Should my MINI's catalytic converter fail so quickly?

I have a three-year old MINI One with 37,000km on the clock and have just been told by the MINI dealer my catalytic converter needs to be replaced. They have quoted me 800 Euro (300 for the part and 500 for labour) to replace it. Should a car of this age and mileage need the part replaced and should it be this expensive?

Yvonne Meehan

Jun 2011 Filed under: reliability

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Expert answer

Hi Yvonne,

This is very low mileage for a catalytic converter to fail, but it is likely to be due to the kind of driving the car has been used for. Has it been driven mainly in an urban setting for short journeys? If so that could cause it to fail quicker.

The cost of the part sounds about right, but the labour sounds very expensive. It may be worth asking the MINI dealer to confirm how many hours that is for so you can see their rate. Also, as the car is out of warranty anyway, it's worth popping into an exhaust specialist to find out how much they'd charge to do the work.

Hope all that helps.

Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Adviser