[East]

Heard the dog barking while I was brushing my teeth this morning and then I hear my son yelling.
My wife hollers for me and I rush to the living room to find out what's going on.

My wife tells me that someone is messing with my son's truck.

I get out to the garage in time to see the car speeding off at the turn down the street.

My son noticed the bastard on the surveillance camera. He was under the passenger side before my son interrupted the theft.

My son went off in his car to look for them before he went to the police station with the footage.

Another couple was there to report the same thing, and it was the same car, a black Mercedes-Benz.

Those people actually got a picture of the plate.

So when I returned after an hour at work, I brought home some heavy steel mesh and we welded a cage around the converter. It took about three hours.

A friend of mine also has a Ford F250 4x4 that was stolen out of the casino parking lot not 12 minutes after he went to his truck to get his wallet.

I got some footage of the theft for him to take to the police. A few days later the police found his truck parked in front of a shop where the owner was able to provide footage of the theives' vehicle and plates.


I had to weld up what the jerk cut with his portable sawsall before welding up the makeshift cage.

I would so much like to cut the f#*let's hands off with his sawsall. Or more humanely smash his hands with a hammer.

Okay, done venting

[PunchT37]

They’re stealing them down south too ;
https://www.katc.com/news/covering-l...in-baton-rouge

[433lemans]

I've often wondered, where or who do they sell the converters to, junk yards? Isn't it reasonable to suspect and call authorities when some degenerate comes in with a handful of cleanly sawed off converters to sell? Or are the buyers just keeping quiet knowing they will make a buck on these too? I don't understand how this continues without law enforcement intervening on the buyers.

[Chris65LeMans]

They really like the Prius ones out here in CA. I guess the converter is hard to reach and requires some tweaker to Jack the car up and crawl all the way under. They’re finding ‘em crushed and dead out here with regularity after the scissor jack falls over.

[433lemans]

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

They really like the Prius ones out here in CA. I guess the converter is hard to reach and requires some tweaker to Jack the car up and crawl all the way under. They’re finding ‘em crushed and dead out here with regularity after the scissor jack falls over.

Swift justice! Boy do we need more of that!

[JLBIII]

Timely topic. My cousin lives near the Oxford section of Philly. She got in her car the other day and said it was making a loud racket. Someone had stolen the catalytic converter. Heard that some fleet vehicles around here have the converters painted blue so theives won't be able to sell them off.

[Lemans64]

Yup, same thing up here in Canada, stealing them off brand new truck on the lot. one can take their stolen cat's to the local scrap dealer and they will give them 60-100 bucks a pop.
they must fill out a form stating where they go it from and give a drivers license to show proper ID. But that does not stop them from stealing them. Maybe they need to have
cameras at the scrap yard to show who brought them in.

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

They really like the Prius ones out here in CA. I guess the converter is hard to reach and requires some tweaker to Jack the car up and crawl all the way under. They’re finding ‘em crushed and dead out here with regularity after the scissor jack falls over.

My son is in Phoenix and interrupted thieves going after the converter on his Prius. He was beyond upset, paid to have a cage put around it. His GF lost hers less than a year earlier in the same apartment lot. Landlord has yet to install surveillance or any other deterrent.

How hard could it be to make buying a used one illegal or at least regulate transport of a truckload? Better to keep wasting money on police reports? Wouldn't the insurance industry be demanding some help?

Total suckage.

[Lemans64]

Yes it should be illegal to buy them. But it appears that the scrap Dealers must be making a killing or they would stop buying them.
My Daughters car had the pipe cut behind the cat and half way thru the front but their must of got scared off, left it like that.
Ans ya her little Echo is only lie 3 inches off the ground so would have been pretty tight under there.

[Stuart]

This was in today's Minneapolis newspaper. Shakopee is a suburb of Minneapolis.

---

Shakopee city leaders plan to fight a rise in catalytic converter thefts by making it a misdemeanor to possess one of the devices detached from a vehicle without proof of ownership.

The tactic follows similar action by the city of St. Paul in January, and Shakopee officials hope such ordinances are enacted across Scott County or even the state.

“There’s got to be more done because [the thefts] are not slowing down,” said Shakopee Police Chief Jeff Tate.

”At least this way we can cite them for possession because it’s very, very hard to prove the actual theft.”

The Shakopee City Council has already expressed support for the ordinance. It won’t take effect until it is posted online for 10 days and approved at the next City Council meeting.

Thefts of catalytic converters, which are valued for the precious metals they contain and must be sawed off the underside of vehicles, have risen nationwide over the past two years. Tate said there were 97 reported catalytic converter thefts in Shakopee in 2021, compared with 54 in 2020 and 17 in 2019. In St. Paul, there were more than 2,000 such thefts in 2021.

A thief can get hundreds of dollars for one of the devices, depending on its condition.

For car owners, catalytic converter replacement can cost more than $1,500.

The city has held several well-attended events since last spring where residents can get their converter etched and spray-painted to deter thieves, Tate said.

But Shakopee also has a decent-sized industrial park, Tate said, and the larger cargo trucks and vans there have larger catalytic converters with more precious metals inside, making them an even bigger target.

Tate said legitimate scrappers in possession of catalytic converters would have the appropriate documentation.

If someone doesn’t have the paperwork with them, they can provide it to police later and have their ticket excused, just like with proof-of-insurance citations.

Tate said the goal is for every city in Scott County to enact a similar ordinance.

Detective Sgt. Mike Schiltz of the Savage Police Department said the topic will likely be discussed among supervisors there next week.

