Got My New Toyota OEM Catalytic Converters and Muffler in 12 Days

My dealer ordered my OEM catalytic converters and muffler and related gaskets on January 21, 2023. I got the call today they are in and will be installed Saturday.

Maybe I got lucky or maybe they are coming in faster. I was told 3 to 6 months when I ordered them. Total cost about $5,000.00 including install.

Progressive Insurance paid for all of it, less my $500 deductible. The truck will be 8 years old this coming September (bought in 2015 new) and it has 84,000 miles on it. I was surprised that I did not have to fight them more for such an old truck. I did meet with the adjuster and buttered him up and had information that the aftermarket do not do well. I am also a lawyer so maybe that had something to do with it. LOL

 

Quickest I've seen

 

Now cover them with cat plates.

 

Surprised the hell out of me. I thought I had months to research and get a shield. Now I have days. I garage the truck (they were stolen in work parking lot) so I will not be driving it until a shield is in place, and it it must cover all 4 cats. Ninety percent or more (maybe all of them) do not actually adequately cover all 4 cats, regardless of what all the folks on here state. I may have to make one myself.

 

Toyota dealer in Boerne, Texas. Vic Vaughn. Maybe I got someone's cancelled order. Who knows.

 

Don't dig too deep into it. Valhallas front and rear plates from @Classy63 do a very nice job at covering them. Most thieves are looking for a fast in and out, so having the plates will deter most of them. They aren't going to waste time by trying to remove them when they can just hit the target parked next to you.

 

Thanks for the tip. I will check them out. I do not really want another project. Do not have time.

 

He is in Texas as well. Not sure how far from you though. They are easy to install.

 

I think he is down in the Houston area. I can drive down there. It looks like he was backed up with orders for a while. I sent him a message.

 

Yes a PM or a Facebook message (even better way to reach him). He's awesome to deal with.

 

Thanks. Don't have FB but I will message him on here.

 

$4,664.84 (including tax) OEM parts. Storing parts until I get a good cat shield. Dealer cat shield was a $800 POS (16th inch aluminum and does not cover all 4 cats). The dealer said people are cancelling orders. I think I got a cancelled order.

 

By the way, while I was at the dealer I also drove a new 2023 SR5 4x4 Tundra. It's a nice truck, but I think I am going to keep mine for a while. It's not about the money. I can afford a new one. I am just happy with my truck (really like it) and do not see a need to buy a new one.

 

Interested in what you did to get Progressive to cover OEM cats. I'm going through this now. They are quoting NAPA cats and aren't budging. Both myself and the service rep at the dealer have told him its not the best option.

 

I don't think NAPA cats ever came up when I was dealing with Progressive. At the time I think (hard to remember now) the two aftermarket companies were MagnaFlow and maybe Walker. I had some reviews for both of them that said there were problems with both within one year or less, and I told them that if I used those and they had any problems in the next couple of years I expected them to pay for replacement. Anyway, I actually met with the adjuster as well and tried to convince him and it worked.

What made my case even worse is that a couple of days after they were stolen, I drove the truck to my dealer without any cats to get it quoted and on the way home I missed my turn at a red light and so I backed up to get in the turning lane and I backed into a small car and did a LOT of damage to it so I had two separate claims. The adjuster worked on both at the same time. I had only been with Progressive for less than 6 months. I was with Geico before that for 15 years with no claims. When it rains it pours.

Sorry I cannot help more.

 

Check the policy fine print. Mine (USAA) will only pay for aftermarket if cheaper than OEM. So I went with aftermarket, but later ordered OEM after check engine cat efficiency code wouldn’t go away.

OP got lucky. My OEM cats took about 10 months after ordering.

 

Yes I did get lucky. I heard that a lot of people were cancelling their Toyota orders and I guess I got a cancelled order. Yes, the fine print does say they do not have to pay for OEM if there is an adequate substitute. I would argue the aftermarket is not adequate due to what others have experienced with aftermarket. As I mentioned before, I am a lawyer (and I made that known to Progressive and that aftermarket was not working) so that may have had something to do with it.

 

The weird thing about ordering OEM from the dealer is that they wouldn’t let me pay for and actually order the cats then and there. They just put my name down and told me it was going to be at least 7 months or longer given the backorder. They said they’d call once mine came in, and if I still wanted them after that lengthy wait, then they’d let me pay. After about 7 months, I’d call periodically to check on the status, and after about 10 months had passed they called me to let me know they finally arrived. I went straight to the dealer to pay for them and pick them up. I’m wondering if the ones you got may have been someone else’s order that they probably cancelled, but then I would think they would’ve offered them to someone else who had been waiting for a long time. Who knows?

As for aftermarket cats, it sounds like it’s hit or miss. I have the Magnaflows, but they started to throw a code intermittently after about a month or two. The code would clear on its own and then come back randomly until eventually it never went away. But others with Magnaflows have had no problems whatsoever. So I guess it’s one of those “luck of the draw” type of things with aftermarkets.

One more thing. The thieves that stole mine also managed to cut the fuel lines and some kind of purge line. The fuel line cuts weren’t deep enough to have punctured the line and cause a leak, but they were there nonetheless and posed a risk. When I looked underneath, I couldn’t see the cuts at all. The shop owner, whose own son had the cats stolen from his Landcruiser, knew how and where to look and later showed me. It’s amazing the amount of damage these thieves can cause with this kind of crime.

 

I did not pay for the OEM cats until I picked them up. I was on a list too for a short period.