Hello everyone, this is my first post here as I usually am able to find answers to most all of my questions by doing a quick search.

That being said, this time I have a more specific issue(s) that needs addressing.

Earlier this week my "service engine soon" light came on, so as soon as I had a chance I took it to Autozone and had them find out which code was causing the light to come on. The code that dropped was "P0420" which seems to be a "Major Vacuum Leak" or a bad cat. So I took my car into the nearest Nissan Dealer as I don't have an Infiniti dealer nearby. They were able to "verify" that the code was thrown due to a "Bad B1 Cat Converter On Right Side". Which for me is pretty much a win because I had intended to upgrade to some HFC's at some point anyway.

The price the quoted me to replace just the right side including labor is $1150 ($800 and some change for the parts) and he let me know he could have it delivered there by tomorrow. He also told me that an aftermarket replacement would cost upwards of $1k just for the parts. Now I'm no expert, but I've done some research and I have to believe that that's a high estimate.

I guess that my question is; does this seem a bit excessive to anyone else and would I be able to go aftermarket and save some money? I also have access to the auto hobby shop at the base where I'm stationed, where I could either do the labor myself, or have them do it for me, I'm sure that would at least cut labor costs as they run cheaper for active duty military.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Edit: Forgot to mention, the dealer made it seem as though this was an incredibly important "fix now" type issue that will continue to worsen. Obviously problems get worse over time, but he made it seem as if my car might spontaneously combust if not addressed by tomorrow.

 

Seems about right if its OEM part and labor from a dealership. Are they trying t screw you over? No, they are just trying to charge sticker for everything.

I know that you dont have an Infiniti Dealer near by but the Infinitis came with a longer Emissions warranty. My coworker just picked up an 08 with 76k and his right cat gave out and it was covered under warranty. If your car is any newer and has the same or less miles as his, I think its best to find an Infiniti dealer and see if you can get it replaced under warranty.

 

Thanks for the info, I'll locate the nearest dealership and check with them.

If I were planning on replacing the cats with aftermarket parts anyway, would there be any drawback to pulling the trigger on them now?

 

If you want aftermarket cats I don't see any reason for you to by oem ones now unless you are worried about when it comes time to sell. Now, if the dealer covers says bad part go ahead and let them do it and just stash them away. A new aftermarket cat plus install shouldn't run you more then 500 to 800 bucks.

 

catalytic converters are covered under federal extended emissions warranty guidelines. have the dealer run your vin and it should verify your warranty status. in addition about the price of parts and labor from the dealer, those quotes are correct. these later model cars currently on the road have very expensive catalytic converters especially the oem ones. this is due in part of high cost of rare metals that go into the manufacture of catalytic converters such as paladium and rhodium.

 

your cats should be covered by warranty. I had a bad rattle and they told me me cats were out and they replaced them under warranty.

 

Not to highjack this thread but I've been complaining to my dealer about a rattling noise for months now. Each time he told me that it was the heatsinks and that they could just tighten them up and it would be fine. Unfortunately each time the noise would come back. This last service I brought the car in with 80,300 miles and he tells me the noise is the cats and I am out of the warranty by 300. Is there anything I can do about this? It seems intentional....

 

Yeah sorry was in work mode

 

Before replacing the cats, be sure to address whatever caused them to fail in the first place (too-rich mixture, excessive blow-by, coolant in exhaust, etc.) Otherwise, you'll kill the new cats. The factory-installed cats should last far longer than 80,000 miles.

 

Wouldn't I get a CEL well before the cats went if it was caused by AFR problem? Also, would any of those (blow-by, coolant in the exhaust) cause the inside of the cats to come apart and rattle? I assumed this was a manufacturing defect.

 

Blow-by and coolant will poison the catalyst. As far as the cat coming apart and rattling, you'd have to remove it and look. Could be a manufacturing defect, or bits may have melted and broken away.