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Originally posted by 88FOX:
my friend has a 2000 mazda protege' that needs a new cat.. the mechanic is telling him it needs a specific to that car cat thats guna cost a arm and leg that only the dealership has... now im thinking hes just trying to mark up the cat for profit.. has anyone ever heard of cars that need specific cats and could his be one of them? i know they make universal cats so i told him that might be a possibility.. i think of it this way if the car has 2.5" exhaust piping then all you need is a 2.5 inlet/outlet cat and your good?? am i stupid?

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is the cat is some weird ass position along the exhaust and because of that its a car specific part?
 

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Posted by Farrell (Member # 10801) on :
 
Ive heard this said too, as long as its an obd2 replacement cat with the 02 sensor holes in the right place you should be able to get a generic one. Probably not a universal one, but autozone usually has the generic brand ones that are the right shape/size. a lot of times they will have one right off the exaust manifold and then another one farther down the pipe under the car. The exaust manifold ones are the ones that have to be pretty specific.
 

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Posted by Adam5.0 (Member # 6995) on :
 
this is what your friend needs

http://car-sound.com/02product/shopdisplayproducts.asp

search your buddys car and the front universal cat is $845

sounds like the shop is telling the truth. fyi all shops mark up the price of parts. thats how they cover themselves in case of a warrenty comeback

[ August 19, 2011, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: Adam5.0 ]
 

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Posted by 88FOX (Member # 9969) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Adam5.0:
this is what your friend needs

http://car-sound.com/02product/shopdisplayproducts.asp

search your buddys car and the front universal cat is $845

sounds like the shop is telling the truth. fyi all shops mark up the price of parts. thats how they cover themselves in case of a warrenty comeback

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yea i no they have to mark up but i just thought he was guna try and make a killing off him because he can tell he doesnt mess with cars much.. but yea ive been looking it up and most places wont ship anything for him to ca.. he said he failed it on smog once now hes gota fix the cat and retest.. what do you guys think about him doing it the no cat way and just paying someone to make it pass.. if he failed it once would it be hard for someone to make it right? because the previous submitted numbers? jus tryin to help him save mony hes in the same boat all of us r pretty much it

[ August 19, 2011, 07:27 PM: Message edited by: 88FOX ]
 

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Posted by Adam5.0 (Member # 6995) on :
 
you could try to find a used cat from a part out or craigslist, ebay, mazda forum etc... that would be the cheapest just might take time
 

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Posted by S13hatch2.4 (Member # 9804) on :
 
Damn that shit is expensive. A new cat and 02 sensor for my 240sx ran me $190 at Napa Auto Parts. But that was with a discount.
 

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Posted by SLOWSN95 (Member # 8269) on :
 
Usually the cheap generic cats dont last so long. The previous owner of my toyota pickup threw a cheap one on and after 2 years of owning my truck and 2 years with that "new" cat on, it BARELY passed smog.

My advice to your friend is to possibly find a discount Mazda website, buy a cat from them and then bring the cat to a shop for them to put on. Goodluck to your friend
 

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Posted by bentley mobs a stang (Member # 11119) on :
 
a lot of the time the reason why a car cant use a universal cat is because of the catalyst effeciency monitor. obd2 cars use pre cat 02sensors and post cat. and the pcm compares the readings of the 2 sensors to detirmine how good of a job the cat is doing. you can throw on a universal cat and it will pass the sniffer test, but it may not pass the manufactures specs to pass the cat effeciency monitor. this will cause a catalyst efficiency code and turn on the check engine light. and a car wont pass smog with a check engine light illuminated, no matter how clean the tail pipe readings are. sucks i know lol
 

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Posted by 4NIK8TR (Member # 11147) on :
 
one of these will work, as long as they don't do a visual

http://www.summitracing.com/search/Year/2000/Make/MAZDA/Model/PROTEGE/Department/Exhaust/?Ns=Rank%7cAsc
 

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