McGuillicuddy
Veteran Member
Have a downpipe/cat off my Jetta to dispose of. No idea what to expect for it. Any recommendations?
A new one from VW is $110? Aftermarket convertes have a lot less precious metals than OE.Not sure what their worth. A new one cost me 110 bucks so wont be more than that. Tripple M is usually the best I find for copper.
Where did you get the info that the converter is OE (VW) quality?I got a magnaflow 3" OEM quality for 110CAD. The vw cat usually includes the whole DP assembly hence the cost.
You think most of the cost of that assembly comes from the DP/flexpipe? That would be a surprise to me.I got a magnaflow 3" OEM quality for 110CAD. The vw cat usually includes the whole DP assembly hence the cost.
Is it CARB certifiend to be used in California? If not then it's just another aftermarket converter with much lower quality than OE.I wouldnt say its OE quality, as OE tends to have more platinum, its more the metal and build is OE quality (aka no rust essentialy) but also works just as well. It's a magnaflow. Got it from tdot performance.
Magnaflow 51209 - Universal-Fit Catalytic Converter, OEM Grade, 3 in. Inlet/Outlet, Round, L-9 in., Overall L-13 in., W-5 1/8 in., Magnaflow-51209, 1, $124.39 (after tax)
Well I can tell you this. If you took all the precious metals out of the cat, you'd get ~$200 - $300. So how they can charge $1100, I don't know, thats how vbub and all the manufactures do it. The point was that for $1100 you got a whole assembly, not just a cat, and has no bearing on the scrap cost. The scrapper could care less about the $2 worth of steel.You think most of the cost of that assembly comes from the DP/flexpipe? That would be a surprise to me.
Carb was $300.Is it CARB certifiend to be used in California? If not then it's just another aftermarket converter with much lower quality than OE.
Carb is in par with OE quality and so is the $300 price of a universal fiting one. What you got for $110 is a converter that will last maybe until next etest time. Even when these are new, they don't bring the emission levels down to where the OE quality ones do because they can't. Not enough "brick" in the converter. Some manufacturers call them 'high flow converters". Ofcourse they are high flow when 2/3 of the material is missing. They are meant to be a cheap short term solution. There is no such a thing as free lunch, especially when it comes to catalytic converters.Carb was $300.
If my memory is correct, your '99 doesn't have an O2 sensor/s so the ECU has no idea that the converter is missing. All the slightly newer ones have dowstream O2 sensors and the ECU will know the converter is not working/missing and throw the check engine light in a very short order. Tunning it out cost money and is highly illegal.MY cat was clogged, I could really feel the car was struggling to keep 120km when up a long hill. I had it removed and replaced with a straight pipe yes no more cat. Car runs better, tail end smoke seems no different and no change in sound so who needs it, not me. Don't waist your money on a new one just run a pipe.