Catalytic Converter Problems?

Gang,

 

My Catalytic Converter went at 83,000 (its under warranty to 84,000) and just UNDER 2 MONTHS after the time ran out (our Subaru Gold warranty expired after 8 years).

 

This sucks.

 

Garavel Subaru in Norwalk, CT got the call, and charged $1,099.06 for a new cat, exchange pipe, gasket, and right exchange pipe gasket.

 

Due to the warranty proximity, and on the advice of our service writer, we paid the bill and now are asking Subaru in Cherry Hills to cover the tab. We have our fingers crossed.

 

My wife drives the car around town; its stock, and has never seen the track.

 

I'll keep you posted as to whether Subaru Corporate covers the tab; have any of you been seeing problems with your catalytic converters? I checked for other threads on this, and wasn't able to come up with anything.

 

Ironically, I JUST replaced the cat on my '99 Toyota Solara 5MT at 115k miles; no warranty claim there. My shadetree mechanic says he's seeing a lot of them, and blames the high ethanol content of the gas.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, especially your experience with Subaru corporate.

You had them replace the cat? Uppipe or downpipe? You can get an sti catless up for under $75 and stock downpipes for under $100 used. You got taken for a ride. It's an 8 year old car and the uppipe cats are a known problem on 05-06 cars.

^^^^^What he said....:::coughcoughhosejobcoughcough:::.....

 

You could have VERY easily replaced all of that stuff, EVEN if you paid full retail price for it, for about half or a little more of what you paid and had better performance, better fuel mileage, better longevity, and better reliability.

 

Please, for your own sake my friend, come here FIRST when you have an issue and search. If you can't find it, then ask politely explaining that you couldn't find it, and there is a virtual limitless wealth of information on this site for anything to do with LGT and related Subarus. Anyone here would have been extremely happy to head you in a much better direction than the one you went in.

 

I bet subaru will cover the bill, keep us posted.

 

Could he have still passed Connecticut emissions tests if he had gone catless?

I don't have turbo, but I've had the p0420 code off and on for the last 57,000 miles. I still get 30 mpg and no way was I letting Subaru take me for a 1000 dollar cat ride.

 

I'd rather my car never showed the CEL, but I have friends that ingnore their CEL for over 100,000 miles on their subaru's and have over 250,000 miles on them now. (he did blow a timing belt like me though and had to replace his heads).

 

My feeling is once you hit a certain number of miles on the car trying to keep the CEL at bay just is a money pit on an older car.

 

In maine the CEL doesn't fail an inspection.

I bet subaru will cover the bill, keep us posted.

 

Could he have still passed Connecticut emissions tests if he had gone catless?

 

Don't know for sure. I believe a catted aftermarket downpipe will pass in most cases if everything else is in perfect working condition.

Don't know for sure. I believe a catted aftermarket downpipe will pass in most cases if everything else is in perfect working condition.

 

CONFIRMED!!! - I just passed last month with ZERO problems, Stage II setup.

Better yet the wife took it and they didn't even blink an eye or give her a second look.....

 

OP - You could have had a stage II setup for that price!!!

I don't have turbo, but I've had the p0420 code off and on for the last 57,000 miles. I still get 30 mpg and no way was I letting Subaru take me for a 1000 dollar cat ride.

 

I'd rather my car never showed the CEL, but I have friends that ingnore their CEL for over 100,000 miles on their subaru's and have over 250,000 miles on them now. (he did blow a timing belt like me though and had to replace his heads).

 

My feeling is once you hit a certain number of miles on the car trying to keep the CEL at bay just is a money pit on an older car.

 

In maine the CEL doesn't fail an inspection.

 

In my 98 - they wanted $1,200 for a replacement cat - NOPE - Not gonna happen !!

 

I had an exhaust shop do a header back build (hi-flow cat + muffler + pipes) and had them install a Header as well!! - $750 later 100% complete new exhaust!!

 

So yeah don't ever go with the OEM Exhaust for just about any part - typically aftermarket can be had at 1/2 price and without any worries for emissions either....:wub:

Thanks for all the advice, guys- I will post on Subaru's reaction. Live and learn, I guess- shoulda come here first. Thanks.

I recently talked to SOA about the same issue on my DP, 83k, 1.5 months out of warranty, SOA said they would cover approx. 50% of the repair, which was not even close to being worth it. Found a used DP and had it replaced. Sold the DP I had taken off for the same price I bought replacement one for ($100) with 1/2 the mileage.(Side note. Mechanic thought the rattle I had on my car was the cat in the DP, turns out it was not, replacement cost was n/c. Still trying to figure out what the rattle is I think it may be the heat shield on my STI cattless UP, LOL)

Be careful because SOA is declining to cover cats on BRZs!

Great news, folks. Garavel Subaru and Subaru Of America stepped up with TWO issues we had, both out of warranty.

SOA covered my cat costs in full, to the tune of $1079.

 

Then, after a trip to Canada at the start of the new year (and into subzero temps), we started smelling gas in the garage. Several of the seals around the fuel pump and gasket were leaking, allowing fuel to pool under the rear seat

 

That bill (new fuel pump and gasket) ran $884 at Garavel Subaru (Norwalk, CT) and required the techs to remove the rear seat. They set us up in a loaner Forester (which came in handy during one of our blizzards) and went to work. SOA then sent us a check for $500 to help offset the costs.

 

All this on a 2005 Garnet Red GT Wagon 5MT with 85,000 miles on it.

 

Needless to say, my wife and I are pleasantly surprised and relieved with their support.

 

Just wanted to let everyone know.

Great news, folks. Garavel Subaru and Subaru Of America stepped up with TWO issues we had, both out of warranty.

SOA covered my cat costs in full, to the tune of $1079.

 

Then, after a trip to Canada at the start of the new year (and into subzero temps), we started smelling gas in the garage. Several of the seals around the fuel pump and gasket were leaking, allowing fuel to pool under the rear seat

 

That bill (new fuel pump and gasket) ran $884 at Garavel Subaru (Norwalk, CT) and required the techs to remove the rear seat. They set us up in a loaner Forester (which came in handy during one of our blizzards) and went to work. SOA then sent us a check for $500 to help offset the costs.

 

All this on a 2005 Garnet Red GT Wagon 5MT with 85,000 miles on it.

 

Needless to say, my wife and I are pleasantly surprised and relieved with their support.

 

Just wanted to let everyone know.

 

Thanks for updating. FYI - now that you're out of warranty, stop going to the dealer for service, unless you like being overcharged.

 

I'm not super mechanically savvy, but I managed to replace my own fuel pump. $150 for the pump, plus a couple hours of my time, thanks to the walkthrough on this site.

 

Like was said before, come here first when you have issues. Search, and ask questions if needed. There may be aftermarket options that are better than OEM, remanufactured options that are cheaper than OEM, there are good walkthroughs for how to do things yourself, and the other CT members can probably recommend an independent mechanic.