Catalytic Converter Theft of Toyota Prius II Near Seattle, Wa, USA

Our 05 Prius Catalytic Converter Stolen

Thieves stealing catalytic converters are after a few grams of palladium metal because the value of palladium, which rose steadily to $2700 per oz recently, meaning the scrap value of each of those converters about $200

Palladium Price History / Price Climb Driven By China Clean Car Law 
New Cars Sold in China 2020MY required to be fitted with Catalytic Converters

Gasoline burning internal combustion engines produce toxic exhaust gases. In America, the Clean Air Act required automakers to install emissions controls to reduce tailpipe emissions. A catalytic converter able to burn off unburned fuel vapors in the exhaust known as HC or hydrocarbon. NOx or oxides of nitrogen are similarly converted to N2 or nitrogen gas & O2 or oxygen, normal non-toxic components of regular air. Catalytic converters also convert CO or carbon monoxide, a deadly odorless colorless gas into CO2 or carbon dioxide, the gas that makes beverages like beer & pop fizzy, humans & other mammals breathe out CO2 gas as part of the respiration cycle where the body exchanges O2 in the lungs to oxygenate blood & gives up CO2 from the blood back into the air.

In 2020 China required gasoline powered vehicles sold in China to be equipped with catalytic converters & China has the largest car market in the world. Only a few large mines produce palladium & most of the world's supply produces as a byproducts of Nickel mining in Norilsk Russia, a very polluted closed city that produce platinum group metals from the ores types they obtain Nickel from. Palladium production cannot be easily scaled, while demand for palladium to make more catalytic converters faster put increasing price pressure; relatively fixed supply with increasing demand increases price (see commodities supply & demand vs price) 

Silent Manual Exhaust Pipe Cutter 

A manual hand powered exhaust pipe cutter made of 14-18 small hard alloy wheels mounted to a ratcheting chain can cut through the soft metal exhaust pipe tubing attaching the catalytic converter to the exhaust headers quickly & nearly silently. Thieves jack up the car with a small hydraulic jack so that one of the two can jump under the vehicle to use this tool to cut the catalytic converter out. They also sliced the O2 sensor wires because an oxygen sensor present between the dual cat unit in our Toyota Prius. I was able to get a replacement catalytic converter & O2 sensor for $203 shipped from Amazon 

Replacement Catalytic Converter $144 Amazon
Made in China; US & European models 5X+ more expensive

Lambda Sensor or Downstream O2 Sensor $24 Amazon 
Made in China; US & Euro versions 5X+ more expensive

Meg went to go to work & hit the start button, a few seconds later the engine started warming up & made exhaust so loud that Meg stopped the car & came in to tell me something was wrong. I went outside & looked underneath & saw this. (Image) Looking into the wheel well of the passenger side I could see the cutoff pipe attached to the header bracket. Looking deeper (no image) I saw the O2 sensor blue & white & grey & black wires dangling. I knew instantly what as wrong. I had been talking with people about catalytic converter theft for the last few months. Now I was a victim too. I called 9 different local exhaust shops & got replacement fix quotes between $1297 & $1800. Frustrated by knowing the parts could not cost that much & that I could install them myself with tools in about 1 hours, without a car lift or welder. Sadly, ordering these parts online means I had to drive the "loud" Prius for 2 weeks. This happened right in the middle of my work schedule when I was working 12 days in a row to cover my coworker taking a vacation. 

05 Prius Catalytic Converter Stolen (Image 1)
Flange Connection to Catalyst Cutoff (Image 2)  

Modern gasoline powered vehicles, including hybrids & plug in hybrids, are fitted with a 3 way catalytic converter system & a pair or O2 sensors that the ECU engine control unit uses in a closed loop partial throttle operating mode to swing fuel air mixture between lean & rich during engine startup to heat up the cat with HC vapor & then run lean to O2 saturate the cat so it can burn off the HC & heat up to 1000 C / that high operating temperature enables noble metals on the ceramic honeycomb structure in the converter to facilitate electron exchange by lowering the activation energy required to convert CO to CO2, NOx's to N2 & O2 & HC to CO2 & H2O // that's why they are called 3 way, because they take care of 3 of the most toxic obnoxious & stinky exhaust gas components emitted by gasoline burning engines during normal operation. 

This closed loop O2 sensor swing between lean & rich wastes fuel, lowering your fuel economy during cold start by 30-40% // this is why vehicles sold in America get much lower fuel economy or waste more fuel than similar vehicles sold in other parts of the world. The tradeoff between higher fuel operating costs vs clean air was ruled a public good by the EPA since toxic exhaust gas exposure caused brain & lung & kidney & skin damage, while also forming smog & making climate change worse. These exhaust fumes react with UV from sunlight to make photochemical smog, Ozone or O3- near the ground where its lung irritating properties harm people & animals in nature. 

I have been researching adding a small catalytic converter to my GX100 powered EU2000i generator & GX160 powered pressure washers. The ROI terrible due to low use of both, so I might make one from copper oxide wire mesh on the cheap DIY level // to help to reduce emission // since both are carbureted & lack emissions controls. Soon I will install those parts into my Prius. For now I must return to my day job to get paid so I can afford these things // life in a free state making income means you have to work to make income to live in order to live so that you can work to make income // loop // also known as wage slavery in other contexts //