Catalytic converter theft from cars isn’t a new crime, but it has increased significantly in recent times.
Police forces around the UK are advising owners of any car fitted with a catalytic converter to take precautions. In Toyota’s case it is second and third-generation Prius models (2004-2009 and 2009-2016 respectively) and second-generation Auris Hybrids (2012-2018) which have been particular targets for thieves.
Below we’ve gathered the best advice for Toyota owners who may be concerned.
What is a catalytic converter?
The catalytic converter is part of the car’s emissions control system. It cleans up the exhaust gases before they are expelled from the car through the exhaust pipe. Its internal elements react with the gases, breaking them down into less harmful substances and water vapour. All new cars sold in Europe since 1993 have had to be fitted with a catalytic converter by law.
Why are they a target for thieves?
Clearly the police are best placed to offer advice on the motives behind this crime. But we understand that the value of the catalytic converter for recycling is the main attraction to thieves, because it contains precious metals such as rhodium, platinum and palladium.
What can owners do to stop their cars being targeted?
Some owners have chosen to tag their catalytic converters with an invisible yet traceable forensic marking solution, such as that provided by SmartWater. This means that a stolen catalytic converter can be traced to a specific crime, helping police in their attempts to fight the organised gangs responsible. It also raises the risk to all those handling the devices along the criminal chain, from theft to eventual disposal and recycling. Mechanical theft prevention products such as Catloc devices can also deter thieves.
However, it must be noted that catalytic converter theft is a criminal operation and the scope of owners is therefore limited. Police forces are taking action, so it is important for anyone who is a victim of this crime to report it as quickly as possible.
In the main, older cars are more likely to be targeted. This is because advances in efficiency and technology mean the latest generations of catalytic converters contain vastly lower amounts of precious metals, while 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.
Does a mechanical lock 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 them ‘unstealable’. A mechanical locking device makes it harder to steal a catalytic converter because it slows down thieves and therefore acts as a deterrent.
If I’m worried about my Toyota model, what should I do?
If you are worried about potential catalytic converter theft from your Toyota, we recommend you use our locator tool to find your nearest Toyota centre and contact them to discuss the best way to protect your car.
This article was last updated on 2 November 2024, so some of the responses to reader comments below have been superseded by more recent information.
Venkatesh here. My Auris hybrid’s, Catalytic converter was stolen on 27/Jan/20 from Company parking lot in Whitley, Coventry. Right now, I am now in Lister Toyota , Coventry for estimation. Need to take leave from work & don’t know how many days it will take to return the car.It is too much financial burden for us, insurance premium going to be expensive without any fault from my side . At the same time it is going to be a never ending story by considering post coming every day. It is better not my Hybrid vehicle till suitable solution & alternative arrangements made by Toyota & Law enforcement authorities.
Hi Venkatesh,
Thanks for getting in touch with us. We are so sorry you have been a victim of this crime. We are working to support all our customers who have been impacted by this situation and we will email you directly in order to put you in touch with our customer relations team.
Thanks.
Dear Toyota,
My 2013 Auris Hybrid was targeted few days ago, daytime, residential area, apparently all done in less than 5 minutes.
My first question is- Why owners of potentially vulnerable cars are not being directly contacted and informed that their vehicles will be targeted by thieves?? You are more than happy to send us other info, why not send something relevant?
What is Toyota UK doing to help already affected and yet to be targeted, or targeted again owners of these cars?
I appreciate that you are offering Cat Locks, although without much confidence in them, so, is there a dedicated team working on a permanent solution? I’m having my car repaired now, but am really anxious that this will happen again. It’s really hard to understand why a vital part can be so easily stolen- it isn’t about Toyota not trying hard enough to prevent this, it’s about Toyota not doing anything at all.
A lot of us took a plunge and bought hybrids and we are now being left alone on mercy of thieves, insurance companies and garages – this just isn’t right and whatever is being done (I suspect very little considering number of posts here) isn’t being done fast enough…
To all of you affected folks- I know how you feel, so a piece of advice is: think before you claim on your insurance as once you’ve made that call it can not be undone and for the next 5 years whenever you are getting an insurance quote you’ll have to disclose that this has happened and the best of all is, insurance company will tell you it’s a “fault claim” which essentially means you will be paying through your nose for premiums, excess and whatever else they can think of. Just because they can and because Toyota isn’t dealing with this issue efficiently.
