No not the purring sort !
When visiting my indie this week a customer called in to find out the outcome of a noisy exhaust on his car.
His car was up on the lift and it was clear to see the cat had been removed with bolt croppers or similar. Both the ends of the rest of the exhaust pipes were crushed and cleanly cut.
The customer said it happened in a Tesco carpark in the Feltham area.
He had parked his car in a corner of the the site to avoid trolley dings but now says he will risk dings and park with the mob.
( £750 for an OE replacement or £200+ for a copy plus fitting)
Indie said going rate is about £50 for a cat.
Not the most obvious place to loose you cat.
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An accountant I knew had the engine nicked from his Porsche 911 in a multi-storey car park, off Baker Street in London.
I imagine it's like the old VW Beetle, you can get the engine out in minutes, and it comes out from underneath, so it wouldn't matter not being able to open the 'bonnet'.
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I know someone who had a radiator nicked.
They didn't find out until they'd driven off.
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...They didn't find out until they'd driven off...
I think my mate with the 911 knew sooner than that, though I recall he didn't realise until after he'd got into the driver's seat and tried to start the car.
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That reminds me of the old joke.
Two old ladies, both with VW Beetles. One car won't start, so the old dear lifts her bonnet to see there's no engine. "Someone's stolen my engine!" she says.
"Don't worry" says the other "I've got a spare engine in my boot".
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I'd like them to do that to mine, the cat's had all its internals removed. Love to see the look on their face to have a hollow piece of pipe!
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Colleague at a previous work had all the (leather) seats stolen from his 328i.
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25 years ago I had the wheels, steering wheel, gearknob, seats and carpet stolen from a nice Cortina.
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Wasn't there a spate of BMW three series bumpers being nicked a few years ago?
Or was it light units?
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Mate of mine had the bonnet from his Rover P6 stolen in a multistorey carpark.
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>> Wasn't there a spate of BMW three series bumpers being nicked a few years ago?
There was a spate of Mk2 Golf (the big bumper variary) bumpers being stolen a few years ago..... along with the VW badges - thanks to The Beastie Boys.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 1 Oct 10 at 12:58
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>> Wasn't there a spate of BMW three series bumpers being nicked a few years ago?
>>
>> Or was it light units?
Bumpers. The E36 M3 door mirrors used to go AWOL with alarming frequency as well.
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>>the cat's had all its internals removed.
What do you do at MOT time?
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...had all its internals removed...what do you do at MOT time?...
If it fails, I imagine he's 'gutted'. :)
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>> >>the cat's had all its internals removed.
>>
>> What do you do at MOT time?
>>
Nothing, its a 1991 car and therfore has a non-cat test.
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My pal, living in the Eden valley owns, amongst others, a 2001 crew cab landie.
It's parked in his field, but about 50 yds from the house.
Came out one morning to find all four doors, bonnet and seats had been filched in the night.
Land RLver green....probably go straight on chummy's motor.
Too quiet round there !
Ted
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...all four doors, bonnet and seats...
Land Rover doors - certainly older ones - are held on by a few external bolts, so removing them would be the work of minutes.
The 1960s Land Rover we had on the farm had no door locks, only latches.
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>> What do you do at MOT time?
If your modern petrol engine is running normally, and at normal operating temperature, it'll probably be within spec without needing a cat.
De-cat is pretty common for performance, only special thing it normally requires is some remapping work to prevent the ECU tripping the check engine light because of results from the lambda sensors.
Lots of folks go through MOT emissions with petrol cars without a cat, although commonly they keep the cat shell and just knock out it's internals (weld it up again afterwards) to hopefully prevent questions from VOSA man or MOT man.
Provides up to 12bhp at the top end of the rev range and brings peak torque in ~150rpm lower at the bottom end (turbo petrol) on a VAG 2.0 TSi engine.
Flames out the back on overrun too...
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i think you will find he uses a trade trick to get a car through the emissions test without a cat
this trick wont work if the car burns any oil though
and no im not going to disclose it
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Stick the tester up another pipe. Always done with Scooby GLF's!
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>> i think you will find he uses a trade trick to get a car through
>> the emissions test without a cat
>> this trick wont work if the car burns any oil though
>> and no im not going to disclose it
>>
No tricks needed for the non-cat test, it passes easily as you'd expect.
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Nice green drivers we have here...:-)
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>> Nice green drivers we have here...:-)
>>
Who cares about green? I for one certainly don't!
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>> Nice green drivers we have here...:-)
It could be argued that by removing the cat is greener because the car now uses less fuel, particularly on short journies in a cold climate and if the cat is under the car rather than closer to the manifold.
