Anyone need a Gen1 cat? Or other parts?

I have two cars with complete exhausts and would consider selling them - if you're someone in a state that only allows OEM replacement cats - but I also might know where another one is, an auction car this week here in Texas.

I don't really need another one of these cars, but I do need a couple of HV batteries, so I'm going to check out the auction. This is a tow yard auction; they're quite a racket here in Texas. There are no pictures or online bidding. You have to be at the tow yard the day of the auction, and you have to have cash, right then.

I've been to a couple, and you could smell the corruption. I was obviously an outsider, the other 5-10 guys seemed to know each other. The tow yard guys are in on it, of course. There's also police officers there - surely because there are people with cash there, but there are City authorized vehicle seizures, so they're overseeing it. But, you can tell they know everyone too.

Blah, blah, blah, as for the the little Gen1 listed...what I observed is that even for the loser cars no one wanted (i.e., Gen1 Prii), those guys took turns buying them, obviously reluctantly, because the tow yard has to get paid. So, basically, the loser cars go for tow/storage fees minimum, maybe a little more if there's a cat or heavy metal.

Of course, at this point, I don't even know what it looks like. May be be wrecked, or bad HV, or stolen cat. Still, I went to one of these looking for a Ford parts truck, and the truck was beautiful - easily sell for $25000. I bid up to the $1500 I had with me and watched one of the corrupt dealers get it for $1700. There's a chance the car is nice. Worth driving over there to see.

I just know there's a lot of Gen1s being scrapped bc their cat got stolen and they can't get/afford OEM parts. And you can't buy OEM cats used, but I won't tell, lol. So, LMK, the auction is Thursday. If it doesn't look good, or have a good HV, even if it has a cat, I won't buy it. But, if someone here wants it, I will.

I can have a tow truck yank it from the yard and let me pull the exhaust out right there at the curb, before they haul the rest to the scrap yard to cover their fee. Anything to save a Gen1!

 

Hmm, I already have three junk battery packs, why would I want another? Maybe, you're suggesting that any HV battery in a used car is junk? That would be strange. If the car is in the auction because it was wrecked, the battery is probably good, or was at the time of the wreck. Not many cars getting in wrecks with bad HV batteries. Ditto if the car was stolen, although not many Prii getting stolen. You can't drive away a car with a bad HV battery.

On the other hand, you do see old Prii at the auctions that probably have bad batteries. Old, wore out, bad shape, abandoned tow-aways.

The deal is, the only way to get an OEM cat is buy it used (new is back-ordered and too expensive - that's why these cars get thrown away) but that's illegal UNLESS you buy the entire car. So, you look for one that's wrecked bad, totally worthless, and the cat will usually still be good. Ditto for the battery; however, there is a risk that it was nearing end of its life and sitting in the auction yard for a month used it up. So, I won't buy a used Prii just for the battery - it's a roll of the dice, and if you lose, you gotta have the cat to sell to break even.

Yeah, lotta work for a battery, but I have my own truck and trailer so don't have that expense. Still, haven't had as much luck executing that strategy with these Prii - each one I buy has been too nice to part out, lol. But, I have got free parts for my Ford trucks this way, lots of times.

 

There are specific laws in many states, but there's an overarching federal reg from the EPA against reusing cats unless they've been recertified. I've heard that some dismantlers sell them somewhere, but I've never heard where that is. Maybe Kentucky, not far from you. I know you can retitle cars there pretty easily. Here's a quick link, but not official:

https://www.nnawg.com/why-cant-auto-recyclers-sell-used-catalytic-converters/

 

Sorry, guys, for not looking at this sooner - been on the road. I have a real nice Gen1 I'm parting out. Flood car though, deep, and I doubt anything electrical works. Been sitting 3 years too. But the other stuff looks good, and the interior dried out nicely, although I'm probably going to swap those into another one I carry my dog in all the time if those won't scrub up.

Pillbilly, that bezel is like Jerry Seinfeld and George trying to figure out how to make "the switch." I don't think it's ever been done - successfully removing the bezel from one car without cracking it and then installing it in another without cracking it. Most folks go the new route to increase their odds by half, and when that fails, they usually just swap in a whole new cabin, Sawzalling theirs out right behind the rear window. However, my car does have one, and you're welcome to it.

The CD player is kinda the same thing, I think you gotta pull the bezel off, which means buying the new bezel, Sawzalling off the cabin. Most folks just use the cassette to mini adapter and carry music on their phone. The flood car might have one, but it's probably no good. The one I gave my son has the CD, and I'm sure he never uses it - maybe y'all can swap cabins! The two daily drivers I use don't have CDs. My other two might have them, but I like their cabins.

Honestly, I don't know much about the one I have in storage in Dallas. Haven't seen it in more than a year. Just had it towed there from an auction. It looks great, but it's been sitting outside now for several years. Had the cat then, hoping no one's stolen it.

This part car is in Houston. If it's something easy, I don't mind pulling it and shipping, just don't think I can pull the bezel. You're welcome to come down and pull parts. Honestly, it was one of the nicest looking cars I got, an old man's baby that got flooded in the hurricane. Kind of a lighter color grey, maybe not even metallic, and different from the silver that is so common. I do need the front clip to fix my last one. If someone has one wrecked in the back, this car has all those parts. Definitely engine/drivetrain/suspension parts, again flooded. Kinda keep my eyes open for a rear-wrecked one in the auctions, but really need to clear out some of the vehicles here first - I got a bunch of Ford trucks too.

you can email me at [email protected] since I don't seem to check here much.

 

How hard is that to remove? YouTube? My shopmanual PDF is a clusterflub. Shipping that pack from Rochester would be pricey. Or anywhere, really, lol.