Hi Will,
Thanks for your message. We are incredibly sorry you have been a victim of this crime. We completely appreciate the severity of this situation and are doing all we can to provide support to our customers who have been impacted by this. Our customer relations team are best placed to discuss your questions further and we will email you directly in order to put you in touch with them.
Thanks.
My Toyota auris 2017 has had its cat stolen on 14/02/2020 1.31am they took it out in less then 3 mins. How come Toyota didn’t advice us when we purchased the car or when we recently had it serviced by them. It should be Toyota who replace these cats if they are stolen as its their fault for not notifying costumers. Why should us innocent ppl be forking out because of these theifs and Toyotas faults. I rely on my car a lot as I have 3 children and my mum is on chemo so in and out of hospital. Its nearly a week I have had no car because I haven’t got the money to replace the cat…..and by the sounds of it if I get it replaced I will get it stolen again. Toyota needs to up its game coz we have already booked our new Toyota corolla for may but I think I will have to cancel it. I’m not wasting money on stupid cats with no security system to stop these theifs and I have to fork out even more money to get the security system put in which should be standard from toyota. My question to Toyota is how much more do your loyal costumers have to put up with your faults? Cats cost over £1000 we working class cant afford these prices just for it to get nicked again and the Matlock doesn’t help coz loads of people have had the cat nicked with catlock on!! We should all be gave free cat locks and free tilt alarms
Totally my feelings too. Exactly the same and unless am using my car 24/7 there is no guarantee it won’t happen even with a cat loc.
Mine was stolen this week too.
Hi Daz,
Thanks for getting in touch. We are incredibly sorry you have been impacted by this crime. We will email you directly in order to gain additional details and put you in touch with our customer relations team.
Thanks.
After a few days of email exchange with “First Line Customer Support” message is finally sinking in- We are all in it- alone. TGB apologises a lot and is really sorry and blah, blah, blah but in between the lines I can see clearly “We don’t care, go away”. I love my Auris, she gave me 7 years of stress free driving with only faults being three bulbs and two sets of wipers, and some tires but now, having had to park in a public place yesterday anxiety level is through the roof. Let her at home today, took a train but “what if?” thoughts are still with me. It was a bit of a shock to find out that neither Auris nor Prius have tilt alarms and only now TGB is thinking about this- disgraceful.
To make my life even more exciting, as I just literally switched insurance companies and paid for a whole year, if I sell the car, I’ll get nothing back as I’ve claimed. My protected no claims will not be affected but since I made a claim I now have to disclose it and all of the sudden every car I could have insured for around £600 full comp is now about £2k to insure with excess around £1k. This whole thing is just a big scam. Sharing my case so whoever happens to be affected has better understanding of how this is going to go down. Wished I knew. I would have paid for the repair myself, sell the car, get the reminder of policy £££ back, get a different car, continue living stress free.
Toyota isn’t interested (BTW, Toyota, please don’t bother with another response containing words “sorry, victim, appreciate”), so we need to find what’s best for us elsewhere. I watched few videos about this and I’m stunned- just search for a “catalytic converter gone in 60 seconds”- no special tools or skills required…
Out of curiosity- has anyone with a CatLock had their converter stolen?
Good luck everybody…
Hi Przemyslaw,
Thanks for getting back in touch with us. We are sorry you feel disappointed in our response. We can see our team are still working on your case and we will add your comments into it. Our team will be in touch with you soon.
Thanks.
I am also a victim of catalytic converter theft from my 2014 Auris hybrid touring sport last tuesday from ASDA Carpark. I have had to go through my insurance and pay the excess as I did not have a £1000 spare to fund a new catalyst.
How is Toyota supporting the victims of this crime?
Hi Muneem,
Thanks for getting in touch. We are so sorry you have been a victim of this crime. Our customer relations team are best placed to help you further with this and we will email you directly in order to put you in touch with our team.
Thanks.
Hi Toyota
My 18plate Auris has had its catalytic converter stolen today from mount vernon hospital.
