Toyota introduces anti-theft device for catalytic converters on its hybrid cars
The theft of exhaust systems from car parks and driveways – which leaves vehicles stranded – is on the rise amid skyrocketing prices for precious metals inside catalytic converters. Now Toyota has introduced an anti-theft device to thwart thieves targeting hybrid cars.
The 2023 Toyota Prius has gone on sale in the US with a factory-backed catalytic converter ‘shield’ as an optional extra, designed to thwart thieves who target the hybrid vehicles’s anti-pollution exhaust system which is literally worth more than its weight in gold.
Catalytic converters are targeted by thieves because they contain precious metals such as rhodium – worth approximately eight times more than gold per gram.
Thieves use tube-cutters and power saws to cut through exhaust pipes to remove the catalytic converters on parked cars in dealerships, parking lots and driveways.
The stolen goods are then sold to unscrupulous recyclers for cash, with the precious metals then extracted and sold to refineries.
US publication Edmunds reports stolen catalytic converters from certain examples of the Toyota Prius can sell for more than $US1000 ($AU1500), while anti-pollution devices stolen from regular cars sell for about $US300 ($AU450).
On Toyota’s US website – first spotted by US publication Carscoops – one of the 26 factory-backed optional extras for the new Prius is a ‘Cat Shield’ (short for catalytic converter shield), priced from $US140 ($AU210) excluding installation.
Produced by US firm MillerCat, the shield covers the catalytic converter with an aluminium plate, which is secured to the car with tamper-proof bolts.
MillerCat produces a variety of catalytic converter shields for Toyota, Lexus and Honda vehicles – such as the Corolla and RAV4 hybrids – although the example offered for the new Prius is believed to be the first product available directly from the car-maker.
In a post on its website, MillerCat claims its aluminium shields are “most effective at being a visual deterrent for thieves than an actual physical deterrence. If a thief tries to cut through it, the aluminium can be cut through given enough time.”
Toyota’s decision to offer the shield as a factory-backed, dealer-fitted option follows two high-profile crime ring busts in the US.
In August 2022, a police operation in the US city of Portland, Oregon uncovered more than 44,000 catalytic converters stolen from car exhausts – with an estimated street value of $US22 million ($AU33 million).
In November 2022, US authorities busted a nationwide crime ring which allegedly made more than $US545 million ($AU814 million) from stealing, selling and extracting the precious metals from catalytic converters.
As previously reported, the new fifth-generation Toyota Prius is not currently planned for Australia, after the previous generation of the flagship hybrid vehicle was dropped from the local line-up in May 2022.
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