Catalytic converter price quote

How much to replace the catalytic converter on a Hyundai Genesis?

Riiiiiing!

Hi! How much to replace the catalytic converter on my Hyundai Genesis?

The caller had the vehicle at another repair shop and he’d been told he needed the catalytic converters.

I asked him if he trusted the diagnosis to blindly invest the huge sum of money I was about to quote. Did they do any testing or just guessed based on the code?

 “No! they pulled codes P0420 and P0430 and told me I needed the catalytic converter” Then they send me on my way since their scanner was not working properly and they needed to send it out for repair.

Honestly! I wonder how I’m still sane after all this time. It drives me nuts to think people still believe all you need to diagnose a complex problem like a failing catalytic converter, is a scanner.

I own a stethoscope, but would you trust me to tell you what your ailment is?

People! The tool does not make the professional. Of all the shops I know, only a handful have someone qualified to properly do automotive testing and diagnosis. It takes a great deal of training and schooling to get to that top spot in a shop. Few have what it takes, and rarely you will find it in a mass merchandising shop whose model is low fee to the clients and low pay to the techs.

I thought that quoting for the converters was premature. So I quoted instead for the necessary testing to really find what is wrong with the pesky check engine light. He made an appointment for the following day

Best practices for your Toyota Camry

 Sooner better than later:

Time after time I get someone telling me they think auto repair shops just recommend work to try and pad their wallets. "My car didn't need any of those repairs" is what they say.

The victim today is a 1999 Toyota Camry with the V6 3.0 engine. You all know about the legendary problems Toyota has had with the V6 engine, don't you?

The owner is from LA driving through Ventura.

It’s here on the tow truck and the tow truck driver says the vehicle overheated badly. The owner said she had the radiator replaced a year ago.  To save money, I presume, they did not refill the radiator with coolant but used straight water instead. Both the upper radiator hose and the lower radiator hose were not replaced either. She was offered this items but thought the shop was merely being aggressive with their selling practices.

At the time when it was so much easier to have those cooling system hoses replaced, possibly at no additional labor cost, the client chose to think the repair shop she was working with tried to up-sell her something she didn't need. Well, she needs them today!

Unfortunately, what could have been another $40 to $50 back then, today is a blown head gasket on a Toyota V6 engine with 140+ K miles on it.

The repair is a complete engine replacement on a vehicle that is hardly worth $2000.00, and the cost of the engine replacement will surely exceed that worth. 

So, what do you say? What can you say that won’t add any more misery to this already bad situation?

A few facts from the trade:

If one ignition coil goes out, replace the rest, they are not that far behind and you are sure to have the “same problem again” if you don’t

If one cooling system hose goes out, guess what? Same thing - replace them all!

Best yet, find someone in the trade you trust, then don’t question their recommendations!