Local news station reports it a big problem. What's more alarming is evidently some thieves after stealing the first converter come back and steal the replacement because they get more money for new unit and it's easier to sell. There's laws about how scrap dealers have to document purchase but it is most times laws is overlooked or a loop hole is used. High ground clearance vehicles are easy pickings. News report said it only takes a thief with experience 5 minutes.
Example of 45 seconds from the first noticeable sound till gone.
Ooh! Dig a pit. Make it a nice pit. Buy a dog. Preferably a pit bull, because it'll live in a pit. Park over the pit at night. The car keeps the dog warm and in pit. The dog keeps the meth heads away that still have two arms.
I don't know what to do with the dog when you have to drive away in the morning.
bobzilla said:In reply to Duke :
it's literally the first response
But not formatted in the GRM meme response of:
Shotgun?
In reply to Duke :
semantics.
John Welsh said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
Because I don't know...
If you were to install the cheapest cat you could find (outside of California) how would the car generally run?
It would probably run fine. If the cat is marginal, you may get a malfunction light which would mean emissions test failure.
Vajingo said:Ooh! Dig a pit. Make it a nice pit. Buy a dog. Preferably a pit bull, because it'll live in a pit. Park over the pit at night. The car keeps the dog warm and in pit. The dog keeps the meth heads away that still have two arms.
I don't know what to do with the dog when you have to drive away in the morning.
Doggie day care.
Test pipe
John Welsh said:Example of 45 seconds from the first noticeable sound till gone.
No jackstands. The paddock marshal is going to be all over these guys.
Yeah, and I don't see a piece of wood under the jack. They're definitely going to get hassled before their next session.
A friend of my was supposed to move tomorrow. The rental place called him, the truck he was supposed to have got its catalytic converter stolen last night. They don't have any other trucks for him until Sunday. He can't do anything about it, plans have to change.
Opti said:Live in a town that is well known to have a heavily armed population, has been working well for me so far.
Yeah that only means the thieves will be armed as well. Annoying as this is, it isn't worth someone's life, especially your own.
In reply to Stefan (Forum Supporter) :
Please don't start.... this was a joke.
Buy a pre-1972 vehicle.
John Welsh said:californiamilleghia said:My neighbors Honda got hit , $3500 to get it replaced at Honda Dealer !
California law dictates only oem cats can be installed. This then forbids paying a local shop to install an aftermarket cat.
So many Gen2 Prius are being totaled in CA for this reason.
If I were closer, I would try to make a business model out of trailering out these cat-less Prius and then welding in a generally cheap aftermarket cat. Sell the car in another state other than CA.
Via Rock Auto it seems a Gen2 Prius could be re-cat-ed for $500 (outside of CA)
It probably would not pass emissions in Ohio, though, or other states with a scantool emissions test.
Toyotas in particular are very sensitive to converter quality.
maybe throw some paint balls in the mesh net around the cat so the thief will get splatted when he cuts them with his saw.....
or chili powder or itching powder or " insert idea here "
I haven't heard that it's a problem in the white-collar burbs where I live, but I kinda wish someone would get under there and steal the twin cats off my Sequoia. Then my insurance would pay me the price for OEM Toyota cats and full exhaust, and I'd buy something nicer (and aftermarket cats).
In truth, that's just my way of saying "it doesn't concern me one bit," though I could literally cut the cats out in about a minute with a sawzall, plenty of room under this truck.
My wife's well-meaning grad school in a less well-meaning part of town took down the wrought iron fences to be more neighborly. Shortly after, her Cavalier was one of three cars that lost their cats during class - broad daylight, as they say.
I had an Olds with a bad trans on its way to the scrapper so I just harvested from there, never ended up with a CEL, happily. But you could get a universal for $80ish back about 8 years ago, and get it installed for $50. Missouri safety inspection didn't mind, as long as the right shape was there. HOWEVER, the scrapper DID mind towing my Olds because apparently a Pick-N-Pull is a catalytic converter recycler FIRST, all else is just icing on the cake. I barely got it off my hands!
Oddly, another couple in that same event decided to go the $1,500 route despite my telling them the alternative. Again, it's not an emissions state so I don't know the rationale.
Anyway, my friend and I mulled over lots of options but figured there was nothing to be done against a sawzall (I didn't know about the other tool then) so we just decided to chance it. Being powerless against the ill will of others is not a good feeling :/
Swing this at the kneecaps of the villain while hes under your vehicle doing villainous things.
Being hobbled tends to slow your roll. If it happens multiple times, odds are you aren't able to get under a vehicle anymore.
I'm picturing a solution involving electroshock therapy and video cameras for YouTube content creation...
In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :
Did someone say "Shock Therapy" ?
Instead of side skirts, get a few feet of gnarly, huge, and rusty old bandsaw blades from a sawmill. Paint the side of the element to look like a crazy clown and the saw blade is the teeth.
Alternatively, get an old pair of jeans and stuff them full of straw and tie two shoes on the ends. Stuff it under the car so it looks like someone else is already stealing your cat. That's probably worth real points at cars and coffee on an element anyway.
When I told my wife you had bought an Element, her reply was "you know those things have the highest rate of CC theft?" Lol
I have a 14kv neon transformer. A taste of that should have the perp flopping like a fish and beating himself to death against the bottom of the car.
Tazer attached to the cars frame with a motion sensor.
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