2002 prius owner and probably the youngest...

greetings from tejas! - i stumbled across this forum after my warranty ran out and i had to start shelling out some serious cash for parts. i drive a 2002 prius (gerdie) that was gifted to me new in 2003 for my 16th birthday. the car has about 81,000 miles on it and my warranty ran out at 75,000. i've never had any serious problems with this car and it's been on numerous drives between austin and houston (200 mi.). other than being rear ended a few times i've never had any major work done on the car until this year. overall, i love this car.

***i apologize in advance if i should have posted this elsewhere, but i didn't see a gen 1 forum and i'm more hoping that someone can point me in the right direction...***

in may i took it into the dealership for my 75,000 mile checkup...i was at about 76,000 miles at the time. i was then informed that i needed a new drive belt and one of my struts was shot but they should be replaced in pairs. i also needed a new rim which i can only guess came from one of my many flat tires. i was informed that i was out of warranty (yes, by 100 miles) and there was nothing they could do. the grand total came out to about $1600 and because i really don't know any better nor do i have the time, i didn't make any effort to compare costs.

i recently returned from a roadtrip to denver that came out to about 2,200 mi. there and back. i had my inspection done the week we left and told them to look for anything that could be an issue on an extended drive. everything checked out and she seemed fine but the drive back proved otherwise... we managed to get a record 500 miles on one tank with plenty to spare, but after stopping for dinner the check engine light came on. we slowed down, but still had a good amount of driving to do. stopped overnight and headed back the next day with another 500 miles to go. check engine light stayed on the rest of the way and we had a blowout 100 miles away from home.

*insert tire rant here* i'm a poor college student so i've been buying goodyear viva 2 tires for the last two years which has proved to be nothing short of a pain in the nice person. this was my second flat this year so i shelled out for all new pirellis and ditched the goodyears as soon as we got back.

then the real trouble began when i took her into the dealer to figure out what was up. diagnostics say i need a new catalytic converter. this alone comes out to about $1660 for parts and labor. the guy said he would see what he could do about getting me a discount, but i really don't know what to do. i believe that it could have overheated because of the 100 degree weather we've been having, but i find it hard to believe there isn't a significantly cheaper alternative. has anyone else had these problems or have any suggestions on how not to be taken advantage of by dealers? is this some sort of scheme where the parts start giving out as soon as the warranty ends? and if you read all of this thank you and congratulations!