Hi all,

I am from Canada (Quebec). I am the first time owner of a 2009 Honda Fit, a 1.5L with a manual gearbox, the first year of the 2nd Generation model year. I got a bargain on it, but it's because there are a few minor issues, and one of them turned out to be a little bit than just a minor issue.

So my catalytic converter needs a replacement as there's a hole starting to form. It's getting too rusty to just fix the hole. What we thought was just an exhaust leak turned into a catalytic converter repair.

My father was a mechanic, now retired. My cousin, who's also a mechanic, owns a garage that we could use to work on the car. I went to see him and he told me his part was 550$ minimum, and that would cost me about 700$ in total to get it fixed.

Since all we need is the part - the catalytic converter, are you aware of any online alternative where we can buy cheaper catalytic converters for Honda Fits? I have seen some on Ebay, coming from Whitby ON (Canada) for very cheap, something like 160-170$ USD, but I have never ordered parts online.

Are these okay, legal and do they Fit the Fit? If not what's the next best option?

 

Hello chum!

Yes right now catalysts are kind of expensive, and factory ones tend to be even more costly. You have some options, and if you can weld it’s much better because you have two options.

First if you don’t care about emissions, you can just weld a straight pipe and delete the catalyst. There are also universal catalytic converters that cost 100-150, and you can cut the old catalyst and weld in one of these.

If you are looking for a direct fit, yeah most are a bit more expensive. Online is usually safe because if you use PayPal and eBay, they have a buyer and seller protection program. If you want the catalyst because you want to stay protected for emissions, just be careful because used catalysts might not have enough platinum left or the substrate might have crumbled into dust. But this is the easiest solution if you don’t want to cut and weld.

Some others might have better recommendations, good luck dude! Salut!

 

What I would do is this:
Buy an aftermarket catalytic converter from Rock Auto (fast shipping to Qc, no brokerage fee, no surprise, ordered from them multiple times...). Also buy a Denso oxygen sensor, the downstream one on Rock Auto. Buy, from Ebay, an oxygen sensor spacer, and the oxygen sensor wire extension if you are not able to make one. Install all this, and be done with it. You won't have a CEL...

Aftermarket converters are cheaper, but often don't last very long. So you will end up having a CEL for catalytic converter below efficiency. The oxygen sensor spacer will back out the oxygen sensor a bit, so it'll trick it to believe everything is OK. The wire extension is required most of the time because of the increased distance the spacer adds to the sensor location. Please note that this is illegal, but for me, it makes no sense to buy an OEM converter for a 12 years old car. And at least you'll have a converter, better than just deleting it.

Sensor spacer (this is just one of them, there are many on Ebay): https://www.ebay.ca/itm/283529651542...8AAOSwJ3ddFNEk
Wire extension (make sure you need the 4-wire by checking the plug on the car): https://www.ebay.ca/itm/221758551622...YAAOSwcwhVQNOD

Good luck!