I’m shocked at how common this is. I wasn’t the only auris in the carpark that this happened to today either.
My question is If I claim through my insurance will I loose the warranty on the car? Also if this is a know common problem why are Catlocs not fitted as a standard why are they an extra cost?
Thanks
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for getting in touch with us. We are deeply sorry you have been impacted by this crime. We would like to help you further by putting you in touch with our customer relations team who are best placed to help you further. We will email you directly in order to put you in touch with them.
Thanks.
Last weekend my cat got stolen. Again actually, this was the 2nd time in 7 weeks.
Although I’d rather have the police chase murderers and rapists, this does not seem to have any priority. (Yes, I have camera images w/ license plates.) Meanwhile, this situation turns out be a fountain of wealth for the car dealer: many insurance companies cover everything including a replacement car – while the repair lasts – which the dealer conveniently seems to have at hand as well.
And many of us owners are wondering why we aren’t getting an advance warning or CatLock offer?
Hi Roger,
Thanks for getting back in touch. We are so sorry you have been a victim of this crime for a second time. We would recommend contacting Toyota in your region for further help with this.
Thanks.
I have. And have been told by the importer the CatLock solution only delays the crime. So while the car was still in repair I ordered a tilt alarm. Picked up the car Thursday afternoon at 5 (yes, this was yesterday). And planned to install the alarm this morning. Only to wake up the neighbours with a loud noise when moving the car a few feet: the cat was gone a third time.
Insurance, tow service, replacement car and police report x 3. Dropped off the tilt alarm and told the repair shop not to call me until they have a solution.
P.S. The dealer tells me cat theft will not happen should I buy a Prius 3 or recent Auris because the cat is barely accessible in those models. Right. Who’s the thief here?
Hi, Sorry for tagging onto soeone else’s comment but for some reason I am unable to start a new comment on here. Reading through these messages and realising the epidemic levels of cat theft, Toyota really should be hanging their heads in shame. The cat was stolen from my Auris outside my house last week. When I spoke to the insurers the handler I was talking to said he had personally dealt with 20 Auris stolen cat claims in just 2 days. What makes this even more annoying is that when I bought my Auris a few months ago from Hills at Woodford, having had a Prius and being aware of the Prius cat theft problem, I asked the salesman if there was any problem with cats being stolen from Auris models. He assured me there was no problem with the Auris and that it was only an issue with the Prius because of where the cats were located. I was mis-sold the car and only wish I had found this comments page before buying the car just a few months ago. I am now going to be out of pocket for a £500 insurance excess and increased premium when I renew my insurance as this is classed as a ‘fault claim’. I have owned Toyota cars for around 15 years but will never buy one again and will make sure I inform as many people as possible that these cars are too risky to purchase. As soon as my Auris is repaired I will be selling it. Very bad Toyota!
Hi Debra,
Thanks for getting in touch. We ares so sorry you have been impacted by this crime and feel you were mis-sold the car. Our customer relations team are best placed to help you further with this and offer support in any way we can. We will email you directly in order to gain additional details and put you in touch with them.
Thanks.
The cat converter was stolen yesterday from my Auris in Willesden, London in broad daylight !!
I was visiting my daughter and grandchildren and my car was parked, more or less in front of her house. I had to come home by bus and a half an hour walk.
We(my wife & I) had bought the car for our retirement,5 1/2 years ago and have always serviced and
MOTd (service plan) the car at the Toyota dealer. Never once were we told about this problem and the
Cat lock solution.
This incident has come as a bolt from the blue especially with our limited finances. What is worse is the anxiety that it can happen(without cat lock) again at any time/ anywhere.
I have reported the loss to the police and contacted the insurance company. They have advised me to contact Toyota, as this is a frequent occurrence with Toyota cars-especially the hybrid models, before making a claim and losing my no claim discount etc. They have also said that they won’t fit the cat lock as part of the claim. I will obviously now be out of pocket if I get the catlock fitted in order to save my anxiety and stop my insurance premium going up. As someone who took the plunge with Toyota’s hybrid solution, my wife and I are now very upset about all this.
