Catalytic converter theft on new models?

[AKLZ]

Actually, I have an acquaintance who is a Toyota sales manager. I might ask him to ask his mechanic about the cats on the new Corollas, both 1.8 and 2.0L versions, just to see what he thinks about the location and ‘stealability’, and also what he makes of the photo above - which part has actually been stolen, and if it needs a whole entire new cat assembly to repair it. I’ll report back. 

[TonyHSD]

Yes it seems to me they nicked the second cat ( particulate filter like) which may have no value to them at all. Amateur job here, but  hey they have seen a Toyota hybrid, looked under and saw something that looks like a cat and cut it off,. That’s why I believe if you debadge a Prius they may just drive past and not bothering. 

Toyota fitted cat plates will be modification too then and also should be noted to the insurance company? 

[FROSTYBALLS]

14 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Toyota fitted cat plates will be modification too then and also should be noted to the insurance company? 

It will vary from insurer to insurer as to whether a cat protection device is a modification and whether the modification merits a premium increase. Best thing to do is to check with one's insurer.

[Gerg]

28 minutes ago, AKLZ said:

which part has actually been stolen

I'm not sure if this will help you at all.  I think that this shows the bit that has gone.  The picture is a bit close-up to get a proper perspective.  This picture was taken a good while back from a 1.8 that was in the showroom.  I was trying to work out the vulnerability to theft...

 

And this is the original picture of the OP, rotated through 90 degrees.

[greenwich676]

25 minutes ago, AKLZ said:

Actually, I have an acquaintance who is a Toyota sales manager. I might ask him to ask his mechanic about the cats on the new Corollas, both 1.8 and 2.0L versions, just to see what he thinks about the location and ‘stealability’, and also what he makes of the photo above - which part has actually been stolen, and if it needs a whole entire new cat assembly to repair it. I’ll report back

 

20 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

it seems to me they nicked the second cat ( particulate filter like) which may have no value to them at all.

Would be interested to get any confirmation on this as it would be a bit of peace of mind as to whether i should expect a return visit on repair of the car...!

[Parts-King]

I can't imagine why they would say a dash cam would be a notifiable mod, they offer discounts for dash cam fitting, they can't have it all ways, but yes, you must inform them of any modification 

[Parts-King]

Cat is at front of the front pipe, which is above that alloy looking beam, so if cut between cat and muffler, then its a new front pipe complete

[TonyHSD]

34 minutes ago, greenwich676 said:

 

Would be interested to get any confirmation on this as it would be a bit of peace of mind as to whether i should expect a return visit on repair of the car...!

They have taken what seems to be a muffler as showed from the diagram above,  definitely not the catalytic converter. 

[delbois]

Just a thought about Toyota's claim to have reduced the quantity of precious metals in the catalytic convertor by "up to 84%" in more recent hybrids, thereby making them less attractive to thieves .....how would a middleman accepting stolen cats from thieves, often for export to Eastern Europe for processing, know which type or age of vehicle it was removed from? If they can't tell the difference between an older and a modern model of cat wouldn't their value on the black market be the same and therefore be equally attractive to thieves. I'm guessing there's an obvious answer to this one. 

[Gerg]

After a few moments googling, I found this picture of a 1.8 Corolla manifold on eBay.  This makes things clearer. The heat shield that is prominent in the second picture (below) is missing on this, which helps to see what's going on, so the catalyst is part of the manifold.  For compactness, the 2nd oxygen sensor is on the next part of the pipe, after the joint, it seems., which is just visible in the OP's picture.

 

From the bonnet side, in situ, it looks like this, which doesn't give much away.

Toyota sell a Catloc for this model, I understand, if the next box in the exhaust after this cat. is simply a muffler, why do they sell that, when the catalyst in these pictures is clearly so inaccessible, making a Catloc largely redundant?

