I have a 231 55 reg RX8. Recently had a warning light come up and the garage said the Cat is going and it needs a new one. I got them to delete the warning light and now it's back again. They said they can fit a new one for me, but for the same money I can get a de-cat. What do you guys reckon? (It's just had a mot by the way)

 

Just gonna sub since I'm sure the clock is winding down on my cat with 86k.

What do you mean by de-cat? As in a new pipe, gut it, or clear the code?

All the midpipes I've come across in my whole 10 days of ownership are very cheap compared to an OEM cat. That includes straight pipes, resonated ones, and ones with cats. The former being the cheapest. Nothing came close to the $1200 for OEM, and most (if not all?) were half of that or less. What I haven't come across yet is which ones will throw a CEL and which ones play nice. Only have an hour or googling under my belt.

Other option is gutting it, picking up a tuner, and clearing the code yourself. May or may not be a problem for emissions testing depending on your state. I know here in PA we just have gas cap and OBDII. Looks like we dumped the sniffer test in 03.

 

+1. A random aftermarket cat isn't going to survive long, you'll be back in the same boat quickly. So may as well go decat.

Also, before we take the garage at their word, can you share the actual code(s) they're reading?

Also, it's not normal for the cat to die. Common, but not normal if everything else is in good shape. Your ignition could be getting old and killing it. Have your coils, wires and spark plugs replaced as a precaution, if not recently done.

 

I was on about getting a toyosport de-cat pipe, I already have a toyosport cat back and have been impressed.

I have seen the print out and it is the cat and the spark plugs, coils and wires have been changed in the past.