I want to start this review by going back and explaining some issues I've had with my 2012 Customized Smart Car Fortwo About 2 years ago, I had a custom high-efficiency muffler installed plus other custom work. From day one that muffler was Extremely Loud although it seemed to perform well. Over the last 2 years I have had the car serviced by the dealership and I even had another muffler store look at it to see what were my options to make this Muffler quieter. In every case I was told that's just the way it is and the muffler is just a loud muffler. About 2 weeks ago I came in to Babe's Lightning Muffler and talked to Charlie who said that he needed to look at the car. He did work on Smart cars but had to see what options were available. A couple of days ago I brought the car in and the first thing that Charlie said was: " that ain't right". I said to him what do you mean, it's just a loud muffler. He then said no, something's wrong I need to look at this. He immediately put the car on the rack and discovered the muffler had not been properly installed. He told me that it could be fixed but not knowing how the actual muffler sounds there's no guarantees as to how loud it would be. He gave me an option to put a new muffler on that was quieter but the price to fix the existing problem was very reasonable. I figured what did I have to lose, so I had Charlie fix the problem. I was very surprised that he said he could do it immediately. It took him a lot longer to repair as the Smart car has very tight quarters and muffler installations are a bit tricky. Charlie was an expert and when the car was done I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was so much quieter and I noticed an increase in power. I could not believe what a great job this company did. I have NEVER experienced such a quiet tone from this muffler and my tachometer shows me a difference after the repair. Some other things that you need to know is that this business has been around for the last 65 years (as far as I can tell) and the technicians that work there know mufflers. As previously mentioned in other reviews, this is a "Old School" honest muffler shop. They work on everything, from old classic cars to the modern ones. They have expertise in working on foreign cars. I HIGHLY recommend this business. read more

I was sent here from Akin's Auto Repair, where they said they weren't allowed to touch catalytic converters. The person working that morning was cleaning the benches in the waiting area, but he stopped midway to take a look at my van. For my van to pass smog, the smog techs needed to be able to see the number that is etched into catalytic converters. Mine was so dirty that they told me to have a mechanic clean it off and bring it back. The mechanic cleaned it off and let me know right there based on the number that the catalytic converter I had was recalled a few years ago by Honda, and that they were replacing them for free for the original car owners. Unfortunately, the person who owned my van before me didn't take care of it, so he told me it would cost ~$300. He also pointed out a few other small issues and gave me estimates for those, too. I told him that I hadn't had an issue with it passing last year, and he said some smog places are less strict than others. Since I was certain that they would pass me again, I turned down his suggestions. I was surprised, but grateful to hear that he wouldn't be charging me for his time. I thanked him, and drove happily back to the smog station. That happiness was short-lived, because the smog tech failed my car again because the converter had been recalled! The smog tech confirmed that replacement would cost between $250 and $375. I recommend this business because the employees are honest, knowledgeable, and friendly. What more could you want? read more

They are back open. I asked for help installing new exhaust tips on my Nissan. The lead guy said no prob and said they would do it on the spot for no charge (it was a clip, no welding required). I was grateful so I gave the mechanic $20. read more

A++ work. Thanks Babe's & Lightning muffler for installing my Miller CAT Cat Shield. With all the thefts of Prius catalytic converter going around I was looking for a good solution to deter would be thieves. I did a lot of research on different products but this one looked the most legit and thought out for the Prius. As a engineer, I see how having louvers definitely makes sense to remove heat from the converter. And I love how it's removable so if I ever need to change my oxygen sensor or something, I can easily take it off. It wasn't cheap, but definitely cheaper than the $2000 or whatever Toyota wants for a new converter! read more

Babes Mufflers - Miller CAT Cat Shield installed on my 2009 Toyota Prius. - Auto Repair Near Me - San Jose, California

This place is a San Jose mainstay and that's for no other reason than they're the best at what they do. Their accolades are well warranted hence the reason I remember seeing the big guy holding the muffler as a tike, I'm 45 now! I've always brought my cars here and as of recent brought my 2018 GT 5.0 to have my Roush axleback installed. My car which should've roared off the showroom floor just purred! After leaving Babes my car roars and let's everyone know when we're coming! Thank you Babes! read more

