Mazda 3 Catalytic Converter Scrap Price - What Will You Need to Know?

Considering catalytic converter business, it's so complicated and hard to understand for an average person in America that hundreds of people daily lose their money selling their cats to scrapyards at bad prices. If you own a Mazda 3 and it still has the OEM converter in the exhaust system, you can sell it at a much better price.

Today, we'll tell you everything about the catalytic converter scrap price from your Mazda 3 and will also advise on how to sell the converter to get more money. It's not that hard - you will just need to read carefully and after that, you'll be able to get much more money than when you just sell the old converter to a scrapyard.

Here's what we'll be talking about:

• Mazda 3 converter types and locations.
• How much should a Mazda 3 catalytic converter cost?
• What are your options to sell the cat converter from the Mazda?
• How much is it to replace a cat converter with a new one?

Let's get started!

What types of converters are presented in your Mazda 3?

Mazda has always been known as a company that cares about the environment. The exhaust system equipment is always better than it should be according to emission standards. So, Mazda catalytic converters are always valuable and are bought by different companies and private buyers without any problems.

The type of converter that is used in your Mazda 3 depends much on the type of engine. If your vehicle has a small-displacement engine, it should be equipped with a smaller-than-average cat converter. But many different engines in a certain Mazda 3 generation have the same types of cats.

Here's what you should know about it:

• catalytic converters in a Mazda 3 should be divided into two main parts - pre-cats and main converters;
• pre-cats are usually located near the exhaust manifold, they are small and not very valuable, but they still can be sold;
• main catalytic converters are located in the exhaust system, closer to the muffler, they are bigger than pre-cats and contain more precious materials;
• all Mazda 3 catalytic converters contain platinum and palladium, some of them may also have some rhodium;
• the OEM cats are very durable and can live as long as engines live, but sometimes they die earlier;
• aftermarket catalytic converters are not valuable, they should be sold for $20 to $30 to scrapyards or as an addition when you sell an OEM converter.

Well, from what we've said above, you should conclude that you have to have an OEM converter to earn some money when selling it. If your Mazda 3 already has gone through the converter replacement and the owner installed the aftermarket cat converter, there is no need to further read this article.

Unfortunately, aftermarket cats are very risky to buy because they contain little to no precious metals, in most cases. But if you have an OEM cat from a Mazda 3, you can easily sell it and get some money for it. Let's see how much you can get and how exactly you can sell it.

What's the scrap price of a Mazda 3 OEM cat?

The scrap price of the converter from your Mazda 3 may be from $120 to $200 for a main catalytic converter (the bigger one) and up to $60-$70 for the pre-cat. This means you can sell them and get a decent amount of money to compensate at least partially for your losses. We mean, you can add this money to the budget for buying a new converter.

The price of the Mazda 3 catalytic converter is not stable and it can differ every single week depending on numerous factors. The main points for the price are as follows:

• the condition of the cat - bad and damaged converters aren't going to cost a lot of money;
• the year and the model of the vehicle - usually, the serial number on your cat defines its model and price;
• the current prices for palladium and platinum - these are two main metals that are found in Mazda 3 converters;
• the way you are selling your catalytic converter - we mean the person or the company buying it.

Sometimes, high demand for metals and lack of used catalytic converters on the market make recycling companies offer more and more money every week. And we know cases when people were able to sell their Mazda 3 catalytic converters at a much higher price than $200. But we are talking about the average situation, so we aren't considering such price growth a normal thing.

To understand the optimal average price for your Mazda 3 broken catalytic converter, you should offer it to some companies. And we are going to explain to you how exactly you can do this.

How to get to know the price and sell a Mazda 3 converter?

First of all, we ask you to forget about different catalytic converter buyers who offer less money than others. These are scrapyards, resellers, exhaust shops, part stores, private buyers, etc. You can try to sell your converter on eBay at a higher-than-average price in that case only if it's still working and able to let the Mazda 3 pass the annual emission test.

If your catalytic converter is not working anymore, it should be sold to a company that will recycle it. And here we offer to not sell it to companies that won't recycle this cat but will just sell it.

Here's what you should do:

• take the catalytic converter off your Mazda 3 without damaging it - this is important;
• then, take pictures of the cat and also make sure that you can see the serial number and the logo on your pictures;
• take notes of the specs of your car - year and the engine type are the most important;
• go online and find at least three websites representing recycling companies that deal with automobile catalytic converters;
• find the page on each of these websites where you can quote - usually, it's not hard to locate;
• send your pictures and also write a short description of the vehicle so that they could offer you a certain price;
• after that, you should wait - in a day or two, these companies will send you their price offers;
• then, take your time to compare the offers and find the best one.

This technique is not hard and will not take long to complete. But it will deliver you up-to-date prices without any bad efforts. Also, you'll be able to find out which company is ready to pay more for your catalytic converter.

Even if you aren't going to sell the cat right away, this will help you to understand the price range and the average price. Because when we are writing the article, platinum and palladium are priced in a certain way. But in a month, everything may change and your cat from the Mazda 3 will cost much less or more.

How much is it to replace a catalytic converter in a Mazda 3?

A lot of Mazda 3 owners ask the question of whether they will have to buy a replacement catalytic converter once the original one will be deleted. Unfortunately, you will have to come up with some solution to go through the fog test. In recent years, federals tend to check the physical presence of the catalytic converter during the fog test, so driving without it is a bad idea.

Well, you can drive with a metal tube instead of the converter, but you can't pass your fog test that way.

So, here's what you will want to know about the replacement of the cat converter in a Mazda 3:

• an OEM catalytic converter (new one) will cost you more than $1,300 but this is still the most durable option;
• the used OEM cat is a bad and risky purchase because you are likely to have problems again in a very short period;
• the new aftermarket converter will be a good decision, they cost $200 to $600 depending on the quality and durability;
• labor costs should be considered between $200 and $400 depending on the exhaust shop you will choose.

This is not a cheap repair, so you should consider selling your old converter that is not able to work anymore. If you don't do that, you will have to spend all that money from your pocket. But if you sell the old converter, it will partially compensate for the expenses.

Final words

Do you own the Mazda 3 with a malfunctioning catalytic converter? Well, we have bad and good news for you. The good news is that you can sell your broken OEM cat and get up to $200 for it. But the bad news is that you will have to spend at least $400 on the new converter. If you want a new OEM cat, your expenses will be much higher.

We still recommend selling old converters directly to recycling companies. This way, you will get the best price and will make sure that your cat is recycled and doesn't harm the environment.