Catalytic converter theft

[Rolando1]

Thanks for raising awareness of this petition. Signed. It's a long shot to hit 10k but fingers crossed.

[st901]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9525119/Thieves-threaten-Bristol-couple-stealing-catalytic-converter.html

Terrifying moment masked man charges at couple with a drill when they confront thieves trying to steal their car's catalytic converter
The thieves jacked up the Toyota Prius on the driveway on the outskirts of Bristol
Marta Fernandez-Anaes and Amjad Reza Mehdi could hear the noise of the theft 
The thieves caused an estimated £1,500 in damage during the theft on April 26

[BhxTrev]

I’ve signed the petition & I hope we manage to get the necessary 10,000 signatures to get the government to discuss it. However, so far I’ve not had my cat stolen though I did get a catloc fitted by my Toyota garage. If my cat should get stolen & I have to replace it at great cost I would firmly blame the law in this country that’s completely ignoring the seriousness of this crime.

Cats were introduced by governments way back to combat car exhaust pollution of the air. If I want to drive a normal/hybrid car I have no alternative by law other than to have a working cat fitted. The government therefore, must have the responsibility that as a law abiding citizen, complying with the law, any theft of my cat should be compensated from the victim of crimes fund & I should be fully refunded for the theft.

This should be the case for all victims of this crime. This would certainly concentrate the government & the police on dealing properly with the scum that commit this horrendous crime. It’s time something was done to protect the innocent motorist FOR A CHANGE!

[Catlover]

You bang on correct Trevor. Seems everyone wants to blame the car manufacturer for poor design. Its not just Toyota cars being targetted, all vehicles have a cat (but not electric vehicles, just in case there is a smarty ofn the forum), the thieves are the problem. There is no disincentive to behave. They theive the goods from cars, no one interfers with them doing this (no one dares as they probably get whacked or slashed), and there seems to be a good outlet for the stolen goods in some EU countries.  Police do not appear to be interested (though I have read of one or two convictions) maybe because of lack of time. 

I know there is this petition, and everyone should sign it, but i reckon most of this forum do not know it exists, so how is it going to get signed? I could suggest each write to their own MP, but if people dont know there is a petition going, how they going to know who there MP is.  So it looks like a lost cause, things will carry on as they have done, every couple weeks some poor car owner pops up on the forum telling the tale how their cat has been stolen, almost £2000 gone, and 2 month wait to get it replaced, with increased insurance premiums.  It should not be so......

[Chris Dance]

A general attitude I have encountered is the fact that you are insured you are covered for cat theft or you should not have bought a car knowing it was at risk to this type of theft. With this attitude I doubt 10,000 signatures will be achieved. 

I was told by my Toyota dealer that all the police do is issue with a crime certificate if your Cat is stolen.  Sorry state of affairs!!

[FROSTYBALLS]

13 hours ago, BhxTrev said:

I hope we manage to get the necessary 10,000 signatures to get the government to discuss it.

At 10,000 signatures, Government will respond to the petition. At 100,000 signatures, Government will consider it for debate.

[alex_alexs28]

On 12/29/2020 at 6:38 AM, Catlover said:

The problem should not fall to Toyota, Honda, Audi nor any manufacturer. The thieves will look for any easy pick, if not Cats it will be something else. The problem is humans. The greediness of “I want that and I will have it”. Of course that thought may be fed by virtue they cannot get a job, which then falls on governments to encourage investments. It’s not an easy fix, the solution is not as easy to do as it is to say. I don’t blame Toyota, and I ain’t going to sell my wonderful Prius either. Someone suggested dealers fir catloc and tilt alarms and factor the cost into the selling price. Customer still pays. Whilst I don’t have a tilt alarm I have fitted a catloc plate for a fraction of Toyotas price.

Hi there,

Yesterday I have been to my local Toyota to ask for some advice. Quick and straight forward they have suggested me their plate that they have from a company CatLock, which on their website, there is no plate available to buy. However, the price quoted was £250, and another £125, £150 for a tilting alarm to be added to the factory alarm. They were not sure on the prices for the alarm, but then the manager came and said that there is a discount if you buy them together, but also he was not sure how much, but an overall cost of £325 or £350. For me it looks a little like a business than an actual help to us.

Anyway, the sales person has mentioned that they will also mark the Catalysator, they will put two stickers to say that is secured, and then he said that they won't bother to try. I asked how come that he knows this, and gave me some unproved statistics about the people who installed it and didn't come back to report a theft. Also, he has mentioned that they will not be able to unscrew the bolts, and that it will take them around 40 minutes to get it cut, and that other locks on the market are not as efficient, hence the one with the strings around the catalysator.

Now, reading and looking on eBay, I wonder if I should go on with the purchase, or if I should just look on eBay and do the same as you did. The question is, how do they know that it takes 40 minutes to cut them, and how do you know that the one from eBay is a solid plate and will not be cut so easily?

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by alex_alexs28
Missed some words

[TonyHSD]

6 hours ago, alex_alexs28 said:

Hi there,

Yesterday I have been to my local Toyota to ask for some advice. Quick and straight forward they have suggested me their plate that they have from a company CatLock, which on their website, there is no plate available to buy. However, the price quoted was £250, and another £125, £150 for a tilting alarm to be added to the factory alarm. They were not sure on the prices for the alarm, but then the manager came and said that there is a discount if you buy them together, but also he was not sure how much, but an overall cost of £325 or £350. For me it looks a little like a business than an actual help to us.

Anyway, the sales person has mentioned that they will also mark the Catalysator, they will put two stickers to say that is secured, and then he said that they won't bother to try. I asked how come that he knows this, and gave me some unproved statistics about the people who installed it and didn't come back to report a theft. Also, he has mentioned that they will not be able to unscrew the bolts, and that it will take them around 40 minutes to get it cut, and that other locks on the market are not as efficient, hence the one with the strings around the catalysator.