I decided to make a change to my 2012 ZL1 Camaro exhaust. I had installed a pair QTP electric cut-offs and wanted a different sound, plus the QTPs were working only half the time. So after reading all the great Yelp reviews I decided to head on over to Babes muffler and give em try. Well I am really happy with my exhaust set-up. I am super happy with the service and good price that I received. I will recommend Babe's muffler shop to all my friends & family. Ask forJesse he is extremely knowledgeable and knows his stuff when it comes to cars & exhaust. Thanks again Jesse my Camaro sounds great! read more

Babes Mufflers - Auto Repair Near Me - San Jose, California

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We had parked at the long term parking at the San Jose Airport and someone stole the catalytic converters off my truck. I reached out to Babe's Mufflers and they were able to get the parts ordered and installed on the same day! I was very grateful and appreciative of their prompt service and definitely recommend them. They also sell tires and offer general mechanic services as well. read more

My mechanic down at Leale's Auto Repair & Transmissions recommended this spot to me after I called and told them about an issue I was having with getting my Truck smogged. I have a lifted Chevy 4x4 with a cracked muffler and wasn't sure what to do. The people at Babes are so incredibly nice and took me in under their wing. They walked me through all of my possible options and gave me a really fair deal. They work quick too. I only waited about 20 minutes -- it was nothing considering you can hangout at Hannah's or the Bar upstairs at Whole Foods (just minutes away within walking distance). The woman also recommended a great Smog Shop just down the street. I'm happy I was able to get my muffler fixed AND truck smogged today for ~$100. I am looking forward to continuing to do business here at Babes! read more

Babes Mufflers - Cracked muffler they fixed in no time - Auto Repair Near Me - San Jose, California

Had a great experience with Babes Mufflers, with the rise in Prius catalytic converters being stolen I had contacted them about a protective shield, they were able to get me in right away, everyone was friendly and professional, was able to get the car in and out in no time. I would highly recommend them to anyone. read more

Needed Catalytic converters replaced on my 16 year old BMW; Fernando gave me a good explanation on what to expect /a fair quote, ordered and got the converters in in 5 days, and my car is good to go again with no more engine error code. Just straight up good and honest work. Thank you Fernando and friends! read more

Super happy with the customer service! Javier & his team were great to work with, such friendly people! I showed up Saturday morning and the exhaust was installed fairly quick. I got Borla Atak Quad Axle Backs with an X-pipe welded on & Resonator delete. They sound amazing & really loud . I would definetly go back to Babe's Mufflers in the future. read more

Babes Mufflers - Borla Atak Quad Axle Backs, X-pipe, resonator delete & new rear diffuser. - Auto Repair Near Me - San Jose, California

Fernando was friendly and helped us get our exhaust system welded back where it belonged, We showed up early and it was done in less than an hour. $40 out the door. Very positive experience. read more

I took my 59 gmc Apache full custom to this shop I paid 760 for a Full exhaust The bolts to the exhaust manifold fell out they said that the truck is getting too much gas that's why the bolts fell out that was the first excuse after they've looked at it and I went under the truck and showed them a couple things that they didn't do correctly they added two more exhaust hangers replace the bolts that backed out causing the truck to run poorly because the exhaust manifold gasket fell out drove around town over the weekend two bolt completely fell out causing the truck to sound terrible and run poorly again this truck is tuned and runs perfect until dealing with them now I need to take it to another shop and have it fixed correctly and put new bolts in the exhaust manifold and new gasket read more

The employees here were respectful and friendly! I came in last minute to have an axle-back I brought in installed at around 430pm on a Friday. It took a little under an hour and the work is very clean. The only reason I'm rating lower is the price, it was 160$ for less than 1 hour of work. I imagine more complex exhaust work will easily go much higher. Just do your research before committing! read more

Good work. Reliable. They installed my ecs catback exhaust on my Audi S4. And they made some adjustments days after install to take car of any minor settling and rattling. Not the lowest price out there but I went here because they had good reviews and location was between work and home. Other shops that were cheaper price had bad reviews about workmanship and did not do adjustments after equipment settled in like this shop did. This shop did not have that problem and I did not mind paying a couple extra bucks to get it done right without hassle. read more

