Catalyc Converter Stolen before wanting to sell my RX400h

[A-Rod]

As the title suggests, unfortunately my catalytic converter has been stolen a few days ago overnight -  just as I prepared the car for sale, MOT'd it and so on.

How have you dealt with such a situation? Did you fit a guard lock? How much does it cost? What are you doing to prevent this happening to your hybrid?

Once I fit the part, I'll put it up for sale again. I'm unsure if I can say this here, but wanted to do so in case anyone is interested before I post the actual advert on the net. Having checked the adverts online, I believe mine is a one off example out there.

[steve2006]

Sorry to hear this, another unfortunate situation where the jack didn’t collapse at just the right time!

Yes feel free to post the RX in the “Cars for sale” section of the forum, please just follow the listing requirements, pretty sure another member was looking for one recently too.

[A-Rod]

Any advice anyone RE is the protection and special plates / guards even worth it?

 

 

[Spock66]

I suspect where you live and park the vehicle has a big impact on the level of risk, so may be worth it for some but not others.

[Sasbambam]

On 3/3/2022 at 9:36 PM, A-Rod said:

As the title suggests, unfortunately my catalytic converter has been stolen a few days ago overnight -  just as I prepared the car for sale, MOT'd it and so on.

How have you dealt with such a situation? Did you fit a guard lock? How much does it cost? What are you doing to prevent this happening to your hybrid?

Once I fit the part, I'll put it up for sale again. I'm unsure if I can say this here, but wanted to do so in case anyone is interested before I post the actual advert on the net. Having checked the adverts online, I believe mine is a one off example out there.

[Sasbambam]

I bought my 2008 RX 450h from an advert on this site. It is an amazing car. The chap had taken the converter off for fear of it being stolen. He had downloaded  a lot of information from the internet showing that the 450h did not need the cat to pass the mot.(he gave me the cat with the car of course) he had fitted something else. When I took my car for the mot last year it passed without the cat on. 

[NemesisUK]

...

 

[diabolik]

I wonder how much is a cat for rx400h 🤔

[steve2006]

6 minutes ago, diabolik said:

I wonder how much is a cat for rx400h 🤔

According to my database around £1500.00 for the section required from Lexus.

[diabolik]

damn, that's bad luck

[A-Rod]

Thanks all for the replies. In response to some of the replies above, I don't believe your area plays a huge role as, according to all other forums, people have theirs removed wherever and whenever. My village has one of the lowest crime rates and since the incident, I have discovered that the organised gang have targeted all of my surrounding villages - tons of reports from neighbours and people who are victims. I'm glad that the police are on it and prevent this from happening (NOT!).

 

I've also read that a catalytic converter lock would make what is a one minute job over a 10 minute job and the noise emitted from cutting steel plates/bolts and wires would put the thieves off.

 

I went through my insurers and told them to put a catalytic converter lock. It seems that my exhaust will need to be replaced too due to the way they cut the catalytic converter off.

 

A body repair shop told me that I'd need to wait months due to back orders and difficulty in getting the part(s). With the courtesy car and all of that taken into consideration, I hope they don't write my car off after the estimates are received.

 

 

[Herbie]

4 hours ago, A-Rod said:

I've also read that a catalytic converter lock would make what is a one minute job over a 10 minute job and the noise emitted from cutting steel plates/bolts and wires would put the thieves off.

Sadly not. It makes a 60 second job into perhaps a 180 second job, but three minutes is all they'll need. They don't care how much damage they do in the process and there's always a 'look out' man with a machete or some such weapon so no one is going to (or should) tackle them themselves. They'll still be well gone before any police appear.

I would have gone for one of these cats for about £200 including delivery from Germany and then sell the car as planned.

[A-Rod]

On 3/9/2022 at 3:14 PM, Herbie said:

Sadly not. It makes a 60 second job into perhaps a 180 second job, but three minutes is all they'll need. They don't care how much damage they do in the process and there's always a 'look out' man with a machete or some such weapon so no one is going to (or should) tackle them themselves. They'll still be well gone before any police appear.

