Catalytic converter thefts on the rise

sq86 · 02-09-2021, 06:07 PM

Has this happened to anyone here? I read about this in the NY Times. Article is here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/c...smid=url-share

Seems pretty wild but makes sense. I feel bad for anyone this happens to. For those of us that are running catless, now it seems like a good thing other than for performance, jokes on the thieves.

:

N54Yankee · 02-09-2021, 08:57 PM

Nothing new, been happening for well over a decade.

IllSic_Design · 02-09-2021, 09:47 PM

Yes, happens a LOT on Prius' of all things.

Funny(not for my neighbor) story. Like 6 months ago I was sitting in my home office with the window open and all the sudden I hear a loud ass vehicle start next door/somewhere close. I look out as my neighbor is pulling away in his 90's Toyota pickup, and think WTF did he do to that thing, just hack the whole exhaust off? Later he says that he left his garage open last night and someone came in and cut his cat out. I was just thinking, oh that makes perfect sense as to why your truck sounded like that this morning.

Emilime75 · 02-09-2021, 10:13 PM

I bought a Ford work van super cheap about 8 years ago because someone hacked up the exhaust trying to get to the cats. Lucky for me they didn't finish, for whatever reason, and a muffler shop was able to weld it all back up.

aerostar · 02-09-2021, 10:48 PM

Shit happens when so many people don't have jobs and the government gives out $1,200 a year.

Emilime75 · 02-09-2021, 10:53 PM

Plus salvage catalytic prices have skyrocked lately.

IllSic_Design · 02-09-2021, 11:47 PM

Yup, they contain platinum, palladium, and rhodium; in small quantities but worth money

RMachuca3d · 02-10-2021, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IllSic_Design

Yup, they contain platinum, palladium, and rhodium; in small quantities but worth money

"I'll buy your cat for TOP DOLLAR".... craigslist\marketplace ads have multiplied in the last few years asking to buy cats... the sad part is people are not educated and just sell them as if it was scrap.

Sucks to be an n26 owner who sold their used oem cat for pennies to come to realize they are worth a ton since the cats are so much denser than normal cats :P.

jmack · 02-10-2021, 08:55 AM

It's crazy what you can do in 30 seconds with one of those chain pipe cutters. Guess I should start taking my old diesel truck everywhere if I'm going to park for more than 5 minutes.

erickonphoenix · 02-10-2021, 09:15 AM

Funny to find this thread in the F30 forum.

Most of my friends and coworkers drive lifted trucks and cat theft is a real problem. Most of them have just welded a barrier around their cats but you can also buy an aftermarket solution.

https://getcatsecurity.com/?gclid=Cj...QaApcnEALw_wcB

sq86 · 02-10-2021, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aerostar

Shit happens when so many people don't have jobs and the government gives out $1,200 a year.

That's definitely what came to my mind first.

GenXer · 02-11-2021, 10:14 AM

Where are people parking that would get their catalytic converter stolen?

Are there particular state and city that are seeing more of this crime?

RM7 · 02-11-2021, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GenXer

Where are people parking that would get their catalytic converter stolen?

Are there particular state and city that are seeing more of this crime?

Airport for one.

David70 · 02-11-2021, 02:57 PM

Happened to my wife's Accord about 10 years ago. Overnight in Hampton Inn parking lot in NE Ohio. She was on a work trip, called me that morning and said car was super loud and running rough. She took it to local Honda dealer and they quickly figured it out. Since they cut off the cats and she had a V-6 it was pretty much a complete dual exhaust from the manifold to the rear of the car. She then had to rent a car and drive home from her trip, about 3 hours, then going back roughly a week later wasted a Saturday going up and back in 6 hours. All so someone could likely get a couple of hundred dollars.

Funny thing was this was an old Accord, worth roughly $5k - $6k (she doesn't care anything about her car and there wasn't anything wrong with it) and the complete dual exhaust was roughly have the value of the car.

