Today at work out in the machine shop I heard a guy yelling and opening the large bay door. Several guys rushed out to help fend off a thief that backed his truck up to our shop door to block the door from opening, then proceeded to jack up his Prius and was attempting to saw off the catalytic converter in broad daylight in a busy parking lot with a busy street next to it. These guys are bold and careless druggies and they know with Covid they will not stay in jail more than a couple days and they are ripping off many! I read the RX and especially Hybrid are a top 5 target according to articles I've read. #1 is Prius #2 is Honda Element

This is from a local article I was reading today about the increase in thefts.
"In 2019, there were 24 reported thefts of catalytic converters in the Seattle area. In 2020, that number jumped up to roughly 950 thefts. That doesn’t include the thefts that were not reported to law enforcement."

So let this serve as a warning on a potentially very expensive loss (over $2,000), and also a discussion if anyone has taken measures to prevent this? I see there are several options, 1) being a guard you can bolt over it that has special bolts to slow them way down.

https://www.kuow.org/stories/your-pr...onverter-theft

 

I can't believe this topic has not been discussed on here yet. Cat converters contain rhodium, an element that increased in price tenfold since last year, from roughly $3k per ounce to $30k per ounce. According to my mechanic, a Prius exhaust is worth $1,500 at a scrap yard.

The price of steel almost tripled since last year, price of glass up 50%, there is chip shortage, and the price of elements for cat converters is skyrocketing. Expect cars to become a lot more expensive very soon.

 

My employee’s Prius also got his cat stolen about two months ago. It’s ridiculous.

 

Vehicle registration papers and licence at the buyers end would stop this.

 

junk yards don’t ask questions.

 

One thing to note is that insurance should cover these losses.

 

minus deductibles, and guess what then happens to rates.

 

I wonder how I would get some thieves to come to my house and steal my SCR and DPF.....

 

Some junkyards and recyclers will check for VINs and/or license plate numbers etched into the cat to turn away thieves, but most places don't care because its money in their pocket either way.

To prevent this from happening to your vehicle, you can get your cat etched with your VIN or license plate, or have a shop weld a cage made of rebar around the cat, or buy a cage or shield and have it attached to the frame to make it more difficult to steal.

Thieves are becoming more brazen as shown in the OP, so the best way to protect your car from this type of theft is to park inside a garage.

 

Well, $500 deductible is better than 2 grand. Any decent insurance won't raise your rates because of a theft. Hell I had an actual claim where I backed into my truck and did $4k damage to the rear bumper of my LS430, insurance didn't go up a penny.

 

Yes but that will cost you the comprehensive deductible which for many is $500-$1000

Beyond that, the Prius is on back order (not available) because so many are getting stolen, and that means a rental car for possibly months.

 

Sounds good but they are doing this in broad daylight! In our case he was at work, no garage. People need to go to the store, movie theater, ect and people need to live their lives too.

 

 

I agree, but if you want to protect against catalytic converter theft, the best way is make the cat as inaccessible as possible. Parking it inside a locked garage is one way. Another is fitting your car with air suspension so you can lower the suspension and reduce the space underneath the car. Obviously this isn't an ideal or cost-effective solution, but it would work if you needed to park outside. A shield or cage would be a better option in that case, as mentioned in the video above.

 

Here in CA, theft crime is up all over. Since props 47 and 57 passed, everything increased immediately. There is little to no consequence, just catch and release. We will all pay for it once again through rates and repairs.