Cat theft on the rise!

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Hi Everybody,

Re.the Avensis T27 models, as my other half owns, are the catalytic converters easy to steal?

I'm worried for my toyota aygo and him his avensis for their has been a rise in thefts here in leicester. 

Other than security mark them which I feel is pointless..theres not much else in terms of protection...oh yes I hear Toyota are the 1st to invent a CAT LOCK...but at 200 to 250 they're pretty expensive imo...and I'm unsure what models they cover!

From what I recall the t27 models have the cat situated right at the back under the bulk head so he might be ok...worrying stuff guys!

[Konrad C]

Sam, you can relax, sort of. I have been following this catalytic converter theft for a while and know two people who have been victims, plus other information from people who witnessed it happening. I have not heard of any Avensis to date! The Avensis are mainly diesel and you don't what engine is under a  Mk3 bonnet, and the Avensis as we all know, don't have a hybrid version. The exhaust layout of the diesel make it hard to steal, let alone quickly. Probably why the Avensis is not a prime target like the Prius.
The cars targeted in the Toyota/Lexus range are mostly hybrid, with the exception being the Yaris (I have not heard of a Yaris being a victim!). Prius is the most targeted, then the Auris and CT200h which have similar exhaust layout to the Prius. 
My friend Waqar has had the catalytic converter stolen from his Prius Mk2 just before Christmas. He also has a '04 Honda Jazz which is also high on the cat' theft list. Only weeks ago I was present when a resident of a retirement home was told by the RAC man that his cat' was stolen, along with the O2 sensor from his Jazz. 
In the Auris forum, one idea would be to de-badge the car, by removing the hybrid badges. For security the Catloc is mentioned and plate or shielding to deter the thieves.
I could go on, but until there is a report that an Avensis has been a victim, I wouldn't worry to much.    

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

1 hour ago, Konrad C said:

Sam, you can relax, sort of. I have been following this catalytic converter theft for a while and know two people who have been victims, plus other information from people who witnessed it happening. I have not heard of any Avensis to date! The Avensis are mainly diesel and you don't what engine is under a  Mk3 bonnet, and the Avensis as we all know, don't have a hybrid version. The exhaust layout of the diesel make it hard to steal, let alone quickly. Probably why the Avensis is not a prime target like the Prius.
The cars targeted in the Toyota/Lexus range are mostly hybrid, with the exception being the Yaris (I have not heard of a Yaris being a victim!). Prius is the most targeted, then the Auris and CT200h which have similar exhaust layout to the Prius. 
My friend Waqar has had the catalytic converter stolen from his Prius Mk2 just before Christmas. He also has a '04 Honda Jazz which is also high on the cat' theft list. Only weeks ago I was present when a resident of a retirement home was told by the RAC man that his cat' was stolen, along with the O2 sensor from his Jazz. 
In the Auris forum, one idea would be to de-badge the car, by removing the hybrid badges. For security the Catloc is mentioned and plate or shielding to deter the thieves.
I could go on, but until there is a report that an Avensis has been a victim, I wouldn't worry to much.    

Interesting read, cheers mate, feel a bit better now, I do wonder why they target the jazz though and whats so special about that tiny vehicle? Prius I can understand as well as the ct200s.
 

 

[stevecrvn]

1 hour ago, Konrad C said:

Sam, you can relax, sort of. I have been following this catalytic converter theft for a while and know two people who have been victims, plus other information from people who witnessed it happening. I have not heard of any Avensis to date! The Avensis are mainly diesel and you don't what engine is under a  Mk3 bonnet, and the Avensis as we all know, don't have a hybrid version. The exhaust layout of the diesel make it hard to steal, let alone quickly. Probably why the Avensis is not a prime target like the Prius.
The cars targeted in the Toyota/Lexus range are mostly hybrid, with the exception being the Yaris (I have not heard of a Yaris being a victim!). Prius is the most targeted, then the Auris and CT200h which have similar exhaust layout to the Prius. 
My friend Waqar has had the catalytic converter stolen from his Prius Mk2 just before Christmas. He also has a '04 Honda Jazz which is also high on the cat' theft list. Only weeks ago I was present when a resident of a retirement home was told by the RAC man that his cat' was stolen, along with the O2 sensor from his Jazz. 
In the Auris forum, one idea would be to de-badge the car, by removing the hybrid badges. For security the Catloc is mentioned and plate or shielding to deter the thieves.
I could go on, but until there is a report that an Avensis has been a victim, I wouldn't worry to much.    

