Catalytic Converter Thefts

NVGator

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We are seeing a significant rise is a rare theft. A year ago we were seeing a couple. This year it’s x10. A few a week. The precious metal is valuable. Higher trucks & SUVs are being targeted as well as the Toyota Prius.

Apparently there’s a plate cover to secure them.
 
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AlexDaGator

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We are seeing a significant rise is a rare theft. A year ago we were asking a couple. This year it’s x10. A few a week. The precious metal is valuable. Higher trucks & SUVs are being targeted as well as the Toyota Prius.

Apparently there’s a plate cover to secure them.

iu



Alex.
 

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@Swamp Donkey is correct. Very easy to quickly sell. The scrap value on a converter for cheaper foreign cars is not a lot, but around $150 and up for a domestic car. High end foreign cars and you're talking, for an addict, serious money. For some of the exotic foreign cars, like say a Ferrari, the replacement costs are a bee-otch.
 

Nalt

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Around north Alabama these thefts commonly take place at boat ramps. Easy to get in and out.
 

CDGator

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Just heard about this last week in Lexington. Very quick abs easy to get to! Neighbors were warning people that park in the street.
 

Concrete Helmet

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Can't wait for some crackhead to shimmy the 4 or 5 inches of ground clearance under my Mustangs only to find...
Ra8b2e87d620c5da67b281a3b22e46235

race cars don't have cats...:lol2:
 

cover2

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Crazy. What a difference 40 years makes. I worked at a muffler shop when I was in junior college around 1980. I can’t tell you how many catalytic converters I cut off of cars. You could still get leaded fuel and that stuff would play hell with the cc’s. Most folks still wanted the leaded performance. The junk guy would come around once a week and haul them off to the scrap yard. The government eventually made it illegal to remove them. I don’t know what the old ones had in them, but if it was precious metals, I could have made some nice change if there was a market.
 

Gator By Marriage

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Crazy. What a difference 40 years makes. I worked at a muffler shop when I was in junior college around 1980. I can’t tell you how many catalytic converters I cut off of cars. You could still get leaded fuel and that stuff would play hell with the cc’s. Most folks still wanted the leaded performance. The junk guy would come around once a week and haul them off to the scrap yard. The government eventually made it illegal to remove them. I don’t know what the old ones had in them, but if it was precious metals, I could have made some nice change if there was a market.
They had platinum back then too. The platinum metals are the actual catalyst.

Back to @NVGator ’s point, I was talking to some friends from a local PD here and they brought up the fact that they were seeing a rash of threats. The fence would give the thieves a list of types of cars to hit. One of the thieves favorite spots was a church parking lot during services. The PD eventually caught them and got them to flip on the fence and locked him up too.
 

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