My muffler apparently is now falling apart internally due to rust. Driving or idling, sounds like a ton can with a marble in it. I knew I was going to have to replace the exhaust soon (due to rust) so I guess nows the time to do it. I've been researching options and the one thing that keeps coming up is I am perfectly happy with the sound and looks of the OEM exhaust. The only thing that I want to do is have a side exit from the tip but thats it.

I'm a bit unsure of which option to go at this point, stick with an OEM and then have a shop take care of the side exit or get an aftermarket (assuming I can find one that doesn't really sound louder) that already does.

I know theres been tons of threads on here about exhausts but none really addressed it from my side of "i was pretty happy with the stock short of the rear exit" from what I could see. As a side note I just had the manifold replaced due to rust as well, so after this I shouldn't have much more left under there to worry about. While I have the old exhaust off I plan on going over the entire undercarriage and cleaning/recoating it all as well.

I imagine oem from dealership is expensive. There are plenty of stock like mufflers available. I buy a lot of parts from Discount Auto Parts Online -- PartsGeek.com - Domestic & Import Auto Parts Warehouse and RockAuto Auto Parts

Guess you will need shop to create the exit point you want, unless you can weld. Good luck.

Parts wise its about $500ish for the OEM parts. If I have a shop do it locally they quoted me $800 installed.

Yeah. Don't get oem unless you want to spend money. Its a muffler. Way too much money.

Seemed like for the muffler and resonator and all that $500 is about the going price for a basic setup though. Looking through your links though it looks like 3rd party mfg could be closer to $200 in parts