I would have gone for one of these cats for about £200 including delivery from Germany and then sell the car as planned.

Just an update. Unfortunately my car has been written off as both the insurer's garage and my local Lexus couldn't get the part due to a huge backlog and I was told waiting time to get the catalytic converter is 2-3 months at a minimum. Not only that, Lexus gave me a quote of £1257.53 for rhe part with the rear end of rhe exhaust and to fit this it would cost another £1500 too. Eye watering figures.

No point in getting a catalytic converter lock as the insurer told me they'd just cut a massive hole around the car, writing it off straight away - they have many cases where the thieves just ran off with the whole lock and everything.

I'm very sad to say the least. Was such an incredible car to own. Full lexus history, hybrid Battery warranty all green, pump and belt replaced at lexus, every single option available except for the TV screens in headrest. Just sad!!!

Unfortunately this is the end of my ownership of any Lexus hybrid cars as I have since been researching into the issue and all newer models suffer from the same fate.

P.S. complained to my constabulary and was told that unfortunately there isn't much they can do about catalytic converter theft because, and I quote: "we are simply extremely understaffed and I do not have enough people to visit the scrapyard and lead investigations".

[steve2006]

Not the outcome you were hoping for then, just got to wait for the first insulting offer and go from there taking into consideration the rise in used car values.

The target really has to be your envisaged selling price, the price to be paid is your loss of NCB and the subsequent rise in premium.

I read the other day that hybrids are the prime target as due to emissions the cats fitted contain a lot more precious metals so are more valuable as scrap.

 

As for the police response....don’t get me started on that issue.

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, A-Rod said:

Just an update. Unfortunately my car has been written off as both the insurer's garage and my local Lexus couldn't get the part due to a huge backlog and I was told waiting time to get the catalytic converter is 2-3 months at a minimum. Not only that, Lexus gave me a quote of £1257.53 for rhe part with the rear end of rhe exhaust and to fit this it would cost another £1500 too. Eye watering figures.

No point in getting a catalytic converter lock as the insurer told me they'd just cut a massive hole around the car, writing it off straight away - they have many cases where the thieves just ran off with the whole lock and everything.

I'm very sad to say the least. Was such an incredible car to own. Full lexus history, hybrid battery warranty all green, pump and belt replaced at lexus, every single option available except for the TV screens in headrest. Just sad!!!

Unfortunately this is the end of my ownership of any Lexus hybrid cars as I have since been researching into the issue and all newer models suffer from the same fate.

P.S. complained to my constabulary and was told that unfortunately there isn't much they can do about catalytic converter theft because, and I quote: "we are simply extremely understaffed and I do not have enough people to visit the scrapyard and lead investigations".

This may give you problems in selling the car later on but why not do as I said above, i.e. get a cheap cat and someone to weld the pipes if necessary and continue to run it until it dies? You could even just get a straight pipe welded in because, as we all know, hybrids are not emissions-tested on the MOT and many people have gone through an MOT with a straight pipe and it's passed without problem.

It's absolutely criminal to write off a good car because of nothing other than a cat theft.

[Spock66]

1 hour ago, A-Rod said:

Unfortunately this is the end of my ownership of any Lexus hybrid cars as I have since been researching into the issue and all newer models suffer from the same fate.

Sorry to hear about your experience.

But are Lexus cars any more vulnerable, other than the RX being an SUV with greater ground clearance?

[Herbie]

40 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

I read the other day that hybrids are the prime target as due to emissions the cats fitted contain a lot more precious metals so are more valuable as scrap.

Amazingly, I read the exact opposite!

The article I read said that because the ICE doesn't run all the time there are fewer precious metals in a hybrid's cat.

Strangely, the ruffians and ne'r do well's don't seem to have cottoned on to the fact that all cars have cats and all cats contain precious metals, ergo all cars are a target, not just hybrids.

[A-Rod]

2 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

Sorry to hear about your experience.

But are Lexus cars any more vulnerable, other than the RX being an SUV with greater ground clearance?

