Stepdaughter recently was given a 2003 MB 500 SUV. It immediately puked the transmission. Now repaired, but mechanic told her the cats were bad, so she had two new one were installed. She now has the old ones and is convinced they are worth big money. Any suggestions on how and where she might actually get cash for these? Note- I do not go out of my way to help on this kind of a project, just trying to be helpful. Thanks.
Chuck
Scrap yard will take them, mine requires a copy of the title or registration IIRC. Its been awhile since I scrapped any.
I sold a few on eBay recently. Posted as scrap, cut off everything but the cat, took good photos and included what numbers I could read off the cats. Being Toyota original cats from an MR2 spyder they were worth more than aftermarket ones, and I got $175 for them. That was 4 converters total but 2 of them were very small, originally attached to the exhaust manifold.
There are companies online that will make offers based on what they came from. I searched for "sell catalytic converter" and found this price list: https://catalyticcontrol.rockawayrecycling.com/catalytic-converter-scrap-prices/ I don't know where hers would fall on the list. Note I've never sold anything to that company, just someone that turned up on a google search.
In reply to dculberson :
Wow really??? I have two sets of mr2 OE headers with the pre cats in them...
My local recycler takes them.
My local recycler requires a receipt from the new cats before accepting the old.
About 6 years ago I replaced the cat on my 98 neon due to an exhaust leak. The Walker replacement was 125, then there was a 50 buck rebate. So final cost was 75 bucks and a stamp.
Bought the original the the auto recycler, they gave me 125 cash. I was shocked. Note the cost of platinum was higher then.
java230 said:In reply to dculberson :
Wow really??? I have two sets of mr2 OE headers with the pre cats in them...
It was one set of the header cats and two of the main cats (I had one full of crud and one with broken off flex pipes so I junked both and bought a new one). I don’t know what just the pre cats would fetch but it would be worth a shot!
The value of salvage OE cats vs new aftermarket one tells you a lot about what's inside!
Keith Tanner said:The value of salvage OE cats vs new aftermarket one tells you a lot about what's inside!
That's for sure.
If you can't find anyone who will buy them, research how to extract platinum ($835/oz), palladium ($1088.oz), and rhodium ($1300/oz) from them.
There is less than a oz of the sum of them. that's for sure. But much more than any aftermarket catalyst.
Do you think the difference in construction between aftermarket and OE impacts emissions performance or longevity or both?
I always suspected OE cats were superior, but OE prices are cost prohibitive when you are dealing with older cars. Not going to put a $1200 cat on a $500 car...
ProDarwin said:Do you think the difference in construction between aftermarket and OE impacts emissions performance or longevity or both?
Yes and they do on both counts.
This is why California cracked down on the aftermarket.
iATN is also chock full of help requests about recurring P0420/430 that get resolved by installing OE parts. Pre-OBD-II, there were certain brands of catalyst (I forget which, exactly, fortunately pre-OBD-II cars are rare around here anymore) that would almost guarantee failure for NOx on the IM25/25 test that Ohio does, if not the first time then definitely two years later.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Agreed. I could see the OE was larger overall, and when looking in it was also much more dense, more surface area for the exhaust to contact.
Not sure about the original question, but you may want to let her know to be very careful not to lose or damage the keys, because W163 keys are permanently NLA so if you lose both the whole car is junk.
I always ebay them and consistently get 1.5-2x what local guys pay.
I took the OE one off the ZJ to the local recycler earlier this year. Had to show the receipt for the new one. Had to stand around in their yard on some invisible spot on the pavement that every regular knew about but I couldn't see for the automated photo, but had to park my truck where it could be seen in the photo. No, facing the OTHER way. Had to go to the wrong window twice before someone pointed out the right window to get the paperwork. Had to fill out the paperwork and take it to Julie*. Took 15 minutes to figure out who Julie was. Then had to wait 20 min for them to call my name. Then I had to let them copy my DL for the file and attach it to the CARBON copy they keep. Then they cut me a $20 check.
berkeley it, I'll throw the thing a ditch next time.
*Name changed to protect the innocent and because I can't remember her actual name.
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