Exhaust: Which Would You Do?

[Tweetdriver63]

I'm about to get several things done on my 2001 base. One of them is exhaust work.

I've known the cats were bad the whole 8 1/2 years I've owned the car. When I bought it, the previous owner told me so, and that I would have regularly activating CEL with the appropriate codes. He wasn't lying. I've just lived with the need to clear the codes periodically, since the car has always run great and gotten good mileage.

I know the second cats aren't monitored, but I'm 99.999% certain they're bad too, since the main cats have been bad for the last 70k or so miles.

My plan is to keep the back box, but replace the rest.

I have a choice how to go forward. I can get used manifolds/cats from a breaker for $700 (pair) off a 2001 that has about 115-120k miles. Or, I can get new non-OEM ones for $1097 (pair). Or, and I'm definitely not doing this, I could go OEM for a ****************-ton of money.

I'm going to replace the second cats/pipes with Circuit Werks resonated test pipes.

Show of hands. Who would get the used manifolds/cats and who would get the new non-OEM ones?