Catalytic Converter thefts

[delbois]

There must be more to hybrids' attractiveness to thieves than just the fact that the petrol engine has less running time. If the engine is only running 50% of the time then on average a 3 year old non-hybrid should be as attractive a proposition as a 6 year old Auris? Is it possibly more to do with accessibility and amount of precious metals in certain models? eg Honda Jazz often targeted. I wasn't aware of Audis being a target until I read this thread. 

[TonyHSD]

7 minutes ago, delbois said:

There must be more to hybrids' attractiveness to thieves than just the fact that the petrol engine has less running time. If the engine is only running 50% of the time then on average a 3 year old non-hybrid should be as attractive a proposition as a 6 year old Auris? Is it possibly more to do with accessibility and amount of precious metals in certain models? eg Honda Jazz often targeted. I wasn't aware of Audis being a target until I read this thread. 

Accessibility is the number one and the orders that are given by the criminals who run the business, been told for Prius car double price and the most expensive been from Mitsubishi carisma which are rare to see these days. The dumb thieves cuts everything that looks like a cat and it’s easy accessible. , and particularly from hybrids. 

[DaveDom]

What about Auris 2010-2011 diesels? Are they targeted also or it's only for hybrids and petrols? I'm looking to buy a new Toyota cuz my Prius cat was stolen. Quite a stressful experience.. So i just sold the car entirely. Now i'm lookin for another car (preferably Toyota) to buy and i'm wondering if i should buy Auris. If diesels are also being targeted then i might pass on Toyota altogether. I'm lookin at 2010/11/12 Gen1 facelift.

[Catlover]

All Prius cars are petrol, every single one of them, they fitted with cat convertors. All petrol cars, no matter what manufacturer, has cat convertors fitted.

 Diesels don’t have a cat, they have a DPF which doesn’t get stolen but have there own headaches - they get clogged up, pain and expensive to sort. Made worse by low mileage and lots of town work. All diesels, all manufacturers, of a certain age have DPF fitted

We both had Yaris diesels 1.4 some years back. 59 reg, just before DPF were legislated. They fitted the same 1.4 engine in the Auris. Find one around 59 plate with 1.4 Diesel engine but make sure no DPF.

[john p williams]

5 minutes ago, Catlover said:

All Prius cars are petrol, every single one of them, they fitted with cat convertors. All petrol cars, no matter what manufacturer, has cat convertors fitted.

 Diesels don’t have a cat, they have a DPF which doesn’t get stolen but have there own headaches - they get clogged up, pain and expensive to sort. Made worse by low mileage and lots of town work. All diesels, all manufacturers, of a certain age have DPF fitted

We both had Yaris diesels 1.4 some years back. 59 reg, just before DPF were legislated. They fitted the same 1.4 engine in the Auris. Find one around 59 plate with 1.4 Diesel engine but make sure no DPF.

Euro 5 is ok but Euro 6 aint !

[DaveDom]

Hmm. Are you sure? I've had other diesel cars before and they all had cat or DPF. Well maybe i'm mistaken but all mechanics called it cat. What i used to do in the past is cut out the cat (or dpf?) itself and sell what's inside cuz those metals/filters are expensive too. Basically the same procedure thieves do but for our own good. We do it in our country so our diesel cars can run more smoothly and won't clog up. Of course we reprogram EGR (disable it entirely) so there aren't any problems in the future. So.. if diesels are only DPF, arent their filters/metals inside also expensive? I mean it doesnt really matter how we call it Cat or DPF but if there are expensive metals inside they're still gonna be stolen.

@Catlover

[Catlover]

The precious metals in dpf are few and get very dirty. One reason hybrid cars cats are popular to steal is they are cleaner due to the fact the engine is only running very approx half the time.Presumably with diesel cats, get very dirty. These thief’s are very particular. 😄

[DaveDom]

10 minutes ago, Catlover said:

The precious metals in dpf are few and get very dirty. One reason hybrid cars cats are popular to steal is they are cleaner due to the fact the engine is only running very approx half the time.Presumably with diesel cats, get very dirty. These thief’s are very particular. 😄

Ok i hope you're right 😂 But i guess my first thing when i'll get the car is remove that filter altogether and disable EGR. It really runs alot smoother that way. Do you know if all of those cars (Auris gen1 facelift 1.4D) have DPF in them? Maybe gen 1 non-facelift hasnt? I'm still confused which diesels have DPF cats and which don't. Plate 59 has no filter and 60 and above already has it?

