Bought the above car about five weeks ago--by and large very pleased with it. However, I belatedly decided the other day to take a look under the car at the exhaust...appears to be in a bit of a state. The rear silencer is very pitted and the tailpipe so badly corroded that point at which the hanging bracket touches the pipe is just a blob of rust. The car has only done 33,000 miles, so its almost certainly the factory fitted system.

First question is this: someone told me these silencers are manufactured with a double skin, so that even if the outside perforates, the system wont leak until the inner skin goes as well. Ive never heard this before--is it true? Sometimes when I pull away it sounds like the exhaust is blowing, but on inspecting/ listening underneath to it I cant identify any actual leaks.

Second question, if there are any exhaust fitters reading this, can this particular system be replaced in sections or does it only come in one piece, including the cat? Ive had a price for one section from a garage; another has told me that the system only comes as one unit. I dont want to go to the first harbouring the suspicion that theyre going to butcher the system and splice a piece in when they should replace the lot. Its the Climate Zetec, with the 115bhp engine.

Thanks.