Welp. It only took six days for my original catalytic converter to be stolen off my just-bought-last-week 2008, 2nd Gen Prius (AKA the most sought-after one on the market right now with the highest value), right on the corner with security cameras, in a "good" neighborhood (Williamsburg BK). I'm in NYC. Any suggestions? Is it safe to drive or should I have it towed? I haven't spoken to Geico yet to see if this is covered but I do have comp/collision.... hopefully this will be covered? I didn't even get a chance to make a happy post about my new (to me) car to share with ya'll It has 206k miles so I'm comforting myself by saying that it probably needed replaced soon anyway, I do not know. Argh.
bummer! it should be covered with a deductible. tough situation. see if ny allows for a cheap aftermarket cat, and consider a shield. i suppose they'll be watching for it to reappear.
I spoke with my insurance (Geico) who said it WOULD be covered, AND there is no immediate rate increase/surcharge because obvs I wasn't "at fault". However, every 6 months they review policies and while they can't assure me that this wouldn't factor in to their decision on rate increase/decrease, I am gonna go through them anyway because it is gonna be much cheaper than paying out of pocket right now. The only "issue" if you can call it that, is that they replace with OEM or comparable parts, which means I'll be right back to square one at risk, ugh... but of course I am expediting all of the measures I've been wanting to take anyway (just literally didn't have time since I've had the car here for less than a damn week). So... parking garage, cat shield ordered, yadda yadda. NY is apparently a CARB state, *however* only for 2009 and newer - mine is a 2008, small miracle... so if I wanted to do a cheaper aftermarket on it that would be fine, but I'm gonna let insurance deal with it...
that's great. i would discuss the oem/aftermarket thing with your insurance co. just to be sure that they understand how valuable the oem is, and the desirability to thieves
I keep a $1,000 deductible for comp and collision - so a $300 cat replacement will go completely unnoticed by my insurance company. BUT that's only one strategery....and driving a 12 year old car with comp and collision AND a $100 deductible is hardly irresponsible, financially speaking. The Lizard's represenitive will probably deem an aftermarket CAT to "comparable" if local laws allow it. I know NY is kinda goofy about some of these things.....and I ALSO know that thieves aren't going to bother to research the cat that's on your car, while it's still on your car, so you may want to investigate some kinda shielding....or other mitigations. Good Luck!
Oh yeah, I brought that up several times actually, because I don't want to just keep resetting myself back to square one of being a damn target :/ They didn't seem to care. I'm about to take it to an independent shop that's closer than the nearest stealership... wish me luck!
Thanks! Yup, Geico said "OEM or comparable", so, whatever, as long as it's fixed properly I don't really care (and my mpg doesn't take a hit, etc).... gonna be doing the shielding and paying for parking, ugh ugh ugh. NY Law follows CA's strict CARB protocols but only for 2009 and newer, so my 2008 would be ok with an aftermarket vs OEM (a small blessing if I were paying for this out of pocket :/ )
If you go through insurance make sure they compensate you for an OEM CAT. If Geico will only pay you out for the value of an aftermarket cat, then it definitely doesn't pay to go through insurance. Regardless, installing the aftermarket CAT and perhaps a few indicators (stickers etc) should prevent any future theft. In my opinion, the extra expense of a shield or parking to protect an aftermarket cat is not a good investment. Be careful with insurance - they're quick to jack up rates!
the good thing about aftermarket cat is not the less chance of it being stolen, it is the low cost of replacement
It’d be nice if insurance companies (or gov., or somebody) could compensate you for shield install. Say guaranteed no premium increase if you subsequently need to claim. That seems a fairly safe bet for them.
Tape up the cut sensor wires. There have been reports of those shorting (to the body?) and killing the ECU. It would be sort of safe to drive with the cat gone. However the car will be obnoxiously loud and a policeman might pull you over for a noise violation. Also the fumes come out more or less under the central console, so if the car is not moving at a reasonable pace you will be breathing it. In short, OK to drive it a few blocks (once the wires are done), but don't plan on using it normally.
If they’re going to just use aftermarket, you might as well just pay out of pocket instead of risking your rates going up. Unless you’re strapped for $$$ it could be better for you going forward. Then again, once you file a claim it may already be too late I suppose.
Apparently, in some countries people get discounts for having a dashcam. I've been waiting for such discounts here, but I'm not holding my breath.
I don't think the thieves are really going the honest reselling route... and in NY it's actually illegal to resell, so they're taking them out of state. RE dashcam discount, I asked my insurance and they said they only discount whatever comes up from the VIN#, so anything aftermarket I add (cameras, alarms, shields, etc) is an out-of-pocket expense that isn't covered by my insurance nor is it taken into consideration for a rate discount.
Thanks, I do see one wire hanging down, I'll try to get some electrical tape over it before trundling over to the mechanic tomorrow morning. I found a shop ~2miles away so hopefully that's not too far, they install the shields so now I just have to wait for one to arrive in the mail, which it should do by the time they get stuff sorted with insurance RE repairs. probably gonna be without my new love for at least a week or so :/
The mechanic I'm taking it to said they will "use whatever insurance covers", which tells me that since Geico claims to use "OEM or comparable" it will at least be a MagnaFlow or Walker quality, both of which are 3x more expensive than the least expensive one suggested on this forum... that plus the sensors/labor/etc means it'd still be $1-2k out of pocket, so I'll stick with the $100 deductible for now and if my rates explode in 6 months come renewal time, well, that's an issue for future Tasha to deal with :/
