Who: My poor 2015 Prius 2 What: Stolen Catalytic Converter When: Feb 27 or 28th, after midnight Where: On residential street in front of house, Buena Park, CA Why: To make $250 quick cash but potentially costing its owner $3000 in OEM parts/labor or a new car! How: Jack up car. Precisely cut before resonator and removed bolts from front connection (coolant lines intact). Probably took less than 5 minutes. Everyone beware! Scumbags are out for Gen 3 as well. Don't park in dark areas/unlit areas. Get a CAT shield install. Get an alarm with motion/proximity/dual shock sensors. Make sure you get theft coverage, unlike me . As of now, the factory Toyota CAT's are completely back-order for months, 2 - 3 wait at least. Had I order from the dealer today, I would be wait-listed as customer number 1,221. Only option is to find a used one off salvage yards, good luck to me.
whaaaat????? are you serious? that is ridiculous. sorry to hear it, hopefully just some desperate drug addict
You are fortunate that is was stolen by a professional in that the thief did not destroy the exhaust engine preheater. Unfortunately, you live in California, which requires an OEM quality replacement.
You're behind the tinsel curtain. That's a non-option.....unless you drive the car to a free state first. Or? You might look for a black-market cat. Who knows? You might even get YOURS back! Good Luck!
Not willing to wait months for a factory cat, I decided to put a cheap aftermarket one from eBay for now to get my car on the road until that day comes. Yes, I am glad the professionals didn't hack off the heater lines, I am thankful for that. Without the factory cat, I was getting codes for P0171 and P0037. Now with the cheap cat, the CEL came on the next day, code P0240. I guess this is expected for California. I wonder if this issue applies to Prius outside of California? Or it only affects much stricter CARB Prius.
I will only get it new from Toyota. Not risking high mileage CAT or even stolen ones. If I ever get it new, I plan to add: 1. Viper alarm with additional shock sensor module for extra sensitivity 2. Cat Shield 3. CUSCO POWER BRACE ZVW30 PRIUS FRONT, 951 492 F (dual functionality lol)
I will only get it new from Toyota. Not risking high mileage CAT or even stolen ones. If I ever get a new one, I plan to add: 1. Viper alarm with additional shock sensor module for extra sensitivity 2. Cat Shield 3. CUSCO POWER BRACE ZVW30 PRIUS FRONT, 951 492 F (dual functionality lol)
Careful about name calling. Here we sympathize why they steal them because they are parents and have to find ways to feed their kids, said some members here.
So sorry this happened to your car! I currently have the viper tilt alarm and a steel cat shield installed. Why the power brace? Does it block a section not protected by the shield?
Extra layer of protection? It does block the front section of cat. Blocking this area is most critical. I may be going overboard since it will make it more difficult to service this area.
I wrapped chain round rear cut zone, secured at multiple points in the wrap process with nuts/bolts. The outermost fasteners have perm thread lock. BEWARE! Gen 3 catalytic converters are as easy to steal and Gen 2's. | Page 2 | PriusChat
