Last night I had my Catalytic Converter stolen from my Toyota pickup. After reading up on it I’ve found out its a nationwide thing. They steal them for the small amounts of Platinum. I had mine taken off with a socket wrench, some people get them cut off.
When I get a replacement I’m going to mark it with my drivers license or plate number, but I don’t know if I’m going to get it welded on like some do. Seems like if it’s welded they’re more likely to use the saw and do more damage to the vehicle. I have an alarm system but I rarely ever armed it, I will now.
SUVs and pickups are hit most because of the ease of getting beneath the vehicle.
People in this part of the country are stealing perfectly good central air conditioning systems to sell for scrap because the value for recycled copper is very high. This is extremely expensive for homeowners, businesses, churches, schools, etc.
Sorry to hear about you being the victim. Doesn’t that just really make you mad
In the UK at the moment there is a spate of people stealing grids: drain covers. The metal is then exported to China. This of course leaves large deep holes in the road, a danger especially to cyclists, and indeed unicyclists, in the dark, but also to anyone parking by the roadside.
I’ve heard stories of thieves stealing live electrical lines for the copper, (sometimes getting electrocuted in the process). I guess the scrap metals market is getting desperate.
The local newspaper office used to park their two delivery vans (the ones I drive) out behind the shop until last summer when someone torched off their catalytic converters in the middle of the night. Now they park them out in front of the building under the street light.
At my sailing club alot or people had there masts and spars stolen from there boats. Aparently it has been hapening throughout clubs. The thiefs just use bolt croppers and cut down the stays and steal the masts. The thing is most masts cost alot of money. Most of the ones stolen were from lasers because they have 2 peice mast which would fit into a van and they probably cost £100- £300 to replace. I think the mast on our boat would cost about £1200 to replace with a scrap value of probably £50 or £100. You would be alot better off leaving £50 on your boat saying to take that rather than the mast.
Cats do indeed contain platinum and rhodium, but the stuff is plated on to a very fine ceramic matrix, i wonder how low level criminals go about getting the stuff off and in to a saleable form? Unfortunately marking the cat with your plate number will do nothing unless the guys are caught on the ride home. Glad i drive a car without one.
I think for the most part they just sell them to scrap yards, the converters have no serial numbers or markings so it makes it hard to tell if they’re stolen.
