How much Should an exhaust install cost?

I'm gonna call up some shops on Monday. I will be buying the mufflers, installing the headers, and buying an X-pipe as well if they don't have them at the shop.

I'm gonna drive there on open headers, hand them an X-pipe and two mufflers, and let them do the welding and bending.

I want a very simple exhaust setup, mandrel bent 2 1/2 inch. From the headers to the X-pipe, then through some dyno-max bullets and exiting in front of the rear tire, no special tips just pipe.

I called one place and they quoted me from 300-400 over the phone, but that was not an exhaust shop.

Any one have a rough idea of what this should cost or know of a good place to go in the phoenix area? For $400 I will buy a welder, teach myself to weld, and do it myself.
 
I have a quote from a local shop to install a 2.5" exhaust from my LT headers back to rear valence with H pipe and 40 series Flowmasters for $325. The down side is they are not mandrel bends. I would guess with you supplying those parts it should run you $160 max.
 
I took my car to a local "high performance" muffler shop in Southern Maryland, "Insane Exhaust". I had bought the Magnaflow kit from Summit, and did most of the installation myself. The only thing I asked them to do was connect the x-pipe to the headers, and to use ball style joints at the headers. One week and over $300 later I had my exhaust system hooked up, with the cheesy 3 bolt flanges that always leak. They did use preformed mandrel bends, but they were only about a foot in length and weren't even stainless. Needless to say I was not a happy customer. Eventually I plan to go back and make them replace the crappy 3 bolt flanges with ball and sockets that I paid for, but I have bigger problems with my motor at the moment. It's really hard to find a good shop. Try to get references from happy customers, but even this isn't a guarantee. I've seen other cars Insane Exhaust did that were incredibly well done, but they did the whole system and charged around $800. I guess they think anything they do is worth megabucks.
 
Most muffler shops cannot make "mandrel" bends. the typical bending machine in the shops do no insert the piece required into the tubing before bending, you are probably in the $2-300 range. Remember, the owners of these shops are trying to make a living and have a lot of expenses just to operate their shops.
 
I think I'm just going to setup the exhaust myself then have someone weld it. Since this is such a simple setup, I am just going to get a summit X-pipe kit then purchase some pre-bent mandrel pipe to exit in front of the rear tire. If they still want an arm and a leg just to weld it I'll pay one of buddies to weld it for me. Thanks for the help.