Catalytic Converter Thieves

[Excell]

They do a nice clean cut.Pro probably works at muffler shop.Mine was covered by insurance.
The hard part is getting a place to work on it.
And dealing with ins co.

[keithwr]

why don't authorities go after the people buying these at scrap yard????
seems like a no brainer..

[CamJam1]

Originally Posted by frizfreleng

Quite plausible except the OP makes no mention of your scenario so it raised a red flag in my suspicious mind.

The managers of the storage yard (a man and his wife in their 70's) told me someone discovered their converters were missing, so they then went around with a mirror on a stick and checked all the rigs. She didn't say how it was initially discovered, but someone starting their engine would seem to be the be the most likely scenario. I had driven mine just the day before and all was fine, so the theft was discovered pretty quickly after it happened.

The good news is that my insurance company, National General, has been great to work with. Sounds like they're going to be cutting me a check for the full Workhorse list price of the converters plus installation labor.

The storage yard has a clause in their contract that they are not responsible for theft vandalism, etc. I think most of them are that way.

[TandW]

Long term storage should be deterred instead.

[THenne1713]

Yeah, using a 3-wheeled tailpipe cutter also makes little/ no noise (vs electric saw= very noisey).

[D Gardiner]

Our neighbors Prius had their catalytic (cat) convert stolen last weekend. On our area, the Toyota Prius is a prime target for cat thieves.

Our motorhome sits across from a street light, and has one of the old school GM bed style cats, so it may not be a prime target for thieves.

[Marshalone]

This is a huge issue right now and has been in the past as well. We have had dealers and companies in our area where a whole line of vehicles were 'cleaned' and he converters removed. Any vehicle that has ground clearance is a possible target. Utility and box trailers as well as tailgates on F150s/250s are also hot items. Secure what you can and hope for the best. Keep your tailgates locked and double/triple lock your trailers. Most of these thugs have cordless saws so cutting things to gain access is not a huge problem for them. I had a utility trailer stolen from my locked yard and they damaged the front of my MH when they removed it. I'm going to install a wireless camera high up in the windshield facing the gate to record future entries. We do what we can.

[radar]

Ahhhh mannn. Looking forward to the days of EV chassis motorhomes. No exhaust system on our Tesla. LOL.

[Eez Moose]

Originally Posted by radar

Ahhhh mannn. Looking forward to the days of EV chassis motorhomes. No exhaust system on our Tesla. LOL.

At least not behind the Tesla.

[tap4154]

Been seeing a lot of reports of stolen cat converters off vehicles around here as well. There's certain vehicles they like to target where it's easy to get to them, motorhomes are super easy. I keep mine in my backyard, so they would have to jump the fence to get to it. Plus I wake up very quickly to any sounds. I noticed on my Ram pickup with the V6 the cat converters are actually up in the engine compartment, so it'd be really difficult to get them out.

I don't understand why any scrap yards would take cat converters from people just walking in with them. They have to know that they're stolen.

[Paul R. Haller]

Dont’t feel bad, my Prius got its cat stolen twice. 1 week after it was stolen the week before; both times at the doctors office parking lot. My 2006 prius cat can only be purchased from the dealer in California and it has to be a certified CARB (California air resources board) cat and no one else but toyota certifies it’s cat for use inside California. It will not pass the biyearly smog test without a carb certified cat. Cost from the dealer, part only, 3950$. To make matters worse, State farm insurance will not pay for a cat stolen the second time unless you install a cat saver under the car. Hmm, let’s get this straight... I’m insuring a national insurance company for the extra cost to insure a cat on a car I pay to insure. So, I bought and installed the cat saver to save the cat. It didn’t help. They just cut through it as well. Paul R. Haller

[Judys B Jeff]

there not taking em to scrap yards ?? why do I say this ?

check this out !!! Go to E Bay do a search for catalytic converters you'll get some results sure but 99% will be new converters.

Now do another search for catalytic converters for scrap

now where do you think there taking them you got it their posting them on e bay and ca$hing out !!

What's up with that?

[Judys B Jeff]

I'm trying to tell ya'all E Bay (U) search catalytic converter for scrap.

[Judys B Jeff]

Can u say (inside job)