Catalytic Converter Shield Necessary on Gen3?

Some of them look pretty nice got cut outs in the logo of the company that made it built into the shield and all this sort of thing two three $400 I don't know I can't imagine My Gen 3 sits outside the house all the time with its cat sitting right in it I can't imagine in the dead and night somebody trying to come take it out but I guess it's possible in the city out here where I live it's pretty dark and how the bears might scare the coyotes before he even get started good I wouldn't think so but this kind of stuff is real personal you know you have to know your area know how you sleep know what you might not do all that sort of thing but where you are is a big different city outside in the country you know what have you That's only something you can weigh out.

 

Not necessary. My Prius doesn’t have one and it stil drives like normal.

 

Not necessary, but you have to ask yourself "do I feel lucky today?", day after day, every day.

Do you have comprehensive insurance on your car? Does it have a high deductible?

Can you be without your car for possibly weeks while the garage waits for a backordered replacement catalytic converter?

So many questions...

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Doesn't have water catalytic converter or the shield or both mine drove fine without a catalytic converter without even a pipe in the hole was not even as loud as I would have thought like a Corolla with the same engine in other words I don't know how long I could have driven it like that before a valve burn up but in a Prius that's regurgitating its own puke all the way down the road probably never something else would fail first The Gen 2 is the same way but I care more about that engine so I wouldn't do that as long but you probably could

 

is it a carb state? if not, you could sell it for a grande and install a not worth stealing aftermarket for $250.
if it is a carb state, i think a shield is advisable. maybe talk to the local or state cops about thefts, and search here for shields that actually help, and gen3 thefts

 

I think you should get one for the piece of mind that it will be a lot more difficult for a scumbag to steal yours. I paid $250 total for parts and labor and not having to worry about someone stealing it anymore is totally worth it.

 

Someone comes along with a DeWalt 20 volt sawzall in a carbide sawzall bit that's about 12 in long and that things coming out of there pretty quick so you know unless you're sitting right outside of it all the time anytime it's parked etc etc you take it to the grocery store and it's right out in front of the glass or you can see it so you don't go down aisles to get anything all this kind of stuff nobody can live like this it doesn't last very long. And then it happens. It's that fast apparently and I guess it's a pretty good chunk of change you get paid by insurance too so it's just keeping the insurance companies alive or something because I certainly don't see any of these poor saps with the DeWalt saws all that they had to go steal from home Depot being in the racket making any kinds of hundreds of thousands of dollars a week That's only the big suppliers that buy them to sell them back to the large recyclers The little guy doing the stealing he's so far down the food chain pretty much it doesn't matter. When you read about these guys getting busted in Boise or wherever they have thousands of them on the floor and they're like the managers of an LKQ type operation and they generally are off the hook because they don't know where they came from they're being brought in recycled by the hundreds a day if not more not from Prius but from all vehicles.

 

How much harder is it to steal the catalytic converter if a shield is in place?

 

Here in LA, Gen 3 cat theft is VERY common. My neighbor across the street had his taken. Nobody heard it that night.
If anyone is familiar with the LAX area they know of the Trader Joes right down the street from the airport. Not a bad area (for LA). Well a few months ago a local neighbor had theirs stolen from Trader Joes parking lot in the middle of the day. When I heard that I decided to get a Miller Cat Shield. Jus t got it today and will either do it myself or have it done this week.

 

It is considerably harder. Basically the thieves need to cut / remove a metal plate riveted on the frame of the car before they can get access to the cat. They need more tools, and take much longer time to steal the cat.

 

The harder you make it for a criminal, the better for you. Criminals want to get in and out quick.
The longer they hang around the more chance they have of getting caught.
Attaching an "alarm" from the hybrid battery would help. Having a hose with a pump that will
spray used motor oil in a wide pattern if the car is lifted would help. Just to name a few....

 

That's key.

I had some chain kicking around, wrapped the rear cut zone with it, with nut/bolt combo securing it every turn. The outermost fasteners got permanent thread lock on the threads. Basically a steel Gordian Knot. With concerted effort it can be cut off, but it'll take them a while.

 

I was surprised to see an official poster at Freeman Toyota service (see attached .png file) encouraging customers to purchase a shield for their converter, and I'm seeing more of these thefts being reported on our local NextDoor app here in the DFW area. I will be purchasing one in the next quarter just for peace of mind but nothing is fool-proof.

 

Just note that when installing these on older cars (just did my 2010) that you’ll probably have to replace the rubber exhaust hangers. If not you’ll probably get a fairly loud rattle from the exhaust touching the plate.
I drove away after the installation and it rattled when the ice would kick in but not when idling or running at normal rpm.
I took it back and they replaced the hangers and all is good.