Under 98,000 miles, high MPG, ~$9k. Are the parts common and relatively inexpensive as it's a toyota, or does it suffer from mechanics rarely having parts for electric/hybrid cars? How much would it cost to secure my catalytic converter?
My relative has an 06 with over 200k miles and it's still running fine, although it did need some electrical component replaced recently that was a few hundred dollars, and the battery is a little degraded so it gets slightly worse mileage.
From what I've read, they're generally cheaper to maintain than the average car. You'll spend a lot less on gasoline of course, but also less on brakes since the electric motor takes care of some braking.
You can buy various products that bolt on to protect the catalytic converter, or you could hire someone to weld some rebar around it, or if you want to do it yourself, you can wrap it with chain or barbed wire.
The Prius looks very appealing, but I don’t know. I know all these security measures are just deterrents, and even rebar can be cut if they have enough dedication, and then there goes $600 and a $2k converter. Not sure if I want to gamble on whether it’ll last a few weeks or a few decades. One suggestion I’ve seen floating around is replacing the OEM CC with a cheap aftermarket one, and if it gets stolen then it’ll be cheap to replace. Do you have any knowledge on the difference between aftermarket and OEM CCs?
My understanding is that all the guards or barriers around the catalytic converter are meant to make it more difficult or time consuming for a thief, so that they're more likely to skip it and try another car rather spend half an hour risking arrest and/or a broken saw blade.
A cheap aftermarket cat will still be hundreds of dollars, plus more for installation. It might make sense to get one after the factory cat is stolen, but I wouldn't change it beforehand.
Any local resources that keep track of catalytic convert thefts? Maybe its not a big enough of a deal that it needs to be worried about in your area.
Alternatively, Low Rider Prius.I'll also say that if you want a hybrid with a catalytic convert that's harder to steal, the cat in a Chevy Volt is tucked up in the engine bay between the engine and the radiator. But the Prius gets better mileage, unless you can plug in the Volt to charge it.
Either way, you should paint a cool airbrush mural on it
I'm starting to think it's not worth it even if the car is objectively good because I'm not going to spend thousands of dollars to replace stolen parts.
I think it's relatively cheap to get a bar welded over the catalytic converter. Have a relative that had theirs stolen but I think they haven't had any issues since getting a deterrent installed.
it seems that pre 2010 models are affected the most. Annoyed that this model is one year off from being protected lol
