. Pacesetter is the most garbadge exhaust I've ever had and to talk about the header is another horror story all by itself

 

I had ond on my honda accord for 2 years and have had no problems at all, i recently too the exhaust system off and was very suprised to find no type of rust or anything. I guess it depends on where you live.

 

it's not where you live so much as how you take care of it. mine held up WAY better than the stock exhaust did. when i washed the car i just did an underbody spray. was on for a year like i said and still looked perfect.

 

Lame post.

just because they make some bad products don't mean they are all bad.

My brother has one on his s-10. it has a lot of surface rust, but thats the extent of it. no issues in the (I'm guessing here) 2 years he has had it.

 

 

I remember a few years ago that there were alot of horror stories about pacesetter's exhaust products. But most products purchased within the last 3 years or so haven't had as many problems. My guess is they saw they were doing bad and pulled their **** togeather.

 

Pacesetter has improved HUGE in the last 3-5 years, you can't go wrong with their products for the price.

 

ive had mine for a year, some surface around the welds, but good product nonetheless. I can thank mufflerman for the **** welds lol

 

JohnnySasaki has found my hidden message about the Cougar. it is a POS. but i am glad to hear that Pacesetter has improved design and quality on their products. thanks again for all the input

 

pacesetters quality has completely turned around past 3 years. i had a set of headers on my cavalier for 2 years and i had no issues with rust. i got the ceramic coated ones and they always looked new.

 

i have the pacesetter cat-bak and for the price and the feeling it leaves in my stomach as a jew there products are A-O-K =)