Now, reading and looking on eBay, I wonder if I should go on with the purchase, or if I should just look on eBay and do the same as you did. The question is, how do they know that it takes 40 minutes to cut them, and how do you know that the one from eBay is a solid plate and will not be cut so easily?

 

I think just empty words from a sales person, never take it for absolute truth, often just a non sense. I don’t know how good it is but there is no guarantee against been done even with any protection, if the thieves has time, car located on quiet street without people they will cut the whole car in two peace’s to get into the cat, we all hope once they see the owner been prepared they walk away, otherwise they can even vandalised your car. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

6 hours ago, alex_alexs28 said:

Quick and straight forward they have suggested me their plate that they have from a company CatLock, which on their website, there is no plate available to buy.

The link is to a different company to the one that Toyota use to supply their cat protection plates. The actual company is Catloc - https://catloc.co.uk

 

[Catlover]

Alexandra, these devices, plates that cover the cat converter are detergents.  Many people have a house alarm box fitted to the wall of their home, maybe with a small flashing light. More then likely more then a few of these boxes are just that, a box with no alarm. It’s just a deterrent, please go away and break into someone else’s home. Same with the cat plates, go away and pick another car easier then mine to steal the cat. 
So it’s up to you whether you buy a cat plate, and if you do which one. I chose to do so, and chose one relatively cheaply but of thicker metal (compared to some others). 

[FROSTYBALLS]

12 minutes ago, Catlover said:

these devices, plates that cover the cat converter are detergents.

Fairy or Persil?

[Catlover]

Alex, Frosty all’s has correctly pointed out my typing error, the first sentence should read

Alexandra, these devices, plates that cover the cat converter are deterrents.

[alex_alexs28]

18 hours ago, Catlover said:

Alex, Frosty all’s has correctly pointed out my typing error, the first sentence should read

Alexandra, these devices, plates that cover the cat converter are deterrents.

I appreciate your reply back, Mr. Joe.

Also, my name is Alexandru 😅

[Catlover]

My apologies Alexandru, the tablet program takes over spelling at times, too often. 😀

[BhxTrev]

Thanks for your reply Joe. The attitude I have taken to paying to have the catloc fitted is purely as to provide a deterrent. If the thieves really want your cat one way or another they’ll get it no matter what you do. My gripe is purely with the law that doesn’t seem to support us as victims of crime & if anything that’s how this should be dealt with & compensation should be paid to cover the complete cost & inconvenience for the theft. Of course someone has to pay for this compensation & it should be the those that perpetrate this crime & get caught. All that they own should be taken off them to pay into this compensation scheme. Some of these characters are likely to be paying off their debts for the rest of their lives but I bet you if the law did this, cat thefts would soon become a thing of the past! It needs the punishment to fit the crime, it’s the only way it’ll be stamped out.

Also thank you to Frosty for pointing out 10,000 signatures to the petition only gets a reply from the government. I always thought it was discussed at 10,000 but as you pointed out that doesn’t happen until 100,000 people sign.

[DavidinDerbyshire]

On 5/1/2021 at 3:37 PM, Catlover said:

Alex, Frosty all’s has correctly pointed out my typing error, the first sentence should read

Alexandra, these devices, plates that cover the cat converter are deterrents.

Our local cat converter is a Vet.

[Daphne]

On 4/5/2021 at 9:02 AM, SianZombie said:

Hi, I have a second generation prius 2007. In February my catalytic converter was stolen. I discussed the repair options with my local mechanic and he advised me to get it done through Toyota as he had tried fitting aftermarket cats on 3 priuses and said they couldn't get the cars to run properly,  emissions problems and check engine lights on dash wouldn't go off. On his advice I decided to go through the insurance to get the genuine cat put back on. The garage chosen by my insurance company said they could do the repairs and when I questioned them it turned out they had quoted £1200 for a NON GENUINE CAT! Toyota quoted £1000 for genuine part. I challenged my insurance company about this and after a month of complaining they eventually agreed that only the genuine part should be used. The garage went ahead and did the repair but after driving a few miles my Check engine lights are on. Is there any way I can check if the garage did in fact use the non genuine part they had originally ordered? 

Thanks Sian

Hi may I know how  your check engine light issue solved in the end? I got my auris fitted with aftermarket catalytic converter and O2 sensor, drove a few miles and the check engine light is on too. 

I just want to know how you got this problem solved? Thanks!

[Duffryn]

My local TV station BBC Points West have today just explained again why Toyota Prius (and Honda Jazz) are the preferred choice for catalytic converter thieves, even identifying the metals involved and their relative financial values. Also included a bit of film to show exactly where to cut, just to add that extra bit of helpfulness! Thanks again BBC!

[TonyHSD]

Thieves take these because they are easiest to cut and take away, that’s the number one reason and is the same with sprinters and some other models , Lexus RX even no need to jack up, just lay under cut it and help yourself…… 

here is a nice video that shows the latest Corolla hybrid how open is and exposed, although the catalytic converter is built into the exhaust manifold, dumb thieves are cutting the particulate filter and cause same big job and trouble for the owner. 

 

[TonyHSD]

It seems cat thefts been getting lower recently and here we have a new video with police involved.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10320891/Masked-man-hurls-power-tool-car-rams-officers-police-chase-Video.html

[flash22]

Not the brightest bunch, driver runs over his cohort, a shame i didn't do more damage

there not interested in new cats as they're worth a lot less as they contain fewer metals also they are marked from factory now

[Chris Dance]

A shame the CAT thieves have not yet been caught and prosecuted. Frightening for the police officers.

These rogues just do not care about the damage or injuries they cause.