Had issues with my catalytic converter, was told By the autobody shop that it would cost over $2000 to repair and I knew that I could not afford that on such an older car (2005 Toyota Highlander). So I found Gary's business and gave it a shot. And I'm so glad I did. He worked all morning and into the evening on my car getting it exactly right and I was able to pass the next day. I highly recommend his service. He does great, professional work and he will come to your house and fix it while you are home so you don't have to be inconvenienced. 5 stars. read more

Do not be fooled by this guy's solution to your catalytic converter woes. Gary showed up at my house and sprayed what appeared to be brake cleaner (or similar) into my engine block via the air intake. From what I understand, the cleaner eventually ends up reaching the exhaust and burns-off the pollutants that are baked onto the metal-coated honeycomb plates inside the catalyst. This is a short term fix! Yes, my check engine light went off and I passed the emission test, but within days the light and trouble code reappeared. I talked with two reliable mechanics since and learned about the above short term trick. One mechanic was from the dealership and another from an independent shop. When I told them the story, both essentially rolled their eyes and told me I'd been duped. Seems this is a common ploy. It turns out Gary's method of repair does not take care of the root cause. When I set-up my appointment online, his website quoted me $200+ something but when the final bill arrived, it was $425. Wait.What.Why? Because, he said, the exhaust is a two-stage system and I have to double the estimate. This is something Gary should have been upfront about before ANY work was done. He also told me after the "repair" I should take my car on the expressway and drive in second gear @ 5000+ RPM for 20 minutes to "burn out" the catalyst with extreme temperatures. Seriously? That's when I started getting concerned about his witchcraft approach to fixing the problem. If you don't already know, stressing your engine and transmission like that can cause very detrimental and costly damage. Not only to the intricate gears and block, but to all the sensitive sensors reaching extreme heat as a result. I'm embarrassed I took the bait to begin with and you will too if you try and solve a major auto problem with a guy who doesn't have a shop (why, for anonymity?) and shows up with a $3 can of parts cleaner. If you got this far, do yourself one favor - call just one service center and ask if the catalyst will get a long term fix by burning off baked-on pollutants using a spray cleaner and stressing the engine with high heat. I think you will be better served (and save $400) by doing the right thing - Just replace the catalytic converter. read more

Gary was very helpful. He completely diagnosed my issues with a full inspection (125.00). I knew from calling around getting estimates it would cost about 1k to replace or I could have him clean it so it would pass inspection for 150.00. I chose the later so for 275 bucks he even went by the auto parts store to fill fluids and replace my bad wiper, then wait in line to have it inspected. Great Job Gary! Highly recommended!! If the cat converter fails again (possible). I will talk with Gary about having him replace it outright. This is his specialty so he gets better pricing and knows the system inside and out. I would much rather use a specialist than someone who tries to do everything. read more

***Short version: If your check engine light comes on and Pep Boys or whoever says it's you're catalytic converter, Gary Covington will save you a trillion dollars by cleaning them instead of replacing (when possible). ***Longer version: TWO of our cars had the "check engine light" on, both said it was the catalytic converter. That's big money, in case you've never had this issue. We're talking thousands. So, our amazing, but expensive repair guy said we needed new catalytic converters on BOTH cars. He was going to have to wait for a hot minute. So @catregeneration followed me on Twitter and I was like "wow, perfect timing." I gave him a call, set an appointment, and HE CAME TO OUR HOUSE. Well dressed, well groomed, well spoken, very unlike your average auto specialist (we once had a meth addict tear out half of our engine and disappear with the parts). While he was checking car number one, I was chatting with him and learned he has nine kids. NINE KIDS. He plugged into the car and got a literal medical diagnostic chart that looked like an EKG reading. "This one just needs an O2 sensor," telling me 30 seconds later where the cheapest one was. "Want me to go grab one up the street while you check car two?" He only charged $65 to install when I got back. Srsly. Come back and he says car two was a misreading, he drove it around while I was at the auto parts store, the check engine light went away and has stayed off. Then, he drove one and I drove the other to the state inspection place and waited until they passed inspection, then we drove back home. He was barely going to charge me anything, but I insisted since he spent the afternoon working (and he saved me THOUSANDS). Gary is f***ing AWESOME. Mechanic said "gimme tons of dollars," Gary started this company to save people from that, and he does it every day. He's a lifesaver!! HIRE GARY. YOU WON'T REGRET IT. read more

Gary was super helpful! 1. HOUSE CALL? What?!? I've never had my auto worked on in the convenience of my own driveway. Amazing. 2. THROUGH. Everything was explained before and after. Descriptions are matched with pictures and all the diagnostic were thoroughly explained to me, someone who know nothing about catalytic converters. 3. REFERALS. I ended up having an exhaust leak and Gary was very quick to refer me to somewhere he had been for good cheap labor and it was in my neighborhood. overall great experience. Thanks! read more