I think the Yaris hybrid has been untouched so far due the the position of the Cat . Its too awkward to remove quickly

[Steve Ovell]

I had my catalytic converter stolen outside my workplace on sunday night. I'm absolutely gutted, angry and scared its gonna happen again if and when I get it repaired, damage depending. I urge all of you to try and find some way to prevent the theft or delay the time it takes to remove them, as if they'd been a couple mins later, we would have caught them!

[2009joe]

On 2/14/2020 at 6:55 PM, SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS said:

Hi Everybody,

Re.the Avensis T27 models, as my other half owns, are the catalytic converters easy to steal?

I'm worried for my toyota aygo and him his avensis for their has been a rise in thefts here in leicester. 

Other than security mark them which I feel is pointless..theres not much else in terms of protection...oh yes I hear Toyota are the 1st to invent a CAT LOCK...but at 200 to 250 they're pretty expensive imo...and I'm unsure what models they cover!

From what I recall the t27 models have the cat situated right at the back under the bulk head so he might be ok...worrying stuff guys!

i heart there is steps that will slow down the thief like there are cat anti theft things u can put on plus weld plates around the cat making it harder all sounds like a good idea that i would think would be a great idea  

 

 

 

[Konrad C]

8 hours ago, Steve Ovell said:

I had my catalytic converter stolen outside my workplace on sunday night. I'm absolutely gutted, angry and scared its gonna happen again if and when I get it repaired, damage depending. I urge all of you to try and find some way to prevent the theft or delay the time it takes to remove them, as if they'd been a couple mins later, we would have caught them!

Hi Steve, Sorry and gutted for that this has happened. What engine is your Avensis (going by your info)? I hope you are sorted soon and some form protection specifically for the Avensis. My friend who had his cat stolen from his Gen 2 Prius, had a shield fitted after replacement. He has since changed to a Gen 3 Prius, and had a shield fitted straight away. The police have been making inroads catching the thieves, with stops of suspious vehicles and feedback from the public. 

[TonyHSD]

Yes, best protection is a cat plate like on Prius/Auris, if the Avensis is 1.6 or 1.8 petrol the exhaust layout is very similar to hybrids and an easy target. Previously I was thinking that only hybrids are affected but since I have seen a video that thieves cut from two cars parked one next to other, one hybrid and one 1.6 petrol Auris it is obvious that they target these cars because how easy is to take the cat away not because has more precious metals or anything, sometimes those idiots just cut middle silencers or particulate filters thinking they have the cats. Metal traders are to blame as they are pushing low lives to steal from peoples cars. With the current war in Ukraine there is very high demand for metals used to produce cats and batteries for vehicles and so the high numbers of cat and hybrid Battery thefts. 🤐😞

[Steve Ovell]

9 hours ago, Konrad C said:

Hi Steve, Sorry and gutted for that this has happened. What engine is your Avensis (going by your info)? I hope you are sorted soon and some form protection specifically for the Avensis. My friend who had his cat stolen from his Gen 2 Prius, had a shield fitted after replacement. He has since changed to a Gen 3 Prius, and had a shield fitted straight away. The police have been making inroads catching the thieves, with stops of suspious vehicles and feedback from the public. 

Hi guys, thanks for all your feedback. Yep she's an Avensis T27,  only had her a year and got her cause of low mileage (50,000 below the years average)

I love my car and hope she can get a new cat on and be fine again. Funny enough this week I'd only upgraded the radio to a lovely spanky Pioneer system, so I really hope she can be repaired. 

