Catalytic Converter Lock from Toyota is it worth getting it fitted to Hybrid?

[Bruce Lea]

Catalytic Converter Lock from Toyota is it worth getting it fitted to Hybrid. The dealer can do it for £250 fitted.

Does car insurance cover the catalytic convertor if its stolen?

What's a good alarm that has tilt motion sensor?

[TonyHSD]

Yes , insurance does cover stolen cat but they count it as your fault incident and perhaps next year premium will be higher. If Toyota cat lock worth it , I don’t know , I have installed myself one that cost me £40 and £20 for security bolts. There are many posts with pictures about this particular things. If you can’t do it yourself perhaps it’s worth having one from Toyota just to be on the safe side

[AisinW]

It is worth to spend a good CatLock with proper installation, no rattle, no scrapping. £250 is much cheaper than £2500 catalytic converter or insurance bump after the claim. UK catalytic converter theft number is really high, especially for Hybrid Toyota because the amount of Paladium and Platinum is generally higher than non hybrid. The secondary catalytic converter that criminals stole are not monitored by the O2 sensor.  Just in case someone stole yours, you can install a straight pipe that looks like catalytic converter and will not effect how your car runs.  Only slightly more emission but still well below any diesel or pre-2010 cars. The main catalytic converter in modern cars are on the exhaust manifolds and that catalytic converter performance is monitored by the O2 sensor and ECU. 

[Bruce Lea]

2 hours ago, AisinW said:

It is worth to spend a good CatLock with proper installation, no rattle, no scrapping. £250 is much cheaper than £2500 catalytic converter or insurance bump after the claim. UK catalytic converter theft number is really high, especially for Hybrid Toyota because the amount of Paladium and Platinum is generally higher than non hybrid. The secondary catalytic converter that criminals stole are not monitored by the O2 sensor.  Just in case someone stole yours, you can install a straight pipe that looks like catalytic converter and will not effect how your car runs.  Only slightly more emission but still well below any diesel or pre-2010 cars. The main catalytic converter in modern cars are on the exhaust manifolds and that catalytic converter performance is monitored by the O2 sensor and ECU. 

Will the Toyota cat lock be good enough to stop it being stolen?

[Cyker]

Yes and no - No catlock is going to last long against an angle grinder, but it'll make it more awkward and take a lot longer to cut out than without one, and it will protect from pipe-cutters. Thieves will tend to look elsewhere as the longer they take the more likely they'll get caught - Why spend 5-10 minutes when you can find another car that takes 1 minute?

So if you have a vulnerable car it's worth it, if only to reduce the possibility of being without a car for an extended period.

Also a slight correction - The thieves don't really care about the platinum and palladium - It's the rhodium they're after (Which is partly why diesel exhausts aren't really targeted. Aside from being full of micro-particulate soot, they don't usually have any rhodium in them as they are only 2-way catalysts (CO, HC), vs petrols using 3-way catalysts (CO, HC, NOx))

Platinum and Palladium are expensive metals, but Rhodium is an order of magnitude more valuable - They'd have to nick thousands of cats to make any money on the former, but just a few hundred is enough to make money on the latter!

[Derek.w]

Any method only buy you more time so hopefully they go somewhere else.

Its also nice to have a seperate camera covering your car.

[AisinW]

It is not just about insurance cover it, but the part may be backorder for weeks and you cannot use your car. 

[TonyHSD]

And don’t forget to remove hybrid badges too, masking the car it’s actually the best thing to do. Thieves and anyone else get confused. 

[Bruce Lea]

6 hours ago, AisinW said:

It is not just about insurance cover it, but the part may be backorder for weeks and you cannot use your car. 

So it makes sense to get the catlock

[Bruce Lea]

6 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

And don’t forget to remove hybrid badges too, masking the car it’s actually the best thing to do. Thieves and anyone else get confused. 

If the badges are removed will they be easy to put back on again?

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, Bruce Lea said:

If the badges are removed will they be easy to put back on again?

Yes, just clean the sticky residue and add new double sided tape, put them back on and job is done. I did that already and you can’t even tell they had ever been removed. 👍

[Bruce Lea]

How do you remove them without scratching the car

[TonyHSD]

3 hours ago, Bruce Lea said:

How do you remove them without scratching the car

Well that’s an easy job although a bit labour is involved. Heat up them a bit with hairdryer then use tooth cord or old credit card to place between the emblems and paintwork then you can lift by hand too, just be slow and careful not to damage the letters as they are all connected together. Rear emblem same way , once out of the car you can remove the blue insert and out back only the emblem, but that’s more advanced work. For the front emblem some cars has sensors built in so better leave it. There are few posts about this job with pictures and ideas from more members, just need to search them. 👍

[Hybrid21]

I suppose a lot depends on where you live or park and the likelihood of the catalytic converter being stolen.

