Ford F150 Catalytic Converter Scrap Price – Different Years And Engines

Selling an old catalytic converter from your car will not make you a huge amount of money. But it will help you in two cases. Firstly, it may help you compensate some money that you have already spent for replacing your catalytic converter in the truck. Secondly, it can help you get more money if you are going to sell your old and broken vehicle as scrap.

It's very easy to sell an old cat converter from Ford F150. But many people do that and lose their money, their potential revenue. They just sell the converters to scrapyards or to private buyers without checking the real scrap price of the converter they have in their hands. And sometimes the difference between what a scrapyard offers you and what a recycling company can offer is just insane.

Today we'll tell you about the following:

1. How much can a catalytic converter from the Ford F150 cost?
2. Which engines have more and less expensive cat converters?
3. What can change the price of your converter?
4. Why do companies buy old converters from trucks?
5. How to sell the F150 converter at a better price?

Let's get started!

Scrap price of a catalytic converter from your Ford F150

You could read on the internet that some companies are ready to pay over $1000 for a scrap cat converter from your Ford F150. But, in most cases, this is not true. The price of an old catalytic converter depends much on the amount of precious metals that a recycling company can mine out of the converter. And it depends on different factors.

For example, to estimate the price, the buyer will use these parameters:

• the serial number of the converter - different engines use different kinds of cat converters;
• the condition of the cat - rusty converters with holes in their bodies will not be attractive for buyers;
• the condition of the honeycomb inside the converter - honeycomb contains all the precious metals;
• the year of your car - each year the price of the converter goes down because the part is slowly destroyed;
• OEM or not OEM - a very important factor, a lot of aftermarket converters don't cost anything at all.

Only original parts are precious and contain a lot of metals that can be taken from the old cat. An aftermarket converter will probably cost up to $30-$40 which is not very good at all. OEM converters from Ford F150 may cost at least $250 and sometimes the price can be around $850. This sharply depends on the engine type and year of the truck.

But the final price will still be estimated by the company. And this is also a very important factor. You can find a company or a private buyer that will try to convince you that $50 is a good price because your converter is rusty and damaged. While a big and reputable recycling company may give you $800 for the converter. Remember, they are all old and rusty, this doesn't change much the price.

Which F150s have the most expensive cat converters?

Before we start talking about the engines, you should understand that the price that you can get for your old catalytic converter taken from the Ford F150 depends much on the state. In some states, you will not find a scrap dealer that is ready to pay good money for converters. In other states, it's still illegal to buy and sell old cats. But you can find a recycling company in a different state and organize the shipping of the F150 converter. This will still be good for you in terms of money.

So, the bigger engines will have bigger cat converters. The bigger the converter, the more expensive it is. So, the hybrid versions and the turbocharged F150s (Ecoboost engines) will have cheaper converters, While the trucks with the big naturally aspired engine (over 5 liters) with 6 or 8 cylinders will have one or two big converters that cost a lot.

The price difference between a small-engine converter and a big-engine converter may be up to 200%. But sometimes the difference is not that big. For example, a newer converter from a 2.7 Ecoboost engine may cost more than an old converter from a 5.4-liter engine that was made 20 years ago.

What we want to say is that everything depends on many factors and one can't say for sure that the converter from your Ford F150 will cost exactly some money. You will need to inquire about different companies to get the price and to understand how much you can actually get.

So, why do recycling companies want your converter?

To feel OK when you get a few hundred bucks for a rusty scrap part, you will need to know that the companies are not offering any charity. They want to make money from your converter. When you look at the part that looks ugly, you can't believe it costs that much. But the main thing is inside and you can't see it.

The most precious metals that are used in the production of cat converters for Ford F150 and other vehicles are as follows:

• platinum - around $35 per one gram;
• palladium - around $75 per one gram;
• rhodium - around $650 per one gram.

Different converters will have a different amount of each metal inside. The average figures are 7 grams of platinum, 7 grams of palladium, and up to 2 grams of rhodium. But over time, the amount of each metal may change because the honeycomb may get damaged.

But not all converters have a lot of precious metals. Some small converters will have only 1 gram of rhodium, 3-5 grams of platinum, and palladium. That's why recycling companies just can't pay a certain fixed price for all converters. They will need to investigate the amount of rhodium and other metals they can get.

How do they take out the precious metals?

Your F150 converter contains a ceramic (or any other material) honeycomb. This honeycomb is covered with an extremely thin layer of metal. The metal layer consists of different materials, but in some parts of the honeycomb, these materials are precious. The alloy includes many other metals that are not precious at all. So the companies have come up with a simple method to take the most expensive metals out of old cat converters.

They use special furnaces or other equipment that can heat the converter up to a temperature where the iron and ceramic honeycomb will melt. The precious metals will melt at higher temperatures, so they get the chance to gather them in the process. After that, they also work hard to separate the alloy to initial materials and then sell the materials to industrial companies.

Of course, the process is not that cheap because it needs a lot of heat energy. That's why they should include energy bills in their expenses. Otherwise, they could pay you even more for the old converter that you have taken from your Ford F150.

Where will you get the best price for your converter?

When you sell something, it's natural that you will want to get a better price for that. And now we will explain to you how to sell your Ford F150 cat converter at a better price. First of all, forget about monitoring the prices for precious metals. Yes, they will influence the final price of the converter, but not that much. The prices for rhodium and other metals really grow constantly, but they grow very slowly. In 1 year, your cat converter may cost 3-5% more than now. But you will never be sure about that.

Also, try to find a company that will give you more money for the converter. Forget about local scrapyards, middlemen, private buyers, car shops, repair stations, etc. They will only give a couple of bucks.

Here's what you should do with your Ford F150 catalytic converter:

1. Take pictures of it from different angles. Make sure that you can see a serial number in one of the pictures.
2. Find recycling companies that buy catalytic converters from people all around the US (they may be located in different states).
3. Send them pictures and say what you know about the converter, any damages it has.
4. Wait for them to operate your e-mail and expect the price offer from each company.
5. Choose the best company in terms of the price and shipping conditions.

Find more companies. If you just send 2 inquiries, chances are that you will not get a lot of good offers. But if you send 10 inquiries, you can get the best offer.

Final words

Scrap catalytic converters that you take off your Ford F150 truck can cost a lot of money. They can cost right the same as the new aftermarket converters. This will save you from bad expenses if you need to replace an OEM converter that started malfunctioning. But to sell the old converter at a good price, you will need to make sure that you have found the best company.

Better pay attention to recycling companies because any middlemen will not offer you the best price - they want to earn money and they will eventually sell your converter to one of the recycling companies.