OEM vs. Aftermarket Catalytic Converters

Like so many, I too did not realize that my 2005 DC was so desirable for its catalytic converters. I came out of church yesterday, started up the truck, and had my best surprise in years. I didn't know that the 2uz-fe could be that loud. I will comb through the many threads related to protecting the cats from future theft later, but this post is for a different reason.

I am working out the details with my insurance company and the local shop. I asked the shop to quote a repair with OEM cats and sensors. I also learned that the insurance company will only pay so much which I assume will be for the cost of aftermarket cats. I have not yet seen the spread between the cost of OEM and aftermarket, but is there any benefit with putting OEM cats on a 17-year old truck? Do I gain anything with the OEM cats? I am the second owner and the truck has 140,000 miles and run like a champ. I had the timing belt, water pump, etc. changed about 3,000 miles ago. The truck runs like a dream and I plan to run it for a couple of decades.

 

I am in the Houston area. I am a stickler for OEM parts, but I also need to be reasonable. I have heard many rumors that the OEMs are a premium. I wonder if I get any return on my investment.

 

I really hate thieves. Scum of the earth. They did this to my neighbor's dad's Element while parked in front of his house and a friend of ours with an Element has gotten hit twice now.

Don't have specific advice, but I'd try to go OEM if you can. I do realize you're looking at about $2500, and your insurance company, even if it's USAA like mine - and they've gone out of their way to go above and beyond for us numerous times - I doubt they'll want to pay that.

If they won't cover it, I'd consider going with Magnaflow, they're running about $550 and $650 respectively per side, roughly half the cost and under $1500. I've seen cheaper on eBay, but they're not coming from a big name.

I wouldn't order any parts from scAmazon, it's rife with counterfeits, so is fleaBay, they honestly don't care if people are selling knock-offs, there's no incentive for them to care and very little ways to control it even if they wanted to.

 

Yeah, with OEM CATs you won't be replacing them after 5 years. I would push for it as much as possible if you think you can get the insurance to pay. I know by law in particular states you have the right to OEM replacement on any item.

 

Thank you for the response. My independent shop normally sells the Magnaflows so I will keep this in mind. I am going to make my case with the insurance company for the OEM cats, but I need to be ready to make a decision because I need to get the truck back on the road ASAP. The local dealership gave me 4 to 6 weeks of lead time. I will surely stay away from Amazon and Ebay for these items.

 

I am going to make my best case for the OEMs. I do wonder however if the original cats were even working after 17 years. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise.

 

It’s interesting that even our best gens have that weird internal pipe inside a pipe, I thought that was turd…… second gen specific?
Oem cats will be the best, they lasted this long right?
I put high flow magana flows on for emissions, so only 50-70 miles on them, not sure how long they would keep the CEL away if they were permanently mounted.

 

Did they go up recently? I got high flow cats for under 300$ per side.

 

Under normal circumstances where the engine is regularly maintained and your O2 sensors are replaced so its not running rich or lean, the CATs should last the lifetime of your vehicle. For $2k each on my 02, they should.

 

Yep!

 

OE last longer than aftermarket

 

Just happened to me Jan 4th on my '21 CM SR5. Thieves took one side, a single pipe with two cats on it. I took it in to my insurance company's "preferred shop" for an estimate to replace, fully installed. Quote was ~$3700, minus my $500 deductible. I told (didn't ask) the insurance company that I'll take the buyout option. Got a check and ordered the cat pipe, gaskets, an O2 sensor, and complete TRD exhaust with black tips from SparksParts.com. All that plus shipping came in under what insurance paid. Installed myself, since it's all bolt-on parts, and my truck is so new, the exhaust bolts aren't seized up yet. Of course, I shelled out more for the cat shields (search Valhalla shields on this site).

 

I'd looked it up over in the sales forum a couple days ago, and Magnaflow 24406 was for passenger ($500-550) and 24404 is the driver side ($600-650)

Not sure if these are the 'high flow' ones or not, just what came up. Not sure if these are same for the OP's '05 either.

 

Maybe oem setup with flanges and what have you, for a bolt on experience. I’ll look them up.

