Hello,


I'm somewhat of a newbie here. I searched the forums and read the posts concerning my subject. I need more advise, please.

I have a 99 v70-xc AWD. I bought it used in '05 with ~92K miles. It now has ~135K miles.

A few months after being inspected in '05, the car was in the independent Volvo shop for an A/C replacement. The check engine light was on, as well. The codes returned indicated a bad catalytic converter. I don't remember the exact codes, but at that time, I searched the internet and this forum and found the codes to be consist with a bad cat.

When it was time for '06 inspection, the indy shop cleared the codes and took my car next door to the inspection station. It took 5 days of the indy shop and inspection station working together. Somehow... Miraculously, it passed. I don't want to know how that happened.

I'm not at all proud of this: It's now overdue for its '07 inspection - was due in April. It's still returning the cat codes, of course.

I want to resolve the problem, not by-pass the system.

Apparently the turbo models require a special cat which is not required by non-turbo models.

The indy Volvo shop said for a '99 v70-xc AWD turbo, a cat will be ~$1100-1200. Apparently, the indy shop does not use the OEM cats which are not from Volvo because the OEM cats may not pass inspection and the check engine light will come on again in a short period of time.

So, I called a friend of a friend who has been in the exhaust biz for 25 years. He basically told me the same thing concerning OEMs, as the indy Volvo shop. He did, however, say he could put on an after-market, non-OEM cat which would cost ~$500. However, he said it may not pass inspection. But he thinks he can work with it to get it to pass - no guarantees though.

I feel comfortable that both the indy shop and exhaust specialist are being honest.

Because I can only find a very few internet sites claiming to have OEM cats for turbos, I am quite concerned that these cats are not designed for turbo Volvos. The indy shop and exhaust specialist say the internet sites are selling bogus cats or the cat won't function for long. The reasons are 1) OEMs are not using the proper internal components, ie: platinum and 2) Volvo turbos have a very narrow range of acceptable values in which computer will return an OK status. (I hope that's logical.)

$1200 is completely out of the question. $500 is too much as well, but we're getting much closer to an acceptable price. I'm not a DIY'er unless it's oil or hose changes.

If I understand correctly, in North Carolina, a car cannot pass inspection if the computer returns a bad catalytic converter code.

Does anyone have any advice? It seems that somewhere out there, I should be able to find an OEM cat or after-market cat which will function on a turbo without having to replace it for '08 inspection or take a second mortgage on my home to afford the a Volvo Cat.


Thank you in advance to everyone!
Robin