Broken Agency Power Titanium Exhaust Horrible customer service pics

[pMak26]

Pretty disappointed to be writing this, but I would like to share my recent negative experience with Agency Power's High Flow Cat Titanium Exhaust for my 2014 TA.

Cliffs: AP exhaust broken because under-engineered, terrible customer service, I’m out $3k+.

Recently I posted about a melted heat shield on the drivers side of my car. Welp, I’ve been withholding what I found out until I worked with AP to come up with a resolution. But at this point it is clear they are not interested in helping in any way so here is the full story:

I purchased this exhaust from a VOA member who initially installed it on his 2013 GTS (very nice, honest guy). At that time, the exhaust had less than 1500 miles on it. He sold the car with the stock exhaust. I, an engineer who afforded that degree by being a high end vehicle mechanic, meticulously installed the exhaust earlier this year. I have put less than 400 miles on this exhaust before it completely failed.

See pictures below. The exhaust separated from the CAT in exactly the same way on BOTH sides of the car, leaving a ~3mm gap between the broken section of 3” tube and the CAT. The drivers side must have broken first as the heat shielding on that side is comprehensively destroyed. The gap left from the broken ends is so small and still properly aligned that I did not initially realize it was broken at all. In fact, majority of the exhaust was still exiting the side of the car through the muffler. It wasn’t until the melting heat shield rested directly on the CAT, causing a grey smoke and mild smell that I realized there was an issue.

I have tried to work something fair out with AP, even offering to purchase a new mid-pipe section to replace my broken one. The only proposed resolution by AP is to send my exhaust back to AP to fix at my expense, for an unknown cost OR to purchase an entirely new system at full price. They won’t even sell me the mid-pipe separately, Catted or non-catted.

I’m gutted as I really wanted to like AP, but to me, this is unacceptable customer service. I hope others will think twice before purchasing anything from them.

34479

34480

34481

34482

34483

[parabs]

Brutal.

[Steve M]

I've not heard good things about Agency Power:

https://driveviper.com/forums/threads/8003-anyone-have-the-quot-Agency-Power-full-titanium-catted-exhaust-system-quot-for-gen-5

https://driveviper.com/forums/threads/11003-Agency-Power-Exhaust-Review-Install?p=345360&viewfull=1#post345360

[Bruce H.]

Does Agency Power have a good reputation for quality and this is just an unfortunate and isolated case?

[Jack B]

Does Agency Power have a good reputation for quality and this is just an unfortunate and isolated case?

Read the links Steve just posted

[EX1]

Thank you for sharing this expierence with us. I want a Ti system for my Viper, but it seems AP does not make a quality product. Sorry that this happened to you.

[ACRSNK]

Sorry to hear about your negative experience. Guess I’ll be crossing them off my list. Hate when customer service is lacking. Unfortunately, it happens often. That’s why when a company does have good customer service, they shine. I just switched all of our office accounts to FedEx from UPS because UPS would not refund the fee on an overnight package that never got delivered. Customer service was horrendous and now they lost a good account. Some people just don’t get it.

[Special Ed]

Does Agency Power have a good reputation for quality and this is just an unfortunate and isolated case?

Nope

[stradman]

Was the join not welded? I don't see a weld line where it detached. Was it glued on???

[SRT_BluByU]

take it to a welder and have it welded togeather... /fixed

[USAFPILOT]

I think that’s what I would do, find a guy that welds titanium well and have it fixed.

[uberpube]

Jesus, even vibrant warrantied a resonator for me that broke like that.

[kriskyk]

Good luck finding a competent welder with a purge chamber at reasonable rate to weld Titanium

[pMak26]

I'm hoping my story will save others.

The break is a typical type of from a weldment. Here is the unbroken side.
34504

I will be removing the CATs and welding in straight pipe myself.

[kriskyk]

That doesn't look like any titanium welding I've seen, looks like it was brazed?

[SRT_BluByU]

I thought Ti could be TIG welded using shielding gas? Should be any competent welding shop in that case...

[kriskyk]

It can with over sized tig cups and trailing arms and inner purge setup. You'll see a lot of enthusiasts take this approach....but given this is an exhaust and for a performance car, it will be subject to all sorts of stress and fatigue wear and tear....a complete purge chamber would be the way to go

[38D]

Notice the blue color of the failed weld vs. the light straw on the good welds. Blue is indicative of too much heat.

https://www.weld.com/blog/mr-tig-blog/titanium-weld-color-quality-inspection-chart/

I TIG weld a bit, and welding titanium for something like an exhaust is not for the faint of heart. You can get it to join, but having the weld last in a high stress environment is a whole ‘nother story. As stated, full purge chamber is the way to go for sure.

[Jack B]

Notice the blue color of the failed weld vs. the light straw on the good welds. Blue is indicative of too much heat.

https://www.weld.com/blog/mr-tig-blog/titanium-weld-color-quality-inspection-chart/

I TIG weld a bit, and welding titanium for something like an exhaust is not for the faint of heart. You can get it to join, but having the weld last in a high stress environment is a whole ‘nother story. As stated, full purge chamber is the way to go for sure.

For high tensile strength in titanium weldments don't they heat treat parts for stress relief..

[TrackAire]

Notice the blue color of the failed weld vs. the light straw on the good welds. Blue is indicative of too much heat.

https://www.weld.com/blog/mr-tig-blog/titanium-weld-color-quality-inspection-chart/

I TIG weld a bit, and welding titanium for something like an exhaust is not for the faint of heart. You can get it to join, but having the weld last in a high stress environment is a whole ‘nother story. As stated, full purge chamber is the way to go for sure.