 

It depends on the version. When I looked at cats for my gti the high flows were cheap, OEM standard were almost twice the cost and the California ones are neck and neck with what it costs to move to another state.

I believe the high flows are just the cat with 200 cell guts. OEM standard are 400 cell guts with flanges, and I suspect that the California ones are the same as the OEM but you pay a markup for the CARB approval certificate that California charges aftermarket companies for that executive order slip.

 

Yeah I vaguely remember that part of my rabbit hole search. And that makes sense, but at that point I’d probably just go oem for a fist full of dollars more…….

 

I agree with that.

The worst part is knowing that people are getting put into $3k predicaments on their 20 year old trucks by people who are just gonna smoke a few grams of dope and be high for 2 days. I've considered taping a bag of dope near my exhaust with a sign that says "I saved you the trouble, leave my cats".

 

Super shitty, you also see the wait times that people are away from their precious, it bet it’s hell!!! Someone already stole my cats………………………..

 

That’s a lot of dope for a dope head…….

 

I had my stolen some years ago. Insurance gave me a check for aftermarket however our mechanic friend told us to make the Insurance pay for OEM cat because aftermarket will fail quickly and cause smog issues down the road. They ended up giving us a check for OEM Cats after we complained.

 

If it were my insurance I would say Toyota, nothing less. That's what was on the truck, that's what was insured, that's what I'd have back on the truck.

 

Yep, this works just as well. The shop repairing the vehicle has the right to make adjustments under whomever's appraisal license is being used. My father got his back in the 70s when they started giving them out to already existing repair shops. Nowadays you have to jump through a ring of fire with all the tests they give you to qualify for one.

 

It sucks that this happened and it looked like they cut it out the exact same way in my truck. Around the same time too, and Houston!. I'm just now getting it fixed for inspection and I'm running cheapo aftermarket cats and I just figured out that you can use 18 mm spark plug non-fowlers, two of them put together to trick the sensor into thinking you have an OE cat. Eureka it works! I just have to pass the EVAP and then I can get my inspection.

 

For those that say "make insurance pay for OEM", if they're only willing to pay for aftermarkets how does one convince them to shell out another 2k for OEM? You can use the "OEM last longer than aftermarket" excuse but how do you prove it? I've never had to go through this but this always crossed my mind.

 

Make the case that what was stolen was original Toyota and thats what it needs to be replaced with. Putting an aftermarket part on opens you to potential smog violations in the near future and aftermarket is known to be subpar standards compared to OEM. Every insurance adjuster knows this, they really can't dispute it.

 

Agreed! Most adjusters should know that all aftermarket parts are subpar compared to OEM. They probably also don't care what happens in the future whether it passes smog or not, thats not their job. They're main purpose is to close and repair the known issue as quickly and as cheaply as possible. JMHO

 

Unfortunately that's true, but if they're not giving you allowance for the original equipment you need to escalate it. They can't decide that they will only pay for a cheaper aftermarket unit. Especially if you live in a state where smog checks are performed, you have leverage to tell them you need to have original equipment.

 

Has that worked though? Legally I thought they were entitled to use aftermarket parts unless your state provides for the rights to OEM. A lot of states are only required to provide OEM first the first year or some mileage (i.e. 20k miles) before they can use aftermarket.

 

I guess if you escalate it and show concerns of aftermarket parts, they'll probably be more open to listen to you vs someone who just shuts up and goes along w/ what they say.

I've also thought of the excuses they'll say when you say your vehicle had the original equipment. It can go on and on. It happened to my brother a few months ago on his 1st gen sequoia and they replaced it with aftermarket. Never asked him why he didn't request for OEM.

Thats what I sort of figured too.

 

I'm in California, maybe its different here but even when you shop for aftermarket cats they have the ones legal for sale in CA and the ones that aren't. The CA legal ones are about double the price, if not more. At that point they may as well give you the original part, and they will, I have seen it. According to Magnaflow there also is a NY version, a Colorado version, and a few others who seem to have followed California's expensive taste in exhaust hardware.

Here is an example, I looked into these recently because my Element threw a 420 code. Is there even a difference? Maybe not, aside from the manufacturer having to buy a CARB license and an executive order card.

aftermarket Federal(works for most states)


Aftermarket CA approved