Dealership sold car without cat converter

[dstyle]

Hey all
Just checking for a friend at work. Basically, he purchased a 2007 ford turbo xr5 from a dealership.
After a couple of weeks of driving it he noticed the engine light coming on every now and then.
He returned to car to the dealership to get it sorted. I said it sounded like there could be an issue with the cat. Now the dealership has told him that it's an issue with the exhaust not the cat as there is no cat.
And that the exhaust will have to be returned to stock (as it has an aftermarket one) which they will pay for.
Now what I'm wondering is, isn't it illegal to sell a car without a cat in the first place?. It kind of sounds like they are trying to cover up. And also wouldn't it need to be retuned with the stock exhaust going back on as it has an aftermarket ecu and prob was tuned with the current exhaust

[TJ]

Why not just tell the dealer to fit a cat, rather than the expense of souring a new stock exhaust system?

[Nugs]

What 'aftermarket ecu' does it have?

[dstyle]

He was told by the mechanics that it wasn't to do with the cat, something about a bend in he exhaust and that it needs to be returned to stock to fix it

[TJ]

Ask them to provide more information then go from there

[mr_mike]

Missus had a similar issue with a Mazda SP23 she used to have, had aftermarket headers on it and for some reason this caused the car to constantly throw up CEL, didnt bother us as she had one of them little ecu logger things so she just worked out how to clear CEL each time it came up.

[MRO]

Sounds like the car has a stock ECU and someone fitted an exhaust and traded it in.

Most late model turbo cars require a retune if a full exhaust is fitted and the dealership will know this.

They have worked out it is cheaper to put a stock exhaust on than to pay for a retune that they will have to warranty.

[Gr3mlin]

As far as I know it would be illegal and if caught they throw the book at you.

[Crispymk2]

Just leave it decatted. Mine throws engine lights too, just clear it with the tuning handset and off you go again.

If you want someone to check exactly what it's running I'd be happy to take a look. I'm on my second one now.