Cat Converters for 99 LTD Ca Exhaust

[crtolson]

Check engine pops on and my mechanic says it's one of the two CatConv. on what I am told is a CA exhaust system. One is aftermarket, one is apparently original and working. There's ~135k mi. on this rig I bought used a year ago. (I found out later that the CheckEng light was burned out. All the other dash lights came on, I didn't know I was missing one - my bad!). My question is that I see there is a huge range of quality/longevity on cats. I know little but I see some for ~$100 and others for 10x that much.
Mechanic estimates ~$1300.00 to replace both with quality. Any advice on pricing and realistic cost to have someone replace them?

[kball]

I don't have first hand experience but I hear Magnaflow makes a pretty good cat. Most of the time I hear people say that replacing a cat with anything but OEM causes the CEL to come on. Before I would replace a cat with aftermarket or OEM I would find out the code and see if it's for the O2 sensors. At 135K if you haven't changed them yet you are due.

[crtolson]

Thanks kball, the rig is going in today. The O2 system was a problem shortly after I bought it last year. It wasn't the sensor (perhaps regulator?) a little different on the CA system. At any rate, it throttled back the RPMs becuase it was faulty. Barely made it up from a stop light.
I'll ask about the MagnFlow Cat. I also now have a total loss of power steering, fluid is fine, belts don't jitter. I really like this rig but it's surprising me with all these things that are popping up. I know I should have taken more time before I bought it but still, I'd heard such solid things about this year 4runner that I was fairly confident. Buyer be careful I suppose is the motto. Thanks again!