NV200 Catalytic converter shield options

Mine got taken two weeks ago--in broad daylight, in front of a security camera, in a company parking lot during lunch hour. As soon as I get it back from the insurance/repair shop, I'm going to crawl underneath and see if I can come up with something simpler/cheaper than the $500 multipiece ones I've seen online.

They snatched mine by unbolting at the exhaust manifold, and cutting the pipe in front of the muffler.

I tired the GetCatSecurity.com and was not pleased with their product. They don’t tell you that there is some rattling. Mine rattled slightly while on the freeway but it was excessive whenever I would come to a stop sign or stop light. I had the item removed.

Darby said:

Mine got taken two weeks ago--in broad daylight, in front of a security camera, in a company parking lot during lunch hour. As soon as I get it back from the insurance/repair shop, I'm going to crawl underneath and see if I can come up with something simpler/cheaper than the $500 multipiece ones I've seen online.

They snatched mine by unbolting at the exhaust manifold, and cutting the pipe in front of the muffler.

Click to expand...

Wow, that's ballsy! We've only had one front cat stolen from these at my work. They musta used a long sawzall blade. All the other times, they only grabbed the rear cat and never touched the front one. I ended up just welding in a straight pipe in place of the missing rear cats. They aren't needed and won't throw a check engine light if they're gone. That only happens if the front one is gone.
I installed aftermarket cheapo rock auto cats on the van where both went missing. They fit like crap and I had to tweak them in a pipe bender so they'd fit properly. Nissan ones were ridiculously expensive.
Next time a front one goes mia I'll have to come up with something. An explosive device would be ideal but chances are that'd backfire on me while doing maintenance...

I was gonna suggest using torx bolts or something a crack head might not carry around a socket for but they'd just cut it off anyways.

The cat was stolen 1 week ago today. I received 2 estimates from local shops near my neighborhood (westside Santa Cruz) one came in at 8K and the other $6.5K parts only. Yikes!! I checked out some muffler specialists in town and found Freedom Muffler, Santa Cruz. The he is replacing the bolts (for that part next to manifold) with locking bolts and will weld a pipe up in there to deter. I asked him about cages, plates, etc. and he said that sawsalz with carbine blades will cut through anything
I want to booby trap the things since I don't have a garage and park on the street (usually quite close to my apartment). I'm looking for any kind of deterrent, razor wire, bear traps, giant rat traps, etc. Am tempted to order sticks for the sides along the bottom edge that say something like "NON OEM CAT PROTECTED"
Thoughts?
Would like to hear if anyone has had success with deterrents.

The total insurance bill on mine was over $10k, which isn't much less than what the van is worth. And they replaced using bolt-in flanges, which makes it much easier to steal again.

If you live in CA or other states with emissions inspections, welding a test pipe in place of the rear cat won't pass visual.

I don't think anybody crawling under a car at night is going to pause to read stickers. I'm going to rig up some kind of deterrent plate under there, but the mechanic is right--given enough time and meth withdrawal, a grinder or sawzall can defeat about anything.