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$1,000.00 catalytic converter?

C

chugiak

New member
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Location
Brighton, Colorado
got a 1992 960 2.9. it needs a cat and the shop (not dealer) WANTS 1K!

i've trusted this volvo mech for 30 years now, but this is steep. the dealer, i called, wanted 1,400.00. checked around for the after market cat and it runs 100 - 250.00 for eastern. any suggestions? i plan on keeping the car, has only 60k on it. does after market mean junk in this case?
 
holy crap, good luck lol, if you do your searching then you will find a good AM brand, try and look for what the supra boys are doing as theyre 3L and should be able to find something that will either be similar of better
 
nedc said:
Why do you need a new cat at only 60K miles? OEM cat should last at least twice that long.
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+1.. I'm not sure if back in 1992 they had this requirement, but today the emissions equipment has to last 100k and if it fails before that the dealer should foot the bill.

Otherwise just get the magnaflow one.
 
Poik said:
+1.. I'm not sure if back in 1992 they had this requirement, but today the emissions equipment has to last 100k and if it fails before that the dealer should foot the bill.

Otherwise just get the magnaflow one.
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8-80, 8 Years 80,000 miles on all emissions related repairs. Federal Law. Its probably an OEM cat you recieved a price for. Oem cats usually do a better job due to more rhodium, palladium and platinum in thier honeycomb construction so obviously it costs more. They last longer generally depending on the tune of the engine, excess hydrocarbons damages all cats (running too rich). Is the price difference worth it? For my money, no.
 
I have 91 240, dealer wanted $800.00 for it, I went to J.C. Whitney,online, got a MagnaFlow Hi Flow cat($ 250.00 approx. on their website) for $90.99 AND got free shipping!!! Check them out at www.jcwhitney.com. It's the deal of the century!! Another TBer told me about the MagnaFlow hi flo cat, then I found them a JCW.
 
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Now I see why that sorry theiving bastard cut the cat off my 940.:grrr: Thank god for aftermarket replacements. There's a good selection on Jegs.com.
 
240driver said:
Now I see why that sorry theiving bastard cut the cat off my 940.:grrr: Thank god for aftermarket replacements. There's a good selection on Jegs.com.
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The parts diagram I'm looking at makes it look like the 960 cats have the downpipe "built in" (like the 240 Turbos) -- hence the cost. Cats for a 940 are gonna be cheaper.
 
I just replaced an aftermarket cat that had been gutted for some reason with an OEM cat, this on a 94 960. The aftermarket cat was much smaller and the whole assembly (headpipes included) was much lighter than the OEM. The aftermarket cat made a terrible 'raspy' exhaust noise and was just generally louder, which is why i took it off in the first place. Of course, some (all?)of this was due to the wide-open spaces within the cat, but even the headpipes were smaller and thinner guage pipe. So, you do pay a big price difference for the OEM, but they ARE better made.
 
If you do let that mechanic replace the cat on your car don't let him keep it. It seems you can get a good bit of money for them at the recyclers. (that's why the meth heads around here steal them)

As for having to buy the cat with the downpipe that doesn't justify $1000 IMO. You could chop it off the old downpipe and weld on a new one easy as can be. If I were you I'd pick up my car from the mechanic and find a reputable exhaust shop and take it there. Call around first, but I'll bet you can have it done with a quality cat for at least half that.
 
A grand....uh no! I got mine done from the exhaust shop for 250$ from the manifold to the rear complete with cat and muffler....Shop around!
 
Never buy a new factory catalytic converter. I think the reason they're especially high is the dealer has to warranty those converters for an additional 8 years/80k miles if you buy an OEM one. If the shop you go to is charging you a $1,000 for an aftermarket catalytic converter install, you need to find a new shop because he's clearly trying to rip you off. Aftermarket cat converters have really dropped in price.

Like the other posters said, you can find a high-quality Magnaflow cat converter off of Ebay, Jegs, Summit Racing, etc. for around $60-$80, and have a muffler shop weld it in for less than $100. Or just buy it through the muffler shop that's going to install it if your unsure which model to buy. I have done this on cars in the past, and its worked perfect.

If you can, find an independent exhaust/muffler shop that has a good reputation, ask around. Go to the places car enthusiasts take their rides to get a performance exhaust set up. The chain places, like Midas or Meineke are usually crap, but even they can handle an easy job like this.

BTW, are you sure you need new catalytic converter? 60k miles is pretty low to need a replacement.
 
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