My daughter’s car needs the catalytic converter replaced. When we asked the mechanics if we could get a used one, they responded with it’s illegal to sell a used catalytic converter.
I smell BS on that one.
Can someone verify that buying a used catalytic converter out of a salvage year would be illegal?
I am not an expert, but I see that the EPA requires cats to be certified to meet performance minimums. You can’t use just any cat you find. Here’s what the EPA has to say about it:
"EPA considers it a violation of the policy to install a used converter from a salvage yard or sell it for reuse unless it has been properly tested and labeled. Similarly, it is a violation to install an untested used converter brought in by a customer, even if the customer insists that the used converter came off his/her vehicle.
“Salvage or junk yards also would be considered liable for causing tampering if they sell converters that have not been tested or do not meet the requirements outlined in the policy and if the converters are subsequently installed by parties named in the Clean Air Act as prohibited from tampering.”
I’m in the same boat and I can’t find a salvage yard that will sell me a catalytic converter.
On the plus side, you can buy a universal catalytic converter for $50-$100 and replace it yourself without too much trouble or look on Craigslist and find one of the shops that will replace one for $90.
You probably wouldn’t want a used catalytic converter anyway. As Jeremy pointed out, many muffler shops will sell you a new one for under $150. If you are getting it replaced because the car failed emissions, you don’t wan’t to pay money for a used one, and then for installation, just to end up with an emissions reading that “just passes”…better to buy a new one and get that emissions reading way down so that you don’t have to worry about it again in the future.
I’ve never had problems using free-flow aftermarket cats on my vehicles. They work well and are inexpensive compared to OEM.
Technically, there are a great many laws regarding catalytic converters. Most of them are federal, and nearly all of them are practically unenforceable. You’re not likely to get a cat from a salvage, between various rules about used catalysts, and the fact that salvages tend to pull converters and sell them for their platinum and/or palladium catalysts.
I would recommend having a universal catalytic converter installed if the vehicle was made between 1991 and 2004. Newer cars than that often have very specialized converter designs and very picky emissions control systems, which will know if you’ve installed a converter other than the one specifically designed for that car. Anything earlier than 2004 should have a very simple emissions control system that won’t cause any hassles with a universal converter.
If the car is older than 25, it still technically has to have a converter, but most counties don’t have a visual inspection, and the state’s laws exempt cars 25 or older from emissions testing, so there isn’t really any way to enforce catalytic converter laws on such vehicles. You won’t be able to convince a reputable exhaust shop to remove a converter, except for some which will take you at face value if you tell them the car is going to be for offroad use only.
The main issue you’re going to run into with catalytic converters, is that shops don’t want to break federal laws because they’re the only people who are likely to run into trouble with law enforcement. Other than that, I don’t run a converter on my Nissans, both of which are emissions exempt, and neither of which has had problems with law enforcement.
Cool info, this is one of those questions that you never realize the complexity of the answer as an outsider. Fun read and a Like to everyone that has posted.
Thanks to everyone on the knowledge and insight.