Hi folks great forum here! I've been looking around, and I have a few questions about catalytic converter thefts which seems to be on the rise. On the Gen 2, apparently there's precious metals scrappers want, and the cats are easy to steal by predatory vermin. Doesn't it stand the reason if the cat is easy to steal that it is easy to replace? I see replacement cats on eBay and Amazon for $100 to $200. And then there's cat guards for $160? The math just doesn't add up to me. Why wouldn't every Prius owner in a financial pinch swap out the original valuable cats for the generic cheap ones and pocket an $800 difference? Not to mention then you wouldn't be worried about your cat getting stolen anymore if you put a cheap one in there! Any and all thoughts are greatly appreciated.
For CA/NY/ME if a cheap replacement cat isn't "CARB approved" for a prius you will fail the visual part of the emissions test. For the rest of the country, you can still do such a thing, though the replacement may have a shorter life cycle. edited : ME and not MA (thank you @The Lizard King )
Apparently, in some states you are forced to replace with the real thing and then you may try and get a guard to stop it happening again - though it's doubtful if that works. In the UK and other places you can fit a generic one that has no value used so no need for guards because they are not going to steal one of those. It all depends on geographics which is unfortunate for some . . . . .
Yeah, and I think Oregon is one of them...though, there are no inspections for my county, but still, even though my mechanic and I are besties, I don't think he would put a non-CARB Cat on my car if need be.....and while I tackle a lot of repairs, that one, especially now, I think I would not try myself.
Subtract the ones that don't do inspections or have other enforcement systems. E.g. my state, and likely most others too.
The catalytic converter on my Prius has been stolen twice now in the span of 3 months. I’m going to be getting one of those theft prevention devices to hopefully prevent it happening any more.
I have also had my catalytic converter stolen twice. After the first time, we had a Catlock fitted, hoping it would act as a deterent. The thieves simply used a grinder to cut through it! This was late one night and my neighbour heard it but didn't realise it was my car that was being targetted. I don't know what the solution is. We live in London but have a small cottage in Sussex where we now keep the car even though it was bought for London. Just didn't want you to waste your money!
I got the shield type, this: Catalytic Converter Protection - GetCatSecurity The shop that installed it said they haven’t heard of any catalytic converters stolen after the shield was installed.
I believe this was the type I also heard good reports of, since grinders and reciprocating saws aren't really meant to cut through plating, and the rivets are impossible to quickly remove.
I don't think the original used catalytic converters are worth $1,000, but I could be wrong. It's probably more like $100 or so. So you probably won't be pocketing money swapping it for an aftermarket cat, unless you also smelt out the precious metals out of several cars and sell them as pure ingots. If the plating is aluminum it's going to be easy to grind through. If it's steel, it's going to weight a lot. I'm wondering if there's some way to hook up alarms, smoke bombs, electrocution plates, flame throwers, fire ant colony release boxes, etc., down there that go off when someone starts messing with the cat.
