With thefts still high, California Prius drivers wait months for new catalytic converters

When the catalytic converter was stolen from Vanessa Reimer’s Toyota Prius in Lengthy Seashore, she thought the restore could be a easy one, taking just a few weeks at most.

Then her native dealership delivered the unhealthy information: The alternative half may take six months to reach. Reimer, who’s pregnant, might have a child earlier than her Prius has a brand new catalytic converter.

“At first, I believed there have to be one thing I may do,” stated Reimer, 32, a speech language pathologist at an elementary faculty, earlier than she realized that there have been 100 different drivers ready on the identical half. “However there are simply too many individuals in the identical state of affairs.”

For a number of years, older Priuses have held the doubtful distinction of being the No. 1 goal of catalytic converter theft in California. Drivers whose converters have been swiped at the moment are experiencing a second indignity: 1000’s of Prius homeowners are forward of them in line for a similar half, and the delays may stretch on for months.

Thieves goal hybrids as a result of their catalytic converters have the next focus of treasured metals in comparison with automobiles that run solely on fuel. The Prius, which was the best-selling automobile in California a decade in the past, is a straightforward and profitable goal, with tens of 1000’s nonetheless on the highway.

The Instances referred to as the elements departments of a dozen Toyota dealerships in Southern California and requested the wait time for a catalytic converter for a 2011 Prius. Each service heart stated the half was again ordered and wasn’t instantly out there. Most stated the wait could be greater than three months, and in some instances, so long as eight or 9.

“There’s simply means too lots of them getting stolen, and there are 1000’s on again order,” stated one worker in an apologetic tone. One other stated: “In the event you are available in proper now, you’re trying on the finish of August.”

Company representatives for Toyota didn’t reply to questions from The Instances.

Even getting a projected restore date is not any assure, as Anwar Glasgow, 25, found when his catalytic converter was stolen in January. A Toyota service heart in Van Nuys stated the restore to his 2012 Prius would take six months, possibly much less. Now they suppose his automobile gained’t be prepared till October.

Glasgow’s insurance coverage can pay to have the brand new half put in, however gained’t subsidize a rental automobile for longer than a month or whole the inoperable Prius so he should purchase one thing else.

“I’m screwed, to be trustworthy with you,” stated Glasgow, 25, an aspiring actor who’s now strolling and skateboarding 3 miles every option to his job as a waiter at a Mexican restaurant. The theft “looks like being kicked when you’re down … it’s fairly demoralizing.”

The frequency of partial theft experiences for older Priuses, a class that features the theft of catalytic converters, surged in California by nearly 850% over a two-year interval, in response to the Freeway Loss Knowledge Institute, a nonprofit funded by the insurance coverage business.

There was a “stark improve” within the variety of catalytic converter thefts in Los Angeles this yr, in response to Police Chief Michel Moore, with 406 extra reported within the first 5 weeks of 2023 in contrast with the identical time in 2022.

“I’m very a lot stunned,” Moore instructed the police fee final month. The thefts can take as little as a minute, he stated, and are “straightforward pickings” for crews looking for favored makes and fashions of automobiles.

Fed up with the thefts and the lengthy waits for alternative elements, some annoyed Prius homeowners are abandoning their hybrids altogether.

Ryan Eason, 28, found in January that his catalytic converter had been stolen from a secured storage when he and his fiancee acquired within the automobile to go have a look at wedding ceremony rings.

Ryan Eason is photographed within the Arts District on March 8. Eason’s catalytic converter was stolen from his 2013 Toyota Prius whereas parked in his condo’s storage in mid-January.

(Christina Home / Los Angeles Instances)

Advertisement

A mechanic in Pasadena acquired the job executed in about seven weeks, a lot sooner than the six- to eight-month estimate from Eason’s native Toyota dealership. As quickly because the restore was completed, Eason drove to his dad and mom’ home in Carlsbad and left the Prius there.

“I don’t suppose it’s a everlasting resolution,” stated Eason, a lawyer. “However provided that this automobile is a main goal, I’m simply going to maintain it in a secure place for now, in order that I don’t have to consider it for some time.”

There are just a few catalytic converters that the California Air Sources Board has accredited to be used on older Priuses, together with one offered by Toyota for about $1,800, and a mannequin from Magnaflow listed at about $2,800. Each are offered out nearly in all places.

Catalytic converters have one of many longer lead occasions within the business, taking 4 to 9 months to make, stated Mark Wakefield of AlixPartners, a world consulting agency that works with automotive shoppers.

