[Jeff Higgins]

My wife's Subaru Outback wagon lost power last week due to a plugged cat. In the preliminary stages of this little adventure we, of course, had no idea it was a plugged cat. It was off to the dealer for diagnosis, a dealer with whom we have had a wonderful relationship for our entire married life. We buy all of her cars from this dealer, and they have always maintained them for us as well.

It did not light up the check engine light, nor was it throwing any codes. The dealer traced the problem down to a plugged forward cat (it has two), and told her that it had disintegrated the catalyst, which had been blown downstream and had clogged and ruined the entire exhaust system. All of it. Two new cats, a resonator, two mufflers, and all of the pipes - $5,500 with labor. I told her to bring it home...

I called the service manager and asked how they determined all of this. She told me that their "best mechanic", a guy with "50 years wrenching on Subarus" (have they even been importing them that long?), had made the call. He said the "front" cat was glowing red, extremely hot. Hmmm...

The front cat on these cars is integral to the exhaust manifolds / forward "Y" pipe, and is very difficult to see, even on a lift. The second cat is about in the middle of the car, with a resonator aft of it. I was suspicious... his "forward cat" only appeared as such to him because of the resonator behind it.

The O2 sensors on this car are placed ahead of and behind the forward cat, on the manifold. So, if the rear cat goes, it's not going to throw the code it would if the front cat went. The mechanic said it was "kinda weird" that it showed no codes, but that he had "seen this before". No schitt, Sherlock. And he had no idea why...

When she got it home I let it cool down a bit and removed the rear cat and attendant piping. Shaking it, it sounded like a coffee can full of gravel. Tipping it up, I poured most of the disintegrated catalyst out. Using a mirror and a flashlight, I was able to inspect the front cat to my satisfaction. Intact.

Four hours later I had a new Magnaflow brand cat from the local auto parts store installed and ready to road test. $400. To absolutely no one's surprise, the car runs like new.

So, well, wow - I feel well and truly sorry for the portion of our motoring public who are beholden to this kind of "service". The dealer mechanic clearly didn't know this cat from a hole in the ground. Beyond that, to try to claim that the entire exhaust system needs replacement because it got contaminated by the disintegrated cat - wow, that's just beyond the pale. And people just pay, because they really have no other options.

Incompetent, crooked, or some mix of both? Opportunists? Hate to say it, but maybe because she is a woman?