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 hour ago, delbois said:

Just a thought about Toyota's claim to have reduced the quantity of precious metals in the catalytic convertor by "up to 84%" in more recent hybrids, thereby making them less attractive to thieves .....how would a middleman accepting stolen cats from thieves, often for export to Eastern Europe for processing, know which type or age of vehicle it was removed from? If they can't tell the difference between an older and a modern model of cat wouldn't their value on the black market be the same and therefore be equally attractive to thieves. I'm guessing there's an obvious answer to this one.

Before this reduction, Toyota also introduced 20% smaller cats with 20%  containing fewer precious metals in 2017. So presumably the newer cats are physically smaller than those in models before 2017, which seem to be the ones being targeted: 

https://global.toyota/en/detail/15121501

[greenwich676]

4 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

They have taken what seems to be a muffler as showed from the diagram above,  definitely not the catalytic converter. 

I see in a post below Tony you have highlighted the likely exact part that has been stolen as 'not cat'

https

I guess the AA guy who had a look assumed it was the cat. I will give the garage a ring tomorrow to confirm what part it is they are replacing. even so - if it looks like a cat someone may cause damage to the car to make a quick buck.

Maybe I need to get a sticker for the replacement saying 'I am not a cat.' (pun intended)

[TonyHSD]

Pictures shared above  shows that this what was stolen from the car is not the main catalytic converter. The main cat is welded to the exhaust manifold, and this is something else, second cat or perhaps ppf petrol particulate filter or just a muffler, fig 17410,   usually on the previous generation hybrids they steal both cat and this second “cat” . together with oxygen sensor. Now we can see they had cut the pipe just after the O2 sensor. Always before the catalytic converter is located air fuel mixture sensor and after the cat is located the oxygen sensor. , and then it’s the thing that got stolen, perhaps secondary catalytic converter, I don’t know. 

[Gerg]

This idea may get torched, but, just to explain away, why I was vague in an earlier post about what I thought the purpose was of the second exhaust box, (i.e.  catalyst or silencer?) - if you can look beyond the fact that this aftermarket parts diagram is for a Lexus GS450h, then you'll see that each bank of 3 cylinders, (that engine is a 3.5 V6, so 1750 cc per bank) is showing as having two catalysts per bank - four in total.  

These secondary catalysts do get stolen, as they do on the Lexus RX series, which has a similar arrangement.  The primary ones don't, as I understand it.

I have put up this spare parts link as this diagram is clearer than Lexus's own one.  The part I am referring to is LEX5007H.

https://www.onlineautomotive.co.uk/car-parts/Lexus/GS450H/Exhausts/Exhaust-System?utm_source=LexusOwnersClubUK&utm_medium=ForumLinks

A quick glance up the pipe of the new, yet to be supplied, item will reveal all, and before that, the price will probably give a clue as to what's in the stolen part...

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, Gerg said:

This idea may get torched, but, just to explain away, why I was vague in an earlier post about what I thought the purpose was of the second exhaust box, (i.e.  catalyst or silencer?) - if you can look beyond the fact that this aftermarket parts diagram is for a Lexus GS450h, then you'll see that each bank of 3 cylinders, (that engine is a 3.5 V6, so 1750 cc per bank) is showing as having two catalysts per bank - four in total.  

These secondary catalysts do get stolen, as they do on the Lexus RX series, which has a similar arrangement.  The primary ones don't, as I understand it.

I have put up this spare parts link as this diagram is clearer than Lexus's own one.  The part I am referring to is LEX5007H.

https://www.onlineautomotive.co.uk/car-parts/Lexus/GS450H/Exhausts/Exhaust-System?utm_source=LexusOwnersClubUK&utm_medium=ForumLinks

A quick glance up the pipe of the new, yet to be supplied, item will reveal all, and before that, the price will probably give a clue as to what's in the stolen part...

