Catalytic converter got stolen

I think the option of going to a cheaper after market CAT is fine but i would recommend you still install the cat shield to minimize the chances of having to deal with the hassle again. If you have to pay 250 and the insurance pays the rest for an OEM cat, id say do it and get the shield for sure.

 

Get the aftermarket cat, and for $200….get on with your life.

Rather than pay $250 to sorta protect a $200 cat consider paying your exhaust person an extra $50 to tack some bar stock or rebar to the likely cut points.
It will protect your exhaust much more effectively than some wimpy piece of aluminum AND since you appear to live in an area where property crime is a thing, your local exhaust shop may want to consider offering advertising this protection as a service to your fellow citizens.

Leave the insurance company out of this, and consider raising your comp and collision deductibles to $1000.
$250 seems lowish for a 15 year old car.

Good Luck!

 

You will find that often times you will find you save very very little on your comp premium by increasing comprehensive deductible. Would keep the deductible the same on comprehensive in case the car is stolen. Collision is another matter. Also the way insurance companies work is that it may no longer even be possible to get a low deductible and you are just being grandfathered in unless you change in which case you can never go back.

 

Actual mileage will vary, but I always encourage people to at least know their numbers.
I have $1,000 deductibles (USAA) because I have no intentions of using insurance for anything other than a hull-loss incident.
The only reason I have comp and collision on my 2006 is that my CFO desires it.
If that vehicle suffers a serious calamity then I will gift it to a family member and get on with my life.

The lender for last vehicle I took a loan on (2020 GMC) made noises about not “allowing” me to carry a $1,000 deductible but those thoughts died of loneliness when I would otherwise not buy the car.
I abhor borrowing money in the first place but 2020 was in the ‘long-ago’ when interest rates and inflation rates made a $20,000 car loan more attractive.

AS ALWAYS….

Individual mileage WILL vary…

 

Agree on getting a well reviewed aftermarket Cat. I personally wouldn't bother with any shield, but would recommend spraying it orange with heat resistant paint and/or painting on "aftermarket" or similar on the cat.

 

It would be great to know if the heat paint really would cause a recycler to reject a catalytic since it's the innards that are valuable, not the canister.

I know about "contaminated" loads fetching less payout. I guess you have little to lose by spraying some paint on there in the end.

 

Let me clarify... I meant paint the aftermarket cat, not the original. Maybe painting the original might fool the dumbest thieves, but it's still likely to get stolen. The rationale to painting the aftermarket is that a thief might realize it's not oem faster before he does any damage.

 

I painted my OEM cat.

 

Let me clarify about your clarification. There is a rumor that spray painting the catalytic will cause it to be rejected by potential recyclers who would pay money for it, so painting it renders it worthless. It is based on that rumor that I am curious as to whether or not it really makes any difference.

I never thought of it as a way to indicate that it was aftermarket and therefore less valuable.

 

I wouldn't expect it would. The people who are buying all those cats know that most of them are stolen, they are every bit as much to blame as the thieves. A little orange paint isn't going to stop either of them.

 

Agree and wouldn't surprise me if some of these thieves are extracting the wafers themselves and selling them without the body.

 

Doubt that a little paint will stop a thief.

 

I also doubt that painting the canister would make much difference to someone who is stealing them, plus they could just poke out all of the valuable media inside with ease.

 

$100 Fleabay cat from Canada= junk, didn't work. Blew a p0420 code from day 1

$350 Walker cat (not made by Walker) imposter worked for 6m now blows a p0420 nonstop.

Is OEM the only option for something that works?

 

I bought the more-expensive MagnaFlow 49752 1.5 years ago. I haven't had it generate any trouble codes of any type.

Hope this helps.

 

Maybe try a genuine Walker next time?

 

Another, How long have you used a genuine Walker cat on ur prius

 

I have genuine Toyota. The question was about the use of a non-walker walker, which I was responding to.

 

Went up north to Vermont last month. First stop was in Fayetteville.

Bottom floor long hotel everyone’s cars were lined up in long row across the road outside my window. Like 35 feet from the door.

Woke up at 3am with the most ungodly noise.
Laying in bed trying to figure out what the hell is that noise and it stops.
Laying in bed thinking and it comes to me holy sh*t that’s the sound of a sawzall cutting through an exhaust pipe. Jumped out of bed looked out the window all is quiet.

Try to go back to sleep 30 mins later the noise starts again. I jump up again pull back the curtain and I staring at a guy standing next to an old dodge van
He sees me And I see feet coming out from the bottom of the van Straight across the road from my room.
in the time it took me to fumble with the lock and open the door by the time I open the door there both already running with a big cat. I screamed at them really loud. Hoping other people would wake up.

called the desk they called the cops. Desk figured out who’s van it was.
It was a 75 year old guy next room to me he comes out I come out tell him the bad news. He does not know what a cat is and starts looking under the engine and saying he doesn’t under stand anything I’m saying. I say start the truck.
Yup cat gone.Cops come later. I’m talking to the cop and a young guy walks up in the middle of that and says they got my cat next hotel over.
Cop says they got 4 cats in the area so far. And one On the other side of my hotel too.
It’s 3am.

my takeaway is holy god how loud it is sawzalling a cat off in the middle of the night. It’s incredible.
I found out in the morning it woke most people up especially my screaming but nobody got out of bed to look including the old guy next to me.
They hit nothing but trucks no Jack needed. Much easier quicker get away I guess. They were running fast when I screamed at them all I saw was the color of there get a away suv it was behind a row of cars.
If I Was dressed I would have got there car make but this was all in my under wear lol….

The old guy next door even heard me scream “get the F out of here” at them too but never even got up. Can u imagine not even looking? I yelled really loud
Basicly at there door.

Blows my mind but now I understand how cat thieves get away with it nobody can be bothered to get out of bed and look no matter how freaky loud it is.

At least 40 people clearly heard the incredible racket woke up and not one looked out the window. One guy said he didn’t want to be involved.

Felt really bad for the Dodge van guy. He was like 75-80 him and his wife were visiting relatives. He even tried to tip me for helping.

So that was my first day of vacation lol…