Longlife exhausts for MG ZT warranty problem
 

Just warning before you buy from them.

Five years ago when I bought my car MG ZT 190 I also bought in the same week custom made stainless exhaust cat back from Longlife ( branch: Carshalton, 128 Stanley Park Road, Wallington, Surrey, SM5 3JG ), sound of exhaust is great, and all welding looks good.
Last weekend when I lay under the car I notes the clamp between normal steel pipe from catalytic converter and stainless steel pipe of rest two boxes was in really bad condition, I decided to change it and I start measure what size I need. I checked size of the stainless pipe is well and I find out they put only 55mm all the way in whole exhaust system :( compare to 60mm which was before is a lot restriction for the engine.
When I call them today firstly they tried to convince me is no difference for the car, but when I said factory put bigger pipe for ZT 190 for reason, they said they aren't interested and they will not help me with this.
Exhaust cost me £329 and comes with life time warranty.

Conclusion:

When you buying from them check size of the pipe and forget about life time warranty.

Thanks for the heads up

I tried to get a quote from them and they took the urine! Branch to branch was loads different, so stuff em! :shrug:

If I remember correctly it is either a franchise or appointed dealer network, so a lot will depend on the individuals you deal with. Not that this helps anyone but I've had great service from the Swansea branch on previous cars.

I thought the same before I checked size and spoke with one of them.
There are many different people in this world bad and good, maybe in your branch are only great people, but true is every each of them represents this company, and this company also choose what standard each of them must meet. Longlife don't have even head office or custumer service, you must dealing with branch which fix your system and what if they don't care ? :)

Main office "Bridport" I believe - http://www.longlife.co.uk/depots/exhausts-bridport/

For address see - http://www.longlife.co.uk/company-info/

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think this would/should come under their warranty... The system hasn't broken, yes, it was made wrong initially, but I assume it can't be causing issues, as its 5 years down the line, and you've only just noticed when fixing a clamp. So as unfortunate as it is, and the branch may be 1 to avoid if they do fit incorrect sized exhausts, in my opinion, it's not a warranty issue. And being so long since it was fitted, I wouldn't have thought they'd be legally obliged to alter anything either...

"Each Longlife centre is independently owned and operated by a separate limited company" :)

From what you said:

Factory fixed 60mm pipe for ZT 190 just for fun, and only expert should buying from Longlife who will feel different if is wrong system fix

"A free flowing stainless steel exhaust will get rid of the exhaust gas more efficiently than the manufacturer's original exhaust. This means that the engine is having to work less and as a result will use less fuel. Over time, the savings can make a significant difference to the overall running costs of the car."

this is from they website, now you said is not their fault only my because I trusted them and I did not check size of the pipe what they used and I have not checked the car parformance before and after ?

From fitting aftermarket exhausts to all my bikes I can't say I've ever noticed an improvement in economy. Smoother running, better sound and maybe marginal performance increase, yes.

I'm not saying they were right to fit a smaller diameter system, or that they are the experts.

ive never read their warranty, but I would assume the lifetime warranty was against any physical failure/breakage of the exhaust as it was fitted to the car. You've had the exhaust for 5 years, with no issues, it's not now broken, so can't see how it should be a warranty issue. It's unfortunate that it's not as it maybe should be, (being a free flowing exhaust with less restrictions, would that cancel out the lost volume in the system?) but you've not had any problems with the exhaust, and presumably the car hasn't been running badly for the last 5 years? So you were happy with it until you found it was a few mm's smaller diameter.

So I agree, it's a good warning to check the size of pipe used if getting a system fitted. But it is a lifetime warranty, for the lifetime of the system as fitted, not an offer of a full replacement should you later find something's not how you wanted, especially after such a long time.