My '93 Kia's got a cat. I wonder?
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>> The customer said it happened in a Tesco carpark in the Feltham area.
As someone who works in Feltham periodically, and visits Tescos at lunchtime on the odd occasion, I can't say I'm shocked.
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"As someone who works in Feltham periodically, and visits Tescos at lunchtime on the odd occasion, I can't say I'm shocked."
Yes, the government cutbacks have even extended to the kitchens at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution - I heard they now send out the trusted inmates to get the sandwiches at lunch time.
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>> Yes, the government cutbacks have even extended to the kitchens at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution
>> - I heard they now send out the trusted inmates to get the sandwiches at
>> lunch time.
>>
There is a cafe just outside over the railway bridge. They could all go in there - couldn't they?
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>> The customer said it happened in a Tesco carpark in the Feltham area.
For how long was he parked?
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...For how long was he parked?...
Long enough to have his cat pinched, which would take five minutes at most.
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>> ...For how long was he parked?...
>>
>> Long enough to have his cat pinched, which would take five minutes at most.
>>
I wondered whether it was habitually parked there for a long period of time, and the thief got to know the habits of the owner.
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>> I wondered whether it was habitually parked there for a long period of time,
>>and the thief got to know the habits of the owner.
>> Just a shopping trip but car was parked IIRC near the employees area.
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If you watch someone park their car and walk into a supermarket you can be fairly certain of a minimum 10 minutes to do as you wish with their car.
If they collect a trolley before entry, then you have 20 minutes minimum, but more likely longer.
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iffy are you a mr big lookout?...........the one on the phone when its turned off?
go go go'''''''''''''''
;-)
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Jaguar XJ40 bumpers used to go walkies in the early 1990's. Owners often welded the bolts to stop it.
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BMW skirts from M3s were a favourite amongst thieving lowlife.
A thought as I typed that if BMW put skirts on a MINI would that make them MINIskirts...
Last edited by: Pugugly on Tue 5 Oct 10 at 20:57
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...13 months for stealing 45 cats causing £40K of repairs...
That's a long stretch for an 18-year-old.
Fill someone in, and provided you don't do too much damage, you probably won't get locked up.
The law has always valued property above people.
Last edited by: Iffy on Fri 8 Oct 10 at 09:15
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BBC item
Van drivers have been warned to carry out regular safety checks on their vehicles following a rise in catalytic converter thefts.
Surrey Police issued the warning after nine commercial vehicles were targeted in Guildford in a week.
Pc Steve Cake said vans were targeted because they are easier to get underneath.
He said: "It only takes a few minutes for a thief to crawl under a vehicle and remove the converter."
What sort of safety check would be needed ?
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a rev is all it needs to confirm youve been de catted
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>> What sort of safety check would be needed ?
I imagine the deafening racket of the exhaust being cut off just under your backside would soon tell you somethings wrong the instant you start up...or do they want you to check underneath in case you drive off with a scroat attached, that would be dreadful.
If one was to wrap razor wire round their Cat would they be in trouble should one of the little loves get hurt trying remove the thing in the small hours.
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>>If one was to wrap razor wire round their Cat
What a genius idea.
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My dad once had to park up in Brinnington (a not so nice part of Stockport) and when he returned to the car he noticed his rear wiper had been stolen.
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>>If one was to wrap razor wire round their Cat
What a genius idea.
Not when the rattling is doing your head in it won't be.
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i might have mentioned this before but here goes
friend had a series 2a landy and he kept getting the battery nicked so he put some razor blades up round the bonnet opener
guess who got caught out ?(and it wasnt me )
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BBC item.
The joys of Surrey :-((
Police said thieves were mostly targeting Peugeot and Citroen petrol cars which were usually fitted with two catalytic converters.
They were operating in large car parks such as those attached to supermarkets, officers said.
Spokesmen said the devices, which cost over £1,000 to replace, were being targeted because of their scrap value.
In the last three weeks, thefts have taken place in Tesco's car park in Staines Road West, Sunbury; Two Rivers Retail Park, Staines; Sainsbury's car park in Guildford Street, Chertsey; and Marks and Spencer in Barnes Wallace Drive, Weybridge.
Other vehicles were targeted in Church Road, East Molesey; Heriot Road, Chertsey and London Road, Virginia Water.
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>> BBC item.
>> The joys of Surrey :-((
Here is the link - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-12315504
Does seem a bit strange to do it in supermarket car parks, because I always assume that the presence of CCTV and the comings and goings of lots of customers would deter thieves - but perhaps it justs helps them blend in.
