Replaced Catalytic Converter

Not sure why you'd want to replace the resonator and pipe further downstream? Seems like a waste of money?

Engrave your vin# on your old cat for chain-of-custody documentation and if it's not clogged you can sell at auction on Ebay to a California theft victim who according to state law has to replace it with OEM. You can get as much as $1360 for it at auction, or at least that's the highest price I've seen.

Or if your old cat is clogged then here's this via @TMR-JWAP : "If OEM, one should be stamped GD3 and the other EA6. I got a quote from the company below near the end of January and it was GD3=$688 and EA6=$425. Pretty sure they've gone up a little since then. RRCats.com: National Scrap Catalytic Converter Buyers - Catalytic Control "

 

You can try soaking it in a bucket of hot water with Dawn dishwashing detergent for a day... I tried that once for a cat so clogged it was blowing out the flange gasket and while that one was too far gone to recover, it turned all the black stuff white and had it been mine, I would of kept trying to clean it, but I left that up to the person who it belonged to.

 

I got $1300 for mine before fees and shipping on ebay, which was still a net profit in the end with my aftermarket install and I was able to tip the college kids who did the work on my car.

I used a service from a startup here in town, the founders are from UCSB that are focusing on keeping these generation Prius' on the road that focuses on offering services on catalytic converters and battery packs and is dong a really stellar job and has good reviews in town. So far they have no web presence and is still a 'working beta' until they figure things out, something about 'seed money' round, but they had my car back and running with a smog check in 6 days from the day I called them and inquired about their services and I was #3 on their waiting list for the month.

I had just bought this 2009 Prius for my girlfriend, who uses for doordash/ubereats/grubhub delivery after being laid off from her job in the restaurant industry and after 5k (on 177k engine) the check engine came up with the dreaded P0420 and we have to smog it again in the Summer so it was best to get it out of the way and snogged ahead of schedule using this startup and we went with an aftermarket unit from Canada afterward and after ~350 miles we're logging an average MPG of 43.2 whereas the defective OEM unit was barely able to get 39. They came, took out the car for 2 days and came back with the cat installed (they give you the option to bring your own but I just paid for the one people recommended here on ebay to them and they charged upfront) and they took care of the rest. (PM me for details I'd really like these guys to do well!)

Not bad for $1570 with tip and now we are good for another 2 years!

California would have made me junk my car or forced me to buy a $3k OEM unit for the dealership before labor, or I had to play Russian Roulette with a used unit on ebay, which as you noted is really not in people's favor as they mainly sell them for scrap. I'm waiting to get my 2021 tags later this month when my tax return comes in now that I know I can get them at the grocery store instead of waiting for the DMV to do it.

 

Honestly, I asked the same thing about the metal piping and the kids were super honest and said it was just 'dumb metal' and that it was okay to just be reused if it didn't have any obvious rust related cracks or leaks. So they just welded the new one to it and so far, so good.

As for engraving, I don;t think that will do much; it seems like given the amount of thefts (it seems like every week there are 3-4 CA or NY cases of cats being stolen on here) that isn;t going to stop a motivated and above all experienced thief. It seems those metal bracket protection shields are the best defense, they offered to install one but we were low on funds as the GF stopped driving it (she uses if for doordash/ubereats/grubhub since she got laid off from her bartender job) after the P0420 code showed up. It was nice to know it was pretty much a one stop shop, but if I'm honest I think I'll take a weekend and buy one and install it myself as it seems straight forward.

They also tested my aux battery and battery pack and they said it was 'all good' and within specs for free!

 

I wasn't referring to engraving the existing Cat, I was talking about engraving that info on your OLD cat before you sell it... That way if the person who buys it turns out to be a bad guy, you can prove that you're aren't one if his thieves and you were simply selling your old cat to what you thought was a reputable buyer. It's a chain-of-custody cover your butt type thing.

 

How many bidders I had 40 on mine finally topped out at $1350.
Actually sold it to a guy in Mass.

 

Same, but the 250 cats recovered in CA from this article were valued at 3k each! (I cant link but it's on the first page.)

 

There only $1800 new.

 

Where they're there? Their there, now.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Maybe that is for the isolated palladium/rhodium/platinum after separating/smelting?

I'm not arguing that is an accurate number, I'm just re-stating what they made the estimate for, which is likely to make it grand larceny charge rather than theft?

 

Yea, I did the math when I saw those numbers too. But in general, that's how cops estimate value on stolen property. They count the theft at it's full OEM replacement value plus labor. And $3K is what most theft victims in California have to pay due to that state's draconian smog inspection laws.

 

We?

And yes, I'm well aware of the costs which is why I hope more use this local startup in Santa Barbara I used, they took really good care of us for $1500 when the cat failed on our Prius. They are really going to have backlog new customers given all the thefts but other than Atomic in Portland I don't anyone one doing much if anything to keep them on the roads in CA. And Atomic has been on backlog situation due to to lack of availability (over a week when i called) and lack of techs.

These string of cat thefts just made them lose their entire value to so many who don't have the means to repair them, assuming one didn't have full coverage, despite being amazing reliable cars. I just went on craigslist and spotted 10+ cars in the bay area that selling theirs due to the theft.

 

If you don't live in California and are DIY oriented it's not too big of a deal with cheap aftermarket cat... For less than $200 in parts and less than 2 hours time it's an easy fix unless the loose/damaged wires short out the ECU that it is...

 

Actually this startup is in CA, Santa Barbara to be exact.

Seems like TMNA is out of catalytic converters for the foreseeable future, too. Just inquired to 4 dealerships and got the responses 4 hours ago.

 

too much oil in the crankcase ? too many miles with loose piston rings ? valves burnt out ?
bad gas ? i heard sunoco and chevron are good to stick with as opposed to wawa and speedway which
kind of turd out ...

 

i think its the same guy in MA -- he must have a setup to process ... yeah i was very careful on getting mine removed and with the shipping .. i was a bit reluctant because the communication was less than what i would have liked for feeling good about completion of deal .. u def want a 3rd party in between on something like this ..
(no direct from u to end -.. because u have little recourse if it falls through )...

 

No idea what your talking about

 

i've been getting that alot lately .. maybe time i get that bottle of ginko biloba