RX450H 2012 Catalytic Converter Precautions against theft

[Frank the Hornet]

Hi looking for advice, in our area of Ruislip hardly a day goes by without a Catalytic Converter theft.

 Reading the Lexus site & seeing now a bespoke CATLOC for 3rd Generation RX now available. Still seems this is only going to slow down a thief a short amount of time.Lexus appear to admit this & draw attention that the CATLOC is not foolproof . But tseems to be required  if you needed to claim via car insurance & prove you took all precautions to prevent this theft.

Reading various blog's precaution on how to park particularly at night, but I am unclear how this can be achieved. We have one other car BMW 2 series Active Tourer & could park side by side, with the RX beside hedge & against house. I am unclear how to actually park and make it most effective.

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks,

Frank

 

[Herbie]

The problem is that there's absolutely nothing that can be done to stop these people. It takes less than two minutes to pull up, get the cat and be off, and the 'lookout' is usually armed with a machete or suchlike, so even if you saw them in the act it's not worth tackling them.

The only thing that will stop them is to tackle the scrapyards who are taking the cats in, but there's nothing we, as drivers and owners, can do that would be effective.

[Frank the Hornet]

Thanks Herbie,

Agree with  you Lexus say they are trying to influence the Authorities & Police to bring about change when the Cat's are taken to the scrapyards. Could be some time away before implemented.

[JoeJoe]

Hi. Has anyone had an aftermarket (not Oem) cat stollen or heard of this happening? I am thinking of installing one of those, they are worthless in terms of metals. The problem is whether thieves can recognise and spare them. 

[Illogan]

On 2/13/2021 at 9:46 PM, JoeJoe said:

Hi. Has anyone had an aftermarket (not Oem) cat stollen or heard of this happening? I am thinking of installing one of those, they are worthless in terms of metals. The problem is whether thieves can recognise and spare them. 

Joe, I strongly suspect that a tea-leaf, intent upon collecting cats* , having scampered underneath your motor with cordless angle-grinder in hand, is going to stop, check on the manufactuer or profile of your cat* before he removes the offending item!

So whether you've an OEM, or aftermarket unit ain't going to make a difference to him (or her!).

You could do as others have done, and simply have a straight pipe fabricated to replace the cat*, so there's nowt to steal!

 

 

* all references to cat/cats are to exhaust gas converters, and not to any form of domestic. or wild, felines

Edited February 15, 2021 by Illogan
Spolling

[paulrnx]

This is bad and there doesn’t seem to be an easy way of preventing this in some areas. Almost a case of it’s only a matter of time before it happens. Not if but when. I can’t see how scrap yards could be effectively policed. Bad news.

[JoeJoe]

Thanks Illogan & Paul. 

I currently have a flex clamp pipe where the cat used to be and it's functional. However, it's not as quiet as it used to be, esp when the engine is cold. There's a load, throaty rumble from the back of the exhaust and more smoke, although it gets better when it warms up. But it's not as quiet and smooth as it used to be with the cat. It's surprisingly loud, considering there are still 2 front cats, a muffler and a silencer at the back. No exhaust leaks either, the noise increase is coming straight out of the exhaust pipe in the back. It has a deeper/louder tone - good for a tuned car but may not a Lexus. Has anyone else noticed that and any advise on how to minimize it? 

Another desperate idea - I was thinking of painting markings on the cat to make it obvious its worthless. Like "aftermarket" or £0 🙂. I bought a Zeller cat and  visually it's a very different from the OEM one. Just brainstorming....

[Illogan]

5 hours ago, JoeJoe said:

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Another desperate idea - I was thinking of painting markings on the cat to make it obvious its worthless. Like "aftermarket" or £0 🙂. I bought a Zeller cat and  visually it's a very different from the OEM one. Just brainstorming....

As I've not lost my cat yet, I wasn't aware of whet the change in exhaust note would be, so thank you for that advice.

However, regarding your suggestion of decorating your Zeller unit - I would still suggest that 'Angle-grinder Archie', having previously nicked any number of cats from different motors, won't be in the slightest bit concerned what profile it has, or even if you mark it as

I don't think will make any difference, for having gone to the trouble of slithering under your motor (hopefully unseen), and knowing that it'll only take him 100 +/- seconds to remove, he might as well whip it off and see what he's collected when he throws it the back of his van!

I realise I may appear somewhat pessimistic here, but until scrap dealers clean up their act (🤣), or we find a way of connecting a cable from our traction batteries to the cat, then I think the only way of dissuading the scrotes is to make the act of removal as time-consuming as possible.

[JoeJoe]

I agree about the scrap dealers. I wrote to my local MP to ask him what is being done about this ongoing crisis. No reply. I read online that in the US they are changing their laws to tighten up the whole theft-to-scrap chain. In this country so far nothing, as usual politicians are not interested in the suffering of the working people (unless we refuse to pay taxes). 

Regarding theft of aftermarket cats - I asked a couple of installers on eBay and they said that their customers haven't had their cats stolen yet. Also watched videos from the US from mechanics that install aftermrkt ones and they say that thieves generally ignore them. But I agree that there's still a big risk, so will have to think it through. May be I will do a social experiment and time how long it will stay on. I wonder what should I use to record the time - a watch or a calendar 😐 Also noticed that the Zeller cats from Germany have now increased significantly in price, apparently because of the new import red tape and expenses after January.

[LexusPartsDirect]

Have any of you tried fitting the RX400h or RX450h Catlock recommended by Lexus? 

https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-rx/lexus-rx-phase-ii-2004-2008/lexus-rx-2-exterior-interior/lexus-rx-phase-2-catalytic-converter-lock/