I just realized I've been driving without a catalytic converter. What to do?

[Hotzone417]

Like 2 years ago my car was making strange noises and was having trouble shifting. My mom took it to one of her friends to work on. She didn't tell me what he did, but it was running like new, so I didn't care. Well she just told me he removed the catalytic converter or something like that. I read that it produces a lot more pollution, now I feel like a dick driving around like that for two years.

[RandomUser1000]

The correct solution would be to add a catalytic converter to your car.
Either an original model or something similar.
But they can be expensive.
So I guess it depends a bit on the value of the car and your budget and so.

Some people tend to steal catalytic converters.
Never experienced it myself, but heard about others it happened to.

If you live in EU there are yearly inspections for cars to check they are safe and within environmental regulations.
If your car is new enough to had a catalytic converter from the beginning and you don't have one. Then your car may fail exhaust emission tests.
But I don't know if that is applicable where you live, so you may not need to worry about that.

One "fun fact" about catalytic converters is that they get quite hot.
So if you have a low car and park in tall grass, it actually can catch on fire.
But it's not a problem on paved parking lots or if you have enough ground clearance that nothing touch the underside of your car.

Also catalytic converters need to be warm to be effective.
So if you do a cold start, for the first few minutes, the effectiveness is so bad it's almost like driving without one. But as they heat up they get more effective.

If you drive your car at ambient temperatures above freezing, then they heat up fairly quickly. Like 3-5 minutes.

[slatyb]

He removed the catalytic converter? Those things are expensive and valuable. I think you were ripped off.

[dreamstar72]

In some states in US it will not pass inspection without the catalytic converter