BS: Catalytic Converter thieves

Subject: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 09:16 AM

These bastards stole the catalytic converter from our neighbour's car just 2 doors away. I hope these scum get caught, cctv recordings now being checked!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 11:06 AM

Is this a thing these days?

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: G-Force
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 12:13 PM

Very much so, here in UK at least. Expensive bit of kit, just bolted on to the underside of a car, police not interested, easy pickings.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Joe_F
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 06:04 PM

What is the market for them? Is it like hubcaps in the old days -- by stealing one, you create a market for it?

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Jos
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 06:09 PM

I was told they contain gold.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: BobL
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 02:34 AM

Platinum, palladium and rhodium I believe. And nowadays, possibly other fancy rare metals.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Mr Red
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 06:41 PM

Years ago, down our street of identical houses, thieves went along ripping off the copper sink waste pipes that were about 1 metre long. Our house was left alone because I had parked my car in the drive and it was too close to the pipe to get at and remove quietly.

I rather think we will see a lot more of this in 2021 (and beyond).

Times are tough, I see more begging on the streets. 5 years ago that would have been only buskers, because I videoed them then.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 07:12 PM

There was a wave of catalytic converter thefts a while back, but it doesn't seem to be so common in the US nowadays.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Raggytash
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 07:17 AM

This would appear at the moment to be a London centric crime.

In the past three years 15,237 incidents have been recorded. However in Manchester just 66 incidents have been recorded. In Bristol a mere 58.

Cat Crime

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Raggytash
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 07:26 AM

Hmm link doesn't work. I saw the article on the MSN news feed and now it has disappeared !!

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: michaelr
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 01:00 PM

Lots of that going on these days where I live on NorCal.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Malcolm Storey
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 02:39 PM

I fell foul of this particularly nasty theft last year.
I had left the car in a park & ride facility with CCTV cameras and a staff presence.
My aborted trip to London (overhead lines down near Peterborough) meant that I returned to collect my car at 2.00pm rather than 11.00pm which was fortuitous in a way. It meant that recovery was easier and the garage we use was open.
The thieves had in fact helped themselves to two other units and were captured on CCTV.
Good you might think. Not so they were on false plates. Amazing really that if an honest citizen commits a minor motoring offence they can expect a nasty from the local constabulary. Yet the same technology cannot spot false number plates!!!
The police were sympathetic but not too focused, the insurance company worse than useless.
Incidentally I was informed that similar thieves had stripped 32 vehicles in less than an hour at Meadowhall Sheffield so it's not primarily a London thing - although apparently the criminals are more blatant in down there.
It seems to be the palladium that attracts the miscreants being more valuable than gold.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Mr Red
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 07:43 AM

The average Cat is worth about 1/200 cups of coffee (UK prices) so 5 a week would keep criminals solvent.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: BobL
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 02:47 AM

I take it that should be 1-200, or do you like your coffee in miniscule quantities and of spoon-floating strength?

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: BobL
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 02:49 AM

Duh! Miscalculated...

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Jos
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 04:01 AM

The difference in price between a cup of coffee bought in a café and a cup of coffee made at home makes the calculation meaningless, at least for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Mr Red
Date: 31 Dec 20 - 10:29 AM

Oh OK, 200 coffees at Starbucks. And before anyone queries the value of that I don't value Starbucks, so my assessment is meaningless on that score too.

If I said 100s of GBP that would translate near enough into Euros or USD on current exchange rates. And then there is the garage costs for fitting, and the miscreants wouldn't leave the exhaust (OK muffler) neat & tidy, so another wad would go for a new one of them. Maybe they wouldn't wreck the exhaust manifold or that would be another scrape of the wallet.

I think I'll buy a Tesla. They do them in red. And on a helpful note (aren't I just?) maybe it would be safer to park next to a Tesla if it was set in "Sentry Mode" - close up pictures of furtive individuals would on its camera storage.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Big Phil
Date: 02 Jan 21 - 09:19 PM

I believe a small amount of Platinum is inside the cat. More expensive than Gold I believe.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 03:05 PM

The bastard scum returned to the same house 2 doors from us this evening, they were interrupted so stole nothing, but were armed - metal bars I think. We could see the car on our CVTV.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 03:58 PM

It has been a rant (ironic) of mine for years that if non car owners had compulsory motor insurance to over ALL motor vehicle crime by uninsured perpetrators, then motor insurance for drivers would fall drastically in price. I wouldn't be surprised if the non-driver premiums would overtake driver premiums, so communities would have a real vested interest to drive down crime.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 04:12 PM

SPB - Eh..??? please clarify further...

Me and the mrs don't drive, have never owned a motor vehicle;
and I've not used any roads for at least 5 years since health problems
put a stop to my love of cycling..

We already pay far too much already on house insurance,
which never pays out on rare claims we made...

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 05:14 PM

"[platinum] More expensive than Gold I believe."

I thought so and it used to be the case but apparently the price of platinum has suffered with the decline in sales of diesel engined cars.

