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Catalytic converters stolen


Peter2673
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Hi

I had my catalytic converter stolen yesterday. The car has been recovered to home and I’ve informed the police but not yet spoken to insurance or Toyota dealer. 

My question is, do I put this through as an insurance claim and risk future premiums going up, or do I swallow hard and pay for a replacement myself? The AA man reckoned my insurer will probably write the car off (2012 Prius plug in, 98600 miles- I was looking forward to taking it past 100k).

A quick look on eBay reveals lots of vendors of used catalytic converters, but I fear buying from some eBay vendors is simply fuelling the market in stolen ones. 

Suggestions on how to manage this situation appreciated  

Pete


 

 

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Ouch Pete!

Condolences. 

I'd be more worried about possibly re-installing the same used Cat, if from eBay :D

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Hi,

Sorry to hear of your plight.

I have a vague notion that the Prius plug-in has slightly different exhaust to the regular model, if you were looking to buy secondhand it might be worth checking that out.

If I understand the situation correctly, the thieves have likely used a cordless saw to cut through your exhaust pipe at at least one convenient (to them) point.  If any secondhand advertised ones offered were stolen, then I think it should be evident that one end of the pipe has been sawn through rather than unbolted.  So a stolen cat. would need welding on to your remaining system to make it workable.

Excuse my prying but, where was the car parked when the exhaust was stolen? (Knowing the town would be useful too).

 

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Thanks Greg.

Aspects leisure park, Bedford, around 2pm Saturday. 

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As you are probably aware, the main dealer catalyst/exhaust prices have been lowered on Prius gen.2 and gen.3 etc. due to the thieving issue.  I think the prices were about 50%+ higher previously, and they still are in, say, France, where theft is not such a big problem, (although it is happening there).

As you are also probably aware, some of these parts now have a long delivery wait (up to 3 months?).  But if your system *is* different to a normal Prius then there may not be a 'back-order' problem for one you needed to order, but then again, Toyota may not have lowered the price as it is not in strong demand.

I have a recent link from this forum about aftermarket Toyota cats. that were in stock.  I'll see if I've saved it somewhere sensible.....

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Just to say this forum is brilliant- a very generous forum member popped round to my house to commiserate and help me inspect the damage- photos attached 🙂

IMG_4366.jpg

IMG_4365.jpg

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I cannot believe that there is not some to fix it in such a way to make it very difficult to remove - hardened steel bars around the cat bolted through the bodywork accessible only from inside the car,  the cat in a steel shroud, again only accessible from inside the car with a fan system to keep it cool if needed, - an alarm system fitted to the cat or removing the cat destroying it unless it is done in a particular way.  Best answer of course is 50k volts through the thing but that would put you in prison for not allowing it to be stolen and injuring/killing the thief!

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I thought they wouldn't bother with the Gen 3 and newer as access is restricted by the exhaust heat recovery system, but needless to say I was wrong. At least they didn't cut the coolant pipe!

I installed a Dashcam (front and rear) with hardwire kit so it can operate while parked - hopefully at the very least it is a deterrent...

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4 hours ago, Geoff P said:

I cannot believe that there is not some to fix it in such a way to make it very difficult to remove - hardened steel bars around the cat bolted through the bodywork accessible only from inside the car,  the cat in a steel shroud, again only accessible from inside the car with a fan system to keep it cool if needed, - an alarm system fitted to the cat or removing the cat destroying it unless it is done in a particular way.  Best answer of course is 50k volts through the thing but that would put you in prison for not allowing it to be stolen and injuring/killing the thief!

just wire it directly to the HV battery 😁

 

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Saw a masked guy looking into gen 4 car window, then got into an accomplice car and left. Not sure if they are about to thieve.

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6 hours ago, QuantumFireball said:

...I installed a dashcam (front and rear) with hardwire kit so it can operate while parked - hopefully at the very least it is a deterrent...

Any deterrent is better than none, but seeing this and other similar videos doing the rounds, I just wonder what it takes to deter these lowlifes...

