Prius owners, catalytic converter theft is common and expensive

[mahina]

Last edited Fri Oct 2, 2020, 04:46 PM - Edit history (2)

Update: please read Hunter’s comment at the (current) end of the thread. If you are in Ca at least, this may not apply to you.
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To repair.

Just happened to one of the three priii in my family. It’s going to cost $3500 to fix it and without it the car drives like crap and sounds like a gigantic Harley Davidson.

Evidently it takes about five minutes to steal the thing from underneath the car, installing a theft deterrent metal plate welded on cost me 360 bucks yesterday.

Once they get a few years in the repairs have not been cheap including replacing the hybrid battery at $3000 and the brake actuator which was a couple thousand but it was covered under warranty as it was a recall.

Just a heads up to fellow Prius owners, get that theft deterrent plate or maybe find another way to keep that catalytic converter in your car. They’re getting about $1000 For each one and Toyota is about a month behind on shipping the replacement part. M
I looked for a car forum and didn’t see one

Ps the replacement cat converters are often stolen too!

[Thekaspervote]

1. Thx.. mine sits in our garage, but when we do get back to traveling we won't be leaving it at

The airport

[hlthe2b]

2. Are all your Priuses newer? Are they targeting the older ones like the 2007 or 2008 ones?

Also, given it was theft, did your car insurance cover?

[marlakay]

3. Thanks for the heads up

I live in conservative town and already get the snarly looks from the guys with trucks.

[Best_man23]

4. Nearly every gas powered car made since the early 70s has a catalytic converter

Thieves steal them for the metals they contain. These include platinum and palladium. When I was a tech back in the late 80s to 90s, I would trade scrap converters I removed to metal salvage companies for cash. Back then, each junk converter fetched around $40. Good way to augment the income during lean weeks.

There is an automotive enthusiasts forum here on DU, its under Recreation.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1205

[mahina]

6. Thank you. I asked my mechanic why Priuses in particular

Since catalytic converters are on just about everything there is an electric vehicle. He said that because they drive in the electric mode so much of the time, the platinum doesn’t wear off like it does on conventional non-hybrid vehicles

[ProfessorGAC]

8. He's Pretty Darn Close

The platinum and palladium don't "wear off" though.
What happens is what the inorganic folks call catalyst poisoning.
The reaction taking place use the surface of the metal to lower the activation energy of oxidizing carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Still an emission, but far less toxic.
Over the course of time, the metals themselves oxidize because of all the hot air going through the converter.
When that happens the converter quits working properly as platinum oxide, or the palladium equivalent, have no catalytic activity.
The metals are still there, but now instead a simple striping acid wash to recover the precious metals, the oxides needs to be reduced with hydrogen gas in an involved, and potentially dangerous process.
One can be done in a bathtub. The other can't.
Your mechanic is right about why the Prius converters have more value. The pure metal lasts much longer. Much easier to recover those high value metals.
But, the metals don't really wear away.
My dissertation involved heterogeneous metal catalysts. Even though that was >40 years ago, the behaviors aren't something one forgets. That's why I know this stuff.

[RockRaven]

5. Once the covid lockdowns started and we weren't driving it daily, we started parking ours

such that it can't be seen easily from the street. Not foolproof by any means, but better than the last-in/first-out position in our driveway we used to give it.

[mahina]

7. Good idea. Another thing about Priuses is that

The battery can fail if it isn’t driven regularly enough to run down and recharge fully. At least 3x a week. That’s what I learned when I babysat my Mom’s and didn’t drive mine for 2 weeks. $$$,000.00

So I hope you take it for a drive every so often.

If we get ill then I need to find somebody to drive these cars around several times a week. I love them but I’m not paying for a fourth new hybrid battery. The reconditioning and Frankencelling from other batteries is still over 2500. here at the best place for it.

[Disaffected]

10. What kind of batteries do they have?

The behaviour you describe does not sound like a lithium battery. Maybe it's a Ni-Cad but, still one should not have to drive it 3 times per week to prevent failure.

[mahina]

23. Whatever it came with

I wouldn’t even know how to answer that question. That’s what the dealers installed

[Disaffected]

24. OK but,

as I mentioned before, there is no way one should have to drive the car three times a week to keep the battery healthy.

[mahina]

25. Okey dokey

I’m just telling you what actually happened and what my mechanic said about it but you do you baby

[Disaffected]

26. There is no need for snark here.

What your mechanic told you is nonsense (if in fact that is what he actually said).

Here's an excerpt from a newspaper article on the topic:

"The consensus is that leaving a hybrid with nickel-metal-hydride batteries such as yours stored for three months should be okay, but four-five months might be pressing it a bit."

Lithium batteries would do even better.

Are you talking about the main battery or, the 12V "service" battery?? If you have a lot of parasitic load, your 12V could run down much quicker, especially in cold weather. My sister has a Honda Fit and that is what happened to her the first winter because of a remote starter device she had installed after she bought the car. She bought a trickle charger to take care of it.

[mahina]

28. No snark

You think maybe I am not telling the truth? That for some reason I want to misstate the advice from https://www.masakiauto.com/index.html that they gave me after a very expensive repair?

I don’t really care what you think.

Bye now.

