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Front windshield wipers stolen

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Brian Stark, May 17, 2021.

  1. Brian Stark

    Brian Stark New Member

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    The entire fixture of my front windshield wipers were stolen from my Prius. Is this common? How much would they be worth, I looked online and the arms plus motor were less then $100, Seems like a risky thing to do for such little reward. The car was on my property, really makes me feel
    violated and doesn’t make much sense to me. Could they have been going for more but got spooked?
     
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Well, given the severe drought in California you have plenty of time to get them replaced. And no, never heard of this type of theft before. If your car was an older model you could head to a junk yard to get them... But because it's a newer Prius you'll have to try online for some used ones. If all else fails you'll have to buy them new.
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    They had to pop the hood to accomplish this?
     
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  4. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    no risk at all, it takes a few minutes to remove both of them. I remove mine to improve arrowdynamics on a regular basis.

    whatever you do, don’t look up catalytic converter theft on here.
     
  5. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    owner may have left hood wide open.
     
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  6. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Maybe it was catalytic converter thieves. There is one under that windshield cowl assembly. Come to think of it, the very expensive master cylinder and pump are under there as well. Plus Mendel has everyone paranoid about their egr cooler which is also down there and rather pricey.

    Maybe they were scared off before they got all the goodies. Could be quite a haul. And the beginning of a new crime wave.
     
    #6 rjparker, May 17, 2021
    Last edited: May 17, 2021
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  7. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    HAHA!!!...
     
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  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Heck the MAF sensor’s around $200 USD IIRC. Lots of good shopping in there.
     
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  9. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    or some friends screwing with you.........
     
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  10. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Or somebody who is mad at you.
    I would be a bit worried about this.
    Not because of the value of the missing wipers but because of what might come next.
     
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  11. AzusaPrius

    AzusaPrius Senior Member

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  12. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    My dad tells me that was a common problem in Moscow in the 1980's.
     
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  13. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    What 1980s car in Russia had the wipers in a removable cowl?
     
  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Yeah I read something: when it would start to rain, there’d be this masse pull-over, all these drivers reinstalling their wipers.
     
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  15. Merkey

    Merkey Active Member

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    If they steal the windshield, then no worries about missing wipers.
     
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  16. qmanqman

    qmanqman Active Member

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    ba dum bum
     
  17. qmanqman

    qmanqman Active Member

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    ba dum bum
     
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  18. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    goggles and microfiber towels will fix that
     
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  19. Brian Stark

    Brian Stark New Member

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  20. Brian Stark

    Brian Stark New Member

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    Hood was shut, the car starts and sounds ok, at least in EV mode, I just backed up and moved forward to test. How do I know just how much they got? Can they get to the catalytic converter through the opening left by the cowl, or anything else? I just recently found out the head gasket is leaking into one of the cylinders. It’s got 230,000+ miles on it, so I was just going to scrap it anyway, can I still risk driving it to the scrap yard? Should I avoid freeway?