Is $2100 reasonable for replacing a catalytic converter?

some aftermarket parts are really poorly made and you get what you pay for. if you want something to get you by for a couple years go cheap. if you want to keep the car, the oem cat does appear to be stainless steel. there may be some aftermarket that are stainless. I do not know.

 

While you can come back to CA, the car can't. It won't pass the annual inspection with an unapproved part.

 

There are no inspections. Hybrids are exempt. Also I can't remember looking under to see if the cat is approved. It just has to pass Smog without warning lights on

 

My 2008 with nearly 205K miles is now giving me the P0420 code. No real performance issues. Occasionally a slightly rough idle, maybe, which I had just chalked up to its having to contend with changing and fairly wide variations in climate conditions here as of late. MPG still runs in the 50's around town and probably mid 40's on the highway (Interstate, always keeping it under 80 mph, so as not to upset Popo).

CE light came on a couple of months ago, then would go off after a few startup cycles. Then it would come on more and more frequently and stay on for more and more cycles. Now stays on just about all the time. Had it scanned at Autozone and got the P0420. Pulled one of the spark plugs (Bosch Platinum +4 Iridiums, I think, with over 100K mi.). Plug looked decent to me. Guess I could try replacing them (probably not a bad idea anyway after 100K+ mi.) and/or the upstream O2 sensor and see if it makes enough difference to kill the CE light. But, reading here on PC, sounds like I am headed for a new CC.

At 205K miles, I'll probably be giving the Amazon or eBay products a whirl. At most, maybe the $300 partial system at PartsGeek (thanks, JimboPalmer). Would love to have part number that R3PB used. Little ventured is, hopefully, little lost....

 

Interesting? So California only has smog inspections and Hybrids are exempt up to a certain number of years and then they have to get Bi-annual like the rest of the cars. I wonder if these 3rd party CATS pass smog? So during smog inspection, no one verified number on catalytic converter?

 

CARB will fine you for an unapproved Cat. Reputable vendors will not ship to CA.

 

Last year during a 'title transfer' the smog tech jacked into the OBD2 and looked under the hood (I think), then checked the gas cap and pressurized the tank (or did he). Can't even remember if he pretended to sniff the exhaust or not. Regardless, pay $45 and it passes.

Fast forward and my Prius (like many others) is due for a smog this year, how might this work?

Will the smog tech have an extension mirror or a selfie stick to check if my cat is legit, cross checking POs and CARB certs if something doesn't look OEM (or the proper serial number/RFID chip)?

And in the future when I travel out of state and this Prius chokes out a fat P0420 then descends into a local muffler shop for a quick cat fix, will I really be fined for repairing my Prius because it was hacking up smog?