Catalytic converters
 

I have a 2011 Acura TL SH-AWD and both catalytic converters went bad, which seems very strange on the face, but both were tested by the dealer and a separate muffler shop. The dealer wanted around $6,000 to change them out, with the dealer supplied cats at about $2500 a piece, and the rest labor. I decided to buy some direct fit CARB compliant units at considerably less $$ but when the muffler shop went to take a look at the car on the rack to assess the labor to replace them, they told us the engine had to be removed and some drive by wire connector had to be removed that only the dealer could calibrate, suggesting that we really could only have the dealer do the work. The car is only worth $5500 so the cat replacement at the dealer is worth more than the car. Does anyone have any experience getting these cats changed by someone other than the dealer?