My 2007 Prius catalytic converter got stolen. Need Help

becoming very common especially in California a carb state. Does your car require emissions inspection?

If not you can install an after market car there like $100 on eBay but these scumbags also cut the sensor connector off you can see the danging wires which will add to the cost of repair.

They only steal one cat not sure if its the front or rear cat. I think its the front cat.
They steal it for the precious metals in it. Rhodium.

get under there and take some pictures of how bad they butched it all up and if they cut the o2 senor off which i think they have to.

if you are an emissions state it is very expensive as you have to buy the oem cat $$$$$$. Lots more info use the search forum tab up top and search:

stolen cat.

 

They steal both cats but leave the resonator.

 

Thanks lost track of that.

 

In Wisconsin we weld an o2 sensor bung to a pipe and run without a cat.

there are also many Cheap generic cats that aren’t listed for the Prius that can Made to fit Your pipe Depending on your level of diy.

good luck

 

Just got send a Dutch newspaper article last week where the Gen2 is specifically mentioned as a likely victim. Sad to hear it happen to anyone in real life...

BTW, article mentions Palladium as (one of) the reasons it gets stolen. I always thought the Platinum was the main 'catalyst' in a catalytic converter and therefor the most worthwhile 'ingredient'.
Last two lines read: "The company (=Toyota) has no solution as of yet. Some Prius owners are getting rid of their cars."



And while I very much support the idea of someone being innocent until proven guilty, there is a part in the article that makes my blood boil: "even if someone is stopped with a load of catalytic converters in his boot, this still does not automatically lead to prosecution: it is hard to prove that they were stolen."

 

Get a quote from several muffler shops.

This should be about a $400 fix done RIGHT.
Less if you DIY.
You live in Minnesota which means that you could get by with just a straight pipe and a P0420 hack...or just a piece of black electrical tape - which you may already be using if you run snow tires during the winter.

There are about 142,000 interweb solutions for spoofing an O2 sensor, but if your car is in reasonably good shape then I would recommend a legit fix with an aftermarket cat/O2 sensor.

It’s good karma, it’s better for the planet and I don’t have to worry about my great-children getting fired years from now because I publicly recommended a straight pipe and an O2 spoof......and you will be able to sell your car guilt-free later and not have to worry about a 0300 door kick from EPA enforcement troops.

Yer call.

 

Wow, I thought the guy at the dealer was kidding when he said that people steal them. I guess I should not have dropped mine off at the dump when I replaced it.
I'm about to replace another, how would I go about getting some money for my old cat?

 

Same way you do for those old meds in the cabinet.

.....Illegally.

 

Hey Luffy, sorry to hear about your problem and hope that you find a cost-effective solution. Out of curiosity, could you tell us the circumstances of this incident? Was your car parked on the street? Did it happen over night? etc.

I leave my car at a park and ride during the day when I go to work and the thought of having my cats stolen is always at the back of my mind when I hop on the bus.

 

I own a Prius shop in Portland, OR. We did ten last week. They are being stolen in broad daylight now. They even stole my shop foreman's half a block away from the shop at 4:00 p.m. Right now there are over 5,000 gen2 cats on backorder at Toyota. This is insane. Please twist the jack handle and drop the car on them if you catch them in the act

Sad state of affairs

 

they should ve cut under car so you unbolt front connector new cat bolts up front and muffler piece slips on rear of cat pipe both pieces on e bay bout 160 just bought.. to put on junker i bought. cheapest route for me about 35 min install in my yard..

 

Already beat them to the punch.

Sold my 2007 cat on ebay for $1350. Bought one off Amazon for $125. Was $100 for install at muffler shop to weld up the connection to the resonator.
Been about a month so far no emissions code no issues with leaking and the car runs better actually.
I hear no difference in engine sound.

But Florida has no emissions test so I can get away with after market cat. Your pretty screwed in a Carb state. Guy who bought mine was in Mass.

There wicked hot on eBay. I had like 400 views and 50 watchers. Non stop emails asking if I had more after auction over.

If you live in a non carb state sell your cat asap. After ebay fee's and new system install still cleared almost a grand and painted my new one bright orange. And then there's a big welded sleeve where they usually cut it off so hopefully between the sleeve and the paint they will quickly see its not the oem cat and not tear my car up and move along.

I heard of one clipped in my town but my neighbor across the street has the same year G2 I do and leaves it out. I told him about the cats but he just laughed. So I'll know how bad its getting locally if his gets clipped. Nice dark driveway lol....good luck..
...

 

Crime in general is on the rise. Where I live it used to be, and not that many years ago, the kind of town that no one ever locked their cars or their homes. Now it seems there's are break-in's several times a week. Even locked cars are being stolen.

Maybe it partially has to do with the pandemic and economic insecurity.

 

first off stay out of carb states i had to get out of Mass. too costly now in NC never look back all my friends still freezing n paying .. glad i got out ..

 

Yes move as soon as possible because its a Carb State.....in the middle of Covid.

 

What a great idea! I didn't know that was possible. (In CA, it's supposed to be "illegal" to sell 2nd hand catalytic converters....)

I just replaced the cat on my 2008 and now it looks like I may scrap the car for different reasons. I would rather reinstall the old cat than scrap a car with a new $2300 OEM cat.

 

I've read that too. But how hard would it be to just take them to another state and sell them? At over $1,000 each it would be worth it to a thief to take even just a few to the next state and sell them there. And there's also the question of how California enforces this. There are a lot of laws that aren't enforced. It's illegal to steel catalytic converters, and that's not enforced. It's also illegal to take off your catalytic converter and throw on a straight pipe, but that's also not enforced in most places.

 

All States ive lived in its visual cat is theyre DOH.. and like MASS a tail pipe sniff. funny thing is my other Toyodas with gutted CATS always passed BOTH always.. moved to carolina in 85 no matter here but i keep my cars pretty lean and in top shape hale they return to me near 500K many years of no payment driving ..