Cat replacements, OEM or aftermarket, 2001 Tacoma

2001 Toyota Tacoma V6 4wd, 5spd, California emissions, but truck is in New Hampshire.

Found a couple of small pinhole leaks in the pipe between
the two cats, and the back flange to the exhaust section is nearly corroded away.

The head pipe from the manifold to the cats is still in good shape fortunately.

Question is try aftermarket cats, and if so, what
brand/models might work long term and not constantly cause CEL to turn on and throw codes, and thus fail inspections.

OEM Toyota cats are very pricey, (i.e. around $600 each)

 

Magnaflows are what I just replaced mine with

 

thanks will check those out

 

My taco had magnaflow on it when I bought it. After a few months it threw a P0420 code. Took it to a local muffler shop and got another aftermarket cat but have forgot the manufacturer. Catco maybe? Anyway, another 6 months and had the code again. I think it's pretty well understood that factory is the only thing that will last. Only other option is the URD o2 simulator. I have them on both my Toyota's and haven't had a problem in over a year.

Edit: My advice is save your money on the new cats, fix the pipe between, and just get the simulator.

 

So I've had some experience with this on my 2001 3.4. I had the P0420 for years intermittently and eventually no matter how much I cleared it- kept coming back. Had some lugging in the engine, had tried all the other crap, and ended up being the cats. Had them replaced at a local muffler shop with some el-cheapos for about 200 bucks, and I'm goign on 2 years with no problems with them, haven't thrown another code. I doubt they'll last as long as OEM, but I've just passed 260k, so at this point, even if I have to replace the cats again, I think I'm doing OK. It's also passed emmissions! I've got ridiculous amounts of corrosion around the cats and the original flanges connecting to the radiator, well the bolts are barely recognizable, so I didn't wan't to go down that road. Figured it'd be easier to cut out the factory ones and weld in some new cheap ones. As far as I know everything is fine, however I may have unknowingly screwed everything up. Wouldn't be the first time...