KenB925 · 02-11-2021, 03:35 PM

The mechanic I have gone to forever and I were talking about this. A few years ago it was common at the BART station, they seemed to favor Japanese suvs. They used a battery powered sawzall and got in and out quick.

It would basically total some of these cars, to do it right they needed to exhaust from the manifold back and a factory cat (maybe a California thing).

BzsBimmer · 02-11-2021, 04:16 PM

In my area near Sacramento, CA these are being reported quite frequently on the Nextdoor app. Recently a couple of people were caught and arrested for catalytic theft and came from a far away place to steal them smh.

Getting cut right in the driveway or street in front of the house. In and out in less than 10 mins I’d imagine. You see them on Ring cameras but with everyone wearing masks these days, can’t make out any faces anyway.

I think my car is too low for them to get to it easy enough haha

nicked8 · 02-11-2021, 04:19 PM

Maybe I'll start leaving a jack and some tools out next to the car if someone wants to get under there and take my DP off for me...

GeorgeA · 02-11-2021, 04:28 PM

That’s why my car is catless, joke would be on them.

02-09-2021, 06:07 PM	#1
sq86 Captain 363 Rep 781 Posts Drives: 2013 328i E92 LMB Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Brooklyn iTrader: (0) Garage List 2013 BMW 328i (E92) [0.00]	Catalytic converter thefts on the rise Has this happened to anyone here? I read about this in the NY Times. Article is here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/c...smid=url-share Seems pretty wild but makes sense. I feel bad for anyone this happens to. For those of us that are running catless, now it seems like a good thing other than for performance, jokes on the thieves. : __________________ BMW CCA Member# 481791 Current: 2013 E92 328i LMB/Saddle Brown (1 of 21 for E92 LCI in that combo), 2018 F31 330xi AW/Saddle Brown Sold: 2011 1M BS/Black, 2008 E90 328xi AW/Beige, 2001 E46 330xi SG/Black
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02-09-2021, 08:57 PM	#2
N54Yankee Lieutenant Colonel 2708 Rep 1,916 Posts Drives: N54 135\|Cobb\|M3 control arms Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: USA iTrader: (0)	Nothing new, been happening for well over a decade. __________________ __________________ "The Constitution was never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.” Samuel Adams
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02-09-2021, 09:47 PM	#3
IllSic_Design Colonel 2124 Rep 2,758 Posts Drives: 09 E92 335i Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Northern California iTrader: (1)	Yes, happens a LOT on Prius' of all things. Funny(not for my neighbor) story. Like 6 months ago I was sitting in my home office with the window open and all the sudden I hear a loud ass vehicle start next door/somewhere close. I look out as my neighbor is pulling away in his 90's Toyota pickup, and think WTF did he do to that thing, just hack the whole exhaust off? Later he says that he left his garage open last night and someone came in and cut his cat out. I was just thinking, oh that makes perfect sense as to why your truck sounded like that this morning.
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02-09-2021, 10:13 PM	#4
Emilime75 Colonel 1209 Rep 2,476 Posts Drives: 2010 335i E92 LeMans Blue Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Merica! iTrader: (1)	I bought a Ford work van super cheap about 8 years ago because someone hacked up the exhaust trying to get to the cats. Lucky for me they didn't finish, for whatever reason, and a muffler shop was able to weld it all back up.
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02-09-2021, 10:48 PM	#5
aerostar Major 748 Rep 1,247 Posts Drives: 2018 F80 Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: NJ iTrader: (0)	Shit happens when so many people don't have jobs and the government gives out $1,200 a year.
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02-09-2021, 10:53 PM	#6
Emilime75 Colonel 1209 Rep 2,476 Posts Drives: 2010 335i E92 LeMans Blue Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Merica! iTrader: (1)	Plus salvage catalytic prices have skyrocked lately.
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02-09-2021, 11:47 PM	#7
IllSic_Design Colonel 2124 Rep 2,758 Posts Drives: 09 E92 335i Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Northern California iTrader: (1)	Yup, they contain platinum, palladium, and rhodium; in small quantities but worth money
