Cat converter for L300 2001

My 2001 Saturn L300 is having a serious power loss. The dealer says
its a clogged cat and will cost about $1500 in parts alone. Cats on
line are around a hundred bucks, but are not approved for CA. At this
point I dont even care about passing smog, I just want to squeeze
another year out of this car. Any ideas or cheaper options
available? Thanks....

 

Have you checked with an independent muffler shop? I'm not talking about
Midas or any of the big chains necessarily. There are some complex parts in
the exhaust system and sometimes a small shop with a custom tube bender can
be very cost effective.

 

If you don't get a California OBD-II converter it will trigger your
Check Engine light which is an automatic failure for smog checks, but
the 49 state model will fit okay if you really only want to keep it
going for a year. You can't sell it without passing smog.

The problem you have is that the L series sold in such small numbers in
California that no one has made an approved after-market OBD-II
converter for California.

Find an exhaust shop that will install a universal after-market OBD-II
converter, and that will guarantee their work.

One thing I learned as a California resident was to always buy vehicles
with 50 state emission systems.