Used catalytic converter

kkelly77

Is buying a used catalytic converter a false economy or too much of a risk?

Obviously the life expectancy should be longer with a new unit but the cost is much higher than buying a 2nd hand unit.

Anyone any experience in buying a used cat? How did it work out for you, as there's no way to test if it's a working unit until in operation. Thanks.

PukkaStukka

A chap I work with had his Merc C180 fail its NCT on emissions due to a dead cat. He was told by his mechanic to get a decent second hand one as pattern or universal cats don't work too well on his particular model of car.

To answer your question , I suppose its down to issues like this and the cost of new versus second hand that would swing it for me. I have fitted a known good second hand cat to a punto before and it was fine then and is still so today - several years later!

joujoujou

It's a gamble IMO - you never know what you get - it can indeed be a very decent, nearly new one, it can be nearly dead one as well.

New ones can be obtained for as little as 45 pounds off ebay, so if I was you, I'd rather go that route.

jimgoose

There's an awful lot of crap out there in the line of spurious cats. A lot of them appear to be designed to last 12 months at the outside. In my experience there is something to be said for a good OE unit from a breaker. Try Dempsey's Dismantlers in Ballina.