i have a 99 Accord EX (its a ULEV) 92K. i went in this weekend to a honda dealer for routine maintenance and the mechanic told me that i need a new catalytic converter...its totally shot (the honeycomb inside has fallen apart). ok, so this guy quoted $1500 for a new one including labor. this seemed crazy and i checkd out prices and i havent seen a converter for more than 500 for an accord...whats the deal here? what do these usually cost? i mean i've heard of dealers trying to rip people off but this seems crazy...

 

Take it to another shop for a second estimate... 1500 is to much...

fs

 

Especially if you have friends. The worst thing possible is that the bolts are rusted shut.

Just get a new cat from Catco or Carsound (i'd be surprised if it cost more than 200 bucks, even a high flow one, maybe even random technology if you wanted to spend the big bucks), put it up on jackstands, and get your buddies to help you. You'd need some socket wrenches, PB blaster, and maybe a bolt cutter if it's badly rusted. It shouldnt take more than 2 hours.

For 200 bucks + the cost of a 12 pack of beer for you and your friends it's a hell of a lot better than 1500 bucks

 

Yeah man I second the beer idea. **** beer makes almost anything a good idea. Anyways yeah but another cat, or a straight through for that matter (even cheaper), heat those bolts up and there ya go. That's bullshit though man. A 99 with a bad cat, I'd be calling up the head honchos at Honda on that one!

 

Definately goto another shop for an estimate, 1500 just to replace a cat is way too much.

 

That is a totally ridiculous amount. Shop around..

 

Ask for a written quote from the Honda dealership guy. See what the reaction is?

 

1500.... **** go on ebay get a cat for 20 bucks and put it in urself...if you dont care about performance, eff 1500... or even 200... but if you are plannin on moddin it, might as well get a nice one and spend 300 at most

1500... what is tha dealership called? take-it-in-the-butt honda? dayum...

 

oh, he has already given me a written quote...and he did it with a straight face too...

 

a cat job cant more than an hour installion in the book....so how they come off charging $1300+ for a cat is regoddamndiculous......dont waste your money on a high flow cat....therye the dumbest things ever unless you have a serious header setup

 

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you should report the over charging to HONDA, fox 5, something.

eh, post up a break down of what he thinks it would cost.

this should be funny!

 

Honda covers cats 8 years or 80,000 miles unfortunatly dealers charge alot for parts and labor. I would call Honda directly and ask for assistance ussually they cover it to retain you as a customer. You probably have a code p0420 cat deterioation. Parts should run around 800 bucks and the job takes about an hour including pulling the code

 

1500, that's a great price. In JAPANESE yen.

 

Which is better than 1500 Antarctican yen...

 

That's just rediculous. they are just out for a quick, "idiot-customer" sale. get a cat somewhere else, and have the "buddies and some beer" event in your front yard. just make sure your friend doesn't kick the jackstands.

 

Damn man, 1500 for a cat is fu**ed. Just like everyone else is saying, find one online, a high flow high performance one. That should cost you no more than 300. Just be sure that you get the direct fit one for your generation accord and the install is cake. If the bolts aren't rusted up, you'll be done in 15 or 20 minutes tops. Good luck!

 

WOW $1500. I'm thinking for under 200.00 would fix it. I have run Carsound (Magnaflow) with good luck! I think the last one I picked up was 140 bucks. Any muffler shop can install them for a few bucks. Easy!

 

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That just means he's done this before and probably can play poker. What's on the quote, care to share?

Have you contacted other Honda dealerships or authorized Honda repair shops for quotes to compare?

 

Geeez 1500 for a damm cat..that BS!!

 

1500 is bullshit but to tell you the honest truth your cat should still be under warenty, I have a freind thats been working for honda for 6 years as a parts and service rep and i had my high flow cat swapped for a new cat and he and the mechanic said that they are running over a thousand dallors, but thats honda for you, they put mine under warranty and i paid my freind and the mrchanic 80$ under the table. and if you do decide to get a high flow you are going to have to look at a ******* check engine light all the damn time, i was told by a honda tech member to by an 02 simulater an ecg, well i did and the lights still on! so good luck

 

I have a high flow on my 1990 accord and no check engine lights over here. You should be fine if you go for the high flow, I have friends that run strait pipe and still don't get a check engine light. Just find a direct fit cat and save yourself the $ and DIY. imo, thats the best way to do almost everything. GL man.

 

OEM cat's are ALWAYS expensive. Don't ask me why but maybe they actually USE precious metals like platinum in stock cats where Random and Carsound cats don't. But labor should not be charged for more than 4 hours. If it's not rusted at all, you're looking at 30 min. from raising your car to unbolt the cat, unplug the O2 sensor, and hooking it back up. It's one of the easiest changes you can do if it's not rusted. But! If it's rusted, you might have a lot of trouble if you want to leave it in a condition to bolt it back up.

 

[QUOTE=Assassin247]I have a high flow on my 1990 accord and no check engine lights over here. You should be fine if you go for the high flow, I have friends that run strait pipe and still don't get a check engine light


the reason your check engine light isnt comig on is because your car is obd I, 98s and up are obd II, two o2 sensors one on the header one on the cat hence any messing around with the cat results in the check engine light coming on, obdII are built for low emissions, if you are not restricting the exhaust the the computer turns on the light. if you realy want to save money go to a exhaust shop and get them to build you a straight pipe, put your car on a jack or lift and do it yourself! the more you do your own work the better you will be in the long run on knowledge of your vehicle. thats what i did

 

wow, like everyone else said, thats way to much for a cat. I just put a new cat on my Civic a couple months ago. I bought it from SRD. I paid like 170 with overnight shipping. I would definately do it yourself if you have a set of jack stands and a basic tool set. And PB Blaster is your friend, that stuff works wonders.

 

its a high price, but its not that crazy, for a stock cat to buy from the dealership for my 93 accord its $700 msrp, i would guess obd II would be more than that, then 1.5x's the normal price of install since its a dealership, it sounds to be the right price for a dealership

but anyways, get a used one from a junkyard or something like that, depending on nj emissions laws, high flow ones while being legal dont always get passing scores, so for smog tests you should use the stock cat, even after 11 years my stock 93 accord one passes my h22a