Nope. Probably not. I cannot believe how brazenly they go about their theft.....quite disturbing to see! iPhone ? Pro
Greetings I have just discovered my catalytic converter has been stolen from my 2006 Prius This happened in NW9 London I am getting it repaired and will trade it in for something 100% electric. ADINUF
Funny you should say that.....I’ve had a Dashcam rigged up with a Portable USB Battery Power Pack, and had it running in “The Spaceship” for the past couple of nights where it’s safely parked off street. The Catalytic Converter thefts from Gen 2 Prii are continuing unabated in London; I personally heard of two more today. All from the public road / car park locations. I also heard from a reliable source, that NHS hospital car parks are being insidiously targeted. Horrendous state of affairs. Still no official warning from the police to the general public either. These parasites are going around dressed loosely as automobile mechanics; they just rock up to a Prius looking all official and do their stuff unchallenged. I guess the public are not being warned so these brazen bastards don’t end up being lynched on sight. Gotta respect THEIR human rights y’know....
These six guys were sentenced to 3 years in 2014, for stealing catalytic converters These guys are not foreigners .
Sorry to hear that, Mario65 . Looks like all Prius Gen 2 owners are under siege at the moment, and our law enforcement do not seem capable or indeed, bothered about PROTECTING and SERVING us. Their lack of any audible or visible response in this matter leads me to that conclusion. This was stolen from your driveway?!! Did the dastardly theft take place during the day or during the night? Did you (or any of the neighbours) have any CCTV running? Did anybody see anything at all? What area of London did this happen? Please ensure you inform the Police, regardless of their response - this has to be documented. Fingers crossed, they’re actually doing something about this behind the scenes, and that’s why they’re being “oh, so quiet” about this virulent epidemic of Catalytic Converter thefts exclusively against Generation 2 Prii (2003 - 2009).....but.....having had my fingers burnt...(metaphorically speaking).....I’m kinda not holding my breath. Please let me know how much it costs you to replace it, and what you’ll be doing to protect it - at least till you upgrade to an all electric vehicle. I’m dreaming up multiple new ways to protect my newly replaced CAT, but they all involve the “sudden and rather gory / painful / slow / excruciating death” of the thief trying to steal it.....and I’m advised by all and sundry that it would be breaking the human rights of any prospective parasite....er.....thief. Realistically, a Catalytic Converter protection alarm, plus a CATLOC cage or two, might disuade these professional platinum stealing gangs.....or not. At the rate they’re carrying on, they’ll soon be impersonating policemen, stopping Prii in the streets, and beating up the drivers before stealing the whole vehicle......after all, who is going to stop them? iPad ? Pro
About time the police set up a stinger Prius rigged with cameras and tracker, what am I talking about? Police doing something pro-active? Maybe if they started stealing them from police cars. I can't really blame the police in London they are undermanned underpaid and probably have much worse to deal with.
You are absolutely right. They’re understaffed, underfunded, they’ve been virtually neutered (think toothless bulldog) - the question is why has this been done to them? And why did they allow it to happen? London has literally fallen. The end result includes our lovely Prii being made extinct by parasitic predators who wouldn’t last a week in any other city in the world, pulling off such a vicious caper. iPad ? Pro
When I had my 2004 (now my sons car) I fitted a brace to stiffen up the chassis I am sure it covered the CAT or most of it, if fitted with Allen bolts and then drilled once torqued up, you wouldn't be able to remove that in a hurry without workshop facilities. It and the strut brace made the car handle much better too, probably why I had that car 10 years. I think she has some 300,000 miles on her now and still going strong
I could only find a 2010 Prius mid brace photo and they are now open ironically for good access I might have to bolt a plate of aluminium to it from above. Improvements to handling aero and CAT security in one, what do you guys think?
A structural integrity brace that also makes it difficult to remove the CAT without access to “Starbase Facilities” - killing two birds with one stone; I like that idea very much. If only I could find someone willing and eager to fit a brace - or better still, a whole plate of sheet metal that would be an absolute PAIN to get off....(45 minutes of working quickly, peppered with broken fingernails, crushed fingers and lots of swearing) iPad ? Pro
That....looks good, and has great potential! If there was one for a Prius 2, a bit of welding and that would be the perfect cage iPad ? Pro
Might save them from extinction! I fitted mine in less than an hour but that was nearly 10 years ago, I think I am still up to it but if you wanted I am sure you could find a local garage that would roll an Aluminium sheet over the bars then drill and bolt them for you while fitting. Not sure that sort of garage would be in London though
There are gen 2 braces out there Chassis Brace is a Prius MUST HAVE! | Page 10 | PriusChat check out this thread you might have to import one or buy through ebay though
So this happened to me on 6 December. 2004 prius tspirit 123000 miles. Parked on the street outside our house in broad daylight. Insurance have considered car an economic write off. So now in process of negotiating retaining car. Insurance offered me £2450 to scrap it. I'm asking for a price that allows me to keep it as local garage have quoted £580 to repair. Toyota wanted £2500! I find it disappointing that insurance companies will scrap a car rather than review the cost of repair. It's a total nightmare to a) be the victim of a scumbag thief and b) have to navigate the ludicrous write off but we'll pay you anyway if you fix it yourself insurance scam. I'll keep you posted as to how much the insurance co will pay me to keep my own car for a relatively cheap repair. In the meantime if you see anyone tampering with cars in the street take photos and call the cops
I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been a victim of this professional gang of Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium (rare precious metals) harvesters (sodding thieving parasites), who have turned London Gen 2 Prius vehicles into a goldmine waiting to be freely exploited without hindrance. Yup, buy it back and fix it. The Prius is too valuable to throw away . Especially when it didn’t completely die on you, but was insidiously disabled by parasitic scumbags with delusions of grandeur, who genuinely believe they’re at the top of the human predatory food chain. May their eventual demises be slow and exquisitely painful . The real worry, once you’re up and running again, would be......how do you prevent it from happening again......while staying within the law (that is NOT there to protect you against this kind of crime?) iPhone ? Pro
My car is back on the road again. I didn't really have any option except to fix it because Hastings Direct valued it at £2900 which isn't enough to buy another leather T-spirit. I will be trying to get an Ombudsman to help me get a realistic valuation agreed. The Insurance valuer valued the car at £495 as salvage. But Hastings Direct are now trying to charge me a lot more for my car calling it a "retention fee". I found a second hand Gen 2 exhaust on ebay. Unfortunately although it looked ok - from what i could see down the pipe - I am only getting 35 mpg instead of 45-50mpg before. Perhaps I need to invest another £130 on a genuine Toyota O2 sensor. The one I got had different colour wires. Anyone got any advice? The Lewisham PC got back to me, he talked to the witnesses but didn't get a description and without video or photos has stopped investigating.