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This is where most of the dicussion are.
Our '03 Buick had a CEL come on a year ago. An independent shop diagnosed the converter. Fortunately the car only had 60,000 miles and the emissions warranty was still in force. We took it to a dealer, who confirmed the diagnosis and replaced the whole exhaust system including converter, pipe and muffler. He said the claim was $1,400.
As to why the converter should fail, I theorize that it was stressed by the effects of water in the gas. A year earlier, the Buick received so much water in the gas that it would barely run, made it 20 miles to home, had to be towed to a shop, which removed the gas tank and showed us a jug of gas floating on water. They purged the tank and fuel system. It cost $900 which the gas station paid, saying they paid a dozen other similar claims.
The 20 miles of missing and bucking and stalling probably put unburned gas and a poorly burned mixture through the converter, shortening its life.
Another way of shortening converter life is long warm ups in winter cold. A person who used remote start to do this had his Forester converter replaced under warranty after three years. It takes a long while to warm up at idle, prolonging the time that the converter must handle a rich mixture.
It is possible that the cat is bad, but also could be a selection of other issues, and the code could likely return shortly after replacing the cat.
I recommend that you get a code reader (fairly cheap these days) and monitor the situation yourself. After the second time you get a CEL and check/reset the codes, the reader paid for itself. If the code only sets once in a while and you are not seeing any drop in fuel economy, I wouldn't worry about it. If the code is setting each time the drive cycle sets (every day or two), then you probably do have a real issue and should get it addressed.
Again, though, it is likely there could be other issues at play in addition to (or in place of) the catalytic converter, so don't be surprised if you continue to see codes.
My brother had to wait a month to get a manual trans Premium AWP, and that was BEFORE the quake!
Our blue '09 looks fine, FWIW.
Maybe this explains why, when I went in for my first oil change (and before the problem was noticeable), the service rep walked around the car inspecting it for scratches, which I thought was a bit peculiar. I had bought it the first day they showed up on the lot and was the first one in for service (the mechanic told me they'd been looking forward to seeing one), so they obviously knew about this issue from the start.
I picked it up at the dealer's last night and noticed the scratches in the garage. Scratches look as though my car was cleaned with something abrasive. Dealer Singer Subaru of New Hampshire claims that they did not use carwash while preparing my car for the delivery. They offered to polish the car for me free of charge next week.
I'd say the only thing I'm not too happy with is the mileage. Getting right around 21.5 mpg even though most miles are highway and I am very light on the throttle. I really like having Subaru AWD and new it wouldn't be a high-mpg car, but the way I drive I'm really surprised to be getting close to the bottom of the expected mpg range. I will post more about that in the mpg thread.
All in all, I'm really happy w/ the Forester. For the price, I still think it was one of the best values available, which was really important to me.