What information led you to conclude these companies use $30 catalytic converters in their sub-$1,000 downpipes?
- Integrated Engineering
- 034Motorsports
- Unitronic
- HPA
You're considering selling the aftermarket downpipe as part of the long-term cost? If you're selling it, I'm skeptical that the resale value will approach the $1,800 acquisition cost. There's a $900 Baun FMIC being sold for
$500 in the classifieds. Assuming the downpipe has a similar depreciation when you sell it you've lost $900. If you bought an IE downpipe for $850, and it had greater depreciation, say 66% of its value, you'd be down $570. So you come out $330 ahead with IE. Also, while you may be happy to list the custom-made DP when you sell the car, you aren't likely to get an extra $1,800 for the vehicle because it has that downpipe on it.
You say that if I had a cheap downpipe I would have information on why it leads to a higher long-term cost, but I have to sell the DP, or my GTI, to find this information out?