That’s interesting, but what would it be inside this second box, something similar to the main cats perhaps if they getting these, I thought they just cut them because it’s easier and not because they need it. Here in gen 3 and what they had taken away from our car was the first two boxes. , the cat and whatever is the second one. Honda jazz does have only one cat but it’s highly popular for nicks. 
https://www.onlineautomotive.co.uk/car-parts/Toyota/Auris/1.8L/Petrol/Premium/Exhausts/Catalytic-Converters/TOY1121H/1/40?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_rb-7-Lc7wIVBs13Ch3pQgrFEAQYBCABEgLwK_D_BwE

also on gen 3 hybrids they need to remove box 2 to take away the box 1, and in Corolla and all gen4 hybrids they can only take box 2, but not no box 1, now it makes sense to me why they did cut the thing from a chr that was parked next to ours, 2 is more than 1. 😂

If someone can rise a question to Toyota., what is this box 2 !? And if it’s not a catalytic converter why does it gets stolen? Since Toyota techs are saying cats are located closer to the engine, welded as we can see but are they more cats along the exhaust pipes that if yes obviously left unprotected. The eBay cat plates cover exactly this second box. 👍

[Auris2010]

So how much is the  catlock for corolla hybrid 2019 2.0l?

[Catlover]

Toyota charge what seems to be a standard £250.  Get a cat plate off Ebay starting about £30 and either fit yourself or get your local garage to fit for a few quid.

[barrycoll]

Oh dear, I have a 2.0 on order for May, and my neighbor was very keen on buying our 2017 Prius.....until they heard about the Cat Scam!

has anybody seen a 2.0 on a hoist, and can comment on the location of the Cat, and whether it is different to the 1.8???

my Toy dealer is now putting up notices in the showroom, offering a fitment of a cat-lock

just asked Toyota to fit a Cat lock to new 2.0 Corolla, but none available until July....

......I wonder why?

 

[Snowstorm3611]

Woke up this morning to find a big hole where my cat used to be. Annoyingly it’s on the Auris that is being traded in for my new Corolla in 3 weeks time. Apparently they cut through the exhaust, cut the wires & unbolted it outside my house while I slept!!  
Now concerned about how safe the cat on my new car will be?

[potblack2win]

Here we go guys:

Just came across this Facebook post online - Click the link for the full res images

https://www.facebook.com/crallenandsons/posts/4665534906854829/ 

[FROSTYBALLS]

38 minutes ago, potblack2win said:

Here we go guys:

Just came across this Facebook post online - Click the link for the full res images

https://www.facebook.com/crallenandsons/posts/4665534906854829/ 

That is a Toyota Auris - speaks volumes if they cannot even get the model right !!

All they need to do is look at the Auris Badge on the back

[Rambler56]

11 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

That is a Toyota Auris - speaks volumes if they cannot even get the model right !!

All they need to do is look at the Auris badge on the back

Maybe the garage in question did not 'know' where to look (sorry for the poor pun)😉

[TonyHSD]

Just watched this video and would like to share with you, all Corolla owners to see how your cars look underneath. 

 

[Luke717]

This press release yesterday May 13 from Toyota UK is good news for owners of older cars - https://media.toyota.co.uk/2021/05/toyota-to-covertly-mark-more-than-100000-catalytic-converters-to-combat-theft/

Notable:

Quote

Toyota has also restarted production lines in Japan and France that made catalysts for many of the older models targeted in order to supply affected owners, developed a Catloc security device which helps deter theft (and has been granted a “Sold Secure with Gold Status” security ranking) and ensured it makes no profit at all from the sale of replacement catalysts or from Catlocs, providing them at cost.

 

[Dr Balls]

On 5/14/2021 at 6:18 PM, Luke717 said:

This press release yesterday May 13 from Toyota UK is good news for owners of older cars - https://media.toyota.co.uk/2021/05/toyota-to-covertly-mark-more-than-100000-catalytic-converters-to-combat-theft/

Notable:

 

Just a shame that mine got stolen from my 64 plate Toyota Auris estate while it was parked outside my house 2 weeks ago. Took them less then a minute to saw it off so no chance of catching them!