[Catlover]

All I know is the 1.4diesel in the Yaris was just pre dpf, I really don’t know when the Auris was fitted with them. You need to check.

If you remove dpf or cat, is that legal, and would it not fail an MOT if not present.

[DaveDom]

5 minutes ago, Catlover said:

All I know is the 1.4diesel in the Yaris was just pre dpf, I really don’t know when the Auris was fitted with them. You need to check.

If you remove dpf or cat, is that legal, and would it not fail an MOT if not present.

Nah. When i removed that filter weirdly enough emissions were the same it didn't change at all (makes you wonder if DPFs are even necessary). Though if it has that Cat body you empty the filter inside it and you have to weld the actual cat back on. And you have to weld it very precisely so that inspectors won't really notice it. If it looks alright then you'll pass easily. If it's welded poorly then R.I.P... 😂

[TonyHSD]

Auris 1.33 and diesels are not affected, cats are on the front of the engine and no access underneath, or limited space so thieves does not bother. Auris hybrids and 1.6 petrol all generation are easy target as they have cats under the car and easily accessible underneath, plus bolts that connect to the manifold are easy to undo. If you are looking for Auris 1.33 or 1.4d are safe bet. , for all others you may be fine with cat plate.

[flash22]

Diesels have both a cat and DPF yaris has them from 2009 onwards, a MOT will pick a tampered Dpf as the NOX will be high on a fast idle test, yes it's illegal to tamper with a cat or dpf

Toyota has had DPF type systems on cars in the uk since 2003 (D-CAT)

Auris 1ndtv 01/2009 -

https://toyota-club.net/files/faq/21-07-20_faq_nd-engine_en.htm

[DaveDom]

Okey so basically Gen 1 facelift 1.4D has both cat and DPF but they're really hard to get to and are pretty safe bet? Will mechanics still be able to remove it and weld it back on if i decide to do those? Idk about MOT but i passed easily. There were no changes in emissions and it was perfectly welded too. But yeah.. i advice to be careful and do it on your own risk. 

[Cyker]

Diesels are 99% safe from cat theft - They don't have the precious metal the thieves are after. (Only 99% because there's always some idiot who can't tell the difference between a diesel and a petrol car!)

Diesel cats are '2-way' and I think just reduce CO (carbon monoxide) and HCs (i.e. unburnt fuel) to CO2. They also only have platinum and palladium which, while technically precious metals, are only a fraction of the value of the one they want!

Petrol cats are 3-way and also reduce NOx's in addition to the other two, but they also have that sweet sweet Rhodium (It isn't actually sweet afaik), the insanely over-priced metal that the thieves are after.

If they ever start using air-blast or ducted diesel injection, 3-way cats could make their way into diesel vehicles but this seems unlikely to happen given that they're banning all ICE in 8 years time! So you can take it as gospel that cat thieves won't be a problem with diesels - The only thieves you'd need to worry about are local authorities and their daily diesel fines*ahem* I mean charges.

 

[flash22]

Mk1 99-2005, Mk2 2005-2011, Mk3 2011-2021, Mk4 2021 onwards

the 1ndtv was dropped in 2017

As you're in London, Ulez is a factor so that wipes out most Yaris diesels and any savings - it will not be long until the north circ becomes a ulez

 

[Cyker]

KHAAAAAAAAN!!!! 

[DaveDom]

On 2/10/2022 at 10:58 PM, flash22 said:

Mk1 99-2005, Mk2 2005-2011, Mk3 2011-2021, Mk4 2021 onwards

the 1ndtv was dropped in 2017

As you're in London, Ulez is a factor so that wipes out most Yaris diesels and any savings - it will not be long until the north circ becomes a ulez

 

Sry im not from London. I'm not in UK even. Just had to set something i didn't see there's a non-uk option 🙂 But yeah, we have those diesel taxes here too. Just so far they're very minimal. Tbh i'd buy a petrol car but fuel economy and most importantly a turbocharger is what's making me want a diesel again. They're just alot more fun to drive.

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, DaveDom said:

Sry im not from London. I'm not in UK even. Just had to set something i didn't see there's a non-uk option 🙂 But yeah, we have those diesel taxes here too. Just so far they're very minimal. Tbh i'd buy a petrol car but fuel economy and most importantly a turbocharger is what's making me want a diesel again. They're just alot more fun to drive.

