'05 Outback -- Exhaust system rusted out -- NEED HELP!

[freekraz]

Hello all,

My wife drives an '05 Outback Wagon base model, 2.5 H4 non-turbo. 100,000 miles, barely broken in. Exhaust leaks started a few months ago. Brought it in to my local mechanic and I'm not sure what to do.

He says the entire exhaust system is too rusty to salvage anything. So, I'm not sure what the heck to do. $4,000 for a catalytic converter? $6,000 for the whole exhaust system? I'm not an idiot, I fix old Citroens for a hobby. But I just don't know what to do here.

I understand that junkyards are forbidden to sell catalytic converters. Can anyone suggest a way I can keep this car on the road? Really don't want to drop $15k for a used car which will be no better than the '05 Outback, which is pretty much perfect as a family car.

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE!

Jeff

Boston

'05 Outback/'16 Forester/'72 Citroen SM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[freekraz]

FYI, this car is equipped with the California exhaust system. I live in New England, but don't know if you can swap for the 49-state version.

[jonathan909]

First, afaIk, nobody's "forbidden" from selling cats.  They just won't because they get more for them on the metal recovery market.

I just took a quick look at Rock, and you can get an entire (prob. minus cat) exhaust system for $500.  If you can transplant your old cat onto it, you win.  Otherwise, that adds $300 to the tab.  Last time I had my slide rule (yes, I still have it and remember how to use it!), $800 < $6000.  So unless there's something I grossly misunderstand about this, I see your path.

[jonathan909]

Of course, another (probably cheaper yet) option is to find a junkyard exhaust system w/o rust.  Yes, it'll be missing its cat too, but see above under "reuse yours or fork out the few hundreds for a new one".

[lmdew]

www.car-part.com  Get the exhaust from a rust free state.

[GeneralDisorder]

It is against federal law to resell converters as a legitimate car dismantler. They can ONLY scrap them. That is 100% true. And factory cats are absolutely more expensive new than scrap value so if they had good ones or ones they could tell were recently replaced they would certainly be looking to sell them for $800 (half the price of new OEM) rather than scrap them for $400. Prices aren't that high right now on the scrap side - they aren't low and never will be but they have been tipple what they are currently in the past. 

We deal with this question all the time from customers - we recommend OEM converters. They typically last 150k+. In your case it's a rust problem but that's pretty much the cost of owning a car on the east coast is it not? 

I don't see a way around it - get OEM exhaust and protect it going forward the best you can. Or scrap the car and buy a new one. Isn't 15 years considered pretty much the life of an automotive product where you live? 

I would say move somewhere that cars don't rust if you don't want to deal with these problems.....

GD

[jonathan909]

Interesting.  Wonder if we have similar laws (regulations) here.

But what on earth is the rationale behind such a law?

Edited August 24, 2022 by jonathan909

[jonathan909]

15 hours ago, GeneralDisorder said:

It is against federal law to resell converters as a legitimate car dismantler. They can ONLY scrap them.

I can't find any confirmation of this.  I haven't read through the Clean Air Act (and I'm not even sure that the whole thing is available online), but best I can figure, it depends on the purpose for which it's being sold.  If it's being sold for re-use, it has to first be tested to make sure that its performance complies with the standard, and since (presumably) nobody is going to go to that trouble, it's effectively a prohibition.  But if I want to buy one to put on the mantelpiece next to my Hummel hedgehog figurines, ain't no law against that.

Any other strictures are basically pawn-shop laws intended to discourage traffic in stolen cats by requiring proper and thorough maintenance of records - but that's probably more local law (e.g. state) than federal.

catcvrts-1.pdf

[moosens]

Drive it down to Kim Discount Muffler on State St Ext. in Bridgeport CT , bring cash , you’ll leave legal and content for cheap. 
 

Perhaps you have a local similar type of place you just haven’t explored yet. 
 

Didn’t check to see where in Mass. you are but I’d bet there’s a small shop like I mentioned around Springfield or Worcester or Bahstin 

Edited August 24, 2022 by moosens