I have an exhaust leak sort of near the manifold on my 04 x sedan, and i took it to speedy auto (mechanic shop) and they told me they couldn't repair something like that. Would you guys recommend that i try another place, or should i just get aftermarket headers instead of trying to fix it?

Take it to a muffler shop.

If you have a manifold leak, it gonna be a ton of effort. Pay a shop to put new headers on.