Catalytic converter theft.

[Ricko]

My daughter runs a little 15yr old car as a runabout.

I came to move it this morning and when I started it up it was roaring like a dragster.

Yep, catalytic converter stolen. Mashed the sill jacking it up and chopped through the exhaust.

Why can't these scumbags just get a job and work for a living?

[Dougy]

More of a point who's still buying them without the correct papers. Then of course what's the punishment. ? 

[Newbie to this]

3 minutes ago, Dougy said:

Then of course what's the punishment. ? 

Not enough.

[Dougy]

7 minutes ago, Newbie to this said:

Not enough.

Exactly!!!

[Stephen-H]

You don't need any paperwork to weigh cat converters in you either take them to the scrapyard yourself where you will probably have a account set up with I.d etc & then they will just say its off there car or work in the trade . Or they will sell them onto another cat buyer there is lots going around to garages asking for there scrap cats.

[JohnfromUK]

Our local neighbourhood watch had a warning recently that it is 'on the rise' locally.  Advice from the police.

1. Always park you car in the garage ............ which most people haven't got - or at least not got one per car
2. If you can't garage the car, park tight close to a wall ........... which presumably means on the pavement?
3. Always park under a street light ........... most areas here (country) have none, or very few
4. Fit a motion detecting type of alarm ........... which will probably go off on a windy night

As so often, the 'advice' is simply not practical for most people.  It read almost as though it was the vehicle owners fault for not garaging the car!

I suspect that many are containered and shipped overseas in bulk loads, but I'm guessing.

[Newbie to this]

I was told by my mechanic recently, that if you have a car on the target list, it's better to remove it yourself, sell the original and fit an aftermarket one.

He said it will only last about 5 years, but he reckons thieves won't be interested in the aftermarket, and will be able to see it has been replaced.

[Dougy]

Can you remove the cat  and still pass the MOT (and replace of course with a part) ? i thought that the CAT was all connected to the engine management system. 

But bear in mind i have no knowledge of the internal combustion engine apart from topping up the fuel tank.

[Newbie to this]

20 minutes ago, Dougy said:

Can you remove the cat  and still pass the MOT (and replace of course with a part) ? i thought that the CAT was all connected to the engine management system. 

But bear in mind i have no knowledge of the internal combustion engine apart from topping up the fuel tank.

You still get another cat fitted, the same as if it was nicked, just minus the damage, plus the sale value of the original. 

He said the aftermarket ones don't last as well as the original, but are a fraction of the price, and the thieves aren't interested in them. No money in selling them apparently.

Of course it could have just been a sales pitch.

Edited November 20, 2022 by Newbie to this

[Houseplant]

When I had the pleasure of living in London, bits off my car kept getting stolen. Headlights and radiator. Sounds funny, but it wasn't at the time. Budget was very tight. It got to the point where I was putting a tea towel under the bonnet so the latch couldn't be opened. That didn't turn out well as the scumbags just broke in to the car to pop the bonnet from the inside. Even saw the guy that was doing one night. Bold as brass checking out all the cars in the street. Police not too helpful. In the end, I kept the car at a mates' house on the other side of town. Very inconvenient. 

[Dougy]

9 minutes ago, Newbie to this said:

You still get another cat fitted, the same as if it was nicked, just minus the damage, plus the sale value of the original. 

He said the aftermarket ones don't last as well as the original, but are a fraction of the price, and the thieves aren't interested in them. No money in selling them apparently.

Going off topic here, slightly, 

My truck returns less MPG than the same spec earlier model, additional gear on the auto box too, im sure its due to the CAT, engine burns hotter, under more pressure and needs more fuel to burn (apparently) to burn the diesel particulates, and they say its greener. 

[Weihrauch17]

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

Our local neighbourhood watch had a warning recently that it is 'on the rise' locally.  Advice from the police.

1. Always park you car in the garage ............ which most people haven't got - or at least not got one per car
2. If you can't garage the car, park tight close to a wall ........... which presumably means on the pavement?
3. Always park under a street light ........... most areas here (country) have none, or very few
4. Fit a motion detecting type of alarm ........... which will probably go off on a windy night

As so often, the 'advice' is simply not practical for most people.  It read almost as though it was the vehicle owners fault for not garaging the car!

I suspect that many are containered and shipped overseas in bulk loads, but I'm guessing.

I has the headlights nicked from my Disco 2 and the Police response was your it's my own fault for where you parked it!  It was outside my house, the only way I could have protected them would have been to pull across the pavement flush against my garden wall and block the pavement. Quite how they worked that one out without a visit was beyond me!

Edited November 20, 2022 by Weihrauch17

[JohnfromUK]

2 minutes ago, Weihrauch17 said:

I has the headlights nicked from my Disco 2 and the Police response was your own fault for where you parked it!  It was outside my house, the only way I could have protected them would have been to pull across the pavement flush against my garden wall and block the pavement. 

Yes, a bit like someone who has a nice house getting burgled, and told by the police that they shouldn't have nice expensive things in their house!

[Fen tiger]

On 20/11/2022 at 19:46, Newbie to this said:

You still get another cat fitted, the same as if it was nicked, just minus the damage, plus the sale value of the original. 

He said the aftermarket ones don't last as well as the original, but are a fraction of the price, and the thieves aren't interested in them. No money in selling them apparently.

Of course it could have just been a sales pitch.

This is the way to go with cats these days, cheaper (Eurocats) are near worthless on the cat market, and aside from the cost of exhaust fabrication if you can not modify it yourself are a way around the cat situation we find our selves in today. 

   Its relatively  simple to get numbers off cats then go online and find out the market value of said cat on a vehicle.

 The World is awash with every conceivable form of chancer biding seemingly unrealistic prices for any used car and all this fiasco is based solely on the value of the cats. The principle of you win some / you lose some persists unfortunately and its robbed the car market of many vehicles that wont be replaced and its inflated prices too out of practicality in some cases.

   Many cars have strong priced cats bigger diesels and jap cars tend to be firm bets without doing any research, and a catles scrapper is worth its weight and simply fitting a euro cat to a  catless car purchase is about the cheapest way into low budget motoring these days.

 Blame it on the jungle drum social media and everyone being an expert due to available online info so readily available, and lets not forget the cheap cordless grinder and a 8 stone brain addled low life yearling it on driveways across the country nightly.  The blindless persuit of low emisions at so little acctual gain is costing many people a lot of money one way and another and its typicaly those who can ill aford to spend money who get hit by the whole cat sittuation.

[Stephen-H]

A small man cat ( manifold cat ) aftermarket weighed in for £2 the other week when I did my yearly trip to the scrap yard for the Christmas pot money. Aftermarket are near worthless it's the petrol cats that are worth more as they contain more high value materials then followed by dpf's all goes off codes & if there is any contents left in the cat itself as they do break down & blow through. A few months ago the price of cats were at a all time high but then dropped right off nearly over night but seems to have bounced back again.