Lexus, Toyota Auris/Prius and Honda Jazz are on the top list. In fact, the constabulary and insurer said the same thing about these three brands. If you look at Lexus official website, instead of fixing the issue, they provide a catalytic converter lock at a reduced price. Absolutely poor service, considering Lexus and Toyota makes it notoriously easy to remove these om the first place and the fact that this problem has been around since the first Toyota hybrids were introduced.

[A-Rod]

4 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Amazingly, I read the exact opposite!

The article I read said that because the ICE doesn't run all the time there are fewer precious metals in a hybrid's cat.

Strangely, the ruffians and ne'r do well's don't seem to have cottoned on to the fact that all cars have cats and all cats contain precious metals, ergo all cars are a target, not just hybrids.

The hybrid catalytic converters on Japanese vehicles have the most expensive metals and are situated wide open.

[A-Rod]

Apologies for triple posting. Here is the link and all the anrgy comments:

https://mag.lexus.co.uk/catalytic-converter-theft/

[Herbie]

3 minutes ago, A-Rod said:

Apologies for triple posting. Here is the link and all the anrgy comments:

https://mag.lexus.co.uk/catalytic-converter-theft/

Taken directly from that article is this paragraph:

In the main, it remains older cars that are targeted because advances in efficiency and technology mean the latest generations of Lexus catalytic converters contain vastly lower amounts of precious metals, whilst still doing their job just as well or even better; this means their value for recycling is very low and they are not attractive to thieves.

[Barry14UK]

And if you think that joining the ranks of BEV owners is the answer,  be aware that there is growing incidence of charging cables being stolen as these also contain valuable salvageable material.

[ColinBarber]

4 hours ago, A-Rod said:

Absolutely poor service, considering Lexus and Toyota makes it notoriously easy to remove these om the first place and the fact that this problem has been around since the first Toyota hybrids were introduced.

Has it? I never heard of organised cat thief in 1998. I agree that they don't seem to be doing enough today on their current vehicles (although they aren't typically a target) but I'm not sure you can criticise the design of the original Prius or even the 400h when it wasn't an issue back then.

Apparently many standard petrol cars are now being targeted, too much money being made to limit your opportunities to just hybrid vehicles.

[A-Rod]

I am seeing individuals in other forums with RX400h and CT report their catalytic converters being stolen. So perhaps it may not necessarily be RX450h or newer models, I've not looked into this, but would want to go back to newer RX models if the issue of having an exposed secondary catalytic converter has been sorted. The main dealer service and reliability alone, for me, beats beats other manufacturer.

 

Yes, other manufacturers may be targeted too, but not on a scale as TX400h/Jazz/Prius and Auris are. Haven't even thought about it until I became a victim and I'm sure some owners have their cars for centuries without being a victim of such crime. However, keeping this RX wasn't an option after the crime as lots of victims reported their catalytic converters being stolen again only after a few weeks of fitting a new one!

 

On that bombshell, I've decided to go back to diesels for the time being and already booked a vieweing for a V70 Se Lux.

 

Would love the welcome back once I get another Lexus. Some of the cars are still on my bucket list while im young and full of energy (30), like the ISF and the LC.

 

I hope no one faces this issue and the government can finally put a stop to all of this by getting 40k+ police officers back (their manifesto of 20k hasn't been fulfilled yet and the inspector who I spoke to said that even 20k won't balance the fact they cut 40k jobs in the first place).

 

Have a good one everyone! Has been great to be a member for so many years on here (this is a newer account, but you can see my blue IS200 on here somewhere from 2012).

 

 

[vrodman]

On 3/9/2022 at 8:16 AM, Sasbambam said:

I bought my 2008 RX 450h from an advert on this site. It is an amazing car. The chap had taken the converter off for fear of it being stolen. He had downloaded  a lot of information from the internet showing that the 450h did not need the cat to pass the mot.(he gave me the cat with the car of course) he had fitted something else. When I took my car for the mot last year it passed without the cat on. 

Hi Sarah - you still driving that old bucket ? 🤣

 

Just kidding of course, best car I ever had and we still miss having it (except when we pull up at the fuel pumps 😄) Hope you and Stephen are well 

all the best

 

Paul