doublechaz

One night about 2:30 a mini van pulled up and parked in front of my house. I watched. Someone gets out and walks several doors up the street and starts prowling around their parked cars. I go out and take down the make, model, color, and plate and then I called 911. They weren't interrested in any of the details I had and said they would send a squad car. The Sheriff stopped by the next day at about 2:00, but by that time the perp was gone, out of state plates, I had slept, woken up aain, and gone to work.

humanvsgravity

bypass asd

cruiser54

What do you mean by that?

Rogue4x4

Also, the title above the comment...please don’t bypass the language filter. I advise you to go read the stickies and the site rules, please.

Rogue4x4

Funny this thread popped up though, I just watched a video the other day on anti theft options and their effectiveness. It's worth a watch.

robsjeep

Until our soft on crime judges start locking the crooks up for five years, this problem wont stop. We live in a lawless state. I humbly suggest a beat up old hollowed out cat, mounted with bolts or slip joints. Then have a nice new compliant cat for use on smog test days.

The powers that be want you out of your normal car and onto public transit (unless your wealthy, then they will subsidize your new Tesla) Be it carbon taxes on our gasoline, high registration costs, little if any punishment for catalyst thieves, a prohibition on purchasing used catalysts from a retail wrecker etc... the global warmists in governmemt are doing all they can to make the cost of owning a gasoline car too high.
I bet if there was a crime wave of crimnals stealing electric car charger cords from Teslas, the government would lock the thieves up for life.

That is my take on it.

Do what you need to do, Flog the lawless government.

I want a self driving feature that upon sensing a thief under the car, will automatically start the engine and drive back and forth, crushing the son of a witch trying to steal the cat. But that's just my personal opinion.

Good Luck

Rogue4x4

TrailerTrash

My XJ is the only one of my vehicles that anyone can actually get under without a jack. And all they are going to get is a shell with no cats inside

Cummins93

X2

lawsoncl

I think even just a thick cable wrapped around the cat and secured to the frame is enough. It's doesn't need to be thief-proof, just annoying enough that they move onto the next car. Engraving your name or VIN into the cat isn't a bad idea, but a thief with a cutoff wheel is just going to scrub it back off when they notice it later.

The police also need to go after the recyclers who are are accepting the cats without proof of ownership or ID, and accepting several at once from a single person.

Rogue4x4

SOOO MUCH THIS.

Places are now passing legislation to this effect, having to show ID, proof of ownership, and limiting people to one per exchange. It's not perfect, or prevalent, but it's a start.

The recyclers need to be held accountable too. Fine the crap out of them if they buy multiples from anyone off the street.

exasemech

There is a junkyard 1/2 mile from my house that has a full size billboard in the closest town that says " we buy catalytic converters... spot cash paid".
I know that when I have sold copper there they asked nothing..
Nice

robsjeep

No, the judges need to be responsible. They need to throw the book at the thieves so to speak.

I guy I read about was caught stealing a catalyst. He was charged as a misdemeanor and walked free, despite many thousands of dollars of damage he caused.

Going after recyclers wont fix the problem, they are not the problem. And it will involve a lot of bureaucracy, and hinder the business of law abiding sellers of used catalysts. Also sometimes the stolen cats are shipped in mass to mexico for money from cartels, either as complete units or as broken catalyst guts. Given the corruption in mexico, laws wont stop that from happening there either.

Instead start locking up the thieves for long terms. Send them to prison, hard time. Word will soon get out that stealing catalysts is not worth it thanks to the certainty of a long stay in prison.

Rogue4x4

I definitely agree, BOTH parties need to be held accountable. Yes, it starts with the individual thief, but let's face facts here...the salvage yards are just as much to blame, they're making a profit off them too.They don't pay actual scrap value to the scumbags bringing pickup loads of converters. They're a business and in it for profit. They know good and well the methed out and shady lowlifes that pull up in a van of nothing but cats are thieves, but they overlook it because it's easy profit.

Cause and effect. Hit the scrap yard with high fines for looking the other way, and they'll stop accepting people with a load of stolen goods.

third coast

Don't blame the judges/courts. They can only apply the maximum penalty that the law allows and in many cases that is a misdemeanor. The good news is that California lawmakers approved 3 new laws in the fall of 2022 that increase penalties for thieves and new regulations and penalties for salvage yards. Legislators in many states have recently approved or are in the process of reviewing similar actions. It is too early to see an impact but the most effective will likely be those that financially punish those that buy converters – typically the local salvage yards.

• AB-1653, which adds theft of vehicle parts to the list of crimes the California Highway Patrol’s Regional Property Crimes Task Force should prioritize.
• SB 1087, limits legal sellers of catalytic converters to people who can prove it came from their own vehicle, and to businesses including licensed auto dismantlers and repair dealers. Fines for breaking the law start at $1,000, and escalate for repeat violations.
• AB 1740, requires businesses who buy catalytic converters to document the purchase by recording the year, make, model, and VIN number of the car that the converter came from.