Lexus CT200h - Cat Theft

[Snowhead]

As a new member, thought I'd like to upload news of my recent extraction of my 'CT200h Cat Converter, 29th March 2021, in 'North Manchester, by a trio of miscreants in the early hours, my vehicle being a 'CT200h top of the range spec - 'Takumi, 20 plate, which of course would not deter thieves being only interested in the 'Cat converter extraction, of which they did extract such, my middle aged female neighbour witnessed such next door, and, she told me they had what appeared to be a couple of long sticks, which of course were baseball bats, and I'm sure you all know by now of the extraction methods, they were gone within two minutes. I was advised by the 'AA driver who was called to the scene by myself, he was most helpful and told me to go through your insurance, which in my case is 'Direct Line, my 'AA driver assured me that was excellent, if only when 'Direct Line replace said stolen Cat converter, it'll be a OEM replacement, which of course meets all of the of the warranty agreement's, and is of course less valuable, than a 'Lexus replacement, and as is not as valuable as the Lexus replacement, would be less appealing, I also with the repair shop where currently is where my vehicle is, specified for myself to have the Lexus 'Catlock fitted as advised, what else can one do? at a cost of approx '£250, other than mount searchlights, machine guns to shoot said miscreants! I did read earlier on this forum of a guy by the name of 'Mohammed, and I do certainly feel is anguish, pain, and I do emphasise with him, but his family were not harmed, and that is the main issue, one can only but deter these miscreants from doing what they do, by fitting said Lexus, Catlock, as issued from 'Lexus, etc., 

[Spacewagon52]

Very sorry to hear that.

[Emgee44]

I read recently that CAT converters thefts were up last year (2020) to 15k from 9k the previous year, you can read the piece here: 

https://www.whatcar.com/advice/owning/catalytic-converter-theft-why-is-it-so-common/n20384

I'm currently in the market to buy a Lexus of one type or another, either a CT or an IS300h and will definitely look to ensure it has a CATLOK fitted or have one fitted.

[Damer]

Sorry to hear that happened to you. I have a "new" '19 plate CT200h. I am now worried about the amount of CAT Thefts there are in Manchester, I know there has been a few in my neighbourhood. I think I need to get a CATLOK.

 

[stormchaser]

Ive just had mine done today at a Lexus dealer Paid £250 total.

Its a great product.

[MadJam250]

Hearing of stories that Catlocks are now easy to remove too? 

[stormchaser]

They.d have a hard job removing the dealer Catloc one.

[NemesisUK]

"Does a Catloc give my car 100% protection from thieves?
Sadly not. It can make theft more difficult but thieves are using high-powered cutting tools to remove catalytic converters and because of this it is not possible to make catalytic converters ‘unstealable’. A Catloc makes it harder to steal a catalytic converter, slowing thieves down and acting as a deterrent. As mentioned above, we’re doing all we can to seek further technical options for customers."

https://mag.toyota.co.uk/catalytic-converter-theft-how-to-protect-your-car/

[Obertelli]

2 hours ago, MadJam250 said:

Hearing of stories that Catlocks are now easy to remove too? 

There are cat locks and there are Catlocs. 
 

One type of the former being sold widely costs about £30-£40, and is made of stainless steel about the thickness of a biscuit tin. It’s also held in place by four very easily accessible non-security bolts. It’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

The Catloc which Lexus has exclusive rights to on their vehicle models is much more secure, but a determined thief can still remove it. But it also adds a security marking liquid to the catalytic converter plus a serial number, so if stolen and recovered police can prove that it was stolen and bring criminal charges. They’re difficult enough to remove that many thieves won’t take the extra time to do unless the car is parked somewhere thieves are confident they won’t be disturbed. For legitimate converter removal Lexus exclusively supply a removal and refitting kit only to those who prove ownership of a CT and provide proof of ID and address.

I won’t go into detail here but thieves usually cause additional damage to the CT before they jack the car up so that the built-in alarm is disabled. They don’t bother with looking to see the “Catloc” warning stickers, so by the time the car has been jacked up there is already normally a few hundred £s worth of damage.

I live in south London where cat thefts have been common, but until a few months ago it was still largely limited to 4WD and SUVs due to their high ground clearance. Honda Jazz Mk1 and all Toyota Prius models were also being targeted, but my local Lexus dealer told me that CTs were not being targeted.

That has now changed. In the last week alone in my area I’ve encountered three CTs which have had their converters stolen as evidenced by sounding like a tank, and today at Lexus whilst getting my car serviced they confirmed that they have seen a number of customers turning up to have stolen converters, lambda probes, and other exhaust parts replaced, plus an even larger number of owners with lesser damage caused by attempted thefts. One slight positive: thieves don’t take care to jack the cars up by approved jacking points, so often cause major sill or floor damage. But my Lexus dealer confirmed that the CT bodyshell is tough enough that so far they haven’t seen any serious damage from incorrect jacking.

I have now booked my car in for them to fit a Catloc on April 21st at a cost of £199. I’m also going to make a simple modification to my car if I can which will make it much more difficult for thieving toe-rags to disable the alarm. The modification should be a simple DIY job but if not I’ll get a local auto-sparky to   do the job for me.