“It would be great if we could get [an ordinance] to deter that action down here,” Schiltz said.

A metal recycling business in Savage takes catalytic converters, he said, adding that he’s heard some recyclers in the area are being extra cautious about the catalytic converters they buy because of the rise in thefts.

In Prior Lake, Police Chief Steve Frazer said the department will be discussing the idea in the next month.

“It is a big problem,” he said. “All options are on the table.”

Tate and other Shakopee officials said there needs to be a consistent, statewide law making catalytic converter possession a potential crime.

“It’s a shame that cities have to piecemeal something together,” said Shakopee City Administrator Bill Reynolds .

Don Reeder , spokesman for the League of Minnesota Cities, said the organization has included catalytic converter theft prevention in its 2022 legislative platform.

There are three bills up for consideration this session related to catalytic converter purchase, acquisition or sales, league officials said.

[Drag Star Le Mans]

There is a local Community College engraving vin numbers onto cats. for free and applying high temp paint to thwart thefts.

I agree 100% with what East said, cut their hands off with the sawsall.

[Charlie Brengun]

Same stuff happening in my country as well. A week or two ago some thrief got crushed after the car dropped onto to him while he was tryng to steal. That was all over the news here... One down, more to go I say..

[Heybuck]

I haven't heard of Catalytic Converters being stolen over here but there was a huge problem with copper cabling being stolen. Rail lines in particular. Massive problems for commuters when overhead power lines have to replaced and very dangerous for the thieves too.

And at my factory complex, in a 2 month period we had the large brass water inlet pipes taken 3 times which puts all factories out of business for the day while things get replaced.

The Government introduced legislation requiring all scrap metal transactions could only be negotiated by payment into someones bank account and you have to show substantial proof you own the goods before the deal can be completed. Seems to be working.

[BOB VIDAN]

Once in awhile there is some justice. Was at a Wal Mart the other day, bought some lacquer thinner. Came out of the store and was walking to my van when I saw/heard 4 or 5 guys talking very loud and asking another guy what happened. The guy being asked the questions kept saying I got it all here on my phone, cops are on the way. I walked over a couple of aisles to see what was going on. As I got close enough to them, I saw this scruffy looking guy on the ground puking his guts out and rolling around in his own puke holding on to his nuts and still puking. The guy with the phone had come out to his truck and caught this guy under his truck, stealing the cat. Got everything on the phone including him stomping on the guys balls under the truck. Musta caught him absolutely flush cause the dude was in serious pain. Sad part..... no one was helping him. As I walked away 2 cop cars pulled in the parking lot, one from each end. All this at 2:30 in the afternoon.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Guy wanted to buy a clapped-out ford Ranger but the dual Cats had to be intact. He had a sawzall and stated he needed to cut the converters to assure they were intacte inside.
Well both converters were "punched-out" and re-installed, a long time ago and the rust looked original.

So the guy was legit and stated he can only sell the converters if he has the truck Title. Says the 2 converters would fetch $360 for the pair. Wow. Who's buying?! He said the scrap yard and only if he provides his PA Driver License and the vehicle Title. Illegal to show-up with a converter(s) and no Title nor ID.

His gig is to buy clapped-out cars to scrap weight $350-$400 and converters $300-$400.
Not a bad gig.

[tigergto]

Same problem in my area of NYS. Thieves released on an appearance ticket before the ink is dry on the report. If my memory serves me correctly, one guy was arrested three times in two days. Another guy was arrested in broad daylight for trying to steal one in a store parking lot.
There just isn’t any deterrent to stop the scum bags.

[RamAirBirds]

So i will have to check with my Son for further details but. He works at a european auto repair shop and had a couple converters sitting around last summer from exhaust upgrades on customers cars....Shhhhh.....He has a phone number / website of a company that all you do is call them and give them either a serial number from the converter or simply the make model of vehicle. They respond with a price they pay and send you a shipping tag. You box it up, put the tag on it and drop it off at post office / UPS and Voila....You receive a check in a short time....Remember the scrap GOLD buying companies that were out there advertising everywhere a few years back? Same exact business model...Easy to sell...No questions asked....No scrutiny by any authorities....Not that our so called Authorities are scrutinizing anything these days.....Reminds me of what i heard someone say the other day..."I am outraged that there is not more outrage"....I can assure you he was not talking about the black market converter market but just one more stupid thing to add to the list....
PLEASE...All Americans PLEASE...I beg you all to pay attention...
"Freedom is lost gradually from uninterested, uninformed, and uninvolved people."
Thomas Jefferson

[lfdsteve]

Hi temp Epoxy some razor blades along the top back edges of your converter shield. When said scumbag lops off his fingers, he will learn. Years back I had a rental unit that was a difficult sell, hence a long period of it being non occupied. After several times having it broke into, I duct tapes some blades to the dead bolt knob. One puddle of blood later the problem was solved. Best part was the neighbor skid trying to explain to me how her son may have accidentally gotten injured on my property. Skids!!!

[RamAirBirds]

Update...RRCATS.COM....
They receive your Cat at the agreed to price and deposit $$ into pay pal account...

[george kujanski]

i don't get it.... I can buy, and have bought, a new universal converter for say, $110 bucks. The scrap value is miniscule, I would think. Sure I have seen cat and welded pipe arrangements for hundreds of dollars, but for a simple cut off cat I would think there is no real money there. The media claims there are precious metals in there, and there are, but just trace amounts, after all, a new unit as I mentioned is $110.

Someone clue me in.

George