Yo, I just bought my first car, a 1996 Honda Civic DX and it's pretty low. On my way home I was coming up a ramp and over a railroad track and I heard and felt the bottom of my car bump the track, something came undone, and on the way home I could feel it touching the ground as I'm driving. I took pictures of it, but I'm not sure what it is. Can someone tell me what the exact problem is, and an estimate of what the cost would be to fix it?

 

That's your exhaust. It'll cost you all of three bolts and three nuts to fix it yourself.

 

Really? Thank god I thought I was in the hole $200 or something..

 

As far as I can tell, the flange doesn't look damaged. It's just a few bolts.

 

If I do continue to drive with it like this (which will not be the case) what could the damage lead up to?

 

Catalytic converter falls off, there goes $150. Exhaust piping gets ruined, there's another $200. Absolute worst case, all of the above, plus the header/A pipe get pulled and bent, and go cockeyed through your oil pan, risking your entire motor along with the exhaust system. Totaled car.

Considering it is literally a $10 trip to Lowes to fix this, I don't even know why you're considering worst case scenarios though. Just fix it.

 

Thanks, on my way right now, very much appreciated.

 

Where do I put the jack so I can change the nuts and bolts?

 

 

Lol, You didn't realize your car was much louder after too? Which would pin point the problem to the exhaust?

 

Should have been loud and smelly before the incident too. Pretty clear that it wasn't bolted up to begin with since a) there's no way three bolts could disappear simultaneously and b) you can see pretty clearly in the first pic that it had been leaking like a sumbitch already.

OP, you also need a new gasket since there doesn't appear to be one there anymore. It's also concerning that the converter is hanging down at an angle despite the flange at the A pipe appearing to still be sitting flat.