4 ms·

It would only be $500 dollars to replace if you could find a used one from say a salvage yard if you have to go brand new then it is expensive. Source I am a ba

by 14 5y ago

It would only be $500 dollars to replace if you could find a used one from say a salvage yard if you have to go brand new then it is expensive. Source I am a backyard mechanic and that is how things are done. Poor means you do the job yourself and salvage while soccer mom means you pay a premium for a new part and pay someone to install it.

rfrey 5y ago
If catalytic converters have enough value for people to steal them at night, and have >500 bucks of raw material in them, there are none at the wreckers. When steel went through the roof in price I couldn't get leaf springs anymore because the wreckers knew they could sell them for scrap more profitably - yards are a low margin business and they know how to maximize revenue. Source I am a backyard mechanic who doesn't feel the need to be condescending to those who aren't.
- 14 5y ago
  Well I said salvage yard but in reality it could be buy it used from someone who crashed their car. Even my local salvage yard has some they will sell for cheap because they haven’t had the time to go under and remove it. The point is in some cases you can get the parts for scrap prices. Around here the most scrap cars go for is about $300. Lots of people have a yard with 2-3 dead cars. I have 3 currently. Yes if I take every part off and sell individually I can make more money but for just as is $300. The other means of fixing this issue is just not add a catalytic converter but then you need to install a cat delete device so you don’t get a CEL and fail emissions testing. That too would cost several hundred dollars. Wasn’t trying to be condescending perhaps you woke up wrong side of the bed. Good day.
  - sagarm 5y ago
    This was the part that came off as condescending to me: > while soccer mom means you pay a premium for a new part and pay someone to install it. "soccer mom" is generally not a compliment.
    - 14 5y ago
      Perhaps it was me who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I’m going through some heavy health stuff right now and don’t feel great. I guess I meant by soccer mom someone in a better position financially who would’ve paid someone to do the job thus costing them more. I hope all is well in your life, cheers.
- jeffbee 5y ago
  At least in Berkeley where this kind of theft is common the parts aren't going to scrap dealers, they sell the whole thing to small repair garages. It's basically an evil cycle where the repair garage charges you $5000 or whatever to replace your stolen converter with another stolen converter and the thieves are getting their share.
  - MertsA 5y ago
    If they're selling them to a shady repair shop it's not to use on another vehicle it's to launder the stolen catalyst so it's coming from a "legitimate" source. Thieves don't carefully unbolt anything, they dive under a car with a sawzall and a metal cutting blade or an angle grinder, rip it out, and take off. A garage would need to cut and prep the stolen catalytic converter, cut the flanges off of the old one, weld it to the stolen one, and spend every night praying that none of their customers ever looked below their cars again because a used frankenstein catalytic converter will stand out and it's illegal to slap a used catalytic converter on without it being tested and labeled as such. Why would they go out of their way to commit a felony that's much more likely to get caught than just buying the catalyst at half price to drop off at the scrap yard later? Also there's tons of vehicles that have been driven on a misfire for too long, improper mixture, coolant contamination, etc that can reduce the efficiency of a catalytic converter but not be immediately obvious. If a garage is doing this dozens of times there's going to be a bad catalytic converter that trips a P0420 300 miles down the road and any mechanic looking at it is going to know what happened after a quick chat with the owner. There's no way they'd get away with it long term, people are already distrustful of mechanics so being charged for a new cat and getting franken cat bolted on is going to get the cops involved sooner or later.

by 14 5y ago

rfrey 5y ago

If catalytic converters have enough value for people to steal them at night, and have >500 bucks of raw material in them, there are none at the wreckers. When steel went through the roof in price I couldn't get leaf springs anymore because the wreckers knew they could sell them for scrap more profitably - yards are a low margin business and they know how to maximize revenue. Source I am a backyard mechanic who doesn't feel the need to be condescending to those who aren't.

14 5y ago
Well I said salvage yard but in reality it could be buy it used from someone who crashed their car. Even my local salvage yard has some they will sell for cheap because they haven’t had the time to go under and remove it. The point is in some cases you can get the parts for scrap prices. Around here the most scrap cars go for is about $300. Lots of people have a yard with 2-3 dead cars. I have 3 currently. Yes if I take every part off and sell individually I can make more money but for just as is $300. The other means of fixing this issue is just not add a catalytic converter but then you need to install a cat delete device so you don’t get a CEL and fail emissions testing. That too would cost several hundred dollars. Wasn’t trying to be condescending perhaps you woke up wrong side of the bed. Good day.
- sagarm 5y ago
  This was the part that came off as condescending to me: > while soccer mom means you pay a premium for a new part and pay someone to install it. "soccer mom" is generally not a compliment.
  - 14 5y ago
    Perhaps it was me who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I’m going through some heavy health stuff right now and don’t feel great. I guess I meant by soccer mom someone in a better position financially who would’ve paid someone to do the job thus costing them more. I hope all is well in your life, cheers.
jeffbee 5y ago
At least in Berkeley where this kind of theft is common the parts aren't going to scrap dealers, they sell the whole thing to small repair garages. It's basically an evil cycle where the repair garage charges you $5000 or whatever to replace your stolen converter with another stolen converter and the thieves are getting their share.
- MertsA 5y ago
  If they're selling them to a shady repair shop it's not to use on another vehicle it's to launder the stolen catalyst so it's coming from a "legitimate" source. Thieves don't carefully unbolt anything, they dive under a car with a sawzall and a metal cutting blade or an angle grinder, rip it out, and take off. A garage would need to cut and prep the stolen catalytic converter, cut the flanges off of the old one, weld it to the stolen one, and spend every night praying that none of their customers ever looked below their cars again because a used frankenstein catalytic converter will stand out and it's illegal to slap a used catalytic converter on without it being tested and labeled as such. Why would they go out of their way to commit a felony that's much more likely to get caught than just buying the catalyst at half price to drop off at the scrap yard later? Also there's tons of vehicles that have been driven on a misfire for too long, improper mixture, coolant contamination, etc that can reduce the efficiency of a catalytic converter but not be immediately obvious. If a garage is doing this dozens of times there's going to be a bad catalytic converter that trips a P0420 300 miles down the road and any mechanic looking at it is going to know what happened after a quick chat with the owner. There's no way they'd get away with it long term, people are already distrustful of mechanics so being charged for a new cat and getting franken cat bolted on is going to get the cops involved sooner or later.