1997 GMC Sierra Please, help me out here.?

Saint

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I was considering trading, but now I've decided to keep my vehicle and buy a truck. Since I've wanted one of these style body of trucks since being a kid.
I recently came across one on the net. I called the guy and he said the check engine light is on, claims it is because of conversion to dual exhaust...and that if I put catalytic converters back on it would solve the problem. He told me they run about twenty bucks. How much would labor typically cost for this job. I don't want to end up spending hundreds of bucks to fix this.
Has anyone ever heard of this happening before, I've had trucks with dual exhaust and have never had this problem. Is this due to a bad install or another issue?
Also, which is better, GMC or Chevy for these years. Would love to hear from owners/past and present.
What are the things to check/have checked by a mechanic? Is there anyway of knowing hidden problems to the untrained eye/ear?

Truck stats:

1997 GMC Sierra ext. cab sport side 5.7 liter is a 350 right?
Anyway, price is 3,500 owner has said truck has 235,000 + miles on the odometer but engine was replaced and only has about 130,000-150,000 (of course I already know to get receipts if I decide to buy) he also stated that the transmission was rebuilt. Also, the engine has all new seals, does that mean it is on its last leg?
In all honesty I wanted one from the original or second owner. But it seems like these sport sides are hard to find.

Bottom line, should I pass this one up? Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and answer my question. You may just save me from making a huge mistake.
 
first lie he told you is a catalytic convertor is 20 bucks a catalytic convertor is several hundred dollars on some car as high as 900 on a 97 gmc i would guess 3-400 ..secondly removing a convertor is actually illegal and the odds are that an honest shop would balk at working on the truck .. a fine for a exhaust compant to remove one is up to $50,000 I know because i own a performance shop that deals with hot rod exhausts .. yes a 5.7 is a 350 .. the price is in my opinion too high for the truck with that mileage id pay about 2200 ... i would say pass on this truck because of the high mileage even though they are good engines and very capable of a lot longer life the fact the guy told you a lie right of the bat about the exhaust tells me he is willing to tell you anything to unload the truck and there is more likely more troubles ahead
 
Pass on the truck, there are to many thing that has been done on the truck which would indicate to me that it was abused throughout it's life. They are good trucks and yes things do happen but to have a engine and transmission replaced at that millage and without the Catalytic converter shows that short cuts have been made and things have been replaced in ways that they should not have been done. Skip the truck for now and keep looking, Log on to Kijiji.ca in Canada or Kijiji.com in the USA and see what bargains you can find in there. Please keep us posted on your new project.
 


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