Just bought my first PRIUS and catalytic converter got stolen first night.

I wonder if you could thread a bit of wire rope through the exhaust and anchor it to the inside of the pipe up by the header. The exhaust would probably have to be re-engineered to accommodate this, but the idea is that when they cut through, the blade hits the wire rope and simply pushes it around inside the pipe- it never gets enough purchase to cut the strands. Or at least dramatically slows the operation.

It would probably be a nightmare to make it work without rattling...

 

Or maybe some kind of electric circuit with 1000 volts flowing through!!!

 

Wired to the hybrid battery

 

This is really surprising.
Stealing catalytic converters even in a place like LA? I used to think all that was only what you'd experience in developing countries.

 

Los Angeles is very much a developing country. We get petty theft all the time.

People here use to steal the metal caps from fire hydrants to recycle. Until they made it illegal for the recyclers to take them in.

 

Hehehe! Not part of the USA again too?

 

Strange nobody considers theft insurance? Un-American or something??

 

Well part of the reason we are like a 3rd world country, there are many people here that are illegal. They have a hard time finding jobs and they have to survive. That's why there's petty theft on Catalytic converters and fire hydrants, to get money to survive.

Edit: We also have lots of homeless and drug addicts to fuel the petty theft problem. And the early release of criminals because of overcrowding (so the petty theft guys come out after they get caught to repeat and rinse the process) There's really no jail time unless you commit murder

 

most people don't carry theft insurance on older cars. The insurance will cost $1000 a year and your car is only worth $3000. Doesn't make sense.

 

Theft is covered by comprehensive insurance for most policy. Many people drops that coverage when car gets old. I keep mine as long as the cost of coverage is affordable, but I am sure for place like LA, the cost becomes prohibitive for Gen2 Prius.

 

I've had AAA Auto Club insurance for 30 years. Totally clean driving record, and I'm a senior. They want $2,000 per year for full coverage on the Prius.

(I won't tell you that I skipped the theft coverage. )

 

get a quote from Wawanesa insurance, based out of San Diego. Great service and way cheaper than AAA

 

How do you protect t it? Well, you get the car garaged, or....
But I'm just wondering. If the thief(ves) could cut off the catalyst, don't you think, the chain would be a child's play?
Maybe some early warning system, like an app wired to your phone and programmed with the O2S to alert you, or something?

 

A chain, collar or cable is just a delay. It may be all that is needed, but it may be useless. If the theft had taken an extra 5 minutes to execute and made a bit of extra noise, would that have made the difference?

If not, don't bother.

 

Insurance companies are such a rip off, congress needs to look at them thieves !!!

 

I would not only file a police report (if you have not already done so), but contact your local division and work with a Lead Officer. This person will collect any data and work with you directly to investigate if there is a pattern.

Reason is, this could be organized crime and if there is a pattern, they need to be aware of it. They can sometimes pin point which recycle or salvage yard is getting the parts and investigate from there.

Also you can email any division captain in the LAPD directly. THEY WILL RESPOND. If you feel your neighborhood is not safe, they can increase cop presence in that area for a period of time. But not many people want to see cops all the time in their area. So be careful what you ask for.

 

I would think the thiefs are operating with a vehicle: they would need to bring along a floor jack to get under a Prius. Maybe they would avoid cars parked on loose earth, hard to roll a jack?

 

no jack, nothing but a sawzall. They butcher your car in 30 seconds

 

I guess you can just reach under, within arm's reach.