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was I overcharged for catalytic converter?



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 8th 04, 09:41 PM
whatever
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Default was I overcharged for catalytic converter?


> I had the car towed to the garage, they told me
> > it was the cat and that luckily it had not damaged the thing it was
> > attached to.


Huw wrote:

> The engine? ;-)


Engine, iron lung, pterodactyl, I don't know. Maybe it was the
thrombosis, that sounds about right.

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  #3  
Old December 9th 04, 12:34 PM
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whatever wrote:
> Jim wrote:
>
> > I'd be interested in seeing what was done and how much was

billed..
> > would you mind posting the information? If you're willing. please
> > include your location.

>
> Hi Jim,
> I can't, the bill's like 3 pages long, I don't have time to type it

all
> out, it's out in the glove compartment, etc. Some of the stuff that
> was done was new front brakes and new rear struts (or maybe the other
> way around, can't remember) and an alignment. The charges that my
> boss's mechanic was raising his eyebrows over were things like,

"Look,
> he charged $14 for this fluid, I would've just thrown that in for
> free." Sorry I can't give more details right now. Oh, and I live in
> Mass. Also, a few other people asked:


Understood about no time.. <grin>... we got 'volunteered' to host
Christmas this year..

Anyway.. I was curious to see the charges to tell if the prices were
actually reasonable, high, or outrageous. On one of our vehicles, this
year alone we've replaced both lower control arms, all 4 struts, front
brakes and rotors, head gasket, tires, and stuff I'm sure I'm
forgetting.. currently pricing a new convertible top. That's gonna be
$1700 all by itself. If we paid to have all the work done ourselves I'm
sure it'd be over $2800.. so in the abstract the amount you've
mentioned is certainly possible to spend.

Best advice I can give is to find a good mechanic and trust them.. WRT
your boss's mechanic.. as a rule I try not to badmouth other shops
unless they are clearly, completely, obviously in the wrong.. not
saying that's what they were doing; just making a comment.

Hope this helps.. I've used my alloted time this morning <g>.. ask if
you've got any questions..

Jim

  #4  
Old December 10th 04, 08:33 PM
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On 7 Dec 2004 15:10:16 -0800, "Christopher Green >"
> wrote:

||
wrote:
||> On Tue, 7 Dec 2004 21:00:08 -0000, "Huw"
> wrote:
||>
||> ||
||> ||"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
||> gin.umich.edu...
||> ||> On Fri, 3 Dec 2004, Barry S. wrote:
||> ||>
||> ||>> In CA, the Bureau of Automotive Repair frowns on replacing cats
||when in
||> ||>> fact, the car has a fuel control or some other problem (and will
||destroy
||> ||>> another cat) as replacing the cat doesn't actually fix (just
||masks) the
||> ||>> underlying problem..
||> ||>
||> ||> In fact, it is Federally illegal to remove a *working* catalytic
||converter
||> ||> from a vehicle originally so equipped. It is only legal to remove
||a
||> ||> *non-working* converter, and then only for the purpose of
||replacement with
||> ||> a new, working converter.
||> ||
||> ||So if the engine failed and needed to be removed, or the
||transmission come
||> ||to that, the Feds would be around and slap your ass in jail unless
||you tied
||> ||the cat up with a piece of string in its correct place attached to
||nothing?
||>
||> Don't be silly. The EPA's Jack-booted enforcement arm (leg?) is all
||but
||> non-existent for this type of offense. If anything, your state DOT
||might have
||> some"input" on a particularly egregious case. The intent is to keep
||people from
||> eliminating the convertor altogether.
||>
||> Texas Parts Guy
||
||It isn't the Feds the OP has to worry about. It's California BAR, which
||makes the EPA seem downright user-friendly. He has to show up for
||emissions inspection and testing every two years, or if he wants to
||sell the car, and a tampered cat (which means anything but an OEM or
||CARB-approved aftermarket model) is an instant fail. He will then not
||be able to renew registration or sell the car until he has had a proper
||cat installed at his expense.
||
||Of course, if he's selling the car "not running, as is", California may
||wink at the sale, so long as the buyer doesn't complain and fixes it up
||properly.

Well, sure, but but that's The People's Republik of Kalifornia. I figured we
were talking about the United States.
Texas Parts Guy
 




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