 

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Have there been any reports of being stolen from a locked cat converter?

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Somewhere, among the many threads about this on here, a forum member reported that (a Toyota dealer had said??) yes, a catalyst had been stolen, despite it having a Catloc device fitted.

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I have not seen a catalyst anti-theft device close-up, just some pictures on this forum and on the internet (there are lots from the US).

From what I understand, where the catalyst is very exposed e.g. a Hilux pickup etc., then a locking device will surround the cat. with steel rope and clamps to prevent it from being taken away from the vehicle. 

On more regular passenger cars, I get the impression that fitting a substantial undertray to prevent access is a major part of the strategy, as well as a registration number engraving device for the outside of the catalyst 'can'.  There is probably something to prevent physical removal as well, as mentioned above.  Does anyone know, in broad terms, what this is, for say, a Prius?

If anyone thinks that that information is a bad idea on a forum, then I can understand that.

One forum member (was it someone called Joey???) described having to fit a huge number of anti-theft devices for a car hire company.  It read as if they were simple, cheap and custom made for that company.  Does anyone know anything about these?  He mentioned that he could fit one in about 8 minutes, if I remember correctly!  I haven't seen any posts from him recently.

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16 hours ago, PeteB said:

I just wonder what it takes to deter these lowlifes...

"The fear of getting caught" my old history teacher said, was one of the fundamental deterrents of Sir Robert Peel's original force.

If I see a policeman near where I live, then it's a special day.  Although to contradict myself, I do see high-speed-pursuit convoys up from the training school at Hendon, but they're just passing through....

But a beat bobby?  Or a patrol car slowly drifting around the town, having a nose about? Not for many years.  Even the few PCSOs that were based in this area were taken away years ago. The police role is mostly reactive now, it would seem.  That's not to criticise the police themselves at all, they are just hopelessly understaffed!

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9 minutes ago, QuantumFireball said:

Toyota GB are selling "Catloc" devices, which are available for certain models

Thanks for that.  I had looked through that page a while back, but there's no real description of what you are buying.  Perhaps if they did then it would be easier for the scumbags to get 'tooled-up' for?  

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I assume these are the suppliers of the device: http://catloc.co.uk/our-solution/

They say it takes 20 minutes to install. If it takes 20 minutes to remove (though I can't say regarding brute force methods), then it probably is an effective deterrent.

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This explains - some nuts break off leaving a cone-shaped cap which will be very hard to undo.

 

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 Back in March this year I had the cat stolen from my 2008 Prius.  It took a month to get the parts from Japan and installed.  I also paid for a Catloc to be fitted which cost £200.

Some time during last night/this morning the cat was stolen again while parked in my front garden.  So I have wasted £200 on the Catloc.  It's for you to decide if it's worth having one fitted.

I'm waiting to hear from my insurance company.

The car has been driven less than 70.000 miles and is in great condition.  It's a pleasure to drive, but now, once repaired it will have to go as I can no longer trust it.  Sad.

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It looks a complete waste of money to me.  They will probably just be cutting the thing out at either side.  These guys are thieves, they're not going to faff about with spanners, they'll just cut it.

Not a professional video either, why not use a proper spanner instead of a shifter?

And whoever was using the shifting spanner was using it the wrong way.

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There is a further knock-on to my having claimed on insurance for the two stolen Cats.

I thought that moving to an EV would be a smart move so I asked my insurance broker for a quote for a 5 year old  Nissan Leaf.  The quote came back at over £3500.

Wondering if a cheaper car would get a better response I then tried my household insurance company for a quote for a 10 year old Renault Clio. That came out at over £2000

Through no fault of my own I have been forced to give up driving.

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That's terrible, you have my sympathies.

Just as a suggestion, the Yaris hybrid has a catalytic converter that is integral to the exhaust manifold, so it is much, much harder to steal. It would be a bonnet-up job and take ages by comparison to your Mk2.  I have never heard of a cat. being stolen from a Yaris hybrid.  Perhaps others know different?

I wonder if the insurance quote is more competitive for that car?

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