Here are some attempts at current prices for some elements that Wikipedia says catalytic converters may contain. Prices in US$/oz

  Rhodium   19,250
  Palladium  2,400
  Platinum   1,100
  (Gold      1,850)

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 01:58 AM

Why on earth should I pay for insurance to subsidise someone else's car usage?

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: BobL
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 02:49 AM

If I had compulsory non-driver's insurance, under what circumstances might I make a claim?

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 04:30 AM

If I had compulsory non-driver's insurance, under what circumstances might I make a claim?


Perhaps, if you stepped into the path of an oncoming vehicle without looking, causing the driver to take avoiding action which resulted in an accident.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Mr Red
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 05:00 AM

Bicycle riders, mobility scooters, and the motorised scooters. SHould carry insurance.
All find it easier to use the footpaths. Very rarely carry third party insurance. And most don't even carry a warning device. I see mobility scooter drivers racing, and I have heard of one case where a disabled person was collided with only for the driver to claim, because he was disabled, as some sort of victim in the case.

They aren't disabled. They are enabled. And should carry insurance. But do they? Only against theft from my occasional questions.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 01:40 AM

The scum returned to same house on Saturday evening but were disturbed by resident. This scum are armed with metal bars and very dangerous. We now have a neighbourhood Whatsapp group.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 04:25 AM

If the same house has been targeted three times, twice by people armed with metal bars, then either your neighbours own a lot of cars or they have something more than catalytic converters to be worried about.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 04:39 AM

Just cat converters - she has Honda Jazz and he has Mercedes.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 05:02 AM

Just cat converters

At least, that's what your neighbours tell you!

A Honda Jazz? They must be very stupid thieves if they risk returning to the crime scene twice to take something from such a run-of-the-mill car. There are catalytic converters sitting on just about every driveway and every side street in the country, ripe for the picking.

Somehow, Bonzo, your story doesn't add up.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 07:53 AM

The police are taking this very seriously.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 07:30 AM

Its the quantity of valuable platinum contained in the cat converter, not the "run of the millness" of the car.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 11:19 AM

This reminds me: My SUV is parked in the garage, and my insurance just came up for renewal, based on the driving rate of 1,000 miles a month; that can be adjusted downward. Over the last 12 months I've averaged 1.5 tank refills a month. I make sure I turn it on and drive a little every week just to keep it running and the battery charged.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Thompson
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 11:35 AM

punkfolkrocker, if you or the missus can drive, they have tiny cars in the Netherlands that are only for disabled people or people old enough that they can't drive; they're called Canta. It might be worth scoping out the possibility of getting one.
The cat robbers are in action in Ireland too. And there's a particularly nasty rash of bicycle robbery, with associated violence at times.
I thought robbery like the cat converters was stopped in Britain since the UK brought in the law that all scrapyard dealings had to be via credit cards; obviously it hasn't worked as well as it did at first. Unless the thieves can bring it abroad or detach the precious metals in their own workshops.
Insurance… mostly people on bikes and scooters don't need it, because accidents serious enough to trigger insurance claims are rare for those using those low-tech travel methods.
However, motor insurance and tax, which are often avoided by drivers, should (in my humble opinion) be added to the cost of fuel. That way, the more someone drove, the more he'd pay, and the scammers couldn't avoid paying.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 11:52 AM

Thompson - the mrs failed 3 driving tests; I had 2 courses of driving lessons,
but each time ran out of money before completing and being entered for a test.

She would have been a dangerously nervous indecisive driver,
I would have been a bit too 'assertive' for other drivers on the road like her ...

oh well...

I have been a dedicated cyclist and walker [damned aging knees and feet...!!],
and we are both advocates for renationalising public transport...

It's only since moving out of London back to the west country
that we find ourselves disadvantaged by not owning a motor vehicle..

We couldn't afford it anyway, and parking outside our town centre house
would be a constant battle...

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Thompson
Date: 30 Jan 21 - 05:57 PM

I keep gently pressing our government to set up a scheme for helping the old to buy electric bikes. They're getting cheaper anyway…
The great thing about the newer electric bikes is that you get the same amount of exercise pedalling them, but the motor kicks in when you face a hill too steep for your tastes or abilities.
You'd know enough about bikes to be able to talk to your LBS* about what kind you need and what price is best. But you'd want to rein in that assertiveness; cyclist deaths have gone up in the Netherlands in recent years, most of the extra being people over 65 who have taken to electric bikes but haven't taken the extra power into account. There are also more broken toes arriving in the A&E, as a result of these speed maniacs riding over pedestrians' feet.




* For non-cyclists, LBS stands for Local Bike Shop

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 31 Jan 21 - 05:19 AM

Electric bikes and e-scooters are mostly used very dangerously and need to be regulated, taxed and insured with registration plates for identification.

Subject: RE: BS: Catalytic Converter thieves
From: Thompson
Date: 31 Jan 21 - 09:16 AM

Really? Not here; here electric bikes are mostly used by the old and by delivery riders, both of whom ride safely in general despite the damned cars; scooters tend to be used by young-middle-aged tech and office workers. I haven't heard of a lot of crashes of either.