purchased car de-catted?
 

Hello all,
I am purchasing a "new to me" 2002 sti prodrive style. The dealer who i am purchasing it from told me that they had to replace the cats, discovered during the mot that the previous owner had removed the cats.
My question is: since the cats were removed i can hopefully assume the previous owner got it mapped. if this was the case the dealer putting cats back on would not hurt things, correct?
follow up: would it be a problem to put those de-catted pipes back on after i take receipt of the vehicle?
Info on driving and looking it over: the car appeared to have standard backbox and started fine and ran beautifully, no knocking or exhaust pops to speak of.

If it were mapped to run de-cat it would need mapping again if the cats were re-fitted. It would be ok if you were only fitting the cats to drive to the MOT and back "off boost" but if you were intending on keeping the cats fitted it would need a map tweak.

Take it to a respected mapper and get it checked out, I would not trust a dealer with mine personally.

is there a way to tell if it was mapped for no cats? for instance shouldn't there be popping on deceleration if it were not mapped for no cats since there were less restriction on the exhaust.

No not all decats pop and bang. The only way to be 100% sure is to ask a mapper to hook it up to a laptop or try to contact the last owner

map check essential, even if you have a receipt for a map it is not worth the risk that other changes have been made afterwards

If you can get the old bits fit them back to the car and keep the cats for MOT time.

is there a reputable mapper near bury st edmunds/ East Anglia area that any one can recommend

He is a little distance away (Aylesbury way) but give Richard a call at FB tuning

(his number in my sig below this post)