"Tegger" <tegger@tegger.c0m> wrote
> ...because the original has a rust hole in it, which has
> rendered it noisy.
>
>
> New Honda OEM cats are $1,100, and are discontinued for my
> car, to boot. I
> am therefore reduced to trolling the aftermarket, for
> which I have a
> healthy distrust.
>
> Enquiries at local garages turn up several brands. Good
> prices all, but no
> brands which inspire confidence. Being a twenty
> first-century kinda guy, I
> start looking online. Only to discover those very same
> sorry brands and not
> much else.
>
> However, I do discover a listing that, at least visually,
> looks
> suspiciously like my own OEM cat, here:
> <http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/search/?Ntt=hon1623&N=0&uts=true>
> Check it out. It's a dead-ringer for the OEM cat and lower
> heat shield.
>
> I had a nice online chat with an sales rep from Auto Parts
> Warehouse, the
> seller of that cat.
> A transcript is linked below. It's interesting reading.
> <http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/misc/apw-hon1623-chat-transcript.txt>
> "John" is me. "Mari" is the APW rep.
>
> The upshot is that their photo is /highly/ misleading.
> Deliberately? You
> decide.

Sounds like the rep was saying it was just as likely the
second photo she provided you was not quite reflecting what
they sold.

Considered a junkyard cat converter? I don't see them listed
at one of the national U-Pull-It sites. Yet I often see
intact muffler systems on junkyard Hondas.