My 53 plate 76k 1.4 developed a very sudden extremely loud noise the other day when my wife was driving to work. A quick check showed that the middle section had completely parted company with the first expansion box, hence the racket.
Took it to a local tyre /exhaust place who quoted £85 to replace the middle section, so left it with them, but the next day got a phone call saying that they didn't want to touch it as they had taken a look at the state of the bolts connecting the middle section to the cat flange and were basically "chickening out", worrying that I wouldn't be too happy at shelling out for a new cat ... and they were probably right.
He seemed to think that all it needed was to be re-welded and recommended a guy with a small workshop who turned out to be excellent at his job. We both took a look and I was very surprised to find that the metal was still bright on the inside, and that effectively it was the weld that had cracked rather than the pipe that had rotted out.
A quick dressing with a grinder and 20 minutes with a mig welder resulted in a very quiet exhaust again, with a much bigger weld fillet to stop it happening again.
He also knew exactly how to get the flange bolts sorted if it needed doing in the future, but reckoned that the exhaust was good for a few years yet, and having seen the good condidtion of the metal once the light surface rust is brushed off, I tend to agree with him.
There's no doubt that Honda original exhausts are quality items ..... 14 years old and still strong.