A scrap catalytic converter is worth roughly $5 for an aftermarket unit up to $1,100–$1,200 for a high-grade Ford torpedo, with most common passenger-car converters landing between $50 and $450. The serial number stamped on the shell is what tells a buyer which of those bands you are in — it identifies the exact part, and buyers match that part against a database of past assay results. But the number itself does not set the price. The metal inside does, and as of 20 August 2026 that means rhodium near $8,750–$8,800 per troy ounce, platinum around $1,780–$1,820, and palladium about $1,335.
| Grade / Item | Low | High | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aftermarket | $5 | $50 | USD/unit |
| Small foreign | $30 | $228 | USD/unit |
| Medium foreign | $40 | $452 | USD/unit |
| Large foreign | $90 | $456 | USD/unit |
| Small GM | $18 | $772 | USD/unit |
| Large GM | $80 | $286 | USD/unit |
| Domestic high grade | $65 | $593 | USD/unit |
| Large Chrysler | $89 | $266 | USD/unit |
| Diesel (DOC) | $15 | $511 | USD/unit |
| DPF | $30 | $806 | USD/unit |
| Ford torpedo | $110 | $1,166 | USD/unit |
| Country | Typical Range | Per Tonne | Cur. |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $50 – $450 /unit (typical OEM) | — | USD |
| Canada | C$65 – C$600 /unit | — | CAD |
| United Kingdom | £40 – £350 /unit | — | GBP |
| Germany / EU | €45 – €400 /unit | — | EUR |
| Australia | A$75 – A$650 /unit | — | AUD |
| India | ₹4,000 – ₹35,000 /unit | — | INR |
| UAE / Dubai | 180 – 1,600 AED /unit | — | AED |
These figures move every week. Treat everything below as indicative, not as a quote.
What a serial number actually does
A converter serial number is a part number, not a value. What it does is remove guesswork about which converter you are holding. Two units that look identical from three feet away can differ by $300 in metal content.
Buyers keep catalogs built from thousands of past decanned-and-assayed units. When you give them a number, they look up what that specific part yielded last time. That is why a stamped number gets you a real quote and an unmarked shell gets you a lowball — the buyer prices unknown risk into the offer.
The limitation is real, though. Loadings vary between units of the same part number based on mileage, engine condition and how hot the car ran. AutoCatalystMarket puts it plainly: without laboratory analysis, an exact estimate is not possible. Expect a serial lookup to get you within a band, not to the dollar.
Spot prices right now
Everything in the converter trade is downstream of three metals. Sources differ slightly because they quote at different moments and different benchmarks, so here is the spread rather than a single made-up number.
| Metal | Spot per troy ounce | Per gram | August 2026 range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum | $1,782–$1,816 | ~$57–$58 | $1,629–$1,795 |
| Palladium | $1,335 | ~$43 | $1,265–$1,395 |
| Rhodium | $8,750–$8,800 | ~$282 | $8,250–$8,800 |
Platinum quotes span $1,782.70 (Daily Metal Price, 17 Aug) to $1,816.20 (Trading Economics, 20 Aug), with Umicore at $1,788 on 19 Aug. That is a real disagreement of about 2 percent, not a rounding error — it reflects timing and benchmark differences. Rhodium is tighter: Umicore quoted $8,750 and Daily Metal Price $8,800, both on 20 August.
Note the rhodium number. At roughly $282 per gram, rhodium is about five times platinum by weight. A converter with 1.5 grams of rhodium carries more rhodium value than platinum and palladium combined in most gasoline units. That single fact explains most of the price spread between categories.
How much metal is actually inside
Published loadings vary by source and by unit. The figures below come from two independent references that broadly agree.
| Converter type | Platinum | Palladium | Rhodium | Total PGM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard gasoline | 3–7 g | 2–7 g | 1–2 g | 10–15 g |
| Foreign medium (example) | 3–4 g | 5–6 g | ~1.5 g | 10–12 g |
| Diesel (light) | 85–95% of total | minimal | minimal | 2–3 g |
| Exotic / luxury | — | — | — | 18–25+ g |
| Heavy-duty diesel / industrial | — | — | — | 12–15+ g |
Worked example
Take a mid-range gasoline converter at 4 g platinum, 4 g palladium, 1.5 g rhodium, priced at the spot figures above:
- Platinum: 4 g × $57.87 = $231
- Palladium: 4 g × $42.92 = $172
- Rhodium: 1.5 g × $282.12 = $423
- Contained metal value: ~$826
Nobody pays you $826 for that converter. Contained value is the ceiling, before recovery losses, refining charges and every margin between you and the smelter. A yard offer of $400–$500 on that unit is not a ripoff — it is roughly where the math lands after the chain takes its cut.
