Toyota Catalytic Converter Scrap Price – What Does It Depend on?

The scrap price of a catalytic converter is something that every car owner wants to know after they face problems with the OEM cats. Once the converter is broken or clogged, it can't be useful in your vehicle anymore. It starts making the car slower, sending you the check engine light on the dash, etc.

Today, we'll be talking about the scrap prices of Toyota catalytic converters. We won't take any specific model but will talk generally about the cats manufactured by Toyota. This means you will find a precise answer to your question about the cat converter whatever Toyota model you have in your possession. Well, some important features need to be considered, in any case.

Here's what we are going to talk about:

1. Types of Toyota catalytic converters and location options.
2. Serial numbers and other factors to identify an OEM catalytic converter.
3. How much should a Toyota cat converter cost when broken?
4. Ways to sell the malfunctioning catalytic converter from your Toyota.

Let's get started!

Toyota cats - which types can you find in your vehicle?

Toyota has used a lot of types of catalytic converters in their cars. The vehicles have been equipped with bread-loaf cats, torpedo cats, small cylinder cats, etc. You will never say if a converter is OEM until you look at some other features that we'll be talking about a little later in our article.

So, the Japanese company has used many different kinds of converters over different years. Usually, the size of the cat depends on the displacement of the engine. Some powerplants have 3 or 4 converters while the majority of the popular Toyota engines have 1 catalytic converter in the system. Diesel vehicles always have a system of some units like the DPF and converter, for example.

Here are some features of the Toyota cats:

• they are all pretty precious on the market, they all contain some precious metals that can be recycled;
• also, these cat converters are made of high-quality materials, the metal for the cover of the cat is thick and durable;
• the company has used traditional cats with a ceramic honeycomb inside, the honeycomb is usually covered with alloys containing platinum and palladium, sometimes rhodium;
• these cats are often accompanied by pre-cats, but those are not very precious because they don't contain a lot of precious metals (if any at all);
• the cats are usually made in Japan, but many cars get other catalytic converters from numerous countries.

A Toyota catalytic converter is often in good condition because it's a high-quality part. Different companies and scrapyards love buying these parts - recycling them is always a lucrative business.

But we should say that the converters can still be damaged. They are not protected perfectly, so any road debris or some rock on the road can add trouble. If a cover of the Toyota converter is damaged, no buyer will be ready to give you a lot of money for the part. In most cases, you will just need to sell the cat to a scrapyard twice cheaper than it should cost without any damage.

Serial numbers and other important features of Toyota cats

The scrap price of your converter taken from a Toyota car will depend much on its type and year. But how can you distinguish between two cats that may look just the same? The only possible way is to look for a serial number. This number is used on nearly every Toyota cat and it usually consists of five digits.

Also, here are some of the important features of an OEM Toyota catalytic converter:

• the cat should have the serial number and also the Toyota logo on its body;
• the converter should be heavy and quite big;
• inside, it should have a ceramic honeycomb;
• these cats are not welded in the system, they come as an integral part of the exhaust system;
• the OEM cats usually live long and don't rust much.

These are the features of an OEM cat. And you should know why we pay so much attention to it. An original Toyota cat converter may cost about $150, but an aftermarket converter will only cost $10-$20.

That's why you should be able to differentiate between them. Any car that is older than 12 years is likely to have an aftermarket catalytic converter in its exhaust system. Because installing an original Toyota cat instead of the one that started malfunctioning is not a very cheap thing to do. The price of an original new cat may be $1000-$1500 or even more for one single cat.

What's the actual price of a scrap Toyota catalytic converter?

The actual price of the Toyota catalytic converter scrap could be between $60 and $220 depending on a big number of factors. It always depends on the buyer you choose for selling your cat to. The converters are extremely different in terms of the weight of the precious metals you can find in them, so the companies need to differentiate between them using the serial numbers, size, weight, and other factors.

So, the type and the year of the cat will be the most important factors you can find. But not the only ones.

Here are some other important features that influence the final price of the scrap cat from your Toyota:

• the market price for the precious metals - an important feature that will sharply change the price offers from different companies;
• the condition of the cat - very old and shabby converters are likely to be empty inside, so they aren't worth any money at all;
• any visual damages - if a cat is damaged and has holes in its body, it won't be sold at a very good price;
• also, the availability of the used cats on the market will add some changes to the price that is offered to you.

The most important thing that you can do to sell your Toyota catalytic converter at a better price is to find a better buyer. Unfortunately, not a lot of people know the hard way their cat converters make to become a pile of precious metals.

We usually sell the old cats to the scrapyard or to some private buyers and we just lose our money. They will offer $50-$100, but a recycling company can offer more than $200 for a certain model of Toyota cats. Recycling companies will offer $60-$220 for a single cat converter made by Toyota.

Selling your Toyota cat to a recycling company - how?

When an American person thinks about selling a scrap cat converter, he or she will immediately remember one of the local scrapyards. Or you may find an advertisement on Facebook saying that a person buys out cat converters right from your garage. It's convenient - no need to do anything, just call the person and get your money.

But unfortunately, this will not give you any decent sum of money. All these companies and people are just middlemen and resellers and they aim to earn money using your catalytic converter.

If you have an OEM Toyota cat converter, you should do just the following:

1. Take pictures of the Toyota cat that has already been taken off your car. The pictures should show the serial number and the honeycomb (from the side hole).
2. Find recycling companies that are licensed and official and have decent websites.
3. Find possibilities to quote. Usually, you can easily do it on the website of such a company.
4. Wait for the response of one of the managers and see the offered price.
5. Compare the price offers and decide which company gives more money.
6. Check the shipping options - this is important because some companies will pay for shipping.
7. Ship the converter and get your money officially and with no problems.

These recycling companies specialize in dealing with catalytic converters. They know for sure how much your Toyota cat costs and how you can sell it. Also, they will know that you will quote from different companies and get their price offers. So, they compete with each other to provide you with the best offer.

This is the easiest way to sell your old cat or to check what the maximum price of this converter is. Once you do it, you can compare other offers and reasonably decide what to do.

Final words

As you see, the Toyota scrap catalytic converters can be sold for decent money. Yes, some websites will tell you they can be sold for hundreds of dollars, but it's not true. You should understand the average price for the converter and it's not that big. But yes, you can still make some money and compensate for your expenses when replacing the old and broken catalytic converter in your Toyota.

We recommend recycling companies, not scrapyards or private buyers. These companies are fair with clients, they compete with each other and offer you good prices. Also, you always know that the remaining materials from your converter will not be just dumped, they will be recycled.