Chevy Silverado Catalytic Converter Scrap Price And Ways To Sell It

If you own a Chevrolet Silverado, you will sooner or later have a problem with its catalytic converters. These devices are there to clean the exhaust gasses and to neutralize the harmful effects your big car may have on the environment. The catalytic converters are essential for a vehicle. And it's not only because of nature and the environment.

You will not pass the fog test if you don't have a catalytic converter or the cat is malfunctioning. Chevrolet Silverado is a big vehicle with big engines. The average size of the truck's engines is around 5 liters. The latest generations were equipped with the 4.3 and the 5.3 gasoline engines (V6 and V8). Without a converter, these engines will destroy the ecology in your area pretty fast.

Here's what we are going to talk about today:

1. How many converters does a Silverado have?
2. What to do with a converter when you replace it with a new one?
3. How much money can you get if you want to sell your old cat converter?
4. Where and how can you sell the old converter?
5. Why do they buy old converters at so high prices?

Let's get started!

Converters in your Silverado and some troubles with them

Catalytic converters in all GM engines will live up to 100,000-150,000 miles. Even if you only drive your car with premium fuel and always service the vehicle when needed, the converters won't survive after 150,000 miles. But all the other parts of your car will still be OK, so you may want to replace the converters and fix the vehicle until you have the next fog test.

Here's what you should remember:

• both V6 and V8 engines in Silverado trucks have two converters in the system of exhaust gasses cleaning;
• the converters are not very big, so they will not be extremely expensive to replace (if you buy some aftermarket parts);
• labor will cost around $500 because taking off the old converters and welding the new ones is not a simple task;
• not all aftermarket converters will be OK on a fog test, so better read the reviews before buying them;
• your old converters contain precious metals, so throwing them away is not an option, you may sell them and get some money back.

The converters are placed between the exhaust manifold and the muffler. You will find them easily. Unfortunately, taking them off is not so easy because they are welded and need some professional work. If you do something wrong, you may just destroy the exhaust pipe, the oxygen sensor, and some other expensive parts of the vehicle. So it's better to find a specialist who will help you.

What should you do with your old converter?

You should know that the GM catalytic converters contain some precious metals. In a Silverado converter you may find around 5 grams of platinum, 3 to 5 grams of palladium, and also up to 2 grams of rhodium. Platinum and palladium will not generate a solid income for a scrapyard, but rhodium now costs quite a lot - over $640 per 1 gram. So this is the main factor that decides how much your old converter costs.

Every original catalytic converter has its own serial number. Thanks to this number, specialists can easily estimate how much of each metal they can get out of the old cat. Unfortunately, you can't get this information easily. Also, you can't get the metals out of the converter. They are presented in a form of a thin film that covers the ceramic honeycomb in the cat converter.

By the way, if you don't see any honeycomb inside the converter, the part is destroyed and it costs just nothing.

So the film is actually the alloy of all precious metals with some other materials. To get platinum, palladium, and rhodium, you will need to heat the part in a special furnace or use some other professional equipment. Without that, you will not even see the precious metals. The process is quite expensive, so the revenue of the company is not as big as you may have thought before. Want to learn more? Read our big article on catalytic converters.

How to sell the cat converter from your Silverado?

Big GM cats have an estimated price between $170 and $250 if they are still in good condition. We mean, they shouldn't be broken with visible holes in the bodies, the honeycomb should be there inside, the body shouldn't be all rusty, and the serial number should be seen. If these factors are all true for your cat converter, then it costs around $200, on average.

But you may have offered some scrapyards to buy your old converter from a Silverado and they offered just a couple of dollars. What's the matter?

Here's what you should do to sell the converter at a better price:

1. Find online companies that buy old catalytic converters. They usually allow you to send a quote with pictures to have their offer.
2. Take pictures of your converter (some pictures from different angles) and send these pictures to all the companies that you've found.
3. Don't forget to ask them to offer their price. After that just wait until they send you a letter with their offer.
4. Compare the offers and choose the company that pays more money for your old converter.

These businesses know well that they compete with dozens of other companies. So they will make everything to just get your converter. But some of them will hope that you don't know the actual scrap price of a Silverado converter, so they will try to offer you twice less money. Just ignore those offers and choose the best ones.

So, now you know how to get up to $250 for each of the broken converters in your Chevy Silverado.

Who buys old converters? And how do they earn?

In the end, all old converters get to big recycling companies. But most of the Silverado owners sell their scrap converters to different middlemen. These people or small companies try to buy your converters at a small price and then sell them at a bigger price to big recycling companies. You just lose your money this way, so middlemen are only acceptable when you need money there and then.

Then, the big companies use their professional equipment to recycle hundreds of converters at a time. They do the following:

• melt the scrap metal and honeycomb;
• take the precious metal alloy that doesn't melt;
• use chemical reactions to separate the metals;
• gather a lot of precious metals for sale;
• sell the metals to different companies and industries;
• get revenue and buy new scrap converters.

This business may seem so straightforward, but it's quite hard to get any profits. Sometimes the companies buy old converters that contain no precious metals. Sometimes the process of recycling isn't fully efficient and some metals just get lost. But a solid Silverado scrap converter can get them around $1000 worth of precious metals. So in the end, they still win.

Can you sell your converter to private buyers?

Yes, you can be a private seller and advertise your Silverado converter for sale. This is not illegal and you can do it easily online. People will buy it basically for two reasons:

1. To repair. Some Silverado owners aren't that rich and they don't want to spend a couple of thousand to install new original converters. They will try to repair your old converter and use it again.
2. For getting precious metals. Some enthusiasts have built their own furnaces and equipment that is capable of getting some precious metals out of your converter. They are ready to buy your old cat at a decent price.

So you can easily sell your old converter at eBay or at any specialized forums. Just advertise it for sale and don't forget to take as many pictures as you can. But remember that shipping may be expensive, so you'd better find a buyer in your area.

Although this method may seem very good, it won't usually give you more money. Just open eBay and see which prices the old converter owners offer. Usually, these prices are quite the same as a decent recycling company will offer.

Final words

Chevrolet Silverado is a really good truck. You can drive it for years and experience no serious problems. But sooner or later, the catalytic converters in your truck will want to retire. This is bad news because you will need to buy new converters. But the good news is that you may sell your old converters and compensate for some money.

Pay attention to the way of selling your old converters from a Silverado truck. This will help you earn more money. Selling Silverado catalytic converters is also a good idea if you are selling your car for scrap. But pay attention to the condition of the converters. Empty cats and rusty destroyed converters are not worth much or even aren't worth anything.