$250 for a hunk of rubber!?!

[Drake314]

And not only that, enough time has passed where the 2004-2008 intake pipe is being manufactured in the aftermarket; 2009-2011 owners only have 3 choices: the junkyard which a complete crapshoot, eBay where the prices are less than dealer, but are still expensive; or you can go for the full Stealership Wallet Rape.


Sent to the Interwebs by a Phone Shaped Apple

Interesting, I had the same problem a couple of years back on my 09 and couldn't find the part anywhere other than the dealer as well and was just as shocked at the price for this part at the local Chevy dealer although the price was a bit cheaper than the $250 they quoted you. I paid about $180 for it (which is still a ridiculous amount for a rubber tube) but it was still cheaper than the price given to you. This is at a dealer in a small Indiana town mind you so it's interesting that it is more now, I would imagine that prices would drop instead of go up as time goes on. Looks like the eBay link is the best option for you at this point. I am currently in the process of cleaning the throttle body itself and it is not an easy task for novice! Good luck on your repair!

[2010AveoLT]

well, things have taken a turn for the worse; I got the dreaded P0420 code this afternoon. so my $250 problem just turned into a $2,116 problem.

[Drake314]

damm, for those of us novice car mechanics what caused this P0420 code/what does it mean?

[xintersecty]

Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1)

I means either the o2 sensors or the cat. sigh.

I would get the intake fixed first before working on the exhaust. Cars are just like computers, garbage in garbage out.
Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1)

[2010AveoLT]

damm, for those of us novice car mechanics what caused this P0420 code/what does it mean?

The P0420 DTC means that the catalytic converter is below a minimum efficiency level set by the PCM. To put it in simple terms, the stupid torn intake pipe just ruined my catalytic converter which in the 2009-2011 cars is $1800 from the dealer! (Because it's a Maniverter; the exhaust manifold and catalytic converter is one big unit)


Sent to the Interwebs by an Apple

[petrified.rabbit]

if the car is running right, and your haven't fixed the intake yet.
It could still be the flow/gas/metering trifecta that caused the code.

Fix what is known before re-diagnosing.

[Drake314]

The P0420 DTC means that the catalytic converter is below a minimum efficiency level set by the PCM. To put it in simple terms, the stupid torn intake pipe just ruined my catalytic converter which in the 2009-2011 cars is $1800 from the dealer! (Because it's a Maniverter; the exhaust manifold and catalytic converter is one big unit)


Sent to the Interwebs by an Apple

Yikes I see what you mean. Can't believe it is that expensive to replace the catalytic converter. Will be dreading the day that happens with my 09 Aveo. It seems that like they set a trap with this car: An inexpensive car with very expensive parts to fix it!

[2010AveoLT]

if the car is running right, and your haven't fixed the intake yet.
It could still be the flow/gas/metering trifecta that caused the code.

Fix what is known before re-diagnosing.

just ordered the new pipe off of ebay, for only $167, MUCH cheaper than going to my local Stealership!

[2010AveoLT]

Got a present in the mail today; here is the old crappy intake (the nut driver is indicating where it tore) next to the new hotness! Time will tell if the tear truly borked my cat (hopefully not, or else GM WILL be hearing from me on that) and I would like to give a MASSIVE shoutout to Larry H Miller Chevrolet's eBay store, because they took a LARGE chunk off of the price I WOULD have paid had I gone to my local Dealer. (The main issue is that I have the honor of living in a state that has THE HIGHEST combined sales tax IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY, at a whopping 9.75%; meaning on top of the $250 price for the part, I would be paying $25 in sales taxes!)


Sent to the Interwebs by a Phone Shaped Apple

EDIT: the code came back; NOW I'M PISSED. GM is about to get a VERY heated email from me about this.

[Thymeclock]

The P0420 DTC means that the catalytic converter is below a minimum efficiency level set by the PCM. To put it in simple terms, the stupid torn intake pipe just ruined my catalytic converter which in the 2009-2011 cars is $1800 from the dealer! (Because it's a Maniverter; the exhaust manifold and catalytic converter is one big unit)

It's unlikely that the broken intake hose caused your cat convertor to go bad. (I've had split intake hoses on most of the Asian cars I've owned and it never caused the cat to fail.) I recently changed the flex pipe on my '09. The cat converter is NOT in the manifold. It is in the first pipe that is farther back, rearward of the flex pipe. But beware - changing the flex pipe is a bitch of a job, because the flange connection of the two pipes becomes galvanized into one solid mass of rust. That means that if your cat is bad, you will need to replace the front flex pipe as well.