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...Does seem a bit strange to do it in supermarket car parks...
Easy to keep an eye on the owner, the thief can watch him or her enter the store and be more or less certain they won't be back for 20-plus minutes.
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nick one get one free
saw some itinerents steal the spare wheel of a citroen picasso a few years ago in pc world car park
by the time i had reported it to security thay had gone
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>> Easy to keep an eye on the owner, the thief can watch him or her
>> enter the store and be more or less certain they won't be back for 20-plus
>> minutes.
Ah yeah, good point, hadn't thought of that.
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...Ah yeah, good point, hadn't thought of that...
The thief can also see who they might be confronted by.
Often it will be a woman on her own or with kids, better that than the husband, who might be a scaffolder.
Slight drift, but one of the perverts in court recently was caught hanging around the 'mother and pushchair' spaces at Tesco.
Obvious really, the spaces provide a good supply of gropable young women, usually not with their male partners.
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>> Often it will be a woman on her own or with kids, better that than
>> the husband, who might be a scaffolder.
>>
>> Slight drift, but one of the perverts in court recently was caught hanging around the
>> 'mother and pushchair' spaces at Tesco.
>>
>> Obvious really, the spaces provide a good supply of gropable young women, usually not with
>> their male partners.
In my experience the parent and child spots are more often taken up by scaffolders than people with kids :)
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...taken up by scaffolders than people with kids :)...
Yes, and I wouldn't be challenging them either, unless I wanted to part company with my front teeth.
By the way, did the move go OK?
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>> Yes, and I wouldn't be challenging them either, unless I wanted to part company with my front teeth.
Not so bothered about the teeth, but I would feel guilty about depriving the world of a thing of beauty, if my face got busted. I am very selfless like that.
>> By the way, did the move go OK?
Thanks for asking. Well, we got there in the end, but it really was a bit of a nightmare - it seemed that everything that could go wrong did (although I did manage to sort out decent storage and transport at very short notice).
Still we are in a nice new place now. Will just take us the usual 6 months to unpack! :)
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>> >>
>>
>> In my experience the parent and child spots are more often taken up by scaffolders
>> than people with kids :)
>>
Scaffolders don't have children?
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>> cars which were usually fitted with two catalytic converters
>> Does seem a bit strange to do it in supermarket car parks
I blame the supermarkets and their BOGOF offers. The thieves are taking it one stage further and getting 2 cats for the price of one.
EDIT - just seen bellboys comment mentioning much the same.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 29 Jan 11 at 17:32
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>>My dad once had to park up in Brinnington (a not so nice part of Stockport) and when he returned to the car he noticed his rear wiper had been stolen<<
I remember seeing that on Crimewatch.
;}
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I had 2 gallons of petrol stolen from my Hillman Hunter in about 1969!
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DT report says 50 cats stolen in recent weeks in Suffolk. £50k worth since January.
Police are marking cats with heat resistant paint. Interesting- their own vehicles?
So it is not just leafy Surrey that is being hit. Beware out there!
"Swaffham - Thieves have been targeting 4x4s and vans over the past few weeks.
Between January 31 and February 9 three catalytic converters were stolen in Lynn Street, Haspalls Road and Whitsands Road. Another theft was reported in Necton between February 8 and the next day."
"Police seized a haul of what they suspect to be stolen catalytic converters when they stopped and searched a vehicle on the A47 at East Winch.
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of theft."
I wonder what their story is?
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Found em one the side of the road Gov.
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i see a minimum of one van and maybe one or two men a week at my place asking if i have any old cats for sale
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It says in the DT report that the catalysts were removed in minutes.
I wish a handy thief had been around last year when I was trying to remove the failed cat from my car. It took several hours' work with a hacksaw and angle-grinder.
The scrap man didn't want it - there was more money apparently in the old washing machine and half a rusty gate.
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>> It says in the DT report that the catalysts were removed in minutes.
>> I wish a handy thief had been around last year when I was trying to remove the failed cat from my car.
>> It took several hours' work with a hacksaw and angle-grinder.
>>
The car I saw, the cat had been removed with some sort of shears. It was a very neat job - both the ends left were squashed.
Keeps the noise down and retains some back pressure ????
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>> The scrap man didn't want it - there was more money apparently in the old washing machine and half a rusty gate.
>>
I understand it is about £50 for a used cat so perhaps your scrap man is not up to date re cat values.
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Cat stolen - every little helps. - Iffy