Reading the stamp
Numbers sit on the heat shield, the end caps, the main body between inlet and outlet, or hidden under a shield. Steel wool and a wire brush earn their keep here. Roughly 90 percent of GM converters carry a stamped number.
| Manufacturer | Format | Examples | Where to look |
|---|---|---|---|
| GM / Chevy | 8–10 digits, numeric | 25317499, 12672145 | Circular end cap, corner, main shield |
| Ford (FoMoCo) | Alphanumeric with hyphens | DM5Z-5E212-B, 8A8Z-5G232-C | Heat shield or body |
| Honda / Acura | 5 digits – 3 letters – 3 alphanumeric | 18160-S10-A01, 37820-RBB-003 | Main body or end flange |
| Toyota / Lexus (Denso) | 5 digits – 5 digits | 17140-31150 | Body, often with Denso or Toyota mark |
| European | Highly variable | — | Look for Bosch or Eberspächer marks |
| Aftermarket | No OEM number | Universal, MagnaFlow, Walker | Generic branding only |
GM numbers commonly open with 126, 127, 253 or 255. If your number starts with one of those sequences, you are almost certainly holding a GM unit regardless of what car it came off.
Aftermarket units are the tell that matters most for your wallet. They carry thin washcoat and little or no rhodium, which is why they bring $5–$17 against $200-plus for an OEM equivalent. If the shell says Universal, stop expecting OEM money.
Price bands by category
Two published lists, both current within the last week, disagree substantially. RRCats publishes wide ranges covering every sub-type in a category. ScrapMonster publishes single reference points. Both are shown — do not split the difference, because they are measuring different things.
| Category | RRCats range (21 Aug 2026) | ScrapMonster ref (17 Aug 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Aftermarket | $5 | $17 |
| Small foreign | $30–$228 | $192 |
| Medium foreign | $40–$452 | $150 |
| Large foreign | $90–$456 | $210 |
| Foreign pre-cat | $20–$271 | $25–$50 |
| Small GM | $18–$772 | $100 |
| Large GM | $80–$286 | $180 |
| Domestic regular | $20–$136 | $75 |
| Domestic high grade | $68–$621 | $166 |
| Diesel | $15–$511 | $13 |
| DPF | $30–$806 | — |
| Torpedo (Ford) | $110–$1,166 | $115–$664 |
The gap on diesel is the widest. ScrapMonster lists $13 while RRCats runs to $511 — because light diesel oxidation cats and heavy-duty diesel units both get called diesel. Ask which one the buyer means before you haul a load.
How buyers assay
Three levels of certainty, three price points.
Visual and serial lookup. Fastest, least accurate. The buyer matches your number to catalog history and quotes per piece. Convenient, but per-unit pricing runs 10–25 percent below what toll refining returns, according to PMR.
Handheld XRF. The converter is opened, the ceramic monolith ground and pressed into a pellet, then scanned. Evident Scientific reports XRF reads up to 25 elements in 30 seconds and runs about 99 percent consistent with laboratory evaluation. Common for on-site agreement on larger lots.
Lab assay and toll refining. You keep ownership of the metal and pay a processor to recover it. Wet chemical analysis is the precision benchmark but takes about a week and costs more. Toll refining carries a margin of error under 5 percent.
What you actually get paid
Recovery is not 100 percent. Recohub gives illustrative per-metal returns of roughly 98 percent for platinum and palladium and 94–95 percent for rhodium — but flags these as hypothetical examples, not industry standards. On top of recovery losses come treatment, refining and sampling charges, then the dealer margin.
Published sources do not disclose typical dealer margins, so no honest single number exists for what share of contained value a yard keeps. What is documented is the toll-versus-per-unit gap: 10–25 percent. If you move volume, that gap is the argument for assay-based settlement. For one converter off your own car, per-piece pricing is worth the convenience.
Paperwork and the law
Selling a converter in 2026 means documentation. More than 30 states now require buyer verification.
| Requirement | States (examples) |
|---|---|
| VIN recorded at sale | CA, TX, FL, GA, WA |
| Proof of ownership | NY, IL, OH, VA |
| Check only, no cash | WA, IL, VA |
| Payment holding period | TX 14 days, NY 10, FL 5, GA 3 |
| Photo of seller | CO, GA |
Bring government photo ID every time. Expect to show where the converter came from — title, repair order, or bill of sale. Buyers must retain records for two to five years in most jurisdictions. Key state laws include California AB 1740 (2022), Texas SB 224 (2021) and Georgia SB 446 (2022). Penalties range from misdemeanors to felonies carrying up to 10 years.
Federally, the PART Act (S.2238, 119th Congress) would stamp traceable numbers on new converters, fund a $7 million marking program for older vehicles and make converter theft a federal crime. It advanced to the full Energy and Commerce Committee on 10 February 2026. It is not law yet.
Platinum and palladium each swung about 10 percent inside the first three weeks of August 2026, and rhodium moved nearly 7 percent. Any converter figure older than about a week is history, not a quote. Get a current number from the buyer before you cut anything off a car.