After getting the Catloc fitted I plan to get the Lexus NextBase front and rear dashcam kit on a hard-wired installation. If anyone still attempts to steal anything from my car then I’ll have some evidence which will improve chances of detection and prosecution. Also the dual dashcam whilst discreet, is noticeable enough to act as an additional deterrent in itself.

[royoftherovers]

A nice informative write up Bob, thanks.

If your planned, modifications include the provision of Snakes, Alligators, Octopus, Stingray, Poisons, laser guided Darts or Electrification, then I support you fully.

[Gsf grey solihull]

Hi guys,I rang Birmingham Lexus to book our  ct car for having catloc fitted only to be told worryingly that they have had catalyst converters stolen from 3 cars on their forecourt in one attack ☹️😱😱

[stormchaser]

The dealer i went to on Wednesday when i had mine fitted told me that they also had a few Toyota Auris cats stolen overnight.They also are a Toyota/Lexus dealership.

[Celia]

Just had   CATLOC fitted to our Lexus CT after recent  theft of catalytic converter in SW London. The thieves disabled alarm by cutting lead to horn through grill..  see pic of lead poking out of grill .. Is there a  way to stop this - as alarm is the first first line of defence?

[Carriage Return]

same for me, the combined lexus / toyota dealership where I got mine from indicated precisely the same thing

 

he did note somewhat dryly that they ignored the lexii* and only went for the toyotas

 

*what is the correct plural?

[Carriage Return]

1 hour ago, Celia said:

Just had   CATLOC fitted to our Lexus CT after recent  theft of catalytic converter in SW London. The thieves disabled alarm by cutting lead to horn through grill..  see pic of lead poking out of grill .. Is there a  way to stop this - as alarm is the first first line of defence?

more shielding I would imagine

[ColinBarber]

There is a separate siren to the horns that should sound when the alarm goes off. Are they just cutting the wire or shorting it so something blows when the alarm goes off?

[stormchaser]

10 hours ago, Celia said:

Just had   CATLOC fitted to our Lexus CT after recent  theft of catalytic converter in SW London. The thieves disabled alarm by cutting lead to horn through grill..  see pic of lead poking out of grill .. Is there a  way to stop this - as alarm is the first first line of defence?

You can re route the wiring loom that goes to the horns.Now i,ve had my Catloc fitted i will be doing this also.

[Carriage Return]

21 hours ago, stormchaser said:

You can re route the wiring loom that goes to the horns.Now i,ve had my Catloc fitted i will be doing this also.

I find it extraordinarily poor design that this easily clippable wire is so readily accessible. The wire could be re-routed, or, a grille or armouring could be applied to the wire in its current location. I am pondering how to do that on mine. Rerouting sounds like a major PIA however adding a secondary grille to prevent the hooking and cutting of that wire through the grille, or armouring it somehow seems appealing. 

[stormchaser]

4 hours ago, Carriage Return said:

I find it extraordinarily poor design that this easily clippable wire is so readily accessible. The wire could be re-routed, or, a grille or armouring could be applied to the wire in its current location. I am pondering how to do that on mine. Rerouting sounds like a major PIA however adding a secondary grille to prevent the hooking and cutting of that wire through the grille, or armouring it somehow seems appealing. 

I,m suprised they could get through the later Spindle grille design on yours whereas the early models like mine are very easy.

[Carriage Return]

The photo I quoted was from the user "Celia" - thankfully mine has not (yet) been attacked. I would estimate the clearance in the grille to be about 1cm. 

a stiff wire or metal shaped hook and sufficient brute force would appear to be adequate - but there is no need for the wire to be accessible in the first place - that is what is so frustrating about this. 

[rob_clio172]

So ive invested in a CATLOC, a facebook group flagged up that 3 cars on my estate had been targeted in 2 weeks. 2 Prius and 1 CT, as my car is outside the gargae I just wanted peace of mind.

The CATOC was a little fiddly whilst up on axle stands and on my back but got it done. Did all the little bits you need to do with the labels and solution (that was actually pretty tricky because of the angle I was at and lack of space) The guard is way bigger and heavier than I thought!!! Pictures are deceiving! 

Just need to go online and register it now. 

[stormchaser]

Nice job there especially as you done it as a DIY job.

[rob_clio172]

Cheers mate, yeah it's not a bad job you can see why the dealer doesn't charge much to fit it as it would be way easier up on a ramp. 

[Gsf grey solihull]

Had Lexus fit catlocto our ct on Friday,no problems with it all seems good,cost £250 out of curiosity what was the cost to purchase for diy job??

[rob_clio172]

6 hours ago, Gsf grey solihull said:

Had Lexus fit catlocto our ct on Friday,no problems with it all seems good,cost £250 out of curiosity what was the cost to purchase for diy job??

I payed £205 for the kit so Lexus do fit it for pretty cheap but tbh if I was up on a ramp I could have fit it in 10 mins even doing this for the 1st time. They had it in stock too which I didn't think they would have, I wonder if dealers would fit them to there sales pitch cars to save the problem of having loads stolen at once? They could easily lose the cost of it in the price of the car.