Lexus RX400h catalyst theft

[R129 300SL]

Hi

Had the catalytic converter sawn off in broad daylight today on a Lexus RX400h. Was fine in the morning but by 3pm was gone..

Has anybody got a more cost effective repair than £1700 odd pounds just for the part from Toyota.

In particular has anyone experience of aftermarket catalytic converters. I’m not sure it’s worth claiming on insurance to get an Original one because it is the oem ones that are targeted.

Thanks

[R129 300SL]

OP here.

Based in London as well.

Apparently Toyota / Lexus and Honda are the ones they are after for scrap value. They extract the precious metals from them. These makes apparently have very high quality cats.

RX400h can be done without a jack it’s so high up.

No second hand ones on eBay..

Can get an aftermarket one delivered for £150 from USA but not sure it will bridge the gap that they have left by cutting it out.. It is designed to replace one that you remove and cut out a certain size section.

The original one is one piece from under the engine all the way to the back silencer.

There are cheaper non genuine UK ones for around £300.

[R129 300SL]

Google AP 645270 and the part comes up..

[R129 300SL]

Dave Hedgehog said:

you have to be registered to run scrap in now, and dealers have to log everything and can face big fines. A pile of cats would be extremely suspicious.

I’ve heard that they are put into shipping containers and sent to Europe for “processing”

[R129 300SL]

AlexHat said:

Any Prius', Auris Hybrid and now RX400h are being targeted. I've heard of some unlucky people who have had a cat stolen, replaced it, then had the replacement stolen...

It's got so bad that Toyota have come up with what is effectively a padlock for your catalyst.

Hence why I will not be replacing with a genuine one.. It will only get stolen again. Plus the fact that it cost around £1700...

As I mentioned they don’t seem to be interested in aftermarket catalysts.

[R129 300SL]

Hoofy said:

One little thing - how will they know it's aftermarket until they're doing the deed? And are they even clever enough to realise?

If you look at the YouTube videos these guys usually look under the car before they start jacking up etc

The originals are one piece and the non oem is a bolt on unit with clamps at either end.

They are a different shape and construction.

[R129 300SL]

freenote said:

R129,
Could you let me know how you get on with this please.
I’ve taken her off the road for now but I want to do similar.
Much appreciated.

Hi.

I have ordered the UK one on eBay for £265 plus delivery. It is clamped on each side.

The USA one for around £150 was too short to bridge my gap when they cut old one out. Plus I did not want to get involved with removing rusty bolts for the remaining flange at front.

I’ll prob get it Wed.ill let you know how it goes.

[R129 300SL]

stevemcs said:

Aftermarket cats are rubbish, oem all the way, op did you lose the sensors as well ?

Hi

Sensors ok. This is a downstream cat so has no sensors after the catalyst. There are two catalysts in the manifolds either side of the V6 which have the sensors close by.

Here is the setup I am fitting this week.

[R129 300SL]

freenote said:

R129,
Could you let me know how you get on with this please.
I’ve taken her off the road for now but I want to do similar.
Much appreciated.

Hi

I put the catalytic converter on yesterday. (The one I got from eBay pictured earlier).

Had taken it to a number of exhaust places who insisted it was the wrong one and couldn’t fit it. Went home and fitted it myself with a friend.

As a tip you may need to trim back the remaining distal pipe on the car slightly to prevent the slight bend from malaligning the new catalyst. Front clamped on with a 60mm exhaust sleeve clamp. For the back joint it slips into the existing pipe and I used a standard 54mm exhaust I clamp from Halfords. Used some exhaust paste to help seal.

If I had to do again in hindsight I probably would go for the cheaper £150 delivered from the USA one. That would have connected to the flange and been cheaper as well.

[R129 300SL]

Forgot to mention seems to be working fine and car sounds similar to how it used to.

[R129 300SL]

gavsdavs said:

Can you provide a bit more info here ? Rubbish how ? (Fitting/catalytic performance/nickability?)

(My RX400 got done in Woolwich last year, had an aftermarket cat fitted versus an OEM at 3 times the cost and a 3month wait on availability).

Seems the thieves are doing this without fear of consequence.

OP here.

The aftermarket cat has been working fine past few months.
No 02 sensors post this cat so doesn’t affect emissions etc.
Legally don’t think you are allowed to put a straight pipe because will fail MOT if cat is visibly missing.

Not worth spending over £2000 just for it to go missing again. They aren’t interested in my £265 aftermarket catalyst.. plus car only worth around £5-6000 so not worth spending so much on genuine article.