Catalytic converters in Cali .... toyota scam ?

So iv had my 07-Tacoma-RD-.0 for about 1 year now and it has just a hair over 100k on it now. I am the type of guy who is big on preventative maintence so i have been planning to rebuild me exhaust system along with a few other things.

I have bought a set of doug thorley shorty headers to gain soem more bottom end torque and also to avoid issues with getting a smog test . I already have a Areo exhaust and y pipe on it, and i do not like the areo exhaust at all, not loud enough . And i was thinking if im going to have to weld on the headers to the existing cats, then i might as well just replace them while im at it so i dont have to come back right away when the cats go out. so my plan was to have the headers installed with brand new cats ( all 4 ) along with new o2 censors , and a spintech muffler , but i ran into this problem......

No company i have found is able to make a legal cat for my truck. The rep at magnaflow said this....


Brian,

That truck is still too new for us to offer CA legal cats for it. California has a 7-8 year wait before after market converters can be manufactured. This is to allow the factory warranty on the stock converters to expire. It is getting to that time to where we try to get a part certified for that truck, but it is up to California and when they want to give us that cert if at all. So I can't really tell you when we may have them available.

Nicholas Howe
Tech Sales Specialist


So i call Toyota and the guy says the catalytic converters will cost me $1,300 each side for the front ones, and $867 each for the rear... so that comes out to $4,334 before taxes just for 4 damn cats ?!?! and they are telling me that i can not buy any other brand yet because they want to wait until most of these are out of warranty ( which mine is ) before they will even allow any companies to make these??..... you got to be kidding me. What about the guys who had their cats stolen and live in CA ?? what did those guys do??

Any suggestions or input would be appreciated. Thanks

 

07- TacomaTRD - 4.0v6 *

 

Its the platinum in the cats, worth alotta $$. You really shouldnt mess with your cats intill you here the metal rattling inside. Thats just a waste if you replace em early. Ive got two of mine cut out that you could buy but shipping would be a bitch. They only have like 30k on em

 

Not a Toyota scam, California is the strictest state when it comes to emissions. California won't allow after market catalytic convertors for a few years.

Changing the headers will remove the cats (2 front for short or all 4 for long-tube)... If you are going to add headers, you are better off keeping the original exhaust how it is without cutting or welding so you can add it back later when you need to get it smogged, and remove it once you pass.

 

You have cats for the y-pipe? I may be interested in a buy.

 

Yeah, I cut my rear cats out and they've just been sitting in my garage ever since.

 

Your price for them?

 

They call their insurance co.

 

i cant hear loose noises in my cats but my exhaust has def taken on a diff sound since i bought it. doesnt sound like flowing out the exhaust smoothly anymore and the last thing i want is to do all this work then have them go bad only a few months later. and im about to run a sea foam treatment and iv heard than can also be bad for the cats .

 

Pmed

 

Your pipes cracked in. Usually settles like a house foundation for example. But you really dont need any immideate change as long as the cats are fine your o2 sensors are reading correctly no rust holes weld/flange leaks etc. If you want to look into it check out the doug thorley y pipe. Dont know if you'll pass smog however its flange bolt unbolt no welding

 

Can you resend it. I cleared all of my just as you sent it.

 

Calii has some fucked up emision laws. if the truck can pass emisions the way it is keep your stock exaust for that purpose then replace it with your performance set up till you need to pass emissions again. ultimately theyll sell what your trying to buy. my 95 gt has all 4 cats deleted via sraight x pipe and two flomasters. but i still keep the stock h pipe with the 4 cats for inspec. it can b a pain in the ass.