So I hit this piece of metal while I was driving through Dallas this past December. It hit this crossmember that goes under the cat and knocked it back into the b-pipe bending the resonator and punching a hole in my cat. Then it shot out the side and nearly tore the side skirt off and put a couple cuts on the underside of my car.

Fast forward to just now. I went to the nissan dealer to get a quote on how much the brace, b-pipe, and cat would be. I'll let the quote do the talking for me:



Can you believe that crap? I walked out of there laughing...I guess I'm just gonna get an aftermarket cat ( ) and I'll wait until later to replace the b-pipe. The brace I have no clue about. It's not necessary so I guess I'll just leave it off, but when I get my nice new shiny b-pipe on there I'm going to buy another one just in case

Here are some pictures of the damage:
brace:


sideskirt:


cut in sideskirt:


The sideskirt I can live with, but I really do need to replace the cat soon. I saw a SIGNIFICANT drop in gas mileage (I mean almost half) and I don't like my car smelling like rotten eggs whenever I get on the interstate...any suggestions?

 

Ouch. Junk yard time, or see who's parting out a car in the F/S forum and if willing to get to the cross member.

p.s. the brace is necessary (unless you got SFCs...)

 

That sucks........
But I would definately post a WTB add in the classifieds, anything beats the dealers cost

 

what the hell did you hit to bend the crossmember that bad and completely rip it off??
thats a lot of force to do that

 

Yeah the junk yard will have to suffice for the brace, but I would really rather buy the cat new...

 

cats are always going to be expensive...you should be able to get a little lower price online or with dave b

 

oh trust me, I felt it hit....I really don't know what it was, it looked like a part from a refrigerator or something. It was a square metal piece sitting directly in the center of the lane. There was a person in front of me and another sort of on the side of me (his front bumper was pretty close to my rear bumper) and when the person in front of me swerved I had no time to accelerate to get into the right lane and I hit it. The person in back of me pulled over with me and told me that it flew out the side. I'm glad he wasn't right there or else it could have put a mean dent in his car...I thought it was only about 2" tall but I guess not because I hit it. It bent the front splash guards backward first then it went back and sliced the hole in the cat (through the heat shield, mind you) and then finally made the big impact on the brace and flew out sideways. I'm just glad my LTB wasn't on there or else it would have hit that and probably hit my wheel/tire/transmission/oil pan whatever and that would have been bad...

 

Yeah I'm looking at aftermarket hi-flow cats as much as I would rather not go that direction...but stock cats are just too damn expensive. $700 is downright ridiculous.

 

honestly, it could have been a lot worse. think of everything else under there it could have hit!!!
you are lucky you didnt wreck the car!

 

Tell me about it! ha. When I pulled over I immediately turned off my car, and went to check my oil pan, transmission, and gas tank. Once I saw there were no leaks, I kept on driving another 20 miles to a gas station so I could look at it properly and I saw the brace bent up and my car sounded like **** because the brace was touching the exhaust and vibrated whenever the engine was on. It sounded like I had a rice can on the back

 

pic of the underside of the car (if it's worth it)?

 

I'll try to go and snap some real quick, but it's so low it's hard to get very good pictures...

 

go put it on a lift for pics

 

Alright I got some pics.

Heat shield at the front end of the y-pipe:


b-pipe resonator (not a problem now but I think it'll create a hole later on down the road) :


Part of the frame (can't really see but it has a dent in it) :


These are where it came out near the sideskirt:



The pictures aren't the best, but they're as good as I can do right now. Sorry, no lift at the moment

 

and something to LOL at: when I went out to my car just now this was on my rear view:

 

thats a great sticky note!!!!!

 

I probably should have edited out the phone number


EDIT: There.

 

we will all call him with the info
2XX-413-3170

 

LOL he'd be like, uh didn't you just call me?

 

That will teach him not to be post(whoring) his number just anywhere. You never know what freaks may call him...

I don't see the need for a new cat, does LA run exhaust pipe tests? To me the most important to replace part is the cross member.

 

no they don't but as I listed above, I'm now getting horrible gas mileage and my car smells like rotten eggs when it gets really warm (like if I'm driving for 20+ minutes)

 

I mean, get a new to you cat, not a brand new cat.

 

Yeah, I guess. I just like the assurance that the product is going to work when I buy it...I'll check both new and used and make my decision.

 

FYI, it is illegal to sell (or buy) a used cat. it violated emissions laws.

 

When was the last time anyone in the org got busted for buying/selling one??? Considered it an advisory, like speed limits...

 

I just called a junk yard and he said he would call me back tomorrow with the quote. He had no objection

 

sorry about your car man. i think there is someone on here selling a high flow care for a reasonable price. check in the classifieds

 

That sucks man... what do you think the total cost to fix it all? 1500? No chance of insurance covering the cost? Good luck with that.

Cats are made of certian expensive materials like platinum, that's why they're expensive... just fyi. And that's why people actually go around and cut them off other vehicles to sell them...

 

Wow...that was pretty vicious.

@ the note.

 

That cost is JUST for the parts at the dealer. I wouldn't replace the side skirt because I cant justify spending $200+ paint just for that...But the cat/b-pipe/brace I think I can do for around $500-$600 with used and aftermarket parts.

 

not getting caught doesnt make it right.
i was giving a heads up

 

You're right. Kind of like not getting caught speeding in VA.

 

Man that is some damage done.

 

How come you didn't talk to your insurance about this "accident"? (sorry if I missed it).

Also, I have a stock b-pipe if you need. PM me if interested.

 

won't insurance cover it? Tell them it flew off a truck but you didn't get the plates or something....

 

What he said^^^

 

LAo2Max,

Man that tanks!!! I'm glad you were ok. It really could have been ugly!!

Swee

 

Yes, you should ping your insurance folks -- that is why we all pay the big bucks, right?

Have the insurance suckers foot the bill, when else..

 

If you want a brace i have the one from my 01 laying around somewhere pm a price if you interested.

 

Well there are a couple reasons:

1.) At the time of the accident, I was actually meeting some friends in Lubbock, Tx and we drove up to Colorado for a ski trip. As you would imagine that took quite a bit of $$ so I was basically broke and unable to pay the deductible for insurance.

2.) My insurance is $390/month without any claims or tickets. Imagine what it would be with an accident claim.

3.) The sideskirt damage you can't really see that much and I super-glued the tabs underneath it that broke off so it at least sits flush with the car like it did before, so that expense I'm not worried about. The only things I want to replace are those I listed; the cat, b-pipe, and the brace. To tell you the truth I didn't think it would be nearly that much for a stock cat.

I'm going to get an aftermarket high flow cat from random technologies (they fit on the 5.5 gens right?) and an aftermarket b-pipe later on down the road. So the total for all those three products will be around what my $500 deductible is.

Thanks for the offer on the b-pipe but like I mentioned earlier, if it does develop a hole I'm just going to get an aftermarket b-pipe either before or after I get my headers.