Car Part Thieves Target Toyota Prius Drivers In Montclair: Police

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Montclair police say four catalytic converters were stolen in the township over a five-day period last week – all from the same model of car: a Toyota Prius.

According to the Montclair Police Department, here’s where the thefts of the expensive car parts took place:

• Nov. 24 (Gates Avenue) – “The victim reported that the catalytic converter was removed from his 2008 Toyota Prius. The vehicle was parked between the hours of 9:45 a.m. and 2 p.m.”
• Nov. 26 (Hawthorne Place) – “The victim reported the catalytic converter was stolen from her 2011 Toyota Prius. The theft occurred at some point between 11 p.m. and 10 a.m.”
• Nov. 27 (Washington Street) – “The victim reported that the catalytic converter was stolen from her 2005 Toyota Prius while parked at the Charles Bullock School. She reported that the theft occurred on Nov. 24 during school hours.”
• Nov. 29 (Pine Street) – “The victim reported that the catalytic converter was stolen from her 2010 Toyota Prius while parked at the Bay Street Parking Deck.”

A recent spike in demand for precious metals has made Toyota Prius vehicles that are more than 10-years-old an unlikely target of thieves, according to a report from the Highway Loss Data Institute. Theft claim frequency for 2004-09 Prius models was more than 40 times higher in 2020 than in 2016, researchers found.

Thanks to higher prices for platinum, rhodium, palladium and other metals found in the components, catalytic converter thefts rose from about 100 a month in 2018 to more than 1,200 a month in 2020, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

“Car thieves know their market,” HLDI Senior Vice President Matt Moore said. “The demand is high for catalytic converters, and they seem to know which ones command the highest prices, like those on the older Priuses.”

The recent scrap price for the GD3+EA6 catalytic converter used in the 2004-09 second-generation Prius 1.5 was $1,022, according to marketplace website AutoCatalystMarket.com, while the scrap price for the GP1+TB1 converter used in the 2010-15 third-generation Prius was $548.

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