Cat security installation nightmare

I didn't think the Model "C" had a separate catalytic converter- just the one in the exhaust manafold.

Did you take Pictures of the install?

 

My mistake. We do indeed have 2 separate Catalyzing converters. One built in to the exhaust manifold and the other is part number # 1741021C23 or just "17410"

PriusChat mobile app

 

It's the one one on the manifold that has the best stuff to steal. I think that is why we don't hear anyone have there C cats stolen.

 

We just had the cat stolen from our 2007 Prius. So it's not a problem on the Prius c and we don't really need to have security plates installed? We have both a 2012 and a 2013 Prius c in addition to the 2007 Prius.

 

Huh. I thought it was mostly higher clearance vehicles. They must be jacking them up now as I don't see how you could do it otherwise.

 

If anyone needs a shield installed on their Prius in the San Francisco area let me know.
I install them at your home or work
Eric 650-518-4965

 

Yes they do jack them up. They don't take a lot of safety precautions and sometimes you come out to your car and find you got to keep your catalytic converter and got a dead body under your car too...

Apparent Catalytic Converter Thief Crushed To Death By Collapsing Car In Anaheim – CBS Los Angeles

When you live a gravitation potential well, on a macroscopic scale , "What goes up, will, generally, come down." That was not a totally unique event, but most of the time they succeed.

The Gen 2 Prius cars are the easiest from which to steel converters by a large margin. It can be done silently with only a few hand tools that can be bought on line or at your local tool/hardware/auto repair store. And they have converters with a large amount of value due to a large amount of rare earth metals per unit.

It is true that not just hybrid cars are targeted. Another common target is the Ford F250 and F350 Heavy Duty and Super duty gasoline powered pick up trucks. These trucks are easier to get under and have very large converters that are relatively simple to remove. Also during the pandemic some of these trucks sit idle and essentially unattended for days or weeks.

But no matter what you drive, you need to think about where and when you will park. Parking structures with easy unrestricted public access that are not well patrolled are like buffets for thieves night AND day.

If you park on the street, or even in a drive way with space around the car, its vulnerable.

Protection plates are a deterrent that will possibly cause a thief to move on to the next vehicle in a target rich environment. But the money available to the thieves for these converters are making it worth while to take more chances and to invest in tools to hit more and harder targets including eventually, your C Prius cars. Comprehensive insurance will help too, but check the policy that it does not exclude this sort of theft.

Getting your car's vin or your DL number engraved onto the converter will not particularly protect you. But, it might help police when they make a bust to follow through with a conviction.

I think we also need to talk to state and county level governments in CARB states about ways to help lower income Prius drivers get their exhaust system repairs done with legitimate parts at a more reasonable price after thefts like these. I think this is a point that deserves further discussion in this and other Prius forums.
I would like to see this become a movement much like the Alice's Restaurant Anti Massacre Movement.

I think we also need to bring this issue to the attention of Toyota and other manufacturers so that they can develop designs that inherently theft deterrent from the start. Catalytic converters are not likely to go away until ICE (Infernal Combustion Engine) cars go away. And, as we require, with good reason, tighter emission controls over a larger and larger section of the ICE fleet, the catalytic converter will have to grow and evolve with those requirements. Unless a new technology is developed and made commercially viable, I predict we will have converters that are more and more attractive to thieves.

Pinback

My other car is either a Trek 720 or a 1964 Yale G51C Triple stage depending on how uplifting I want my day to be.

 

That was the old days, 3-4 years ago,

There are many videos of them doing exactly this.

 

Prius C catalytic converter thefts are quite rare. I haven’t seen a single cat theft post on this forum, or elsewhere, from a Prius C owner (but maybe I’ve overlooked one). Unlike in Japan, where you can find the Prius C everywhere, this is not a common car in the states.. and with a design that blends with other subcompact cars like the Honda Fit, it’s harder for thieves to spot compared to its ubiquitous big brother. The part itself is surely less valuable too. So If you’re a thief trying to steal catalytic converters, why would you bother trying to get one out of a Prius C when the standard Prius models are everywhere and worth more money.

 

Not having looked at Gen 2's before, why is it so easy to remove? Is it not connected with bolts that rust onto the flanges into a solid hunk? Surely they don't use stainless steel materials on the Prius exhaust.

 

LOL yeah I have met those on other vehicles.
But it seems that doesn't happen much on Prius cars. Maybe because many of those with the thefts are in So Cal where we don't salt the roads and, in fact, rain is even uncommon. But thefts happens in NYC too so maybe it is that the engine does not run continuously?

You can see what these thieves used for the bolts in this video.

And this guy runs a muffler shop and shows where the bolts are and what his shop does for theft deterrent.

He also shows how they get around using a noisy saws-all if they are just targeting gen 2 cars. I think also gen 1 Prius cars are similar.

Exhaust Pipe Cutter Tool - 3/4 to 3 Inch Exhaust and Tailpipe Cutter Chain Exhau | eBay

So yeah, even though Rust Never Sleeps, it does not seem to slow down cat thieves on Prius cars. Now you have me curious as to what the heck material is used in those nuts/bolts?

Oh it just now occurs to me that the old rotted out exhaust systems from my past have had rusted bolts just because they were on old restoration rust buckets. The Prius cats are being taken way before their time. That's probably the real reason.

Pinback

*** "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."-James Baldwin

 

Apparently, contrary to my earlier beliefs, the Gen 3 cats, including the Prius v, contain nearly the same precious metals as the Gen 2's and are as easy to steal as they are, requiring one cut of the pipe, cutting the O2 sensor wires and removal of the same two spring loaded bolts.

It happened to the guy in this thread.

Stolen catalytic, need advice | PriusChat

They will easily become the next targets, once the supply of Gen 2's diminish.

The professionals will likely avoid the Prius C and the Gen 4's.

 

The Gen 3 (2010-2015) are a bit more work to steal because they have to deal with tighter quarters, a bar that gets in the way of using the chain pipe cutter and coolant lines that cause a mess.

Probably the Gen 3 will be even more expensive to fix than the Gen 2 due to the coolant system being involved with the exhaust system I can certainly see Gen 3 owners driving to a repair shop and loosing all their coolant along the way causing additional serious damage along the way.

Pinback

*** "We are stuck with technology when all we really want is just stuff that works." Douglass Adams

 

Not really that much harder. The guy who had it stolen in Bellvue, WA, had it cut off at just the right place and avoided the cut into the preheater and the coolant lines.

It would only be more expensive to fix, if it was done by an idiotic rank novice, who did a hack job.