This is an update of a negative review I previously posted (it was negative because my daughter and I had scheduled several consultation telephone appointments that were missed without explanation). I was finally able to reach Doug, and he went out of his way to come out the next day (vehicle had failed inspection due to a P0420 code, and the 15 day reinspection deadline was looming). My usual mechanic had previously confirmed that the catalytic converter was not damaged, but was just either internally ruined or caked up. (My mechanic's price for a cat replacement would have been about $1100, which was a fair price but not worth spending on an old car that only BB's for about $1900.) Doug's inspection confirmed that the cat was not damaged, and was thus able to do his thing (which is his own proprietary method of deep-cleaning of the innerds of the cat -- despite the name it doesn't chemically "regenerate" any poisoned catalyst). Bottom line: it passed reinspection (Doug drove it to the inspection station and brought it back with a "passed" certificate!), and so my daughter's old car can now stay on the road for at least another year for a fraction of the cost of replacing the cat. Obviously, this kind of fix isn't permanent -- while this kind of cleaning can extend the life of the catalytic converter, once enough catalyst is poisoned (or if the cat is physically damaged), replacement is your only option. However, before you drop a wad of cash on replacing the catalytic converter, give Doug a shot -- he may be able to get you another couple of years before replacement becomes your only option. I'll note that if you schedule a consultation appointment through his website and he doesn't call at the appointed time (which, as indicated above, happened a number of times to us), try calling him. Doug is very professional and knows his stuff. Recommended. read more

I recently had the p0420 code on my Kia Spectra for a bad cat with a month away to get my inspection sticker! I tried that $25 bottle of Cataclean from Autozone hoping it would be a quick fix but with no luck I was sure I was going to be spending $700+ to get it replaced! I came across CatRegeneration and was a bit skeptical at first because I've never heard of anyone doing this procedure before! I decided to give it a shot and sure glad I did! Gary came to my house and showed me the emission readings my Cat was putting out before cleaning it and told me where they needed to be... within an hour he completely restored my catalytic converter back to factory specs! Needless to say my car passed it's inspection and I only payed a fraction of what I was expecting to pay to get it replaced. Thanks Gary! read more

2800$ that is what i was quoted to get my Toyota's catalytic Converters replaced at my regular shop. I can't tell you how happy i am that i didn't do so. I found Gary's website that was, by the way very informative and really shed some light on my emissions system.Bottom line : I have not been able to get inspected since 2012 and Gary the car Wizard was able to fix my issue in a little over 2 hours. He also took it to get inspected for me while i was at work. Gary was extremely confident in his work, had great communication and was able to show me pictures he took of the inside of my emissions system. The pictures revealed some real damage in the cat's interior that will need to be replaced down the road. Not exactly the news i was hoping to hear but I got a quote from him and will def be calling him when its time to get this done. Gary seems like a very straight forward, honest and extremely knowledgeable mechanic. I couldn't be happier with his service. Best experience i have ever had with auto repair hands down! read more

I had spent over $400 trying to get my truck to pass inspection due to the check engine light. Gary came over when he said he would and had all the necessary tools to properly diagnose what the problem was. He was honest and polite and answered all my questions AND took my truck to get it inspected. I was able to register my vehicle in time to meet the deadline. What a relief! Thanks to Gary and CatRegeneration I can relax about driving my truck. Excellent service from a local business. read more

2 times in the last 3 years Gary has made a "housecall" to save me from a 0420 and 0430 check-engine situation-- i.e. problems with my catalytic converter. It's not voodoo-- each time he explained the issues thoroughly and did a complete examination of my existing situation. The local service repair shop was offering me quotes to replace my converter-- it turns out that wouldn't have helped at all. Gary is a pleasure to work with and saved me a lot of money. It's truly a win/win to work with Gary-- I recommend calling him if you have issues with your catalytic converter and want to pass inspection by taking correct actions. read more

My car was giving a P0430, indicating a catalyst problem. I called and gave my details to Gary and told him I had recently gotten my inspection. He suggested that I might have gotten some bad gas and that I should just try a bottle of cleaner and see if that resolves my issue and otherwise follow up with him. He explained his process and I thanked him very much. My car has subsequently healed itself from the bad gas but I wanted to put a positive review here based on my experience read more

Great work by Gary but in my case after 1 week the engine Lights came back on. Needed bank1 catalytic converter and sensors replaced and took it to my regular mechanic and now bank2 is failing and looks like same thing will be needed. read more