Unfortunately I had the exact issue. My car sounded like a nascar when starting cold. After a few minutes, the sound would go away. It could be heard while accelerating after cold start or if accelerating heavily.
I removed the plastic skid plate and didn’t find any visible issues with the exhaust. I had it looked at by two muffler shops and both had same diagnosis; catalytic converter. It wasn’t visibly from the bottom.
The repair cost me $800 for the new cat and $200 for labor. Four hours later, the car sounded like new.
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