T180 D-cat Noisy Cats?

[NMV]

Hi all

I just recently bought my girlfriend a new Auris T180 D-CAT. While she loves the car ( and regularly embarrasses me in my Auris 1.6 VVTI ) she started noticing a strange rattling noise.

I told her it was a deisel and to get used to it. But she insisted I go for a spin and listen. She was spot on. There is a an annoying rattle coming from outside the car as you move through the gears.

I booked it into Toyota and my girfreind took it in. The guy asked her to demonstrate the noise so she took him for a spin. He heard the noise almost instantly and told her that it was the cat converter and only happened on the 180 D-cat. He offered to let her drive another 180 to prove it was a normall noise but she refused. The guy then told her that another guy was so annoyed with his rattle that he got Toyota involved and eventually downgraded because he couldn't stand the noise. He aslo told her that the noise would change under differnt load conditions...... Admittedly she is driving around with an inflattable canoe in the boot but not much else.

Having driven the car since I must say it drives me nuts. It sounds... Wrong! And for 17k I dont want to hear anything that isn't 100% right.

I was wondering if any other T180 owners have the same noise? or have you been told the same thing?

Many thanks in advance