The cheapest non-DIY way to prevent Catalytic Converter theft?

It said "Non diy", so my first thought was that you should buy one of those oversized cookie sheets that they sell to catch oil drips. They are about 2 foot wide and 3 or 4 feet long.

Attach that to the ground where you park with a couple of concrete nails or just a tube of epoxy. Fill it with oil and sprinkle cat litter in it. Park right over the pan. The end result should be a pan of oily goop right where the thief would be working. Uncomfortable and messy at the same time. That should persuade the thief to find a neighbor who takes better care of his car.

Dan

 

My question still is - have any Gen 4 Cat Converters ever been stolen:

 

Good question. I haven't seen any reports here or on r / Prius yet. I still got my Cat Shield, tho.

 

Yes, I wonder how they'd possibly get it out - I had a look under and it would need a more determined effort - and long enough to do some serious dismantling?

 

Not sure but I wasn't willing to find out:

What did you do to your Prime today?

They should look elsewhere for an easier mark.

 

My thought is why not get a super loud and annoying motion alarm that would scare the bejeezus out of anyone trying to tamper with the car?

 

Get an estimate from a muffler shop for welding bar stock (square metal) or rebar to the pipes. This will make it much more difficult for thieves to cut through.

In most areas this should be a $100 fix.

Don't know about SF.

@Mendel Leisk suggested bolting a bunch of pipe hangers onto the pipes to make them harder to cut through, and while this is normally a DIY fix, I'm sure that a muffler shop would be happy to install them for you.

The idea is to turn a 60-second cut job into a 5-10 minute grinding operation.

Me?
I'm not sure that i would want to be under a car trying to saw through a 1-inch stainless stainless bar at 0300 on the side of the road......

 

It's all about cheap, quick and easy.

There is no need to paint the hidden converter. The orange painted visible part of the converter and exhaust might be enough to make the thief to go elsewhere, before even starting to remove it.

 

Unfortunately, I just watched a YT video in which a thief is recorded stealing a cat even while the alarm is going off. They are willing to put up with it for the 2 minutes the theft typically takes.
(Also keep in mind many car alarms are too sensitive and go off if someone even passes by too closely, and your neighbors will typically ignore an alarm in certain areas, especially if some idiots set their alarms to just ring until shut off -- you turn your music up and drown it out.)

 

It would be MUCH harder to take the Gen 4s' cats. Honestly, my bigger concern than a successful theft is you get an idiot that thinks it's the same operation as stealing from a Gen 2 or 3, tries to dink around, and ends up cutting and damaging some of the accessible parts.

My Prius is lifted so it's easier to shimmy under or take a look under. I'm pleased that the glinting of the metal shield is visible. I'm hoping that the security stickers on the side, the visible shield, will make them simply walk away.

I don't like to think this way, but it's also the reason I have a club on my steering wheel. Yes, the true pro thief will get my car if he wants it. The average thief will see my club, see my shield, and move onto the next target.

 

I love that cat! I want a cat guard like that.

 

I love that cat. Best Cat-Guard ever!

 

The front cat is integrated into the exhaust manifold and very difficult to access and to cut out. The rear one, however, is easy as the one on a Gen 2 Prius to riff off.

 

So thieves might just take the more accessible one.

When I swap to/from snow tires I do 4-point safety stand support. Maybe this spring I’ll use the 6 tonners instead of 3 ton, get more lift and have a look. Expanded metal mesh seems interesting.

 

That is the greatest gif I've seen today!

 

Except its a much smaller (worth much less?) one than a Gen2 - so probably not worth the effort.

 

This is my Gen 4 Cat shield -- that's the muffler at the bottom, right? Meaning my two cats are now covered?

 

Pure speculation: I wonder if it depends on the organized cat theft ring and their focus. E.g., if you're stealing to resell to the car parts market, then a Gen 4 is worth a lot to an owner who needs their car operational. But if it's for the valuable metals, these thieves probably know the exact amount that can be extracted from each one / each gen / model.

 

A gen 4 car is far more likely to have comprehensive insurance in effect during theft. The replacement part is readily available, and the whole fleet of them are still valuable enough (vs. depreciation) that insurance is likely to repair every single one of them for any damage occurring in the next couple of years at least.

Thus my gut says this is strictly about metal value. They want the big oversized converters from older models, and they're filling containers that will be unloaded in other countries where nobody cares about the funny artwork engraved in.

If this were about reselling the converters to be used (again) as converters, they'd be targeting newer models because they want customers with money or insurance benefits to burn. And if they were really smart, they'd pick a common new model with constrained spare parts availability.

I honestly don't think any "small-cat" Prius owner needs to worry at this point. If they come for my converter it'll be after they got the F-150 next door and the Camry across the way.

 

The thing to keep in mind - nobody has been able to point to any instances of Gen 4 having been targeted. Only Gen 2 and 3.