Worst muffler shop in Cali. Terrible customer service. Did some messed up welds on my car and made my car leak for weeks and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Came to Abuelo's muffler shop and they took off the mufflers and on the pictures you can see the job babes mufflers did. Horrible customer service. I would give 0 stars if I could. read more

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My catalytic converter was stolen and O2 sensor was cut from car. They did a great job fitting both. I should give 4 stars though...since there was some delay, the warranty paper for Catalytic converter is not filled or retained with invoice as required. Everything else is done in perfect manner. I did not check in several places, but these gave good price overall. read more

Got a too loud exhaust ticket in my street legal track car. Running a straight pipe after the cat and resonator, it was only a matter of time. Did a little Googling and found Babe's had 5 star reviews. So I contacted them and had Babe's redo my exhaust and install a Tanabe Medallion Hyper universal touring ss muffler I bought on Amazon for my S2K. Since the muffler was not specific to my car, they needed to cut off my old straight pipe and fabricate a custom bent pipe and weld it all back together and hang the muffler. I couldn't be more happy with the end result. A custom axle-back exhaust for $350 including a nice ss polished $250 muffler. Sounds mild on the street, but still sounds great on the track. Look no further, you can't beat the price or quality of service in the bay area and their custom fabrications are top notch! read more

Babes Mufflers - Auto Repair Near Me - San Jose, California

I came back to write another review. So it's been about 5 months now that these guys had installed 3rd in my truck. For a month now there has been a cold start hard rattle sound. Who knows if it's a bad chain tensioner or worse. I repeat! Do not come to this place to get any motor rebuilt or installed. read more

Excellent job on my new exhaust. Price was as quoted and done in half day. Definite five stars. read more

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After calling to see it I needed to make an appointment, I just showed up one morning with my 1970 Datsun 510. It was still running a rusty OEM exhaust system that I wanted to replace. The mechanic listened to my preferences and worked with me to figure out the right setup. We went with 1 3/4" pipes (stock was 1 1/4") and two glass packs, a long one under the passenger compartment and a short one near the tip. He finished the system off with a 2" straight chrome tip, perfectly centered in the hole in the rear valance which looks great. I picked the car up the same day and am very happy with the work. Everything was tucked away neatly and close to the floor, the welds are clean, there are no rattles, and the car pulls and sounds much better than before. It's been several months and everything is holding up great! Expert job for a very reasonable price. read more

Babes Mufflers - Auto Repair Near Me - San Jose, California

Went here in July 4 because my muffler fell off. It was scary. It was a 1994 Van and it was old. The shop replace my muffler on timely matter. The guy there was nice. I took one star off because one of the worker broke my door handle. The shop paid for the parts but I had to go and buy it at a local shop. Waste my time on July 4th. But they did a good job on my car. read more

They did a great job installing my cat back exhaust system. They were efficient, offered a great price and the car sounds amazing now. If recommend this place to anyone looking for exhaust work that needs to be done. read more

I get my oil changed here every now and then. Friendly service, convenient for the Cahill Park neighborhood and surrounding areas, fair prices from what I see. However, The final two stars I have left out because they have this truck that they rip up and down the Alameda that is extremely loud and they purposefully rev the engine as they pull away from the muffler shop. The noise pollution that this vehicle creates coming from a muffler shop nonetheless is absolutely absurd. There is no reason for this other than drawing themselves some attention and pissing off the neighbors. Shame on you muffler shop for having one of the loudest vehicles in all of the area. They have pickup truck with straight pipes on it and it is louder than a Harley Davidson. It is pretty pathetic that they have to do this to draw themselves attention, and it is extremely inconsiderate for their neighbors. read more

Very small mom-n-pop type of shop. Great service and very nice people working in the shop. This shop was recommended to me by the folks at Akin's Auto Repair (one of the best service shops in San Jose so I take their recommendations seriously). The folks at Babe's & Lightning Muffler installed a muffler on my old Nissan Xterra and did an outstanding job. A few weeks later there was an issue with installation that came up, the owner didn't hesitate, he stopped what he was doing and fixed it right away. Would highly recommend for their friendly service, workmanship, and integrity. read more

