Not your typical catalytic converter question

S

Sphincter

Member
:
2008.5 MS3 GT Black Mica
Ok so here's the deal. I was getting ready to trade in my mildly modified focus for a Speed 3. When I brought the car in for inspection to the dealer, they looked at it three different times, then came back to me asking if I have an aftermarket catback installed. I said yes. So the next question was if I still had a catalytic converter on the car, I lied and said yes, but in reality I don't. (in FL they don't do emissions testing.) After I told him I still had the catalytic converter on the car, he responded saying "good, cause if you didn't I wouldn't even be able to take your car from you". At first I didn't care much about that, but then I heard somewhere that I can end up paying huge state fines for something like that.
So here's the questions: Can I trade my car in FL with out a catalytic converter? Can I private sell my car in FL with out a catalytic converter? And what are the penalties if any for both of the situations??
I'm so confused now, hope to hear some knowledgeable responses. Thanks in advance.
 
Dude, have a high flow cat welded in and call it a day. That will make it streetable and keep you from fines I think
 
My stocker cat was thrown out with the stocker headers. I'm running 4-2-1 headers with a flex pipe and the catback. Would there be fines for that in FL where they don't test for emissions?
 
Just because a state doesn't do the testing doesn't mean you're allowed to take the cat off. Being an enthusiast you should know it's federal law that you can't tamper with emissions equipment. The fine is as much as $2,500 if caught.

www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/civil/caa/mobile/donttamper.pdf


lestat13 said:
Dude, have a high flow cat welded in and call it a day.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%

Also, be warned, IIRC, if you take a vehicle to a shop and they see that you've tampered with the emissions equipment, they're required to report you, so you may want to find a shop that's cool with that sort of thing and won't **** you over.
 
i dont know how it is there but here the muffler shop can get fined for doing catless work i never heard of a person getting fined just play dumb and say you bought it that way or buy the hiflow cat but why spend money on it if your selling it
 
Am I going to have any problems if I private sell the car? Sounds like most likely no. I think it's really coming down to me just selling the car, cause the dealer gave me poop for the trade in amount.
 
private sale should be fine since you guys don't have smog tests. here in CA, most private sellers point out that the car passes smoke cause if your car don't pass smog, you get no registration.
 
when i was at the muffler shop getting my resonators removed there was a guy there who had a toyota tacoma, some douchebag had cut his cat off while the car was aprked at Taco Bell. This happens a lot in California, where on trucks since they are higher up, people will cut the cat out from underneath the car, apparently you can sell them.

anyways, he was getting a new cat put on there and paid $100 for a new cat including welding it in there. So $100 for a cat installed on there wouldnt be that bad, you dont need to buy a high flow cat that costs more if you're simply trading it in or selling it off.

You can sell it privately however you want, you dont have to fix anything to sell it to someone, just have them sign a paper that they are taking the car from you "as is where is" and they will have to do whatever they need to afterwards. I did that when I sold my Cavalier catless, and my 350z with testpipes installed
 
I sold my 1997 Probe GT cat on e-bay to a metal recycler for $216. Seems the older cats are valuable.
 
Sphincter said:
Am I going to have any problems if I private sell the car? Sounds like most likely no. I think it's really coming down to me just selling the car, cause the dealer gave me poop for the trade in amount.
Click to expand...


Yes, you can get in trouble if you don't disclose that it is missing. Don't believe those that are saying you can't.
 
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