I understand every car can be target but why Prius kind of always on the top of thieves list? They seem like tend to turn a blind eye on many hybrid vehicles with higher clearance and bigger/fatter Cat's ( means more precious metals) but never miss a Prus if chance is given.. From point of thief view and their middle man / scrap yard criminals, are they all dumb or just incredibly stupid? p.s. Few day ago they took my neighbor Prius2 cat with 340K+ miles on it but left alone nearby parked hybrid Rav4 and Lexus RX. Anyone care to explain?
I've always heard that Prius cat has higher amount of precious metals I can't imagine how much of a higher amount. But given the fact that some of these cars the Prius run their own flood test or whatever they call it on the catalytic converter My God I guess it must have extra stuff in it You're flooding at every so often to see if it works well I mean seems kind of funny to me actually. And over time I would imagine that testing takes its toll on the cat big time and so on and so forth probably a lot to do with urban legendry too which is worse than fake news and can be as real is real news when the stuff runs away with people. All I can say is I'm glad I live in a county that has dumped emissions and will never pick that back up on personal private passenger cars.
The older model Prius had an unusually large catalyst. It is theorized that Toyota did that so it would hold its heat during engine-off cycles and thus be closer to proper operating temp when the engine cycled back on. Another popular theory is that a Prius owner is less likely to come running out of their house with a shotgun if they hear somebody fooling around. Not sure if I buy that one personally though.
It might be this, or that the added material was needed to make up for lower catalyst activity, per unit mass or surface area, at lower temperatures, or both. Another factor is physical accessibility: without raising the car very much, it’s relatively quick and easy to cut the exhaust pipe and extract the catalytic converters. In any case, the combination of greater reward, lower risk, popularity, and distinctive silhouette makes Prius cars an attractive target for marauders.
That most certainly wasn't a factor in and around London, where cat theft really got established as big business. A masked guard thief could stand there with impunity, in full view of many witnesses and security cameras, holding nothing but a lug wrench to discourage intervention. Virtually zero risk of them getting shot by lawless civilians, and police were not much interested in tracking them down afterwards, let alone get up to intervene while a theft was in progress. Prius cat theft didn't spread much to the U.S. until after London and nearby areas were mostly depleted of Prius cats.
I think this Prius CAT theft is only for California or parts of the United States. CAT thefts or even vehicle thefts for the Prius. Hey, there are just more Priuses in California, so there is a bigger black market for stolen hybrid parts. I bought my Prius after my Corolla was stolen because it was statistically less stolen. At that time, it was only highly stolen only in the state of California. Thieves just don't like Priuses in Canada.
The stealing craze finally hit northern Virginia/DMV area last couple years with a vengeance. I assumed combination of easy access and more metals. Gen2/3 in USA were all California cars whereas Toyota/Honda opted to sell the same vehicle in all states, vs. US auto makers who would tune the emission system design to the state regs. That's why Toyota always had the crazy rules about: When is a CARB car not really a CARB car? Toyota policy said car had to bought in a CARB state to be a CARB car. If you had say a Ford in that era, a CARB car was a certain CARB hardware system and special emission sticker. Prii in USA all had the same hardware and same sticker under the hood. Hope my RAV4HV is immune. Remember for a while the craze in California was they would steal your whole Gen2/3 HV battery? The craze seemed to have cooled off, but was replaced with the cat converter craze.
Gen 2 Prius cats were at the top of the list because it has more precious metals in it. Tundra's are highly sought after too as they have 2 cats and no jack needed to scoot under. A local Toyota dealer got hit a while ago 60 cats in one night all Tundra's.
That's true. Thieves fiercely defend them self while theft in progress with propane torches, baseball bats, guns, even shooting few rounds at filming car owners. Couple of years ago 15 cat thieves have been arrested with more than 1000 catalytic converters around here, police released most of them few weeks later. Freakin unbelievable...
This is all a circle of life thing. People out on the left coast need to 'pay their fair share' and get rid of all of those aging Priuses ANYWAY and start driving BEV! Donate those teenage cars to the poor folk in flyover country who can put a $150 cat (or a straight pipe and an O2 spoofer) into them and drive them for another 100,000 fuel-efficient miles. It's better for the planet!! As an added bonus you're putting disadvantaged youth out into society in an 'employment-adjacent' program! Instead of just having them hanging out in their rent-adjusted homes and waiting for assistance checks, they are providing a valuable social service in a nice, safe, firearms-restricted environment! (**) I have to give CARB states a lot of credit on this one. It's brilliant! Were I a little more economically disadvantaged, I would foster a G2 myself! (**) While this post is made with tongue firmly embedded in cheek, I will point out that using deadly force to defend property is morally bankrupt, and probably de-jurer ILLEGAL in nearly every part of the country. PERIOD. FULL STOP. (however, COMMA!!!) Firing well-aimed shots into the ground somewhat NEAR catnappers???? IYKYK.
Sorry but your entire post does not make any sense to say the least... Have you had your morning coffee yet?
I was referring very specifically to London. I have completely missed any news of London's cat thieves displaying guns or shooting at owners.
Gen2 cats are not the easiest to take but they are the most valuable. Gen3s and most other cars are not as valuable. It is happening in any large population area where there are buyers. Here in Central Texas there is a big catalytic converter "recycle" store right on the freeway in San Marcos who advertise with permanent storefront signs. You get $500 cash for gen2. About 30 miles from the Governor's office who really cares less. Unless they don't pay their sales or property taxes. A friend had her 2008 gen2 parked in front of her policeman son's house. Cat stolen. Right next to his police car! The cop was in the house but they jacked up the car and were gone in 5 minutes. Video showed them but the car had Carmax paper plates temporarily covering the real plates. The saving grace was a Napa $600 cat was installed and did not code. Except for the o2 sensor. The cable had been cut and a generic replacement was misswired by the shop. I gave them a drawing and she was up and running.
Few years back wife and I head to new England for a vaca and stopped at a hotel in NC. 3AM in the morning I wake up to the most ungodly noise a chopsaw taking a cat off right outside my window. They took a cat off a 1979 White Dodge van. Yes you read that right. I opened the door and screamed at them as they ran away they had a huge cat. Idiots wont get much for that if anything at all. Newbies. But it was the only vehicle in the lot they could get under without a jack. Called the cops. The choppers got a car on the other side of the hotel then a guy from the hotel across the street saw the cop cars and came over and reported his Tundra got hit. Cop said I don't know about this cat thing.......what???? I said your going to real soon. My point is at 3AM a chopsaw on an exhaust pipe is so freaking loud its almost impossible to not wake up. The couple that owned the van were in there 80's next room over from me woke up to that sound had no idea what that noise was and went back to sleep. They woke up when they heard me talking to the cop outside there door and came out. Glad they did as I did not know who owned that van and neither did the desk. Poor old dude didn't even know what a cat was. I told him to start his truck. Old dodge van with a 318. Extremely loud without a cat. I had that same truck van 100 years ago 318 with a 3 speed auto on the dash. On youtube car repair video's like "Just Rolled In" there now seeing cut rear axles on a rear wheel drive trucks. Axles almost cut clean through till they figure out oops that's not a cat so these are blithering idiots doing this with no car experience whatsoever. They really mess your car up. No one's car or truck is safe if you park outside.