There has been a change of ownership here and the new owners are Amazing!!! I spoke to three different people and they are were extremely polite, professional and just wonderful to deal with! I just had to get my muffler reattached but I'm honestly looking forward to going back to get a new muffler soon! (Mine is original from 1980) Nice people, and they even offered the customers bottled water. SO unexpected and I love it Thank you Xavier and all the other sweet hearts I spoke with. You guys are way nicer than than the last dude who owned this place read more

Great place great job on a muffler delete on my corvette, it now sounds like a beast! Price wasn't too bad

I have a 1967 Corvette and wanted to keep my mufflers stock so Babes Mufflers installed the mufflers I purchased online that were similar to the OEM mufflers needing replacement. Great job!!! read more

Called them after 2P.M. to have a driver side muffler delete on a W204 C63 sedan done. Came over and dealt with Juan, who gave me a very fair price and squeezed me in. They were busy, so had to wait until they were done with a truck and a bay opened up. Doing a muffler delete on this car while keeping the factory tips is a difficult and lengthy job. Worked on it for well over an hour and I almost closed them down. Came out very nice. They pushed the tips out just a bit so you can see the AMG engraving on the top better.......very subtle. For a street car and long distance cruiser it's plenty loud when you want it to be but not overly loud and annoying when just cruising on the freeway........only when you get on the throttle hard and/or come off abruptly. Same around town. It would probably make sound on a 90db day at Laguna, but that's not what I bought the car for. It's an unorthodox way to do it and many AMG owners would frown upon doing something like this. But it's much more cost effective than an aftermarket exhaust system, sounds great and takes some weight out of the car. I may do the passenger side eventually but I'm in no big hurry........it's a good compromise. read more

Babe's mufflers does more than mufflers! Came here a couple times and they have great service and great rates! Highly recommended!

Was told my car wouldn't leave the rack till job was done. A friend of mine called me to ask me if i sold my car. Someone was driving it on Santa Clara st and it had a taillight out. I went down there to find my car out front with key in ignition not shut off windows down. I took car and told them we were done. Manager called me to give me excuses. Told him without trust you don't have my business. He was very nice and admitted he told me the car wouldn't leave the lift till it was done. Said none of his guys would not have driven it. I won't do business here. read more

Great quick service. New muffler has my Cadillac sounding nice Really good customer service Thanks again guys! read more

Jesus and Jesse were knowledgeable and patient. I had a lot of questions and received answers for all of them. My car sounds good... I went back for an oil change. Will recommend. read more

Babes is back with a new owner. Javier and his crew are doing a good job. They have a great fabricator who takes pride in his work. On my 69 Corvette he fabricated pipes from my headers to my exhaust system out of two and a half inch mandrel bent pipes. He finished by grinding off the welds and painting them with silver ceramic paint. A beautiful job. read more

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This is probably the most reasonable priced muffler shop in San Jose. The new owners of the place are very friendly and real professionals! I took my 350Z there today to find out about the exhaust leak. They were able to point out the leak and replace the gasket under 1 hour for a great deal. I will definitely be back and also will recommend all my friends. Very well organized, quality work for cheap price! read more

Babes Mufflers - Auto Repair Near Me - San Jose, California

This is the spot right here.. went in to get a muffler delete.. took only half an hour.. lots of choices for exhaust tips. and the best thing, Jessie is so reasonable and knowledgeable about exhausts and he also gave me a good deal.. read more

Really fast and seems like quality work. Weld's look good. Price is also pretty decent. (Would rather pay more for quality work)

Great work at a fair price!! Everyone here was willing to facilitate any changes you may have and very knowledgeable when you have questions. They replaced both manifolds on my Sequoia and added a magnaflow muffler. Good, clean install. Highly Recommend!! read more

Fast, efficient and reasonable prices. Jesse explained everything in detail and was very helpful. read more

Just to add and confirm all the other reviewers, this place is amazingly great. My husband has been needing some fatalistic converter replaced and had an estimate from another garage and he decided not to fix his car but still driving it, then I call this place and next we were there and he gave us an estimate and our mind was blown away. Well now he has to take me on a date . Thanks reviewers you save me big one this time . If you think your car problem is a muffler related issue this is the place to go. read more