RX450h - Catalytic Converter Theft

[Charlie1955]

Hi, just information for owners. Last Saturday night my car was parked in a car park in Retford and an attempt was made to steal the catalytic converter from my car. An angle grinder was used to cut through the clips and then the front exhaust but they also cut through the pipe containing the engine cooling system. Quote from Lexus for new exhaust and catalytic converter was £3800, luckily my Lexus Independent garage managed to weld the exhaust and the coolant pipe at a cost of £336.

[ISJason]

Sorry to hear it.


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[olliesgrandad]

My neighbour had some cretin steal the catalytic converter of his 2002 Honda Civic a few months ago whist parked on his drive 

[Spottedlaurel]

£3800?!? Now I know why the dealer didn't want to replace the damaged one on the 2014 Advance I recently bought then exchanged........

Well done on getting it sorted for rather less, but sorry to hear you've had to go through this.

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, Spottedlaurel said:

£3800?!? Now I know why the dealer didn't want to replace the damaged one on the 2014 Advance I recently bought

That's only silly Lexus dealership price. You can get a whole exhaust system custom made in stainless steel, including cats, for less than that.

[Spottedlaurel]

10 hours ago, Herbie said:

That's only silly Lexus dealership price. You can get a whole exhaust system custom made in stainless steel, including cats, for less than that.

It's certainly something I'll contemplate if/when sections need attention. I've had three full stainless steel systems on various older Japanese cars where it's been more cost-effective to do that than find replacement mild steel stuff (if they've even been available).

[PCM]

We have a driveway alarm. Recommend them...

[olliesgrandad]

3 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

It's certainly something I'll contemplate if/when sections need attention. I've had three full stainless steel systems on various older Japanese cars where it's been more cost-effective to do that than find replacement mild steel stuff (if they've even been available).

That's exactly what my neighbour did with his Honda 

[Britprius]

My neighbor also had the cats from his Toyota pickup stolen from his driveway in Herefordshire not that far from Gloucestershire. I think this is becoming a problem in rural areas for people with vehicles that have reasonable ground clearance.

John.

[DanD]

Wow. I'll have to remember to avoid Retford at night!

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[Boxbrownie]

23 hours ago, PCM said:

We have a driveway alarm. Recommend them...

But the OP’s vehicle was in a car park.........

 

TBH I thought all the Cat thefts had stopped (or slowed down to almost zero) as most are now available as aftermarket items for peanuts (compared to dealer prices).

 

My company was plagued by CAT thefts from Transits (easy to access underbelow!) but that was whilst stored in their compound before delivery.

[Britprius]

The problem is they fetch £40 each as scrap value, because of the high rare metal content. Not that they are going to be fitted to another vehicle.

John.

[Boxbrownie]

Scrapyards wouldn’t take the Transit Cats as they were “specially marked” and we actively pursued stolen/scrap parts, same as with fake spares which didn’t conform to specs, we almost managed to stop the importation of cheap poor quality rear lamp clusters which would fade and fail MoTs.

 

Mind you it’s impossible to stop an idiot.......

[darrude]

On 3/16/2019 at 10:27 AM, PCM said:

We have a driveway alarm. Recommend them...

Never heard of them. Just googled though. Are they basically a PIR sensor or break line? Do you get many false alarms? I assume your drive is gated?

[Charlie1955]

I think what stopped them was the fact that they got covered in the entire contents of the engine coolant system. Got the exhaust welded and with other bits cost me a total of £336.

[Farnham Dave]

On 3/15/2019 at 11:10 PM, Herbie said:

That's only silly Lexus dealership price. You can get a whole exhaust system custom made in stainless steel, including cats, for less than that.

Yeah, I went for that option a few years back on a Ford Scorpio because Ford UK didn't have a full exhaust left!

Money well spent... But remember to check that your insurance will be ok with a stainless exhaust first (it counts as a modification)

[Herbie]

10 hours ago, Farnham Dave said:

But remember to check that your insurance will be ok with a stainless exhaust first (it counts as a modification)

I doubt that it counts as a mod, it's just a replacement.

I used to have a Nissan Maxima QX 3.0 SE+ and none of the usual suspects (Kwik-Fit et al) could supply a replacement exhaust, all quoting it as a "main dealer only" part.

Just for giggles I rang Nissan and was quoted almost £900, to which I replied, "Whatever you're drinking, I'll have a pint of it"

I went to a local place and got a stainless system made up, guaranteed for the life of the car, for £395, which I thought was excellent. However, the salient point here is that they used the existing exhaust as a template to make the new one. Every bend, curve, length, diameter and so on was directly copied from the factory exhaust so I don't see how that could be a modification - it's just a replacement.

Having said all that, I do agree that for the sake of a simple phone call it's better to be safe than sorry, but I just don't see how that could be classed as anything other than just a straight-forward replacement.

[Brian26]

I could be totally wrong here ( I frequently am according to the wife!) but I thought Lexus exhausts were stainless anyway. I'm sure somebody will put me right if they are not.

Bri

[welland]

My cat was stolen a couple of weeks ago from my other car - a honda.   😮

[asalbeagdubh]

Hi all,

I'm looking at buying an RX450h (a 2011 or 2012 model - we can't afford anything newer) but am nervous on all the reports of Cats being stolen from hybrids. There has been a spate of 2nd generation Priuses done in the West of Ireland in the past couple of months - thieves are speccing peoples driveways and coming back during the night. Thankfully our current car hasn't been touched but I don't want to accidentally invest in a car that has a big target on its back.

Thanks

 

[Herbie]

All petrol cars have cats so I don't see why an RX450h should be targeted any more than any other. Just get the car and enjoy it  

[asalbeagdubh]

18 minutes ago, Herbie said:

All petrol cars have cats so I don't see why an RX450h should be targeted any more than any other. Just get the car and enjoy it  

Thanks for your quick reply. We love Lexuses. I guess my question is if they're a particular target for thieves like the 2nd gen Prius which apparently has valuable metals in the Cat and these are easy to remove?

[Britprius]

As Herbs says above all modern petrol cars have cats, and all of these contain precious metals.
It makes no difference if the car is a hybrid.
As far as ease of removal is concerned vehicles with high ground clearance are easier targets as the cats are removed from the underside. When I say removed the cats are generally cut off with a rotary cutter, and not unbolted.

John. 

[asalbeagdubh]

Thanks for the reassurance ... I hope! Our local area is really being targeted at the moment by these idiots. I know several people in the area who've had theirs taken (all 2nd gen Priuses) and it costs a fortune to have them replaced.

[Britprius]

16 minutes ago, asalbeagdubh said:

Thanks for the reassurance ... I hope! Our local area is really being targeted at the moment by these idiots. I know several people in the area who've had theirs taken (all 2nd gen Priuses) and it costs a fortune to have them replaced.

In theory the insurance should pay if the cats do get stolen but this may impact on your NCB depending on the company your insured with. 
It is the secondary cat that is stolen from the Prius as the primary cat is near impossible to get at along with many other cars it being under the exhaust manifold, and between the engine, and fire wall. After market cats are around £40, but an OEM is over £200. Of course fitting is extra to this, but should be no more than an hours labor.

John.