Well, my Honda Element fell victim to a recent Catalytic Convert theft and it was not a great way to start an early day and being a very long way from home. Very long story short - a recent trip down to the city on business, got up the next morning to start the car with a most unbelievable noise... wth?!? sure as shit, look under the car and the damn thing has been literally ripped out from under the vehicle with what appears to have been a sawsall... seriously - I mean in a gated secured parking lot, under lights and cameras and in less than tweleve hours total of when I arrived, gone. And its 350 miles from home... So, you can drive it but there is basically no muffler attached so its hella loud and it effects performance, gas mileage and a whole slew of other things limping the assaulted ride home. Once home, now what? Arcata Muffler did a great job during a bad situation. Repairing the damage, being very professional in a stressful situation. Not only did they work with my insurance to get it done correctly, they also installed a security cage (steel boxes) around the new expensive installed component. The owner wasn't happy with the security "cage" as it was designed, as it still allowed an intruder some access to the convert - so much so that he spent an extra half a day "hardening the target" for me to make it near impossible to get a clear line of access to the part. Never did I ever think I would fall victim to this type of vandelism but I did. I am really glad I kept full coverage on my old Element and it was more of a pain in the ass (only 250 bucks for my deduct) than a very expensive ($3k) pain... and I am really appreciative of Arcata Muffler for going above and beyond to make it damn near impossible to happen again, as once is more than enough. 4.5 Stars - rounded up for building a fort around my catalytic convert... 00730 read more

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Nick was honest and professional. He let me hang around and showed me what was wrong and what he needed to do. He wasted no time, got it done and gave me a great deal. very happy with this service! So my visit was actually a few months ago so something might have changed since then so forgive me if I am wrong since then for the following comment: Now as a small business that is dedicated to the work I can understand other aspects of running a business may slip away but the only thing I would comment not so positively on would be the office cleanliness. Please hire a cleaning service for the office...it was pretty gross like it had not been cleaned in three years. I did not want to even sit in the chair! other than that ignore the mess and go with the guys who can do it best! read more

I've had great experiences with Bob at Arcata Muffler. Unusual, even, but great. My first experience with him was when I had one of the exhaust pipes on my truck break a weld and start to hang loose under the vehicle. It was rattling pretty loudly at idle and it was annoying at the least, and for all I know would be problematic in the future. So I called Bob and asked if he would take a look at it, and he told me to come down and he'd check. I signed the paperwork, gave him my keys, and went back to work. He called me later to tell me the work was done the same day, which was GREAT. When I arrived to pickup my truck, he wouldn't let me pay! He said it was such a quick job to weld the pipe back where it should be that he didn't feel right charging me. I offered to at least let me give him $20 so I could "buy him a beer" (by him just using the money to pickup some brews on his way home or something), but he wouldn't take it. He gave me back my keys, and here I am a couple years later and the weld has held strong. My next experience with arcata muffler was actually a vehicle purchase. I responded to a craigslist ad for a vehicle for sale, and I was pretty stoked when I called the number that the guy on the other end answered "arcata muffler" or something to that effect. I ended-up buying it, and I've had no problems. Bob had even installed an aftermarket exhaust just a few months before he sold it to me so it had great, professionally-installed pipes that were a serious upgrade from stock and had a really cool exhaust note. Bob has always been honest and straight with me, given me good deals, and is just a generally nice guy to do business with. Thanks bob! read more

Excellent and honest work. You can't do better than Bob at Arcata Muffler, he's a really good guy who knows his stuff. Fast and thorough. My son's old car needed new catalytic converters. I expected to pay a ton and wait, but Bob got them and installed them in no time for a very reasonable price. My wife's car was making bad exhaust noises and Bob tried one fix and then diagnosed the problem and referred me to another local business - no charge. Sweet dog, too - Layla Arcata Muffler has my highest recommendation. read more

Good News for anyone needing muffler work in Northern Humboldt! I can only verify what seems like unlikely reviews (too good to be true/unbiased reviews)of Nick and this business. Had welding done on a cracked muffler pipe many months ago by Nick. Same day service, done in a couple hours, reasonable price. Eventually cracked at same location on pipe. Called Nick and asked for appt to fix new(old) crack. Immediate service was offered although I hadn't complained about previous work... I intended to pay for re-welding ; but when finished again in a couple hours... he had fixed the spot and added extra brackets... and then said: "No charge... we did original repair and it didn't last as long as it should have..!! Wow! THAT is a rare.. but great service! As others have said: "Don't judge a book by its cover": small unkempt shop and office. Don't turn away before telling them your problem and you will likely be convinced by knowledgable, friendly, down -to-earth attitude. read more

