Odd repair shop situation

This is not me, but it happened to a neighbor recently.  I'm just curious of people's opinions about it.  They have a 2011 Hyundai that had a check engine light for some cam timing related issue, and took it to the dealer to be fixed, and accepted everything they recommended (even brakes and tires) for around $4500.  They got the car back and drove it to work for a week or so but it didn't seem right, then it finally went into to limp mode and they took it back to the dealer, and were told *cat is clogged, another $5500 to fix it".  Obviously it's not worth it, but what happens when you take the shops word for it and accept all the recommended work, but they missed something and the car is actually junk? Just scrap it and don't do that again? I'm guessing that's the case but it's still kinda odd.

I think you're saying that the shop gave them an overinflated repair order and soaked them for $4,500.  We don't have enough info to know if $4,500 as over priced work or not since we don't know what all was done or how neglected the 13 year old car was.    

Now they are presented with a $5,500 repair order and all you have said is cat.  I'll suspect that is a genuine factory cat.  If they are not in CA, seek out a non-dealer shop who will use less expensive parts at less expensive rates.  

You wrote that the car is junk.  It could be just another $1k at another shop and they have a car that runs better than a $5,500 car they could buy. 

How long was it driven with the cam-related CEL?

Could have had running issues which clogged the cat. Clogged cat may not have shown up until there was some drive time on the newly-repaired car.

Don't assume shops have malicious intent, some of them actually want repeat customers.

$5500 sounds kinda high to replace a single catalytic converter  dunnit?

I am not sure of the initial code, but yes I do think it was probably driven long enough that it could have damaged the cat.  It was basically to repair whatever issue was causing the code plus brakes and tires for $4500 as far as I know.  

I think the dealer recommended both cats and both oxygen sensors, which being in California a dealer front cat and the rest from Rock Auto is $3500 or so.

I don't really have to do anything other than say "that sucks" and I'm definitely not going to do any work on it myself, but I was curious what other people here would say.  It seems like the ideal situation would have been for the quote to be $10k to begin with rather than what happened, but there's only so much you can tell without actually doing the work I guess.

In reply to ShawnG :

I don't think it was malicious, more just not noticing when the average person may or may not have noticed it.  It just kinda sucks since I don't think they can afford to fix it and it's mostly worthless at this point even after that much money.

This is one of those things where it's really hard to say without inserting yourself further into the situation, which I would definitely not advise doing...

With labor rates in 2024 legit $5000 auto repair bills are really not that hard to conceive of, but it's also totally possible that an unscrupulous dealer did a crappy diagnosis and railroaded them into a ton of stuff they didn't need.

Non-savvy folks almost always feel like they're getting screwed at the mechanic, but as someone who's occasionally tapped by friends to provide expertise, I also see a lot of cars getting neglected and beat by skipping important services until something critical fails, with the only option to keep the vehicle on the road being an eye-watering bill. Then you get into the discussion of sunk cost, can you afford something new, etc...

I'd hammer out the cat and keep driving it.

Steve_Jones said:

I'd hammer out the cat and keep driving it.

I think they said California, normal rules may not apply

In reply to TRoglodyte :

Yeah out here if you don't pass smog you ain't allowed on the road, no registration, your car is an expensive paperweight accumulating fees unless you put it on non-operation registration.

I took an absolutely massive gamble buying my 850R on non-op with a bunch of aftermarket E36 M3 that couldn't pass smog, but I know these cars super well so I made some careful part replacements and got it through. If you're not a GRM-type weirdo who really knows their stuff the smog stuff out here can be quite ruinous...

If the original problem was causing misfires, that'll take out a cat. Can't blame the shop for hoping it was okay given the cost of EO replacement cats.

Note that CA-spec cats are required in a number of states now, and it's not legal for vendors to ship federal cats there. CO and NY are the two that come to mind, but there are more.

ShawnG said:

How long was it driven with the cam-related CEL?

Could have had running issues which clogged the cat. Clogged cat may not have shown up until there was some drive time on the newly-repaired car.

Don't assume shops have malicious intent, some of them actually want repeat customers.

The other present faults could have been preventing the catalyst monitor to run.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Yup, I had a leaky injector in my Mazda Protege that I fixed; about two months later the cat went. 

Yeah, I think I will just say "that sucks" and show them how much the parts cost if they ask and that's it.  I'm sure that ignoring the check engine light for too long has a lot to do with this being an issue in the first place.

Sell it into western Canada.  Not BC.  Gut the cat, put a bit of tape over the mil,  go nuts.

Shocking, a dealership ripped people off.

I'm not from CA so this may not be an option but is this a situation where they could run lacquer thinner through the gas line to clean the converter? It worked for me but I had the check engine light for the cat so it was less than 95% efficient. No idea if it would help with a clogged cat.

For grins, I looked up a 2011 Santa Fe V6

3 cats(?).  It looks like 2 integrated in the manifolds, and a 3rd downstream  MSRP for all three is $6500!  The Internet tells me the 3rd cat is not monitored.

Catalytic convertors are stupidly expensive, especially OEM ones.  Not unusual for them to be $2500-3000 each, so a $5500 bill isn't hard to believe...

Keith Tanner said:

If the original problem was causing misfires, that'll take out a cat. Can't blame the shop for hoping it was okay given the cost of EO replacement cats.

Note that CA-spec cats are required in a number of states now, and it's not legal for vendors to ship federal cats there. CO and NY are the two that come to mind, but there are more.

If it was causing misfires bad enough to melt the catalyst, the ecu would totally have changed how the engine ran, and the check engine light would have been flashing. Which isn't what is suggested the state of the car was. 
 

A steady light isn't a misfire. 
 

Let alone, the OBD system is supposed to avoid melting the brick. Damage it, sure, but it would sinter the metals together as opposed to melting the ceramic. 
 

Seems that both sides of the problem isn't all that clear. 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

ShawnG said:

How long was it driven with the cam-related CEL?

Could have had running issues which clogged the cat. Clogged cat may not have shown up until there was some drive time on the newly-repaired car.

Don't assume shops have malicious intent, some of them actually want repeat customers.

The other present faults could have been preventing the catalyst monitor to run.

For a "clogged" catalyst, it needs to overheat and melt the substrate. Which would more be a misfire monitor. 

camopaint0707 said:

Shocking, a dealership ripped people off.

Please explain how they did. You have no idea what was done for the $4500 and if there were signs of cat failure at that time.I'm curious what you base your statement on.

In reply to Steve_Jones :

Why would the dealer sell tires and a brake job  for an engine code situation?

TRoglodyte said:

In reply to Steve_Jones :

Why would the dealer sell tires and a brake job  for an engine code situation?

It's good practice to inform your customers when things are worn out / broken. It's up to them to decide if they would like the repairs performed.

This is why it's called a "service department".

Why suggest lipstick for a pig with a terminal illness? Whom are you servicing?