OEM vs Aftermarket Cat

any insurance coverage?
make sure you research cat protectors, the thieves are waiting for your car to appear again.
if you can get a carb approved aftermarket, go for it, they operate the same in every way.
but be careful, i have not heard of a cheaper aftermarket cc for cali.
just make sure it's a reputable installer. some have issues with o2 sensors because the installer is clueless

 

Good luck tracking down an OEM cat.

The ONLY CARB compliant cat is Magnaflow and they sell out fast.

Double the cost or OEM

I bought the Magnaflow 5631455

Car is so smooth now and without adding an aftermarket air intake at the time it did increase the engines sound.

I recently added a true SRI and Im pretty sure I can do 0-60 in 9 seconds.

Anyway OEM is like $1800 versus Magnaflow $3000

 

Only difference between aftermarket Cat that sells in California and Toyota OEM cats is that by waiting for OEM cat you support Toyota's outrageous profiteering off of cat theft. It should be illegal for them to further rob theft victims the way they do. Don't give them a penny!

 

It is apparently clear that Magnaflow is taking advantage of the long waiting period to secure a genuine OEM quality cat from Toyota by having it readily available. This is apparently done to secure quicker recovery of the large costs of having the cats California C.A.R.B. certified.

It is obviously clear that if and when genuine Toyota cats are available, the price will eventually go down to a reasonable discounted price below what Toyota charges.

 

How is that obviously clear? Magna Flow prices are already way lower than Toyota selling the whole exhaust system as one part and no amount of restocking by Toyota is gonna get Magna Flow to lower prices further.

 

It's called market forces and competition. No-one including an insurance claim settlement will pay 50% more than they need to if the OEM quality cat which is easily installed without special fitment is readily available.

 

Obviously it is not so clear but I can help make it clear.

Toyota is not producing any more stock
For these models, so whatever else is floating around are all that is left.

These are hard to find and there is a waiting list and to be on it you need to pay.

There is some trouble there since most will use a c.c. and by the time you get yours the charge and hold is released.

Magnaflow is taking advantage and charging crazy prices.

I ordered 5631455 and was on a year waiting list for that but did not have to pay up front.

Soon as they have some available, they sell out quick and the one I got was $3,000 compared to a complete OEM cat for about half that.

 

What did you do for the year that you had no cat in your car?

I'm sure that the OP would like to know, and if you were fortunate enough to have a year before the next smog inspection.

That will be very helpful to all who are in the same situation as you were.

 

Well, since I owned the car I never had the P0420 code.

When I had my rebuilt engine installed the code showed up as I drove it home.

I then used it like that for the whole time.
My tags were due in August 22' and on Cinco De Mayo the native gods of this land we call america blessed me and the code went off.

I went straight to the smog shop to smog it and it passed.

The following month I got my new cat.

The trick was during really hot days the cat gets really hot and with some errands with on and off cycles, the check engine light went away.

There may have been a little help with a certain product I used right before the cat started acting wonky with the code.

This was a gas treatment and exactly 30 days after using the product, the code went away but came back weeks later.

I still have my bad cat just in case I need it or someone give me some cash for it.