Incredible service. Put my car on the lift and pointed out the issues to me right then and there. Doesn't get much better than that. Fairly diagnosed and fairly priced. Easy 5 stars. read more

Service was great! No pushy salesman trying to get you to buy parts I don't need. They gave me an estimated time of completion and it was completed on time. Thanks Nick! read more

These people don't have any people skills. I find their shop in the middle of a industrial park like place, with no labeled parking a I park underneath the sign for Arcata muffler only to receive a lecture from a tech I guess because he had no name tag and was very rude which no owner of a successful business is, about parking in his driveway. I tried to explain that I was trying to get an estimate but he was loudly proclaiming that in 16 or something years nobody has ever parked in his driveway. I guess i'll never know if they are any good but if there people skills are any indication... read more

I've been avoiding having my muffler fixed for awhile because of the cost and time it would take to fix it. However Arcata muffler surprised me. Don't be deterred by the shops appearance. Nick was great. Took me under my car to show me the problem and had it fixed in an hour. He gave me a fair price and had me on my way. So happy I went here. read more

Quick and easy. Nick put my car on the rack and showed me exactly what he was going to do to fix an exhaust leak on my Corolla. 10/10 would recommend. read more

This is one of the best places to get any exhaust work done! They really took care of me here and worked in a great time frame. They did an excellent job at fixing the problem and was very well priced! I would definitely go back for any more exhaust work I'll ever need and recommend them to friends! read more

Nick and Bob are a father and son team, and between them have more decades of experience than I can list. My wife's Honda Civic went to the dealer and got a oil change and inspection before we left on long family vacation. This inspection included a brake check. The dealer gave the car a green light. On the vacation we started getting squeals and a tinny metallic rattle that sounded like it came from both the front and back of the car. Got worse and worse as the trip continued. We took it to a mechanic on Vancouver Island in British Columbia who looked at the problem and said it sounded like brakes, but was unable to schedule it to fix it. When we got back home, we took it to Nick at Arcata Muffler and Brake, they found that the back brakes were down to the squeelers and the front brakes were literally coming apart (so much for dealer inspections). They ordered the parts, did a complete brake job on the car, for 40% less than it would have cost at the dealer, and had us back on the road in one day (in fact the final bill was $50 lower than the estimate). Gave me the old parts, and I could see plainly the defects they found. Their shop is not one of those clean corporate places where the shop looks like a showroom, it is an old-school shop where old school mechanics fix things! I watched as they helped other people who came in asking them to look at issues while I was there. Nick would tell them honestly what the issue was, no attempt to "make sales." In one case, he was helping a student who was trying to leave in an hurry to go home. Nick crawled under the truck, poked around, removed stuff, and then put it back together and told the student he could just drive his truck back home and fix it when he got back to his parents, it was not a safety issue and the brakes would work fine. When the student tried to pay him, he just smiled and said no charge. This is the kind of home town mechanic you want. Honest, reliable, and knows their stuff. read more

I was from out of town and going to visit the Humboldt College for a tour with my daughter. As we were going through the mountains, we began to have trouble with our brakes! I found this shop to help us out. They did the job right on the spot and gave us a great price. We were able to make the orientation and get back home. Thank you so much for your great service in our time of need!!! read more

I wish I could give them ten stars...I have a 94 Accord and it's sounded terrible for as long as I can remember. Recently, it started sounding REALLY bad. My brother in law (a mechanic) looked at it and notified me that my exhaust system was COMPLETELY rusted/corroded through. He referred to it as "Swiss cheese". Awesome. He didn't have time to fix it, because he lives in Sacramento, and I had to come back home to Humboldt. I had heard bad things about other muffler shops in the area, but Arcata Muffler was recommended to me by a coworker. Boy, am I glad I took his advice! Long story short, I took my car in (without an appointment) and a couple hours later, it sounded better than I've EVER heard it and it ran like new. It also cost less than my lowest estimate. Bob was kind and fair, and didn't treat me like a dumb girl, like many mechanics have before. I can't say enough good things about this place. I wish I knew anyone else with a busted muffler/exhaust. I want to recommend them to everyone in the area. Do yourself a favor and go here. I WILL be returning. Thank you so much! read more