Catalytic converter (2 mechanics opinions)

[Tscott]

I have a check engine light on. It gave a cat code. First mechanic wants $1,100 to replace it. See picture. I said I saw cats on the Internet for a lot less. He said that they charge more because they make profit on the part plus they warranty it for 3 years/36,000 miles.

Second mechanic said could be the cat or O2 sensors. Could be both. He cleared the light and said drive it around for awhile. He said cats can take awhile to come back on. He added they would have to do a diagnostic to determine if cat or O2 sensor. He would give me a 2 year /24,000 mile warranty.

I kinda like what the second mechanic said. They won't put in a cat if it was O2 sensors.

I'm clueless about these kinds of things. What do you all think.? Is $1,100 too much for a cat?

 

[Ct_tj]

It sounds a little high, but labor rates probably vary in different parts of the country. For that price he should be doing the sensors too though. Just keep in mind, online parts are cheaper but you also have to pay for shipping. Parts stores have their own mark up, and there's the shop mark up as well, everybody needs a slice of the pie. There's also the convenience of having the parts readily available. At my shop we won't warranty labor if the customer supplies the parts, so that's something else to consider

 

[Chris]

Well here's what I would suggest doing.

First, replace all of the O2 sensors. These are general maintenance items that should be replaced every 80k miles or so, regardless of whether they are bad or not.

Do that and see if it gets rid of your issue. If not, then replace the cats. New cats are around $300-$400 for the cats themselves, and O2 sensors would be less than $150 for all of them. That being said, that price seems awfully high, as replacing the cats and O2 sensors should probably be around 3 hours of labor at the most I would think.

 

[Tscott]

Thanks guys. Will replace the sensors first. Chris, I read your article about O2 sensors and will replace with NGK stuff.

 

[pagrey]

$869 is in the right ballpark for the Mopar assembly with three cats. If it's aftermarket stuff that is not a good price. A good shop can easily tell if it is the sensors or the cats. If the shop is good you'll be buying cats soon, not to say new O2 sensors are a bad thing at all.