Posted on 03/27/2023 11:24:20 AM PDT by grundle
When the catalytic converter was stolen from Vanessa Reimer's Toyota Prius in Long Beach, she thought the repair would be a simple one, taking a few weeks at most.
Then her local dealership delivered the bad news: The replacement part could take six months to arrive. Reimer, who is pregnant, may have a baby before her Prius has a new catalytic converter.
"At first, I thought there must be something I could do," said Reimer, 32, a speech language pathologist at an elementary school, before she learned that there were 100 other drivers waiting on the same part. "But there are just too many people in the same situation."
...
Anwar Glasgow... A Toyota service center in Van Nuys said the repair to his 2012 Prius would take six months, maybe less. Now they think his car won't be ready until October.
Glasgow's insurance will pay to have the new part installed, but won't subsidize a rental car for longer than a month or total the inoperable Prius so he can buy something else.
"I'm screwed, to be honest with you," said Glasgow, 25, an aspiring actor who is now walking and skateboarding 3 miles each way to his job as a waiter at a Mexican restaurant. The theft "feels like being kicked while you're down ... it is pretty demoralizing."
...
"I don’t think I'm going to see my car for a year," said Hernandez, adding that their mechanic said 60 other Priuses were ahead of them in line.
Getting by without two cars would be virtually impossible with two commutes and pickups and dropoffs for their two children
They decided to buy a new car, a painful financial hit right after Christmas.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
why wait, just look for a used one on the internet.
I’ve seen videos of catalytic converter thefts that take about 30 seconds to complete.
or if you happen to own a used catalytic converter, might be a good time to buy a Prius at a discount.
There was a story a few weeks back where a guy was crushed while stealing the converter from a Prius.
Another was of a lady sleeping in a pickup truck when this happened, and she quickly backed up and got away, crushing the thief.
These are happy stories, to me, because the bad person only hurt themselves with their sin.
Another reason to have an EV. 😂👍
Replace the catalytic converter with a blank pipe soldered in . Car does not need catlytic converter to run, it’s only purpose is to converts harmful engine-exhaust pollutants into something less harmful to the environment through a chemical reaction. You will improve gas mileage with reduced back pressure.
Of course you will flunk the test next time from DOL.
Here in Florida, we do not require those tests in my county.
Just theoretically you could replace the converter with a piece of straight pipe and the car should run until the converter came in. Would not pass an emissions test, but who would know?
The whole problem is that there is a market for stolen CCs.
You’d have to weld the seams because the exhaust that close to the engine gets too hot for solder, but otherwise a functional work around
When in San Diego recently, I was walking by some parking garages to and from my hotel
At different places, noticed at least 3 cars, that looked dirty/dusty (meaning they had been there a while) with “NO CAT-C” written in wax pen on to the windshields.
Abandoned cars? Stolen cars left in a garage? Owners trying to convince thieves not to mess with the cars?
No problem. I could easily find a Dominican or Cubano auto chop-shop in the Bronx who would give me a new inspection certificate.
Unless you could do it yourself, good luck. No licensed shop would touch it, the feds consider doing that to be on par with murder. Well, in blue states it's worse than murder.
CC's are a horribly expensive joke in the big picture. Should be totally a voluntary accessory. Novel thought, huh?
The solution is not an EV. The solution is shit canning the CC.
Facebook Marketplace?
Quick and dirty way to get your Prius back on the road, but not legal.
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Straight-Exhaust-Pipe/dp/B074XJN6M7
You are exactly right. I meant to say weld.
It aint just Prius. My 2018 Silverado 2500 HD work truck has 3 converters, and their new design sucks and went bad in 4 years, The Catalytic converters are Dealer Items only, and there is a 6 month backlog to get them.
“You’d have to weld the seams because the exhaust that close to the engine gets too hot for solder, but otherwise a functional work around”
Years ago you could buy a “Testpipe” and replace your converter, before it was stolen. Then re-install the converter for emission testing, afterwards take it back out.
That was when converters were removable. EPA fixed that.
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