Hi I just wanted to share my most recent experience. Driving the Copen home one night I went over a speed hump and immediately knew that there was a problem as after this there was an obvious knocking noise and a great deal of vibration through the bodywork at the back. When I had a chance to jack the car up and take a look, it was apparent that the exhaust system centre section at the joint of the rear large muffler had snapped. Maybe this could have been welded and repaired, but I considered this was probably the best time to replace the complete exhaust system. After looking on eBay I noticed that there were two main versions advertised being either three piece or two piece configurations. As the one fitted on my car was the two piece version I ordered it along with a gasket (£2.08) for the joint between the centre and rear sections. The total cost including next day delivery and V.A.T. @ 20% was £184.92. The company I used (Parts2Clear, Sealand Road Industrial Estate, Chester, Cheshire, CH1 4NS – 0844 7360567) were extremely helpful and the exhaust system arrived well packaged the next day. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DAIHATSU-...Parts_SM&fits=Model:Copen&hash=item1c2bcb9fd3 My son and I went about fitting the new exhaust which would have been relatively straight forward had we had the correct tools and a sensible method to jack the car up - we used two axle stands at the front. The centre section connects to the front CAT/manifold section with two spring loaded bolts/nuts and an O ring type gasket, the rear section connects to the centre section using the new gasket and two bolts/nuts. This is all then held in place with a number of rubber mounts. Apart from the obvious problems of getting access under the car to work we found that there were two cross members located underneath the car each held on with four large bolts that needed to be removed and this caused us a real headache as the bolt heads were worn and we could not get them out. A friendly mechanic we knew armed with ‘Snap On’ power tools eventually resolved this for us. The existing rear (dual tail pipe) section on our car seemed fine so we did not actually replace this and it connected to the new centre section without any problem. My only real issue was that the supplier only offered the centre and rear section together (£169.99) or just the rear section (£69.99) so I now have a spare rear section. Maybe, if I did this again and in hindsight, I would have used the three piece configuration as it might be easier to replace single sections if required in the future without removing the cross members? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DAIHATSU-...Parts_SM&fits=Model:Copen&hash=item1c2e05c55b Anyway, I hope this might help someone with a similar problem. KS
Could you not sell the left over rear section and get some of your outlay back? So are the two exhaust systems, three part and two part, compatible with all the 700cc Copens? What I mean is, when assembled are they identical? Given a choice I would have gone for the two part as well. One less joint to worry about, it was a shame about the cross members though. Looks like the three part system is easier even with the extra join. Just noticed the three part system is £25 cheaper than the two part. Forget what I said earlier about one less joint it would have been the three part for me. Twenty five quid is twenty five quid, I blame my scottish granddad.
Yes, I will put the rear section back on eBay at some point to try and get some cash back – my Dad was from Scotland as well. As far as I am aware, all versions are compatible with the 700cc Copen but I stuck to the two piece version as this was the style already fitted to the car. Just one more thing I noticed, the tail pipes on the rear section of the replacement exhaust system were not perfect as the metal was a little pitted. I have seen on eBay that you can purchase chrome tail pipe end trims for about £10.00 each which would make them look better. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DAIHATSU-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a764b3e38 KS
Be careful buying exhaust trims off eBay. I've seen them advertised for the Copen yet the diameter stated in the advert would be too small to fit. They usually state in the ad that it is up to the buyer to ensure the part will fit. I think they just advertise an item and then say it is for every car ever made to get hits on their ad. I've even seen rear seat covers and rear mats for sale for the Copen.
Agreed DaG. I have seen that also. Alarm bells should start ringing when you see such words as 'Universal fit' and 'Buyer to ensure item is correct'.
It's a bit daft really because when you buy a part that is listed as for your car you expect it to fit. The exhaust trim in Klausanta's link wouldn't fit my car its diameter is too small. I'm assuming it won't fit the 700cc versions either.
Thanks for your post. I ordered the 2 part exhaust today for my 2005 Copen. I will get a local garage to fit it as I'm not that good at this stuff. I paid £146 for the whole thing. Halfords tried to source the front part (that's all I need) and quoted me £460 sourced from Daihatsu! Question - do I need to order the gasket? Cheers guys Kevin
