Magic Discount Muffler

I do most of my work and was in the automotive business for several years therefore my claims are educated ones. Really wanted to trust this guy since the one thing I hate doing is exhaust work and during the winter months there’s no choice other than to rely on a shop. With that said I’ve taken a few different cars there only to confirm my gut feeling that this guy is full of it and works all the angles in the book as if he’s giving you the deal of the century. Larry is smooth, like a snake oil salesman, as well as a bigot making a remark that he wouldn’t retire to FL because there are «too many cheap Jews» (this alone was confirmation to never go back). Could not believe he felt that was an ok comment, wtf! I originally got an estimate for a catalytic converter and flex pipe choosing only to do the pipe due to the cost of the cat which I ended up doing myself. Upon taking off the converter and piping to the new flex pipe (they replaced) out popped two very large nuts. It is impossible for those items to ever find their way into an exhaust system. I did not have any engine work done nor would bolts this size be used anywhere. Bottom-​line is it’s an old trick to produce a rattling sound or damage the inner core of the resonator etc. I was completely shocked because of course his expectations were for me to go back to him so he could address this issue he manufactured. Reflecting on other jobs such as a sudden coolant leak that wasn’t there prior to an exhaust estimate, due to a clamp being completely loosened — from a hose that I just replaced. There were a couple of other small incidences that came to the light but this is becoming too lengthy as is. It’s one thing if I had not done the work myself or seen these things first hand but it is an absolute disgusting fact. I truly didn’t want to believe that a shop would do this and even liked Larry initially but realized he’s not your buddy or honest shop. Another indicator I overlooked early on, his comments about customers as they left the shop either to make an aptm or pick up a car. He’d comment about their character whether «cheap» or «pain in the ass» or «I get all kinds» while shaking his head in disbelief. Those are the type of people of poor character that I should have known and knew to stay from as well as trust my initial instincts that he was shady… It is not worth going here thinking, well it’s only a muffler what harm could he do, it’s called sabotage.

My 2005 Subaru Outback had a hole in the exhaust — dealer estimated ~$ 1,400.
Turns out that as it’s the ‘turbo’, a bolt-​on replacement part is itself $ 1,025… ouch.
Larry at Magic said «Hold on…», picked up an aftermarket (yet still legal) ‘resonator’, cut out the defective section, welded the new one in and said «That’ll be $ 180».
Sounds great, very happy indeed.
I came out of ‘Yelp’ retirement for this review, it’s been 3 years… but worth it for the excellent service.

This shop helped me with my tire. They provided outstanding, old fashioned customer service. I’m going back and recommend you try them.

awesome … welded my stainless steel muffler, at a great price
most places would of wanted to replace it at great cost…

Over many years I have worked with many mechanics. The hardest thing is finding someone you can trust, someone who you know will always do a great job and not gouge or cheat you. I have been going to Larry (the owner of Magic Muffler) for almost 10 years and he has always given me top notch service. He always explains the situation clearly and gives me alternatives. He let’s me know when something must me done, and when it can wait. If it is a trivial repair, or something he has just worked on, he typically does it for free. He is direct and always gives me a solid quote before starting working. And I have NEVER had a problem (save an undercarriage rust issue) that I needed to keep going back to resolve. When he fixes it, it stays fixed.

Trust and honesty, that’s the story. Like the other Unilocalers, I’m going to mention that you never feel as if they sold you something that you did not need. As a matter of fact, not wanted to get you into an accident or anything, Larry will actually let you know that something eventually needs a repair, not quite right now, and you can keep driving the car till you REALLY need to get it repaired. He is a great guy – and Magic is the Jewel of Bridge St. Everyone in there knows what they are doing. Both my husband’s car and mine are errmm… vintage…and we are more frequent guests of Larry and his team. They would never *steer* us wrong. :)

These guys are as good as it gets. They are the type of shop you reccomend your friends too when they ask for a place to go where they wont take advantage of you. They type of guys that would fix a brake line for a customer instead of charging them a couple of hundred dollars for a caliper when the car didnt need one. They are super efficient, friendly and organized.
It doesnt look like a family owned, honest, up front, friendly kinda place from the front, it looks like a chain, but it sure doesnt feel that way after you have dealt with them.

So we took our car in to one of the big national chains and they tried to stone burn us. We had an issue with our front brakes, they were creaking and grinding, a sign that new brake pads were probably on order. We had a coupon for the chain store for new brake pads, and like many suckers before us, went in.
And were told it would be a $ 700 repair, that it wasn’t just our pads, but our entire brake calipers that needed fixing. We noticed that pretty much everyone one else in the waiting room was getting similar, much more expensive diagnoses. We decided to ask for a second opinion.
Our second opinion came from Larry at Magic Discount Muffler. He was friendly, sympathetic to the sort of run-​around the chain shops like to give, and was able to answer our questions (and calm our fears) promptly. There’s nothing wrong with our calipers, and we just needed new pads.
So we had Magic Discount Muffler do the work. It was affordable and fast. The car was ready the next day and Larry called us up when it was done.
Great place.

I recently visited Magic Muffler when we found a screw in my right front tire. The owner came around and checked it out to see if he could repair it. Unfortunately, the screw was in the sidewall, so repair was not an option. They did have tires in my size in stock, so I left the car there for the afternoon. I now have two shiny new tires on the front. They also gave me the undamaged left front tire in case I needed it (if one of the back tires went, I could swap it out). Overall, I thought the service was good and the price was fair. Also, the guy recognized us from our many dog-​walking strolls around the neighborhood, and he was really friendly. I’d go back here again.