Not sure they are a lot more fun but I am positive they are a lot more trouble in a long run. Turbo = repair, diesels are great for big machines not city cars. 

[DaveDom]

9 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Not sure they are a lot more fun but I am positive they are a lot more trouble in a long run. Turbo = repair, diesels are great for big machines not city cars. 

Yeah i completely agree. Any car with a turbocharger is a risk you're taking, i'm quite aware of that. And yes, it's alot more fun with a turbocharger. Anyhow it's always a gamble with cars. Even with petrol/hybrid cars. You never know when will your Battery cells will go bad or tranny or valves or water pump and so on. It's just how it is with cars. I knew a person who had a Prius and it was in a really good shape. And suddenly his Abs pump/accumulator went bad. You're looking at 2000-3000euros in parts/repairs. So yeah.. i guess if we really want to avoid troubles in a long run we gotta buy bicycles or walk on foot 🤣

[Catlover]

8 minutes ago, DaveDom said:

You never know when will your battery cells will go bad or tranny or valves or water pump and so on. It's just how it is with cars. I knew a person who had a Prius and it was in a really good shape. And suddenly his Abs pump/accumulator went bad. You're looking at 2000-3000euros in parts/repairs. So yeah.. i guess if we really want to avoid troubles in a long run we gotta buy bicycles or walk on foot 🤣

The way to go in the future…. Horse and cart, with an optional extra of a bucket and spade so you can feed the roses. 😁

[Cyker]

Well, until they start taxing those based on their CO2 and carbon emissions.

Keep an eye out for cross-eyed horses with an RDE probe up their exhausts...!

 

[DaveDom]

14 hours ago, Catlover said:

The way to go in the future…. Horse and cart, with an optional extra of a bucket and spade so you can feed the roses. 😁

Haha. Definitely 😂 History repeats itself, back to the good old days of horses and carts. Hopefully their "gas" output won't be taxed or they might need some catalytic converter installed 🤣 Oh those taxes.. gotta "love" em. 

All jokes aside though i guess a petrol car with a turbocharger would be more reliable than a diesel (if u wanna have some fun). Or just a regular petrol with atleast 110-130HP. Nothing crazy but still would be quite fun. But fuel consumption would be terrible in such a petrol car.

[Stopeter44]

1 hour ago, DaveDom said:

All jokes aside though i guess a petrol car with a turbocharger would be more reliable than a diesel (if u wanna have some fun). Or just a regular petrol with atleast 110-130HP. Nothing crazy but still would be quite fun. But fuel consumption would be terrible in such a petrol car.

The PSA 3 pot 1.2 vti in a C3 or 208 gives 110, or sometimes 130 bhp. My 208 (2015) was 7.5-8l/100 in big city driving, with a little bit of country roads & autoroutes. Out in the sticks it was closer to 6.5l/100. In comparison a Yaris IV is more like 4.5l/100 (winter driving only, for the moment).

 

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, DaveDom said:

Haha. Definitely 😂 History repeats itself, back to the good old days of horses and carts. Hopefully their "gas" output won't be taxed or they might need some catalytic converter installed 🤣 Oh those taxes.. gotta "love" em. 

All jokes aside though i guess a petrol car with a turbocharger would be more reliable than a diesel (if u wanna have some fun). Or just a regular petrol with atleast 110-130HP. Nothing crazy but still would be quite fun. But fuel consumption would be terrible in such a petrol car.

Any car, any size engine can be fun as long as you don’t expect to receive more than what actually the car was designed for. Some people especially auto journalists drive cars built for efficiency and compare those with hot hatches or cars with completely different nature, power trains etc and calls the first one boring, sluggish, dull. You can have a lots of fun with Prius for example or small Aygo, if you know what you are doing and what you are looking for. Buy the car that suits your lifestyle, needs and budget. Some people prefer Golf R, Audi TT , I am fine with my Auris hybrid, not the fastest, not the most efficient but 8 times around the globe and keep going, that’s what I am after., plus the fun factor is out there, you just need to discover and enjoy it 🏎🏁👌

 

[Vainona70]

I have the PSA 3 pot puretech 130BHP turbo petrol engine in my Vauxhall Grandland X 8 speed automatic - fun to drive & averages 41 MPG over the 22000 miles I've driven. MPG calculated on spreadsheet, not per vehicle display.