Ford Explorer Catalytic Converter Scrap Price. Who To Sell It To?

Ford Explorer has a long history. This is the big SUV or even off-road vehicle with wonderful abilities to conquer all types of roads and tracks. Americans love these vehicles, some even still have the Explorers from the early 1990s which seem to be OK even after so many years. These are high-quality cars that have much fewer problems than many competitors on the market do.

Ford Explorer catalytic converters are very often the point of argument between owners in different clubs and forums online. The thing is that different modifications of the SUV use different types of exhaust gasses cleaning systems. They may include one, two, or even three catalytic converters. In most cases, it's only one cat, but in V6 engines there may be two of them in a Y-shaped pipe.

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

1. When do you need to replace a catalytic converter in your Explorer?
2. How much money can you get for an old OEM converter?
3. Who should you sell the old Ford Explorer converter?
4. Why do prices for old Ford converters vary so much?
5. Selling original and aftermarket Ford Explorer converters.

Let's get started!

Cat converter replacement in your Explorer

You will want to replace your catalytic converter after it starts malfunctioning. It's not only about some errors like check engine errors on your dashboard. It's about power loss, bad smell from your exhaust pipe, rattling converter, etc. Usually, this happens at about 150 000 miles, but things may be different.

The longevity of your Explorer cat converter depends on many things such as driving habits, fuel quality, problems with ignition, and some other issues. When the cat converter is clogged, the engine of your Ford Explorer can't "breathe" normally, so it will lose its power and will stall sometimes.

Cat replacement procedure consists of a couple of steps:

1. Investigation. Your SUV should be investigated by a mechanic. This guy will say you for sure if you actually need to replace the catalytic converter.
2. Search. After that, you will need to find the appropriate catalytic converter. You will have two options - an original Ford cat or a much cheaper aftermarket cat.
3. Cutting. Your mechanic will cut the old cat out of the car. The catalytic converter in Ford Explorer is integrated into the exhaust system and can't be taken off without cutting.
4. Welding. The new catalytic converter should be carefully welded into the needed place. You will have to keep an eye on the welding lines because they may get some rust and destroy.
5. Fog test. If you use an aftermarket catalytic converter, you should apply a fog test before using your SUV. The fog test will help you understand if everything is OK with emissions.

Aftermarket converters will not always help with getting your vehicle's emissions to the needed level. Yes, they cost much less. One converter for your Ford Explorer may cost $500 or $600. While the original one will cost at least $1500 or even more. Moreover, you will not find many original converters on the market for very old Ford vehicles (over 20 years of age).

As you see, replacing a catalytic converter may not be as simple as you may expect. But without this, you will not be able to drive your vehicle. The upcoming fog test will not be passed. Even more, your SUV will start losing its power and efficiency.

How much can you get for an old Explorer converter?

As you understand now. Replacing a catalytic converter is not a very cheap thing to do. So you will want to compensate some money for that. First of all, you can sell your scrap converter to special recycling companies that buy such things. You will be surprised, but the converter from your Ford Explorer may cost $200 to $550 depending on the year, model, and condition.

Here's what your old converter should look like to cost more:

• it should be original, not an aftermarket part, only OEM Ford converters cost some money;
• the bigger the converters, the more they cost, so it all depends on the model much;
• converters with holes don't cost much, the cat should be in a good condition;
• empty cats don't cost anything - the honeycomb should be inside and it shouldn't be damaged;
• the converter shouldn't rattle, otherwise, the company will understand that it's broken and damaged;
• the converter should have a serial number and the Ford logo somewhere on the body.

These are the main factors that are used to estimate the price of the converter. Usually, professional recycling companies will use the serial number to see how much they can earn from the converter. Originally, Ford used a certain amount of different precious metals to produce effective converters. This amount will decide the final price offer for your converter.

Why aftermarket converters don't cost much?

If you have already replaced the converter in your Ford Explorer for an aftermarket part, now you can't sell the cat that started malfunctioning again. This is because aftermarket converters don't contain a lot of precious metals and don't give big revenue. Some scrapyards will offer you $10 for an aftermarket cat while some others will say it's not worth a dollar.

Aftermarket converters are much lighter than original ones, they don't usually have the Ford logo and even a serial number on them. They are smaller than OEM converters. And they have a much shorter lifespan. Even though these things are cheaper than OEM parts, you will not get much pleasure when you buy and install them. In a year or two, you will have to repeat this again.

Who should you sell the old converter to?

The price that you can get for an old catalytic converter doesn't only depend on its condition and origin. It also depends much on the company you are selling your old cat to. For example, a scrapyard will give $10 for an aftermarket converter while a recycling company may give $30 and more for this piece of scrap metal.

So, we've prepared a list of ways to sell your converter quickly:

1. Recycling companies. Eventually, nearly all old converters get to recycling companies. But you may sell your cat to them directly and earn more money, or you may sell to some other guy who will then resell it to them and earn some money.
2. Middlemen. You will find a lot of cat converter buyers in your state. They offer average prices and they are good to deal with, but you will still get less money than with a recycling company.
3. Scrapyards. This may be the first buyer of catalytic converters that comes to your mind when you have an old cat in your hands. But be careful - these companies never pay you a lot, they will try to buy the cat converter as cheaply as they can.
4. Car part shops and service stations. Many mechanics who specialize in catalytic converters may buy your old cat. But they will not offer much. They can give you a certain discount for their labor, for example.
5. eBay or some other websites and forums. You may try selling your converter online. Just advertise it and try to find a client who will be ready to pay more than other companies.

If you want to sell a Ford Explorer converter to a recycling company directly, you will need to take some pictures of it and send these pictures in your inquiries to these companies. Choose 4 or 5 recycling companies and find out how much they can offer. Then just deal with the company that pays you more than others.

Why are the prices so different?

You may wonder why a scrapyard can offer you $40 while a recycling company will give $400 for the same catalytic converter. There are two main reasons why this happens.

Firstly, scrapyards and middlemen don't know much about the converter - they just want to make money and have low risks. So they will offer you little money and will try to buy your old cat without spending much.

Secondly, the prices vary because the demand and the market price of precious metals change every minute. A Ford Explorer cat converter contains platinum, palladium, and a little bit of rhodium. So, the price will depend much on the current market prices for these metals.

Final words

Old catalytic converters may make some money for you. Don't just throw them away and don't sell them to scrapyards. You will just lose the money that way. Find a recycling company that is ready to pay you much more for the old cat converter.

After that, you may use the money for buying a new catalytic converter. Sometimes, the price of an original old Ford cat will be the same as the price of the new aftermarket catalytic converter. So, you will just need to pay for labor and you won't spend a fortune repairing your car.