I'm gonna look into security like plate underneath to delay the pikey low lifes from smash n grabbin the cat. I've seen Catshark exhaust alarms, but dunno how good these are?

Thank you all for your replies!

Steve 

[Catlover]

Get a VERY loud horn linked to a movement detector, such that when the tea leaf gets under and a hand goes near the cat the horn blasts off. The scumbag will jump a mile, hopefully bang their head and knock themselves unconscious. 😁

[2009joe]

5 hours ago, Steve Ovell said:

Hi guys, thanks for all your feedback. Yep she's an Avensis T27,  only had her a year and got her cause of low mileage (50,000 below the years average)

I love my car and hope she can get a new cat on and be fine again. Funny enough this week I'd only upgraded the radio to a lovely spanky Pioneer system, so I really hope she can be repaired. 

I'm gonna look into security like plate underneath to delay the pikey low lifes from smash n grabbin the cat. I've seen Catshark exhaust alarms, but dunno how good these are?

Thank you all for your replies!

Steve 

how u know they are pikey that take your cats by chance u see who they were 

[Steve Ovell]

Sorry in previous post I made, I automatically blamed 'pikeys' as I said, but it could have been any low life scum sucking son of a gun that swiped my catalytic converter.

Apologies to anyone who may have taken offence to my comment, but no apologies to the utter c**t that nicked it!!

[Steve Ovell]

Update on the cat situation, she's repairable thank god as the nice thieves made a very clean cut, so it's just a new cat and fixings, oh how nice of them! 🤨

I'm not going through insurance as my no claims ain't protected and it'll push my policy RIGHT up!!

Downside is that there is no aftermarket cat for my Avensis T27, so its gotta comes directly from Toyota and is an original, so costs a packet!

On the plus side I'm gonna have a very nifty security system installed when she is fixed, and any future thief will have quite a shock if they try and steal the cat again! 😉

[Steve Ovell]

Oh by the way...the police don't wanna know at all, they say there is "no line of enquiry" they can follow.

I made my own enquiries and turns out one of the other units CCTV was recording that night, and they may have the footage. 

I told the police this and they said if it's not showing them directly and clearly taking the catalytic converter then the footage is useless! 

To which I said my work colleague saw them pulling away at speed in a small white car with no lights on (so he couldn't get registration), if the CCTV footage shows a small white car speeding off with no lights on...THAT'LL BE THEM!! and you may be able to obtain the registration on the infrared night vision the cameras have, and might glimpse driver and passengers if any!

My friend who is in the police is disgusted by their attitude, and reckons I should make a complaint.

[Cyker]

Yeah that's a fairly typical attitude with London police too - Unless you're literally being murdered or cycling on the pavement they don't give a toss. I've seen people blatantly drive through red lights in front of a patrol car. It's like, unless you can hand the perp to them on a platter with air tight evidence so they don't have to do any work, they're not interested.

To be fair I don't blame them completely; The force in London has been decimated by government and KHAAAAN!! (Yes, the mayor that just keeps giving!) and they've been cut to the bone. Since he's been in power the majority of police stations in the capital have been closed down (Except in the rich areas obviously), so they're having to prioritize only the most serious crimes, and whatever flavour-of-the-month pet crimes the higher ups went to target (e.g. scooters and mobile phones, but not speeding or the afore mentioned redlight jumpers).

Theft is rife as it's not a high priority - Not just cars but houses too - and gets trumped by all the violent and knife crimes.

I sometimes feel it's amazing the mafia or something hasn't tried to take over, because it has that vibe some days!

 

[flash22]

27 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Theft is rife as it's not a high priority - Not just cars but houses too - and gets trumped by all the violent and knife crimes.

 

 

Agreed, the police set it as a low priority unless someone gets hurt, a farmer comes out with a shot pew, pew and does some damage then it's national news

Anyway, i digress

[Cyker]

Yeah... although if the getaway driver was on their phone then you might see the whole patrol car and helicopter chase sequence on police camera action!