[Disaffected]

32. "...but you do you baby."

Yeah, no snark.

All I'm saying is that they lied to you or are not competent (both of which are quite plausible for a lot of dealerships) and/or you misunderstood the explanation they gave you.

Trying to be of help to someone is sometimes a fool's errand...

[hlthe2b]

21. I've had one for years and while I experienced that "behavior" last year, it was because

the 12 V battery had a single bad cell (not the main hybrid battery). I was able to jump it and it ran fine and went through the summer just fine--even if parked for a week or so, but as soon as it turned a bit cold I had to drive it daily or it would run down. Replacing the 12 v battery solved the problem and I'm back to driving at most once or twice a week.

Now, is it a good idea to drive ALL cars more frequently? Yes, but that is not simply with a hybrid.

[Disaffected]

9. $3K to replace the battery??

Wow, kinds knocks the economics of a hybrid off, no? May I ask how many miles did the original battery last?

I'm especially interested in knowing as will be in the market for a new car soon and have been looking at hybrids.

[mahina]

12. The first replacement hybrid battery was covered under warranty. The second one cost three grand

Last edited Fri Oct 2, 2020, 02:34 PM - Edit history (1)

I don’t remember how many miles I was that then but it was over 💯K

Leafs great until the batteries conk out and then it’s another eight grand but you don’t have to do the oil changes and all the other maintenance and there’s really not much else to break as far as I know but I don’t actually know anybody who’s had one. Just got this info from my mechanic. He also said whatever I do don’t get a third generation Prius, that they are having a lot of problems with them

[frazzled]

13. We had our Prius for 14+ years

with no battery issues at all. Then, all of a sudden this year, early in the pandemic, our battery went kaput. We’d driven just fine to do a curbside grocery pickup and waited in the lot for 15 minutes or so. When our order came and we started the car again, it made a horrible noise. Spouse took it to the dealer and they said the fan had gotten clogged and that killed the battery. Still can’t figure it out, but it wasn’t worth putting in a battery and fan on a 14-year-old car that wasn’t worth as much as the repair.

I’d say 14 years on a battery was pretty darned good. We bit the bullet and bought another Prius, and love it. But now I think we need to get one of those catalytic converter covers!
We’re hoping to keep this one for another 14 years.

[mahina]

15. Do you miss the secret compartment under the cup holder?

Last edited Wed Sep 30, 2020, 09:19 PM - Edit history (1)

Def get the cover.
This looks pretty but they don’t say if it is welded on or what.
https://www.torquenews.com/8113/every-toyota-dealer-should-carry-device-your-toyota-prius

[Disaffected]

16. Strange indeed

about a failed battery causing the car to make a horrible noise. Sounds like it was the fan itself but why would that kill the battery as it should shut down or alarm if overheated?

Still, 14 years of life is very good...

[Silent3]

17. I don't know if it's the same fan the poster is talking about...

...but there's a fan that's specifically for cooling the battery itself. Even if all power were cut as a safety mechanism, that might leave the battery sitting there too hot and not cooling off fast enough. At 14 years old, I doubt it had much life left to preserve anyway.

[frazzled]

18. We did every recommended tune up

and inspection. They could have told us about the fan. That was the culprit: the battery got overheated.

[hlthe2b]

22. I have a 2007 and have never replaced the main battery (knock on wood). That is not unusual.

I have replaced the 12 v battery last year, but not the main hybrid battery.

[northoftheborder]

11. My grandson has my original 2009 Prius, still running on original battery.

[mahina]

14. That is awesome. We have two 05's and one 15.

They are outstanding cars.

Three major repairs in both 05s within a couple of years was a lot but they are 15 years old.

[ihas2stinkyfeet]

19. we have a jerk in my hood who has it down to about 20 seconds.

drives a load ass black dodge charger, too. been caught on video.
dont know if they caught him yet, but evvvveryone is looking out for him.

[mahina]

20. WhoA that is fast

good luck. Hope you guys catch him. Or her.

[hunter]

27. How do you fence a stolen catalytic converter?

If I showed up at our local scrap metal place with a catalytic converter of questionable provenance they'd probably throw me in the shredder for wasting their time. Those guys are mean. I've seen them hold losers who were trying to sell burnt copper wire for the police.

Of course I don't know how organized crime does things. Maybe they ship used catalytic converters out on the same boats illegal drugs and fireworks come in on.

To recycle a catalytic converter in California you must document the vehicle it came from, the seller has to present a valid identification, and the buyer has to take a photograph or video of the seller, etc..

Simply replacing a catalytic converter requires similar levels of documentation because years ago many unscrupulous mechanics were replacing catalytic converters unnecessarily and pocketing the money they got recycling them.

[mahina]

29. They are way ahead of things compared to here then.

The cop said something about metal refiners.

I’m glad things are better there on this point.

[roamer65]

30. I routinely get 40 mpg from my Chevy Cruze.

There is still a long way we can go with internal combustion engines.

The biggest environmental thing I do right now is work from home. The best gallon of gas is the one not used.

[roamer65]

31. Palladium is expensive right now.

$2200 per oz.

[DFW]

33. Worth more than gold

Platinum is worth half. That is what this is about.

[roamer65]

34. Yup.

U are correct.