It’s sophisticated to fabricate the units, which home porous ceramic bricks coated in treasured metals, and it’s laborious for automakers to supply extra on brief discover, notably because the business tries to get better from supply-chain issues, Wakefield stated.

June 2022 picture of 112 catalytic converters seized by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Division throughout the Inland Empire.

(San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Division)

When new converters do arrive, automakers should determine between placing them in new automobiles or sending them out on the service market, Wakefield stated.

Making alternative elements for older automobiles is “not likely the principle enterprise of the provider,” he stated. “The principle enterprise is new automobiles.”

Toyota doesn’t have the identical wait occasions for all of its automobiles, as Mark McNeill, 46, and Nara Hernandez, 44, not too long ago realized. The couple, who dwell in Silver Lake, each drive Toyotas: his a Highlander SUV, hers a Prius.

In December, the Highlander’s catalytic converter was stolen on a wet evening. The restore took three days.

In January, it was the Prius’ flip. The couple’s mechanic estimated that the restore would take 5 months, however after two months of ready, the timeline grew to become seven months.

“I don’t suppose I’m going to see my automobile for a yr,” stated Hernandez, including that their mechanic stated 60 different Priuses have been forward of them in line.

Getting by with out two automobiles could be just about unattainable with two commutes and pickups and dropoffs for his or her two youngsters, the couple stated.

“We have been pressured to make a fast determination as a substitute of ready for higher choices,” Hernandez stated. They determined to purchase a brand new automobile, a painful monetary hit proper after Christmas. As soon as the Prius is mounted, they plan to put in a protecting cage across the treasured new half.

John Jackson, a metropolis planner and Toyota Prius proprietor whose catalytic converter was stolen final fall, waited weeks to have it changed. He’s proven in his automobile at his condo advanced on March 14 in Los Angeles.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Instances)

In September John Jackson, a 31-year-old metropolis planner, had his catalytic converter swiped whereas the automobile was parked on a facet road in Palms. The restore took about six weeks and price him $700, he stated, together with his deductible, charges and fuel for a rental automobile, and a defend he put in in an try to guard the brand new catalytic converter.

“Now it’s occurred to some different folks I do know,” Jackson stated. “They got here to me asking what to do, and I needed to inform them: ‘Look, that is the timeline. You’re going to be and not using a automobile for months.’”

Jackson stated he’s leaning towards an electrical automobile when he lastly replaces his black 2011 Prius, partly as a result of automobiles with out gasoline motors don’t have catalytic converters to steal.

Within the interim, Jackson stated, automakers ought to do extra to attempt to forestall these thefts, together with etching catalytic converters with car identification numbers to discourage unlawful resales.

One invoice launched final yr in Sacramento would have required that automobile producers do exactly that. The invoice, sponsored by the L.A. County district lawyer’s workplace, failed within the Meeting.

Two different legal guidelines that took impact Jan. 1 require recyclers and junk sellers to maintain proof their catalytic converters have been obtained legally, and bar folks from buying the units from anybody apart from licensed sellers.

In Los Angeles, it may quickly be unlawful to own a catalytic converter with out proof of possession, corresponding to a invoice of sale or a notice from the earlier proprietor.

LAPD Det. Mario Santana, left, helped by Det. Lisa Nguyen, etches a car identification quantity onto a automobile’s catalytic converter as a safety measure in opposition to theft at a free occasion in 2022.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Instances)

The Metropolis Council voted 8 to 4 on Tuesday to tentatively approve an ordinance that may make the violation a misdemeanor, punishable by a effective of as much as $1,000, as much as six months in jail, or each. The ordinance is slated for a second vote in April.

Comparable legal guidelines have been adopted in different Southern California cities, together with Desert Sizzling Springs, Mission Viejo, Irvine and West Hollywood.

San Fernando Valley Councilman John Lee stated LAPD officers have complained that it’s “close to unattainable to carry catalytic converter thieves accountable for his or her crimes.” Tracing such a tool again to its proprietor, and proving somebody holding the system was concerned within the theft, might be tough.

Reimer of Lengthy Seashore, who confronted the prospect of being and not using a automobile throughout her complete being pregnant, had a mechanic set up a catalytic converter that isn’t accredited by the California Air Sources Board. The repair value her $600, she stated, and saved her tons of of {dollars} in ride-share charges.

However the car gained’t cross its smog verify this summer season and not using a Toyota converter. So she’ll have to return to the mechanic — assuming the half is available in on time.