Since there does not appear to be a lot of material thickness that is butting up against each other at all the joints, would welding two or three titanium straps (1/2" wide x 2" long" x 1/8" thick) from one piece to the other at each connection joint help make the repair more reliable and permanent? I'm not a welder....just a thought to help counteract the vibration, twisting and weight that the side pipes often have to contend with on the Viper.

[ForTehNguyen]

the way that cat housing tapers off too is more stressful than some gradual tapering. The closer a metal connection is to a right angle the more it tends to focus stress on the corner. Hence why square windows on an airplane is bad, they are all more rounded for a reason

[pMak26]

Does anyone have any idea what the part number is for item #12 listed. I believe that is the heat shield I need, albeit the Left Hand side one, but I cannot find the part number for it.

34519

Edit: I think I finally found it! Part number 05290149AC :dude3:
https://www.factorychryslerparts.com/products/Dodge/2014/Srt-Viper-Coupe-84L-V10-SFI--6-Speed-Manual-TREMEC/SHIELD-Left--Left-Side-Heat-Left-Torque-Box--Torque-Box--Underbody/4309959/05290149AC.html

[1of1TA1.0]

12 5290148AC Heat Shield
Heat Shield, RIGHT
FRONT, INNER


12 5290149AC Heat Shield
Heat Shield, LEFT
FRONT, INNER

[ViperPete]

wow, sorry about that. It's not a quick thing removing the exhaust on the Viper, and worse to have it damaged and not have any good customer service.

[LateToTheParty]

What a shame. Instead of providing decent customer service that may cost them 500 bucks, I'm sure they're losing tens of thousands in sales alone -- thanks for saving us some trouble.

[pMak26]

What a shame. Instead of providing decent customer service that may cost them 500 bucks, I'm sure they're losing tens of thousands in sales alone -- thanks for saving us some trouble.

Honestly it wouldn't have cost them anything. I offered to pay for a mid-pipe section, they refused to sell me one. I was told to buy a completely new whole setup instead.

[TrackAire]

What a shame. Instead of providing decent customer service that may cost them 500 bucks, I'm sure they're losing tens of thousands in sales alone -- thanks for saving us some trouble.

It looks like the address for Agency Power, Horsepower Freaks and Vivid Racing are all the same.....I'd be careful buying from any three of those companies until they can thoroughly vetted.

You've been warned, buyer beware!!

[Martin]

Note to self - don't buy anything from them.... Another note to self - always buy through a reputable dealer who can serve as the middleman when crap like this happens. I've never had issues with anything I've bought, but I'm positive that if I did, someone like JonB would have made sure it was taken care of.

[AZTVR]

It looks like the address for Agency Power, Horsepower Freaks and Vivid Racing are all the same.....I'd be careful buying from any three of those companies until they can thoroughly vetted. I have been to the Vivid Racing facility to pick up some parts in person. They are just a short drive from me. I did not know that it was more than just "Vivid Racing." Just looking online now, I see that those three entities appear to be owned by the same two guys. https://www.vividracing.com/pages.php?cID=6&pID=17 I wonder if this customer service issue is a corporate decision not to support secondary owners because of past bad experiences with customers. I have read posts by a couple of our well respected Viper vendors who say they have encountered blatant fraud and deception involving claims with shipped and then returned products. This is obviously NOT the issue here; but, I can see a large company with lots of customers in the Honda Civic, Mustang, WRX, FRS crowd might have established a stricter policy. The problem in the end is that good potential customers will be lost. The Viper parts vendors said that they just took the financial loss by accommodating what were disingenuous customers. The Viper parts vendors probably are compelled to do that since the market is so small and rely heavily on word of mouth for customers.

[Jack B]

Does anyone have any idea what the part number is for item #12 listed. I believe that is the heat shield I need, albeit the Left Hand side one, but I cannot find the part number for it.

34519

Edit: I think I finally found it! Part number 05290149AC :dude3:
https://www.factorychryslerparts.com/products/Dodge/2014/Srt-Viper-Coupe-84L-V10-SFI--6-Speed-Manual-TREMEC/SHIELD-Left--Left-Side-Heat-Left-Torque-Box--Torque-Box--Underbody/4309959/05290149AC.html

Do you have your oem system?

[IHOP]

Just an FYI to all members they are a local company that I have felt with personally. They are a horrible company! From horrible customer service to the owners parking in their handicap parking spots and refusing to move their cars for a handicap person with a handicap plate, they are just shit. They even tried to take pics of my car after their work for their marketing without my consent or permission.

[TrackAire]

Just an FYI to all members they are a local company that I have felt with personally. They are a horrible company! From horrible customer service to the owners parking in their handicap parking spots and refusing to move their cars for a handicap person with a handicap plate, they are just shit. They even tried to take pics of my car after their work for their marketing without my consent or permission.

Wow....what a bunch of entitled douchebags. Who doesn't move their car for a handicapped customer so they can park and give money to your business??

They'll probably implode it the next 18 to 24 months.

At least they have consistent Yelp and online reviews, lol:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/vivid-racing-gilbert
https://www.resellerratings.com/store/Vividracing

[pMak26]

Do you have your oem system?

The OEM exhaust, yes.

[512BB]

That no look pretty! Ouch................