Check Engine Light came on. Dealer checked and it was a bad Cat. Converter, broken inside as I could here it rattled. Costs me $800 after a 15% discount.

 

You got royally fucked my friend.

Mistake 1) You went the the dealer.

Mistake 2) You gave the dealer money.

Mistake 3) You didn't come here, we would have told you that your cat probably wasn't even bad. They rarely are.

 

yeah. people who are on this website dont even spend around that much in like 5 years on thier cars, other than regular maintenance.

 

As he could hear the rattling from the cat converter, that means the catalyst material has broken off and he would need new cats although he can get it cheaper at the local muffler shop. Hey man, dont feel so bad at least you got oem cats. It should last you at least 10 years from now.

 

Possibly. Not to add insult to injury but I recently had the same problem. At certain RPM's and vibrations I heard what sounded like a bad cat, just like the little platinum pellets were going nuts in there. Thinking for sure it was the cat or possibly the tranny I took it in without even looking at it. Well, I'm glad I have an honest mechanic. It was the heat shield vibrating against the exhaust just below the manifold. He bent it back slightly and voila, noise is gone.

Not to say the dealer wasn't honest with this guy but it's a fact; there are about as many honest mechanics out there as honest car salesmen and lawyers. And since the car salespeople and mechanics work side by side, well, a double negative doesn't make a positive in this case......

 

My cat on my 99 went bad at 200k miles. Drove with it until 220k when I found an OEM cat on EBay for $200 shipped had it put on for like $40.