The transmission skid alone should be enough to stop the cats from being stolen. If you look at your pic, the furthest aft part of the cat can be seen- so in theory you could cut the exhaust there, but you'd have a heck of a time cutting the other end.Is the budbuilt transmission and transfer case skid plates enough to cover cats?
If so it’s like $650.
Is there a cheaper way to cover everything?
Someone could cut the skid plate with a Sawzall, but that's going to take a while and make a lot of noise- so I have to think they would move on to the next Prius they see.
I didn't do the transfer case skid since I think the transmission skid is enough (I did do everything forward of the trans skid too).