How much should it cost to repair a catalytic converter for a 2004 Saturn?

How much will it cost to repair or replace a catalytic converter for a 2004 Saturn?





My husband says $900 from a shop (not dealer) but that sounds expensive.





Also, how much should it cost to hollow it out for now from a repair guy on the side.





(He doesn't have the money right now to fix it)





We are in a fairly expensive area / tristate - CT-NY-NJ|||You can't repair a catalyst, you can only replace it.





I don't suggest hollowing it out. It's bad for the environment and if you live in an area that require emissions testing, the car will fail.





If you get an original replacement from the dealer, yes, I can see it being that expensive. However, you can get an aftermarket cat for a fraction of that cost. I installed an aftermarket with a flexible pipe in my car for just over $200.





EDIT: 300 bucks to hollow out a cat? As mentioned, you can get a new, aftermarket catalyst for less than half of that. Besides, to hollow out a cat, all you would really need to do is cut open the bottom and pull out the material in the cat before welding that cut back closed. That's nowhere close to $300 worth of labour.|||It's not a good idea to hollow it out, the fumes can kill you.