Hi Ramprasad,
Thanks for getting in touch with us. We are so sorry you have been impacted by this crime and for the distress this may have caused. We appreciate the severity of this situation and we would like to help you further by putting you in touch with our customer relations team. We will email you directly in order to gain additional details and open a case on your behalf.
Thanks.
I have had this issue and called Toyota UK, I spoke to Shabbs from customer service and also a Supervisor called Chloe or Charlotte, they are so rude and care free. As a company they should be notifying us of this well known problem and telling us to get the lock but they don’t see it as their issue. They represent a Japanese brand in the most negative and disrespectful manner.
Hi Vin,
Thanks for getting in touch. We are so sorry to hear you have been a victim of this crime and that you aren’t happy with your experience with us. We will email you directly in order to gain additional details and see how we can help you further.
Thanks.
Dear Toyota,
I am another unfortunate victim: the catalytic converter was stolen from my 2014 Auris Touring Sports. This is highly inconvenient, I am forced to claim via my insurance and will be subject to the excess, plus trips I had planned this weekend to see family cannot take place. Living in London I have no choice but to park the car on the street, and so even once it is repaired I would be anxious that this will happen again. Toyota should be providing cat locks free of charge to all owners as a preventative measure, this is clearly a major problem with the vehicles.
Regards,
Aaron
Hi Aaron,
Thanks for getting in touch. We are so sorry you have been a victim of this crime. We are working to support all our customers who have been impacted by this crime and we will email you directly with more details.
Thanks.
It looks as though the main reason for targeting Toyota cars is the lack of a tilt alarm on the security system. Older models have more precious metals in the catalyst, but newer models are still being stolen. Toyota could easily fix this on new cars. Also, the material of the catloc can be chosen to make it more difficult to cut. We have a security box which has both hard and soft metal, so a drill that will cut the hard metal will clog and burn out when it hits the soft layer.
Finally, has anyone had a helpful, private reply from Toyota?
My toyota prius+ cat converter was stolen yesterday afternoon whit i was at work too. I bought the car not even 3 weeks ago and Toyota shud of tell me about this problem. Now i dont know what to do or who shud i call for to get a replacement. I have 5 kid and without a car im strugging with school run
Hi Thuy,
Thanks for getting in touch with us. We are so sorry you have been affected by this crime. We appreciate this is a difficult situation for you and we will email you directly with more information regarding next steps you should take.
Thanks.
I am another victim of having my catalytic converter stolen on Saturday evening. It will cost me loads to repair the damage. Toyota should be doing more to support its customers. I was parked outside Next and was in there for no more than 15 minutes and came back, switched on my car, only to hear terrible noises coming from my engine. Really distressing.
Regards
Hi Kokab,
Thanks for getting in touch. We are deeply sorry you have been impacted by this crime. We are working to support all our customers who have been impacted by this and will email you directly in order to provide you with more information.
Thanks.
Us too, yesterday ours was cut off our car in Bromley. And a short while later someone else’s was taken just up the road. They even got photos of the thieves.
We both contacted the police, but they are just not interested.
The insurance company were next to useless, as they can’t do anything until Monday. All our weekend plans are now on hold.
It seems these thieves have free reign, they are out in broad daylight, and they aren’t even covering their faces. They know the police won’t do anything, so they will just continue to cause distress to hard working tax payers!! It’s disgusting!
Hi there,
Thanks for your message. We are incredibly sorry you have been impacted by this crime and for the distress this may have caused. We fully appreciate your anger towards the situation and are working to support all our customers who have been affected. We will email you directly with more information.
Thanks.
Well I am disappointed in the lack of action by Toyota in relation to preventative measures especially when they know that cat thefts are on the rise with hybrid models. I will be contacting my local Toyota dealer to book the car in for a cat lock to be installed. My PCP runs out in April and if Toyota don’t get on top of this then my next car won’t be a Toyota hybrid.
Absolutely disgusting behaviour from Toyota. Shame on you. For a recall, you’re quick to send correspondence knowing the types of models we own as Toyota owners but you’ve failed miserably to inform us of a national wave of crime targeting the vulnerability of the models in the Prius and Auris. This is appalling from you. I’m selling my Toyota and will never consider purchasing one again until you sort putting your customers first.