.

Yeah, they used to steal them off of vehicles parked at Uwharrie.
 
We had several coworkers break down on the interstate, thieves cut the cats out with battery powered recip saws.
 
2010'ish, thieves went through our business park and stole 24 (IIRC) in a night.
 
Friend runs a salvage yard and has been keeping records for years on the converters. It’s a favorite target of the crack heads living in the impoverish areas of the state.
 
My neighbor just had one stolen off one of his company trucks last week. Over $2K to replace it. Hate a thief.
 
Provided your converter is cool enough and you don’t forget you left it there, you could lay a rubber snake on top of it.

I guarantee in the scramble to get out from underneath the vehicle, thief will raise up, hit their head on the undercarriage/frame and knock theirselves unconscious.
 
Didn’t they stop using platinum, or at least so much of it, in catalytic converters?
 
In 2016, thieves came through my neighborhood in San Diego and stole a bunch. My neighbor across the road was an 80 year old man. Nicest guy in the world. They got his out from under his old pickup, in his driveway. He filed a police report, but I don't think the cops even tried.

About two months ago, thieves cut the cat converter out from under my mom's 1999 GMC Sierra in ultra rural Alabama. They cut it out, at night, right in her driveway. She didn't know till the next morning, she cranked it up and it sounded like a race car. I told her it sounded GOOD! Keep driving it till it falls apart. They don't do vehicle inspections in Bama.

It's definitely still a thing...
 
JimB said:
Didn’t they stop using platinum, or at least so much of it, in catalytic converters?
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I think the thieves drive around looking for certain vehicles that are older. They know which vehicles have the most valuable cats.
 
About 12-13 years ago, at a previous employer, the thieves came through the parking lot and hit vehicles like pickup trucks and taller SUV's. Cut them out with a cordless sawzall. Forget how many they got in one night.
 
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When metal prices were high, they were going through the parking decks downtown Raleigh and stealing the spare tires and aluminum alloy rims off the backs of SUVs and out from under pickups in the middle of the day. They got a few catalytic converters also. They are very skilled and very fast.
 
East of Here said:
When metal prices were high, they were going through the parking decks downtown Raleigh and stealing the spare tires and aluminum alloy rims off the backs of SUVs and out from under pickups in the middle of the day. They got a few catalytic converters also. They are very skilled and very fast.
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EVERY TIME I see a truck driving in front of me and I see the spare tire wire dangling, I say, "Yep. Somebody stole his spare tire and he doesn't even know it..."
 
This been happening for a looooooong time.


That law totally a lot of scrap guys that really helped out local mechanics.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Back in the day I worked for a Mercedes Benz dealer that specialized in the big semi truck tractors - we had some unwanted traveling guests one night, disabled all the security cameras then stole every wheel and tire from every new vehicle in the compound. Left them all on tree stumps. They also took every catalytic converter they could.

That was an expensive insurance claim.
 
Alabamacoastie said:
EVERY TIME I see a truck driving in front of me and I see the spare tire wire dangling, I say, "Yep. Somebody stole his spare tire and he doesn't even know it..."
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I remember reading that in Texas, Houston especially, people steal tail gates ALL the time. Like it's so bad people will pull into 7/11 use the bathroom and it's gone. It's big business replacing them and they were getting 400-600 dollars on Craigslist at the time.
 
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Pink_Vapor said:
Wow, I’ve got the 2 off my Tahoe, and the receipt for the replacements, I’d like to sell off.
Who pays the most $?
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See, I had this off my Nissan truck, hell, you cant find anyone to sell them too, because they arent supposed to buy them off regulars like us. I had reciepts and the truck with the shiny new ones on.
 
Sneakymedic said:
See, I had this off my Nissan truck, hell, you cant find anyone to sell them too, because they arent supposed to buy them off regulars like us. I had reciepts and the truck with the shiny new ones on.
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I saw some places on line, I'd rather get some of my $ back locally and not have a out of state shyster burn me.
 
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