Is a cat shield worth it? And does it change insurance premiums?

it seems to me that if the shield is good and solid, and riveted with steel rivets to the frame rails, the trouble to get past it would make a scumbag find another target. and if you live in an area where this is a bad problem, i'd think it would be worth doing for the piece of mind and cheap insurance against having to deal with the hassle of reporting the crime (like there's a remote chance the cops will help) and replacing the cat.

 

Just the hassle of being violated by having the cat stolen is worth the price.

The best customers for burglar alarms are those who have been
burglarized.

 

As Georgina mentioned, the best customers for burglar alarms are those who have been burglarized. I had the catalytic converter stolen off my car twice last year, and even though I have full insurance coverage and my insurance company covered the cost of repairs (at $3000+ per incident), it still cost me $500 in deductibles plus over $1000 in rental car costs because the parts were backordered. After that happened, I got a shield installed for just over $300.

Your insurance company is probably not going to give you a discount for getting the shield installed, but doing so is still less expensive both in terms of lost time and money than risking the catalytic converter being stolen. If you live in an area where thieves are regularly stealing these, I would consider a shield to be a good investment.

 

I’m not much of a defender of the cat defender.....BUT if it stops one thief one time then the juice is SOMETIMES worth the squeeze. HOWEVER (comma) if the cost of installing a cat shield is more than the cost of a catalytic converter replacement then the math changes a little bit.
Having the cat shield installed will not lower your insurance premiums (unless you are overpaying to begin with) BUT not having to file a claim will keep your rates lower.

You live in Texasass.
This means that a cat replacement for you is only a few hundred dollars versus the price that they’re paying in certain other places...which of course is one of the reasons that MORE people are moving INTO your state than are moving out.


The cat shield is like a door lock.
Sometimes?
A home invader will sneak up....wiggle the door knob....find it locked and go find another house to break into.
Sometimes?
They break in anyway.

Life is like that.

Good Luck!

 

Peace of mind and avoidance of inconvenience is more important to me than just a couple of hundred dollars.

If the car is your only transportation, you may not be able to get to work which would result in lost wages.

While it might be inconvenient to have the shield installed, it is done at your convenience, not at a time when you have other things that you need to do but can't do as you would be taking care of replacing the cat.

 

Ive heard it takes about 5 minutes for them to steal your cat, and maybe 15 minutes if you have a cat shield. I bought one because it makes it less likely my cat will be stolen by and opportunist. But with the cost of precious metals around $3000 an ounce there's too much to motivate the professionals. I think law enforcement needs to plant some GPS trackers inside fake cats and catch a few more of them; that will make to cost too high, if you know what I mean.

 

what we really need is a nationwide "castle doctrine". if a few of these scumbags got shot dead, maybe some of them would think about finding a safer way to pay for their meth. if you do catch one under your car, i don't see letting the jack down on them as being a crime; simply the easiest way to detain them while the police are en route. if they do conveniently decide to die before the cops come, just play stupid and wipe your fingerprints off the jack handle.

 

Replace the OEM cat with an aftermarket. Sell OEM for $1900+ on ebay. I've had extremely good results from the aftermarket ones I've installed (so far). Then install a cat shield and put a bumper sticker on it (car bumper and on cat shield) that informs would be thieves that there is an aftermarket cat installed.

 

The oem cats contain platinum, palladium and rhodium. IDK how much of each in a Prius converter, but thieves like them and recyclers like them.

research rhodium, it's the king of precious metals. Currently around $27k per ounce

 

That would be one of the slowest claimed times I've ever heard. And by quite a bit.

Most claims seem to fall in the range of 2 minutes to 30 seconds.

 

Castle Doctrine laws do not apply to property crime, and I’m just guessing here but some punk who just wiggled underneath your car isn’t much of a physical danger to you......

The only “duty to retreat” laws apply to some of the itty-bitty blue states in the Northeast....and one or two of the other “usual suspects.”
Most of the people behind the tinsel curtain live in a de facto “stand your ground” state, and nearly ALL of the other states have common sense laws that make cat thefts a < $1000 crime.
THAT is petit (petty) larceny, and if I’m on the jury that means that knocking holes in somebody trying to yank a cat off of a 15 year old car isn’t going to be “quite” legal.....

I live in a de jure Castle Doctrine state, which ONLY means that I do not have a duty to retreat from my house or car of I am threatened with a clear and present danger.
I used aimed warning shots one time to encourage a would-be burglar to find another victim, which means that I BROKE THE LAW.
Fortunately...the law takes these kinds of things into account....and just as SOME homicides are justifiable....so too are some cases of discharging a firearm inside city limits.
I WAS RESPONSIBLE for every round I discharged....but my crime was justified by the circumstances.


Besides....all of THAT plus dust bowl 2.0 is why all of the now former Okies in the 2020s that Steinbeck wrote about in the 1920s have their Hudsons pointed EAST now..... and so this will probably not be much of a problem in a few years.

 

Such a gray area.....you can't just walk up to a thief under your car and shoot him. but..

Anyone can confront a thief who is stealing their property. Less than lethal force is allowed to be used to prevent the theft of personal property. If such thief then escalates it to a life threatening situation, self defense rules apply, which includes lethal force.

This is an example when the tipping point is reached. As soon as this thief took out a knife, self defense rules would apply and if either of these guys was paying attention, they were within their rights to end it with lethal force. I can't fathom why they both did what they did to give that thief a chance to stab them both, tho. Totally stupid of them.

Sheriff’s office: 2 brothers stabbed after interrupting catalytic converter theft – KIRO 7 News Seattle

 

You have a DUTY as a citizen to interfere with a property crime.
THAT part is Not really that grey at all if you think about it.
The trouble is that most people don't have time to think it all out, which is why certain professions train to do things without having to stop and do the noodle dance.

JUST remember!
Unlike a military organization or Nation State defending its borders, you are obligated to use fake news' latest buzz word - which is...."proportionality."
Sometimes?
That means locking doors and windows, and calling 911.
Putting a cat shield on your car.
Alarm systems.
A canine...

Other times?
(Especially in MY state!)...it means that the perp is GOING to be held at gunpoint until the LEOs arrive, and if they want to respond with a knife.....THAT is when you SHOULD KNOW whether or not you have a duty to retreat or you get to stand your ground.
It also means that if they jackrabbit on you then you do not get to open fire on them!
(at least not with shots aimed AT them! )
If you're young and physically fit and want to chase them down and introduce them to your Louisville Slugger?
That's on YOU.
It might work out OK.
It might go horribly wrong!

POLICE get this wrong all the time...and they're paid and often highly trained to deal with the judicial use of force.

I pretty much know where the guardrails are...FOR ME.
BTDT...
I am NOT ABOUT to suggest a course of action for anybody else.......