What Cars Have the Most Expensive Catalytic Converters 2024

Last Updated on September 13, 2022 by John Robinson

The Dodge Ram 2500 comes in at around $3,460. Catalytic converters are usually quite expensive and the Dodge Ram isn’t the only car with a pricey converter.

  • BMW E36 Compact: $2,500
  • Fiat Ducato: $2,300
  • Fiat Multipla: $1,600
  • BMW E39: $1,200

What makes catalytic converters so valuable?

What Cars Have the Most Expensive Catalytic Converters

They have precious metals in them that can be sold.

In the converter, these metals are used to break down your car fumes toxicity, which is essential for the environment. There are quite a few metals in the converter, the most valuable include platinum, palladium and rhodium. Although the prices changes as the market does, here are the current prices for these metals per gram:

Platinum per gram: $39.89

Palladium per gram: $75.23

Rhodium per gram: $681.60

Overall these metals are extremely rare and can be used to make jewelry and other industrial parts. If you have a catalytic converter lying around, you can take it in to be recycled and get all those precious metals which you can sell for some quick cash.

What Cars Have the Most Expensive Catalytic Converters?

How much can I get on average for a catalytic converter

This really depends on the converter. But the total will range from $20 to over $800, especially for the exotic types. The higher-quality converter you have, the more metals it usually has inside. Here is a rough list of a few prices for a recycled converter.

Small Foreign Cat: $108 – $139

XL Foreign Cat: $350 – $502

Small Breadloaf Cat: $105 – $202

Lard Breadloaf Cat: $125 – $352

Exotic Cat: $500 – $802

What Cars Have the Most Expensive Catalytic Converters?

It is highly recommended that you take your converter to a nearby auto-shop or recycler. Even if you do manage to pull out the small grams of metals, it can be quite tricky and dangerous to do so as the converter is used to filter out toxic fumes in your car. Plus, you might end up wasting some of the metals.

How do I know if my catalytic converter is failing?

How do I know if my catalytic converter is failing

There are a few signs to look out for:

  • Poor acceleration.
  • Trouble starting the car.
  • The ‘check engine’ light is burning.
  • The engine that misfires.
  • The engine guzzles up your gas resulting in poor fuel efficiency.

When any of these things happen, it might be a sign that something is wrong with your converter.

Overall, loss of power is the main sign. If your engine is slow to start and slow to accelerate it could be a problem with your catalytic converter. 

If you jump on the problem and get it fixed quickly, you won’t have to replace it. But leaving the problem can and will break the converter, and may even do damage to the rest of the car.

What is the most common cause of converter failure?

What is the most common cause of converter failure

  • Unburned fuel

When you’re running your car too rich, unburned fuel can end up getting into the converter and burn there instead. When this happens, heat builds up and will burn the converter itself. This can even melt the honeycomb which can lead to blockage and restrict the exhaust flow.

  • Coolant leaks

This is never a good sign. A leak can do some serious damage to your car. It can contaminate the materials and clog the catalytic converter. White smoke from your exhaust is usually a sign of a head gasket leak and should be checked out as soon as possible.

  • Oil consumption

Much like the coolant leak, old burned oil can get rushed back into the exhaust system to leak into the catalytic converter. When this happens, it can contaminate the metals in the converter and of course create a blockage. If you notice your engine is using more oil than usual and it’s spitting out black smoke from the exhaust, a check-up is in order. 

John Robinson
John Robinson

Howdy! I’m John Robinson from Levittown, New York. I am a mechanical engineer for 15 years and already had an established car repair company. I developed a personal relationship with cars since I was a kid. I always love the sounds and smell emitted by a car or truck and even at construction machinery. Since then I have been married but my love for cars only grew.