The police over here will happily etch your pushbike for free, cars is a whole new ball game. The UK is currently in meltdown thanks to Brexit, etching CATS is way down the scale currently. The police are stretched here, there so much crime taking place its unbelievable.
I saw a flexible wire container earlier in this post but haven't researched anti-theft devices; it isn't a problem here in New Zealand (yet.....) - will do more research before I next go to the UK!
A trained German Shepard also works wonderfully.......................either as a deterent or, bite first, ask afterwards
Sounds like that’s all you British dudes can do. If the thief’s hurt your dog would the coppers do anything then?
If they follow some old-style corrupt police practices from my side of the pond, they would simply pay some protection money to cops. That is how prostitution flourished in numerous areas a century ago, despite technically being illegal. The organized houses and their high status customers were not prosecuted. The bulk of prosecutions were of independent working girls not paying for protection. It is very difficult to deport people who haven't been (and likely won't be) apprehended. I've been given multiple impressions that certain police and politicians on your side of the pond regard protective and self defensive measures as more serious violations than the underlying criminal depredations that you are trying to protect against.
Nope! But if the thieves get enthusiastically gnawed on by your loyal dog (when caught violating the sanctity of your Prius), the Police will be round with tasers and a cage (within minutes) to capture and destroy the poor creature for trying to protect your property. Same goes for you . Then there’ll also be the criminal investigation into the dogs very effective tooth marks left deeply marking the derrières of the parasitical CAT burglars. Top UK and EU lawyers will be falling over themselves to sue you (to Kingdom come) on behalf of these continental scrotes, and the gutter press will have a field day labelling you xenophobic and racist - all because you tried to protect your own property when the near non existent local constabulary couldn’t give a rat’s rear end about even remotely protecting YOU. “The Beak” will throw not just the book, but the whole frigging library of tomes at you, rabidly hellbent on making a juicy example of your pitiful attempt to protect yourself, and when they’re done, the word RUINED would apply to all aspects of your life. I’m mystified as to why these deeply hated CAT snatchers never seem to fall victim to random stabbings, fatal violence or end up in the hands of serial killers. They wouldn’t be missed and karma would have been served! T’is true. Life is SO unfair. iPhone 6s +
Another one in Walsall look at the comments someone got threatened with metal pole when they defended themselves and also the video the crooks don’t check the cat is original or oem perhaps it was scouted before. As for cat being etched I don’t see the point if it’s cut off it’s of no use what are the chances of it being recovered they are being melted away anyway not being sold for parts as such. Yes if the police in the highly unlikely event catch then they could trace it back what would you do with it? Weld it back?
So sorry for the loss but surely that tilt sensor would have set the alarm off but unfortunately I don’t think many would confront someone whose jacked the car up with tools and god knows what else in the car.
Apparently there are some police who have set up stinger cars I didn’t tweet to the police about this obviously they cannot tell where it is
Not a bad idea only issue I think is the cat is slightly round and protrudes below so the sheet would have to be fabricated to accommodate this. Maybe a cage with holes to allow heat dissipation
I think parking in between two cars rather then parallel to the road if it’s an option may cause hinderance by restricting working area. Park on a muddy field or pot holes area. Considering most of the homes don’t have garages that’s not an option for most of us. For those parking long term perhaps deflating the tyres completely so the jack would have an issue getting under maybe an option and get a 12v compressor to reinflate them. As for alarms and cages it may deter them but it seems they are getting bolder and bolder so alarm rings or not won’t bother them. As for cages it may deter them as they probably don’t have tools to undo that. As for authorities no idea whats happening regarding this as most of the people I spoke to have said they don’t do much apart from a crime reference.
Is it my imagination or has the performance of my 2008 Gen2 been crippled since my Cat theft? It really does feel like the car has lost power and about 4-5mpg Something else which is bothering me is surely insurance premiums on Gen'2 will now go skyhigh ?
I feel that too not sure if it’s me or the weather car does not seem right not same mpg not same power after the new catalytic convertor installed used to get 59/60 now it’s dropped like your saying to 54 mpg but this could be down to weather too warm air means better fuel economy. As for insurance any excuse to raise premium I guess
It could be your imagination, but there’s a reason why the MPG may appear to have dropped; t’is the season for MPG loss. Winter. When your Prius was taken for repairs, they’d have run the engine quite a bit while the vehicle was stationary. That’s gonna drop your mpg straight away. Cold early morning starts don’t help either. Temps of 3c during your morning commute aren’t very helpful. The more heating you use while commuting, the longer the engine runs and more fuel is used. The blend formula for unleaded fuel IS changed during the winter months, to assist with ignition during the cold possibly freezing winter. This modified fuel gives you less MPG. What we use in the summer months is a different blend. Shorter journeys will also reduce your MPG. I got my 2008 Prius back from insurance repairs with an almost empty tank, and much lower MPG than I had when it went in. (I am in no way blaming the repairers - this WAS normal, considering the circumstances). I filled up with a fresh tank within 24 hours, reset my consumption meter on the MFD, and actually got as high as 59.9mpg during a brief relapse in the freezing weather. However, my mpg hasn’t dipped below 58mpg for sure; I’m lucky that I cruise 17 miles around the A406 to work between 5:30am and 6:00am in the morning. Relatively empty roads, I use cruise control a lot, and I hypermile when I don’t, hence my figures. 54mpg is considered normal during winter. About 60mpg and upwards (summer) in real world conditions is also more realistic. It ALWAYS drops in winter. Hope that helps. iPad ? Pro
I suppose what im asking is does the cat ( or any of the wiring down there ) affect the performance of the hybrid system. Most of my driving is inner london with traffic so perhaps I shouldnt expect super mpg.
Oh, believe me, you’re getting pretty good mpg for those kind of driving conditions. The Prius excels at that - as long as you’re not just standing on the same spot for hours. I do not know the source or manufacturer of your CAT, but I can confirm that my Klarius CAT and whatever Oxygen Sensor they installed are working brilliantly. I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference. Of course, if you’ve had an incompatible or low quality sensor fitted, it might make a distinct difference. Tell you what? I tend to buy my petrol only from ESSO. If caught short near work, then I’d buy my petrol from a nearby petrol station whose name is so generic, I cannot recall it right now. With ESSO petrol, my mpg stays higher than when I buy fuel from the emergency location near work. Somehow, there’s a slight difference in how the ICE runs when I have that fuel. My Prius like ESSO better! Even random petrol stations can make a difference, methinks. If you were getting only 40mpg day after day, instead of 54mpg - then I’d be worried. I believe your Prius is just fine. Reset the consumption meter at your next fill up and let us know how it goes by the end of that tank. I fill mine from almost empty and run it down till there’s 2 to 4 litres left. My last fill up gave me 532 miles. I’m very happy with anything over 500 miles during winter, as I once owned a Mazda MX-3 that on one occasion gave me a measly 180 miles out of a whole 50 litre tank during deep winter. Yes, my commute was 4.4 miles each way back then - the poor little 1.6 litre coupe was barely warmed up by the time I got to my destination! iPhone 6s +
Theres definitely a difference in mpg from different petrol stations. The best I had was using the premium fuel from ESSO garage in southall, When I filled at my local ESSO garage in stoke newington it was not as good, The best local to me is the BP garage on Cambridge heath road. im getting about 50mpg at the moment with the london driving im doing but yes I need to reset and check from a full tank. Ive had my prius since june 2018 and the best MPG ive had was 59 When the outside temps were around 20c