Scotty, I got a 1986 BMW 735i 211,000 miles Automatic. My 36 year old car just passed California Emissions this January. It’s on the original factory cats however the center resonator and muffler are a year old mechanically runs great but cosmetically challenged. Every 2 years I come in to the smog station the guy always gives me a big run around about how the car might fail seems like he isn’t interested in conducting the test on an old car. After the check the guy is always all smiles and complements the mechanical running of the car. My question is why is my old car with 36 year old cats still operating just fine but so many modern vehicles ie. mid-2000 Nissan vehicles have problems with bad cats? We’re old cats built to last?
Wouldn't surprise me to find that modern converters don't last as long. It's been a race to the bottom in quality for years now with automotive components and lots of other things as well. (The original cat in my 25-year-old Saab with over 360K miles also still works just fine, though the exhaust system behind it has been replaced a couple of times.)
Because back then they made stuff to last. Now with all the corporate greed, they've built in planned obsolescence into everything. As long as it passes your smog test, that's all that matters.
