I have several Gen1 cats that I've hung on to, waiting for metal prices to go back up. I've kept them listed on FB at $1000 knowing that's a decent value for owners in CARB states that have to have OEM or pay more for aftermarket. I calculated that price by adding my cost to replace these on my running cars with a cheapo aftermarket to the price the recycler would pay me for the OEM. I've only sold 2 or 3 at that price over the last few years, and felt good for helping keep these cars on the road. But now, it looks like the price has gone back up - metals prices are above where they were when I was getting over $1000 for them from recyclers - but the local recycler hasn't raised its price paid as much as he should, They only estimate the value at $800, and I have to actually cut them off and bring them in to get an exact price. I know that's not enough because random FB buyers are offering me $1000ea for all of mine. I know those guys are just reselling them, but can't figure out where they resell. Drilling the internet is a pain. Lots of brokers but few refiners. Doubt anyone here knows any different, just griping. I'm getting the same BS from some gold jewelry I have. Of course, everyone wants pay less than meltdown, but usually a lot less. Same with a platinum ring. Finally figured out that I could get 90% of meltdown from NYC brokers by mail, but still haven't sold. Two weeks ago, when I tried researching, every guy I talked to told me that market was set to collapse and I better sell that day, lol. Everyone's the scammer these days.
grrrr. LOL, so the last cheapo aftermarket cats I bought were only $30 off Ebay. Before that, they were around $80, and years ago they were $170. It seemed they got cheaper as there were fewer Gen1s left. The site with $30 cats only had a couple dozen left when I bought; it was like a clearance sale. I thought about buying more, but I sold the OEMs so rarely and metal prices were so low, I didn't pull the trigger. Now that I'm thinking of selling my OEMs and need the cheapos to replace them, they're back up to $140, which eats up a chunk of the extra profit I'll make for higher metal prices. Don't it always work like that, lol? If I could just find out where these brokers are selling, I'm sure they're making at least $140 off each one. Meanwhile, the aftermarket cats for Gen2s are still under $80, and that gets you the entire assembly with exhaust flange, cat, resonator, and bolts. Economies of scale for sure, but why did the price for Gen1s go down back then, when the market was scaling down?
Does anyone know if the exhaust flange is the same for Gen1s and Gen2s? I could buy the cheap Gen2s and just use the cat and ox sensor, then cut off the rest and it might fit my Gen 1. Not a lot more work for the muffler shop.
