#PRIUS CATALYTIC CONVERTER INSTALL#
#PRIUS CATALYTIC CONVERTER FULL#

'The core buyers will not buy from somebody who cannot show proof of ID.

Priuses made between those years typically have the most precious metals, meaning their converters can be sold for about $900. 'The Prius is one of those that has a really high content palladium, platinum, and rhodium,' he said. That converter is a part of the exhaust system that most cars have.īut in this case, Thompson says someone is specifically targeting Priuses made between 20. 'We have video of the two that were stolen off our lot this past Sunday and they were probably here five or six minutes and did two of them?' Sometimes they cut them on both ends,' said Thompson.Ĭrooks hit at least five of his customers and stole from the business itself. 'In this particular one, the thieves cut the catalytic converters out. 'When I made a police report the officer had mentioned that catalytic converters being stolen was something that they had been seeing a pattern of,' said Lerret.Īcross town, the owner of Tampa Hybrids, Inc., Todd Thompson, says he's hearing and seeing more of the same. It's theft, that set him back $1500 in repairs. 'It sounds like a lawnmower is right in your ear,' he said, 'At that point, it occurred to me that my catalytic converter got stolen.'

#PRIUS CATALYTIC CONVERTER FULL#

Sometimes, it could prove impossible to actually stop the thief, so at the very least, make sure you have full coverage in the case of theft.HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla - It took only a few seconds Friday for Matthew Lerret to realize something was wrong with his Prius.

#PRIUS CATALYTIC CONVERTER INSTALL#

If you have a garage, park your car in there at night and install an alarm system. These can come in the form of a steel shield that fits over the catalytic converter, or cages made of high-strength steel that's difficult to cut. There are plenty of devices sold online that are designed to protect your car's catalytic converter from being stolen or at least make it harder for the thief. Many thefts occur at people's homes, so installing security cameras can actually go a long way in deterring any would-be thief. Related: These Are Some Of The Best Plug-in Hybrids For Less Than $40,000Ĭatalytic Converter thefts take less than five minutes, so the best way to prevent it from happening to you is by making it as difficult and time-consuming as possible.įirst, it's recommended that you park your vehicle in a safe place that restricts access to the underside of your car, for example by parking beside a curb, if possible. Because it's tough for official dealers to make more catalytic converters, an inadvertent black market was created for them. Precious metals, by nature, are difficult to get a hold of. All that's required is a power saw.īesides a high catalytic converter scrap price, another reason why catalytic converter thefts have risen is a shortage in the supply chain.

Thieves can cut the entire unit out from underneath the car in a matter of minutes. Now, they are most commonly found underneath the vehicle, which makes them a target for thieves. The converters had to find a new home inside our cars and vehicles. These units were originally placed close to a car's engine, but this superheat source caused mechanical issues.

The maximum efficiency of these converters is believed to be around 752☏. To ensure they work properly, catalytic converters must run at extremely high temperatures. This rise in thefts may be because car manufacturers changed where they put them in our vehicles.

Prius catalytic converter