Are any of the anti theft of catalytic converters effective. Looking to protect a 2018 Toyota Tacoma Offroad.
related question⌠are these thefts taking place mostly with high ground clearance vehicles, trucks and SUVs? If so, Iâm not sure I have to worry⌠I run a Kia Optima sedan, I literally cannot squeeze my head underneath that vehicle at all.
Sometimes the thieves jack up the car to steal the Converters. Here is a case in which the car fell on top of the thief , killing him.
3 Likes
Sorry, I have none but amazed how some recommend engraving the carâs license number on the converter. Makes NO sense but many still believe it.
âHey, we canât take this one. Itâs got a number on it!â
Yeah, rightâŚ
2 Likes
Disguise it as an EV⌠
1 Like
This is a big problem in TX where lots of pickups with high clearance. Muffler shops & larger auto repair shops have addressed this by welding cages around the CCs.
NOTICE - if you are a victim best to get original factory replacements NOT after market. Be prepared to fight insurance on this issue if you have coverage.
1 Like
I guess my question is answered. I have low clearance
Most cases of CC theft I hear about involve jacking up the vehicle. The issue I think is small cars have 1 CC and some if not all of the larger V8 pickups have 2. In Houston thieves seem to target T Tundra PU V8 that have 2 CC & are very heavy so I guess more money for the thief.
1 Like
âChopper SickâŚâ Stand By Me 1986
think there are shields actually
The cat was stolen from our 2002 Accord which has 277k miles. Crazy ! So we replaced the cat with cheapest we could find and it cost us $1800 due to a CA spec cat requirement and the thieves took o2 sensors and a large portion of pipe around the cat. The new cat is half the size of the OEM which should give us a slight chance of avoiding another theft. Evidently the oem Accord CA spec cat is much larger and thieves target it. We also painted the new cat a high visibility fluorescent pink to at least give the would be thief a âwhat the heck? â moment. My kid learned a valuable lesson to always park in a well lit high traffic area to reduce the odds of a theft. The steel cage idea sounds good too, but I am looking for an industrial grade pepper spray and stink bomb deterrent system as well. 
I always thought that something that starts the car up and puts it into drive if it detects the cat being stolen might be effective.
1 Like
Hmm, interesting idea ? We need to recruit Mark Rober who has an awesome solution for porch pirates that we can adopt to cat pirates : see Glitter Bomb 1.0 vs Porch Pirates - YouTube Can you image a cat pirate covered in sticky fine glitter ! Now I would pay to see that 
1 Like
That happened to a guy in my town last fall. No sympathy here, poetic justice.
1 Like
How much money does the thief sell the part for and where are they sold?
They sell them at metal recyclers and I think they get like $100+ for them. Our state now has a law that you have to prove you were the owner of the vehicle that it came from which I think has cut down on the thefts.
Very simple but effective law. Anyone selling one needs to provide driverâs license and be photographed.