Do people steal aftermarket cats by mistake?

Aftermarket cats are like $120 and takes my guy about 18 minutes to put in the car I usually let him weld the back section in not clamp it so not a huge problem but I guess for some people this could be a big to do. Here in North Carolina I don't hear much about these cats getting stolen anymore factory original or aftermarket smart people that are committing crimes are not stealing aftermarket cats that cost $120 unless they're new to the game and completely ignorant which by today's standards of people there should be a few hopefully and far between.

 

Can't speak, of course, for the US but I'm lucky to have a Hybrid specialist service station not far from me and when I asked about this he said he has replaced many cats with reps and not one has ever been stolen and it's a waste of money having a shield.

In the end, only you can decide but a shield is not an absolute guarantee anyway. It will only put them off if they need to do it very quickly.

 

People having their cheap aftermarket cats stolen by really dumb thieves has been well documented on here and especially problematic in major cities. There's even been several posts on here who gave up their Prius after the third theft. So yes, a cat shield is an essential deterrent even though it can't entirely prevent the theft.

 

they're not rocket scientists.

 

maybe put an extra cat in the trunk, so you can drive direct to midas

 

Checking some precious metal price histories, it looks like today's rhodium prices are down about 85%, and palladium prices down 60%, since their peaks a couple years ago. Combined with some busts of major cat theft rings and buyers since then, it seems that thefts here had dropped sharply, then fell out of the news completely.

 

Its died off in our area. Like over with

 

No guarantees, but that does seem to be the trend.

 

i had a cat shield and they cut through the exhaust pipe anyways and left my resonator hanging down underneath, then they apparently gave up and ran off before they got the cat.

there was a major cat theft ring in this metro area that was shut down a year or two ago and it seems to have died down a bit around here.

 

Have you already replaced that aftermarket cat? If not, go to Youtube and search for O2 spacer for Prius. if you've already installed another $100 aftermarket CAT, a shield is not worth the extra expense. Sure there are idiotic thieves who might steal an aftermarket version, but I'd say the risk is pretty low.

 

That's what I used to do on my road trips to California... If you get stuck in that state without a catalytic converter you won't be able to have a cheap aftermarket one shipped there.