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02-10-2021, 08:55 AM	#9
jmack First Lieutenant 550 Rep 384 Posts Drives: OG M2, E70 X5M Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: TN iTrader: (0)	It's crazy what you can do in 30 seconds with one of those chain pipe cutters. Guess I should start taking my old diesel truck everywhere if I'm going to park for more than 5 minutes.
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02-10-2021, 09:15 AM	#10
erickonphoenix Lieutenant 1739 Rep 537 Posts Drives: 2014 Gray 328xi Touring Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Houston TX iTrader: (0)	Funny to find this thread in the F30 forum. Most of my friends and coworkers drive lifted trucks and cat theft is a real problem. Most of them have just welded a barrier around their cats but you can also buy an aftermarket solution. https://getcatsecurity.com/?gclid=Cj...QaApcnEALw_wcB
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02-11-2021, 10:14 AM	#12
GenXer Major 1367 Rep 1,031 Posts Drives: Like a bat out of hell. Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: here and there iTrader: (0) Garage List 2017 Chevrolet Volt [0.00] 2020 Chevrolet Tahoe [0.00]	Where are people parking that would get their catalytic converter stolen? Are there particular state and city that are seeing more of this crime?
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02-11-2021, 02:57 PM	#14
David70 Colonel 1567 Rep 2,665 Posts Drives: 06 Z4M Coupe - 13 Cadillac ATS Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Cincinnati, OH iTrader: (1)	Happened to my wife's Accord about 10 years ago. Overnight in Hampton Inn parking lot in NE Ohio. She was on a work trip, called me that morning and said car was super loud and running rough. She took it to local Honda dealer and they quickly figured it out. Since they cut off the cats and she had a V-6 it was pretty much a complete dual exhaust from the manifold to the rear of the car. She then had to rent a car and drive home from her trip, about 3 hours, then going back roughly a week later wasted a Saturday going up and back in 6 hours. All so someone could likely get a couple of hundred dollars. Funny thing was this was an old Accord, worth roughly $5k - $6k (she doesn't care anything about her car and there wasn't anything wrong with it) and the complete dual exhaust was roughly have the value of the car. __________________ 2006 Z4M Coupe - Stromung exhaust, ZHP knob, stubby antenna, clutch delay delete
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02-11-2021, 03:35 PM	#15
KenB925 Second Lieutenant 1124 Rep 265 Posts Drives: ZL1, Raptor Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Bay Area, CA iTrader: (0)	The mechanic I have gone to forever and I were talking about this. A few years ago it was common at the BART station, they seemed to favor Japanese suvs. They used a battery powered sawzall and got in and out quick. It would basically total some of these cars, to do it right they needed to exhaust from the manifold back and a factory cat (maybe a California thing).
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02-11-2021, 04:16 PM	#16
BzsBimmer Major General 3290 Rep 6,732 Posts Drives: '23 G80 FO M3, M3 & MY Tezzy's Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Nor. Cal iTrader: (32)	In my area near Sacramento, CA these are being reported quite frequently on the Nextdoor app. Recently a couple of people were caught and arrested for catalytic theft and came from a far away place to steal them smh. Getting cut right in the driveway or street in front of the house. In and out in less than 10 mins I’d imagine. You see them on Ring cameras but with everyone wearing masks these days, can’t make out any faces anyway. I think my car is too low for them to get to it easy enough haha
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02-11-2021, 04:19 PM	#17
nicked8 Private First Class 103 Rep 139 Posts Drives: 2013 E92 335i M-Sport xDrive Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: CT/NY iTrader: (0)	Maybe I'll start leaving a jack and some tools out next to the car if someone wants to get under there and take my DP off for me...
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02-11-2021, 04:28 PM	#18
GeorgeA Major 758 Rep 1,408 Posts Drives: E92 M3 Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Los Angeles iTrader: (3)	That’s why my car is catless, joke would be on them.
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