 

[Steven83]

Personally I don’t see the point of removing the Badge as the auto gear selector and the blue Toyota badges say it’s a hybrid and as much as we like to think criminals are stupid most are smart enough to know what to steal and where to find it.

as regards the catlock I got one from Toyota and after a year I’ve had no issue.

Of course this can change at any time but I’d rather it be there as a deterrent like others have already pointed out.

If bought through Toyota I think if I remember correctly they water mark the cat and also you get big stickers in the window saying CATLOCK. 

If i were to buy another Toyota I’d get it done again. 

[TonyHSD]

The idea of having no badges on the car is to cause confusion and mask the car as non hybrid as those are less of interest. Thieves work on order, I know that from a first hand. They are specifically looking for Toyota Prius and all Toyota hybrids, they get higher price paid for cats stolen from these cars. Making your hybrid look  like non hybrid and they may just drive past, which is what we all want, not stopping by. If they spot and stop they can easily run a number plate and find out. They also look under the car to see if there are any cat locks, plates etc. Any stickers on the window  for protection are non essential, they don’t care or any extra sensors for alarms. Best deterrent is thieves to not stop and check , less attractive car. If I buy a Prius in the future I will definitely remove her badges too. , and perhaps add electric Badge instead. Confusion works wonder. 👍

[DAF XF]

Hopefully if they're not too clued in a set of D4D badges would work assuming the auris is of the era when they still were producing diesels!😂

[AisinW]

On 9/19/2022 at 1:40 PM, Bruce Lea said:

How do you remove them without scratching the car

Removing sticker or Badge with fishing string or any plastic string will not scratch the paint. Just pull the string around yhe edge and move it slowly, grinding only the glue. The glue residue can be removed with mineral or baby oil. 

[Bruce Lea]

Anyone recommend a good alarm with tilt sensor?

[Steven83]

8 hours ago, Bruce Lea said:

Anyone recommend a good alarm with tilt sensor?

Pointless, there is videos on YouTube of thieves stopping traffic to jack up a car and take cat.

it seems they aren’t bothered about being seen as long as they can get away quickly. 

[TonyHSD]

Alarms, sensors, stickers, cameras, absolutely pointless. Thieves are not as smart as you think but brave and nasty enough, plus they have handy tools and are ready to use them as weapons. The only thing they fear is if they get caught by police and their stolen exhausts confiscated, that’s why they need to work fast and move on. 
Most important things to protect your car: 

1. Debadge

2. Cat plate or lock

3. Park with front close to kerb or wall and between other cars. 
 

If thieves stopped by and have time they will cut the car in a half and will take whatever they want. 

[Bruce Lea]

On 9/22/2022 at 12:04 PM, TonyHSD said:

Alarms, sensors, stickers, cameras, absolutely pointless. Thieves are not as smart as you think but brave and nasty enough, plus they have handy tools and are ready to use them as weapons. The only thing they fear is if they get caught by police and their stolen exhausts confiscated, that’s why they need to work fast and move on. 
Most important things to protect your car: 

1. Debadge

2. Cat plate or lock

3. Park with front close to kerb or wall and between other cars. 
 

If thieves stopped by and have time they will cut the car in a half and will take whatever they want. 

Why Park with front close to kerb or wall and between other cars?

[Davidhee58]

In my experience, I don't totally agree with the tilt alarm is pointless, of cause, in the public parking area, maybe the thieves won't care about alarm, but it was quite often the cat converter was stolen in people's home driveway, the alarm should alert you if something is happening to your car, my one was stolen at about 11:00pm in our front drive while I was in the front sitting room,  I installed a Toyota cat lock and a tilt alarm, which didn't cost a lot, only extra £50. Recently I found the thieves attempted my car again (don't know when), but they failed, I am not sure if the tilt alarm bothered them or they gave up when they saw my car had cat lock. 

The tilt alarm is very sensitive, it will  be activated when the car is lifted in ~5cm.

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, Bruce Lea said:

Why Park with front close to kerb or wall and between other cars?

They lift up the front end  or the front sides. They need access under the front to undo the exhaust manifold bolts and cut near the middle silencer. Like this was done ours in very similar parking conditions. 

[Bruce Lea]

8 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

They lift up the front end  or the front sides. They need access under the front to undo the exhaust manifold bolts and cut near the middle silencer. Like this was done ours in very similar parking conditions. 

You mean turn the front wheels so they point straight to the the kerb?

 

What reg is your car, that shape auris is solid hybrid, nice car