New Prius Can Be Ordered With a Catalytic Converter Shield

[Shel_B]

A Prius’s catalytic converter can reportedly be sold for as much as $1,000

https://jalopnik.com/the-2023-toyota-prius-can-be-ordered-with-a-catalytic-c-1849910685?

 

[joegreen]

I would be very upset if that shield is held together with security screws which i could get the bit online or from harbor freight. I was hoping with the oem making a shield it would be very well integrated and tamper proof

 

[billt460]

I would be very upset if that shield is held together with security screws which i could get the bit online or from harbor freight. I was hoping with the oem making a shield it would be very well integrated and tamper proof

This type of protection isn't designed to stop thieves, as much as it's designed to send them away to someone else's vehicle. Which is much easier to steal the converter from because it has no such, "protection".

Very similar to most wheel locks. They can all be defeated quite easily. But most thieves will simply look for a car that doesn't have them.

 

[Lubener]

I would be very upset if that shield is held together with security screws which i could get the bit online or from harbor freight. I was hoping with the oem making a shield it would be very well integrated and tamper proof

Doesn't matter. It is designed to slow down the theft process. A thief will not spend the time in a parking lot to steal a converter with some kind of guard on it, tamper proof or not.

 

[Strokenmerc]

Seems to me the better "theft deterrent" design is the cat/exhaust manifold as a single unit. This puts the cat out of reach from the underside unless the hood is opened. This placement is vehicle/engine dependent and likely increases the cost of replacement but should make it more difficult to steal.

.

 

[Cujet]

The above, Or a cylinder head with integrated exhaust manifold and the cat fastened directly to the head.

 

[supton]

Seems to me the better "theft deterrent" design is the cat/exhaust manifold as a single unit. This puts the cat out of reach from the underside unless the hood is opened. This placement is vehicle/engine dependent and likely increases the cost of replacement but should make it more difficult to steal.

View attachment 131785.

I agree—but I bet it’s really hard to do that now. Reason being, that would alter emissions, so they would have go get it certified. A shield, they can bandaid that in, willy-nilly, however they want.

Bit odd place for it, I now nothing about Prius but find it hard to believe that under the car was the best place… considering, that as you show, it simply works better, closer to the engine and all.

 

[racer12306]

I would be very upset if that shield is held together with security screws which i could get the bit online or from harbor freight. I was hoping with the oem making a shield it would be very well integrated and tamper proof

Definitely not the point. These thieves are going zip zip with a saw and leaving in under a minute. A thief is not going to unscrew these security screws. They could be regular socket head screws and likely be just as effective.

This isn't really an OEM solution to me, reads more like a dealer option type situation since you have to pay for installation. Still a solid idea for the situation.

 

[PF52]

This isn't really an OEM solution to me, reads more like a dealer option type situation since you have to pay for installation. Still a solid idea for the situation.

+2

With substantial markup of course.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Great idea. I really like the new Prius.

 

[Speedbird001]

I would like to see some fat trimmed off this insanely huge omnibus budget and reallocated towards hunting down the perpetrators

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

Most local thefts I've heard of tend to be trucks and SUV's, I can't even drive up conventional ramps with my car. But I suppose they can use jacks....

 

[racer12306]

+2

With substantial markup of course.

At $140, that really not a bad price, IMO. I got the sheet price down to $110 per 48x96 sheet (took a quantity of 50 to get down to that, 25 pc is $125/ea). Probably get 9 out of a sheet, might be able to get 10. Plus the time of making it, the overhead to support it, shipping. I'd bet $25 of that is shipping due to size.

 

[edyvw]

Moving cats up doesn’t only help to prevent theft, it is actually much better for engine and emissions.

 

[ecotourist]

Moving cats up doesn’t only help to prevent theft, it is actually much better for engine and emissions.

While probably true, incorporating the cat with the exhaust manifold would vastly increase the cost of replacing the cat.

And it seems to me that cats run hot or at least get hot periodically. And all that heat wouldn't be good under the hood. Remember the system BMW used in the late 1970s before cats (don't remember the name). The under hood heat was a big problem.

 

[Marcozi]

Seems to me the better "theft deterrent" design is the cat/exhaust manifold as a single unit. This puts the cat out of reach from the underside unless the hood is opened. This placement is vehicle/engine dependent and likely increases the cost of replacement but should make it more difficult to steal.

View attachment 131785.

This is what bmw has done for year.

 

[edyvw]

While probably true, incorporating the cat with the exhaust manifold would vastly increase the cost of replacing the cat.

And it seems to me that cats run hot or at least get hot periodically. And all that heat wouldn't be good under the hood. Remember the system BMW used in the late 1970s before cats (don't remember the name). The under hood heat was a big problem.

All European manufacturers have cats way up. I wanna see person that is going to get two upstream cats from my BMW. Even 2 downstream are positioned that it is really hard to get to them. Yes, replacing cats is harder, but why do you need to replace them? If O2 is bad, replace it. If engine is consuming oil, well deal with that problem.

 

[alarmguy]

I’ll pass, in the many decades I’ve been driving in the many places I’ve lived. I’ve never known anyone to have a converter stolen and I’m certainly not going to spend $200 or more for an antitheft device.

Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to spend $200 to insure an engine part, not only that, but in the unlikely event at some point in your lifetime, you do have one stolen your insurance company, if your car is still insured for theft, will cover part of it.

If not think of all the $200 you’ve saved, by not wasting your money on an antitheft device

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Why couldn’t we just require all cats to be laser-engraved with the vehicle’s VIN and a QR code, and make recycling centers scan them against the BMV database to cross-check the license of the person selling it? Call the cops if they don’t match…. Simple.

Or else, simply stop allowing cat recycling.

 

[The Critic]

Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to spend $200 to insure an engine part, not only that, but in the unlikely event at some point in your lifetime, you do have one stolen your insurance company, if your car is still insured for theft, will cover part of it.

If not think of all the $200 you’ve saved, by not wasting your money on an antitheft device

Some of us do not want our cars totaled out over a stupid cat theft. This is a very real possibility as the vehicle gets older.