Babe’s & Lightning Muffler Service

I had them work on an exhaust system for my car, pricing wise it was very good relative to other quotes I had gotten from other shops in the area. I called them up and they were able to work on my car within two hours after calling. The guys there aren’t the most social, some people may take that as a negative. Take it for what it is, they’re pretty direct and honest about the work involved. Before anything was done they explained exactly what they would do, how long it would take and costs. Everything was completed and I was pretty satisfied with the work.
Almost a year later my exhaust developed a rattling noise, I brought it back to them and they checked it out. After about 20 – 30 minutes they were able to fix the rattle. They stood by their work and didn’t charge me a cent.

We took our 55 Nomad in to Babe’s as a last resort. The Muffler shop we had an appointment with, was not open (strange!). And another shop was too busy working on his own vehicle.
Charlie did a terrific job on this classic and was quick about it too. I plan to bring my 66 GTO to him next.

I brought my 93 Acura Integra here after having an absolutely miserable entire Sunday of working on it. I had removed the exhaust manifold to replace a broken stud on the cylinder head and that worked fine until I put it back together and foolishly used a torque wrench at the bottom of its range of torque settings, so the torque limiter didn’t engage and it snapped another stud — this time the stud was in the head and I couldn’t get it out with any of my tools. Drilling was not much of an option due to clearance issues and I didn’t have an angle drill or other means to get it out — I did try!
Charlie was very up-​front about this repair job and how he approaches fixing a problem like this. He was up-​front that the repair may not go too smoothly as the stud was recessed quite a bit. I brought it to him around 10AM and he said it’d be done «sometime in the afternoon» and he was finished with it within an hour or so!
The work was done properly (yay, no more exhaust manifold leak!) and labor charge was quite reasonable.
Another good quality is he won’t try to sell you on something you don’t need — I knew the muffler on this car is pretty rusted at the tailpipe and asked him to take a look at it and see if he would recommend me a new one. His recommendation was just to keep it as it’s still in good working condition.
Overall experience: I would definitely come here again and would definitely recommend it to friends! Outstanding shop! Keep up the good work!

OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Excellent. I would not hesitate to patronize this business and highly recommend them.
COMPETENCE
The specific work that was performed was a very complicated installation of an exhaust system for a classic car. The installation included minimal clearance for the components to be installed and considerable amounts of consulting concerning how to customize the exhaust system for performance. The system was installed by another well known shop and this businesses substantially improved the quality of the installation — correcting errors made by the other quite reputable shop. The mechanic whom I worked with is very experienced and offered guidance and advice that is an order of magnitude greater than what would be received at a chain muffler shop, based on my direct experience with such shops.
HONESTY/​INTEGRITY
Absolutely first rate. I was treated with respect, and had no concern about leaving my classic car in their care. They spotted and corrected problems and did not nickel and dime me — in fact did work gratis. To be clear, I was treated like a customer, if not a friend and it was very easy to discuss work, receive advice and receive such advice for what it was — honest and informed by experience and knowledge.
COMMUNICATION
Excellent. Calls were returned, communication was clear, and even where fairly complex customization choices were discussed, the communication was a help and not a hindrance to getting a great result. High marks here.
PRICING/​VALUE
Good. No issues. I’m not sure I can make a direct comparison with the many other shops I’ve used before, because none of them could have done the work! In one case, they installed a pipe to a set of shorty headers on a 4 barrel Cleveland motor with so little room, I could not even get my hand between the header collector and the firewall. Amazing work and cleanly done.
SCHEDULE/​TIMELINESS
Excellent — work was completed when promised without exception.

Spoke with Gary to get a quote for a Corsa exhaust. He said he’s never heard of Corsa.
A muffler technician that has never heard of Corsa… Are you kidding me?
Anyway, he then patiently proceeded to help me figure out which Magnaflow exhaust would fit on my car. He did some digging, and was able to find one while I was on the line. He quoted me $ 700 out the door. I then asked if he could provide me with the price breakdown for parts vs labor. He replied, «It doesn’t matter. Your total is $ 700.» Um, ok.
Based on the previous glowing review of Gary, I expected more from this guy. Gary may be a swell fella, but if this shop still exists in 5 years, I’d be surprised if he still has a job there.

My experience with this place was different than what I’m reading in these glowing reviews. I took my car there on a Thursday to have a broken bolt and gasket replaced. Gary (owner) said the job would be done that afternoon. It wasn’t. The next evening (Friday) he said he wasn’t able to get to it, but would finish it Saturday. He didn’t show up for work on Saturday. This game continued into the next week, and by Wednesday, the repairs had not really been started. I asked for a loaner car. He agreed, but would raise the cost of repairs to cover the loaner. I asked him to return my car unfixed, he promised he would work extra hours and it would be fixed the next day. Today is Friday, and I got my car back after eight days. The bolt and gasket were replaced, but now there’s a wobble in my exhaust that wasn’t there before. I’m very dissatisfied.

I was very pleased with Gary’s work. I brought my car in the morning and he had it done in the afternoon even though he had to customize some of the exhaust. Definitely quality work.

Outstanding service! I am so pleased with my experience here.
Babe’s was referred to me from a mechanic friend when I called for his advice on Sunnyvale Dodge. I stopped by Babe’s and got an instant quote for a catalytic converter and O2 sensor. I would have been able to drop it off then, but made an appt for the next morning. The work was done by end of business that day.
Amazing. Other repair shops should take notes from this place.