P0420 - cat converter - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

kufloyd · 10-01-2009, 04:16 PM

The CEL recently came on in my 2003 Toyota Camry. A mechanic diagnosed it to be a faulty catalytic converter. He said it would be about $700 to replace it (original Toyota parts + labor).

I've heard that going with non-factory parts may work out to be cheaper. Is it possible to get non-Toyota converters installed? Are there any major downsides to doing so?

Thanks!

trooplewis · 10-01-2009, 04:46 PM

http://www.discountcatalyticconverters.com/

JSM1284 · 10-02-2009, 10:16 AM

How many miles do you have?

kufloyd · 10-02-2009, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSM1284

How many miles do you have?

About 122,000.

The mechanic I spoke with said that installing non-factory parts is not recommended because often the CEL comes back on within a short period of time. Not sure how much validity there is in his statement but he also said that I would be getting (only) 18-month 18,000 mile warranty even if I installed a Toyota cat. Does this sound right?

Some of the non-OEM converters I was looking at online offer 5 yr, 50k mile warranty, so I'm not sure why the Toyota part has a lower warranty...

ShawnM · 10-02-2009, 12:28 PM

If your keeping the car go with the Toyota converer. Aftermarket converters are smaller and dont typically have the same quality of the OEM ones. They give a warranty on the part but not the labor. Ive seen plenty of aftermarket converters fail in 1K-10K miles after installation. Not saying they all do but theres a much higher failure rate in the aftermarket side when it comes to converters.