Thief stole a section of my exhaust system!

Wow... pitiful. Sorry bud.

 

buy urd headers and o2 sims like me... who needs them front cats...

 

Did you mean to type $450 ?

 

One of my cats were cut off of my 2006 AC 4X4 V6 (at a park and ride), anyways, it cost my insurance company $1200 for the replacement and install, plus the cost of my rental. I was out of pocket about $100 for deductibles and whatnot. The dumb ass thief left one of the blades on the ground under my truck, cops took it. They caught the guys, same dudes that stole over 300 of them. Anyways, it sucked and I feel for you OP.

 

CAT's can fetch upward of $150+ each due to what they're lined with which is Platinum, palladium, rhodium and some times gold are the most common metals found in them. I reach last year in CA when i lived there they captured a ring of thieves make $10k a week stealing Prius CAT's alone due to the abundance of them and the precious metal they're lined with.

 

Most of the recyclers in my area won't buy a cat from you unless you have the VIN number from the car it came from. I'm sure there's plenty of shady recyclers that all the tweekers know to go to though.

 

This has been going on for years with our trucks. Read 48 pages worth here...
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/redwood-city-ca/TI0QUTIGUCQU05FSV

Since my truck sits for multiple days at secluded parking lots when fishing i had this made years ago to keep them from being stolen... completely removable with special hardware and parts welded in front / back of cats to keep sawzalls out. The bottom plate has re-bar welded across to slow down a saw blade and the sensor wires are wrapped with additional heat resistant material. Been on now for 8 years with zero issues.

 

Sorry to hear buddy!

 

Cat converter theft is really common on a lot of vehicles, there's a metal inside (forget what it is off the top of my head) that can be sold for scrap for a decent chunk of change of you collect enough of them. Fucking thieves.

OEM replacements are really expensive, best bet is to find one in a scrapyard

 

It's a federal requirement not to mess with the pollution control system.

 

but not legal for the feds....
The full text of the amendment reads as follows:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

 

There are too many in Washington DC who do not respect the 10th amendment or the rest of our constitution. I admit I don't know the details of this, maybe it's that shops are prohibited from removing pollution control stuff. Politicians like agencies like the epa which make and enforce "regulations" with the force of laws bypassing separation of powers.

 

They would hit the boat ramp parking lots around DFW and make off with a bunch. Then take down to the local metal recycler. We use to have some crooked recyclers around here but the city has pretty much shut them down. It is crazy to see HVAC condensers surrounded by 10' fences topped with razor wire.

 

Some cats are worth more than others. 01 accord can bring 200$ And some of the diesels can bring 500$+

 

Wow, This is the first I have heard of this kind of theft. Thanks to this site!

 

Did they take both sides or just one? You will have no problem just having a pipe welded in there because those are after the FIRST cat and the sensor is clearly in front of the cats they stole. You won't have any "check engine" lights like someone claimed. Most exhaust re-routes eliminate the rear cats anyway. Wont' even be any louder, or VERY little. You can get generic ones on Amazon for like $60.

 

GB lol

 

California resident Victor Murillo was recently awakened at 3:00 in the morning by a loud metallic thud outside his apartment window. Thinking the sound was made by a garbage truck, he rolled over and went back to sleep. But when he emerged from his apartment to go to work and started up his Toyota Tacoma, the engine sounded like a small volcano erupting. The din was loud enough to wake a neighbor, and while Murillo shut off the truck and wondered what could possibly be making so much racket, the neighbor emerged and delivered bad news.

"I know that noise," he said. "That's the sound of a stolen catalytic converter."

In less than the three minutes it took a thief to unbolt the converter and take off, Murillo was out $250 in theft insurance deductible dollars and had to do without his work truck for the two days it took the local mechanic to install a new unit.

"I wasn't really angry," he told AOL Autos. "I just wanted my truck back."

Catalytic converters, which convert engine pollutants into less harmful emissions before they leave a vehicle's exhaust system, have been mandated on all American cars since 1975. In recent years, however, converter thefts have massively increased as the market for the their precious metals, including trace amounts of palladium, rhodium and platinum, have skyrocketed.

The problem is so acute that California passed a law in January 2010 mandating that recyclers document each converter brought in to be sold for scrap and create a paper trail to deter the theft and resale of the units.

"It has gotten to the point where everyone knows someone who has had their catalytic converter removed illegally from their vehicle", says California Senator Ron Calderon, who wrote the bill. "Stolen catalytic converters fetch between $50-$150 at scrap yards. And yet they cost between $300-$3000 to replace."

The new legislation requires all businesses to document converter sales, their date and locations as well as taking a photo or short video of the seller, and the records must be retained for two years. If you're selling a used converter, the recycler has to pay you by check either mailed to your residence or place of business, or picked up after a three-day delay.

Sound harsh, or Orwellian? Maybe. But since there isn't any method of catalytic converter theft prevention that seems to work, something clearly needed to be done to slow down rings of thieves who drive around all day and night stealing the units. The problem isn't limited to California, either. During the weekend of January 15, 19 cars at a used car dealership in New Jersey were relieved of their converters, and a quick "Catalytic converter stolen" net search reveals similar recent thefts all over the U.S.A. The sloppier crooks can also damage a car's fuel line or wiring, necessitating more costly repairs and inconvenience.

Nationwide Insurance recently published a list of ways motorists can deter converter thieves, including:

- parking your vehicle in well-populated, well-lit areas

- installing conspicuous video surveillance cameras outside homes

- parking your vehicle in a closed, locked garage

- watching local news to monitor epidemics of local converter thefts so as to take extra precautions

- etching the car's VIN number on the converter to make it easier to identify a ring of thieves in the future



Converter etching may sound like overkill, but Senator Calderon doesn't think so, saying, "Some people have had their cars vandalized multiple times and often from their own driveways."

Nationwide also recommend having the converter welded to the frame of your vehicle, but that also brings new issues to deal with.

Murillo, whose Tacoma is one of the most popular targets for thieves due to their easily removable bolted converters, says, "I looked into welding and I found that auto shops can do it around here for about $200, but if you don't pass inspection in the future and need to remove your catalytic converter and/or muffler, you cost yourself even more money because they have to go through the welds just like a thief would."

There are also many aftermarket units meant to deter catalytic converter theft, including the CatClamp which features a stainless steel cable its website claims is "virtually impossible to cut."

Experts aren't so sure, though. "CatClamps are pretty easy to remove," says Popular Mechanics Senior Editor Mike Allen, who has made a career out of testing and praising or debunking aftermarket products. "Especially if you have a 4x4 pickup or SUV that has enough room for the perp to slide under. The cable severs readily with a big bolt cutter or a cordless cutoff wheel."

 

Its up 2 us to enforce the ACTUAL supreme law of the land...