I've got an 01 that is NOT a california model and it definately has a cat. I've heard of some guys on here saying that models from that year do not have cats unless it's a CA model so I don't know what the answer is but here's a bump for ya.
You should do a search on here for 'farmboysdiesel'. It seems that he's got the best deals in town on his own exhaust system. Check him out.
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oh yeah, WELCOME TO THE ORG!