scetch50

My sister has a 99 civic ex and apparently the catalytic converter needs to be replaced. The dealer said it would be a grand ya 1000$. i drive a 96 accord and this justs seems obscene. There reasoning was that the cat was in some strange location and that putting a new one in requires intensive labor. Does this sound reasonable. I know the price isn't but this whole bs about intense labor? What do you guys suggest? getting an aftermarket oem style cat and taking it to a muffler exhaust specialist? thanks.

mike

shifty35

Bullcrap. Find one used for sale. If it is an EX, its like 5 bolts and an O2 sensor. For anything else, you replace the whole upper half of the exhaust manifold. If you do it yourself, I'd say $100-$200 tops. The new units would be very expensive however...

PDiggityDogg

heres one for 1/3 of that - but they can be had for even less, still new.
http://catalyticconvertersite.com/it...cconvertersite

jweltch

Check the laws.. unless this thing has some ungodly amount of miles on it, Vehicles manufactured after 95 are supposedly covered under an 8yr/80,000 mi emissions warranty.

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/warr95fs.txt

bambbrose

I think the civics have an emissions warrenty til 120k or something, not sure.. but yea I wouldn't pay more than $200 for that job. I would personally just buy a new cat, and installing it is a 45 min job tops

scetch50

its got over a 100k
well sounds like honda's full of crap.

thanks all for the help

carrnut21

My cat failed in my 98 accord EX 4 cly Auto at just under 100k Honda charged 800 bucks. I told my dad ( I'm only 17) that i wanted a high flow cat and it would be like 300 dollars max, but he would only buy original equipment. he was paying so i didn't have a choice.

taz77

do you have your smog readout? if so, can you list all the results? (co2, o2, hc, co, nox, at 15mph and 25mph). i'd like to see if it was in fact the catalytic converter that might be the cause or if the cat might just be a temporary fix.

unfortunatly, a factory oem cat is over $1100 at msrp. so it's either replace it at the dealer or replace it elsewhere for MUCH less if it needs to be replaced.

taz77

in cali, the emissions warranty is a 7/70k warranty unless honda decides to offer a longer warranty, but i seriously doubt they would do so.

now, scetch50, there is another option. if you are not able to pay for repairs that expensive at the moment, there is a consumer assistant program that might help temperarily. if you get an estimate from honda saying how much it would cost to get it to pass the smog and it exceeds $450, you can go to a refree smog station and request a waiver. you do not need to do a smog til the next time in 2 years. however, you MUST get it smogged after that 2 years, AND you may NOT sell the car until it passes. if your sister intends to keep the car for that much longer, this is just another option some people don't know about.

EDITS:
california's emissions warranty is 7/70k for emissions related repairs of over $300. under that and the emissions warranty is 3/50k.

i have to correct myself in the waiver. you need to spend a minimum of $450 on the repair. if it does not pass after the $450, you can apply for a waiver. if you are of an extreme low income household, you can spend a minimum of $250 and apply for an economic hardship waiver. sorry for any confusion

Jafro

What's really funny is that you can wholesale that Honda part for under $100. Okay... It's not funny, really, but you can... if you have a business license...