Stolen catalytic converter in london uk

i wonder if a prius cat is more valuable, or if all cars are having this problem

 

See this: in London Honda CRV, m/y 2003~2009 are popular targets, according to my local news drones:

Spike in thefts of catalytic converters: London police - London | Globalnews.ca

I like the helpful hint from the cops: if yours has been stolen you'll notice a loud rumbling noise.

 

They have made anti theft devices for some time. This one fits a Prius.

 

Toyota cats tend to be well built. They used to steal them from under 4 runners and Tacoma’s all the time around here. The V6 cats brought a lot of money.

 

I suspect the earlier Prius “Catatonic” Converters ....are far more valuable, simply because they were over engineered too. I strongly suspect Toyota didn’t spare the pennies, when it came to the construction of the 2003 to 2009 Cats. They likely have more expensive metals than the newer cats. (Of course, this could be pure here say, but it seems logical).

Someone discovered this fact, and surmised it’s easier stealing cats off old Prii, than working as minion of Gustavo Fring (or being a Jessie Pinkman).

The rest....is history. At this rate, there’ll soon be no Gen 2 Prii left in London, as the scrotes carrying out these sordid crimes seem to concentrate on this city in particular.

Until irate vigilantes eventually catch one red handed, slicing off a Prius cat, and pump it for information as to what their modus operandi is....(before the law turns up to give it a slap on the wrist and a friendly hug), this style of crime will continue unabated.
The law here simply doesn’t give a Castlemaine XXXX about this rising criminal phenomenon.


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I'm going with "pipes small enough to slice with a quiet tool"

 

There is way more precious metal in those things than I thought.

WTB - Catalytic converters wanted! $300 per set | PriusChat

 

Maybe a little too bald, to post in the above thread, but:

But for anyone buying used Cat's, are they "aiding and abetting", unwittingly or wittingly?

I think until there's an at-the-factory serial number, logged and tracked, as long as the Cat's are anonymous once they're off the car, this is going to continue.

In the interim, insurance up? Nothing raises a clamor like insurers swamped with claims.

 

I would guess he would suspect something if suddenly someone starting sending a bunch of them?

 

during the last recession, peeps were stealing any valuable metal they could get their hands on. copper plumbing, electrical wire, they even stole the deco from a historic boston bridge.

state cops had to run a sting on recycling yards to stop it.

 

Assuming that's pounds, around $2500 US dollars.

 

I sincerely hope the Metropolitan Police in London are trying to mount a similar sting to apprehend the criminal elements behind these spate of thefts.....but somehow, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

What kind of country knowingly decimates their police force by 22,000 officers at a time when crime and terrorism is on the rise?

When the innocent humble old 2nd Gen Prius becomes a target for denizens of the underworld on account of the high quantity of precious metals within it’s Catalytic Converter, you know you’re definitely living in a dystopian nightmare.

Londoners are getting robbed, stabbed, burgled, Vehicle crime is off the proverbial scale, and online scammers are ripping old folk off daily by pretending to be ISP engineers trying to get non existent viruses off their PCs - while actually emptying their bank accounts! (Stopped a friend from loosing £20,000 in the nick of time just last week - similar scam).
The police didn’t want to know, even though the PC was riddled with damning evidence of the perpetrators location and more!
All of the above and all the police do is issue you with a crime number - and links to a victim support group who might give you a hug .

What they no longer do is turn up at the scene, or actively make an effort to catch the criminals. Their excuse? We ain’t got the resources. Scary!!!

I wish I was wealthy enough to emigrate to Canada....London UK now scares me!



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The same thing has just happened to me today!
The scumbags were in 2 cars - one beeped the other one, they both stopped and a guy quickly jacked up my Prius and nicked the cat - in Sydenham Park Rd, Sydenham.
I knocked on a few doors and found out that there were 5 witnesses who all did nothing!!!!! I am raging.
Will have to stop typing to avoid swearing.
The Police will decide whether to bother within 48hrs apparently.

 

If some of your neighbors had guns to brandish perhaps it would not have happened. You brits need to rise up for your rights.

 

I feel your pain, dude! I know exactly how you feel. I guess it’s the same gang...!!!
It seems the Metropolitan Police in London aren’t fit for purpose anymore.
We pay our highly inflated taxes and still get bent over a barrel by the powers that be.

Any other city on the planet would have rounded up the whole gang by now. Sadly, the London constabulary are more interested in making overtime from escorting stupid marches through central London than they are stopping crime.

None of your neighbours thought to at least call the police? Raise the alarm? Get the registration number plates of the vehicles involved? Shoot a video of the jackasses carrying out the crime with those mobile smartphones they take selfies with nonstop? Nobody genuinely cared?

I blame the police first and foremost, for sitting resolutely on the incidences of this crime, and refusing to alert ALL PRIUS OWNERS to what is going on. That in itself is unforgivable.

If people knew about these thefts, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE someone might catch them in the act and post video / information leading to their arrest and prosecution.

But, NO. I guess warning Prius owners is going to make the Police look ineffectual and will serve as confirmation that they’ve lost control of the streets! So, some idiot high up in the Met has decided to keep a lid on the whole thing.

My guess is the CATs are being spirited out of the country as scrap metal, to some third world (read Eastern Europe) location where they will be smelted down and the precious metals within sold on......OR, the parts get sold over there.......they’re worth a mint either way.

Shame on the Metropolitan Police of London for not pulling their fingers out....!!!

I suppose for daring to shame them, I can now expect a visit at 4.00am in the morning from the law, and a trip to a police station where I will be charged with upsetting the Met and making them depressed.

You really couldn’t make it up....!!!!


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So an update to my stolen cat in Sydenham London story:
The best witness had just moved in and as a single woman didn't want to get involved. She was cleaning her windows and saw the whole thing. There were 2 guys sitting in their van right next to the crime. They were about to fit blinds in the house of the witness. And there was a delivery guy in a van who stopped while it was happening with his parcel for the other witness over the road. An old lady also on her own.
Why nobody called the police I don't know. In broad daylight - unbelievable. The 2 cars drove off with the boot with my cat in still open, presumably so you can't see the numberplate.
The Police were (so far) useless. They kept asking if there was CCTV footage.
To be fair if I knew a victim of knife crime I would probably prefer the police to be using their time investigating that. The car was insured after all. But I also think that the 2 black guys (one in a newish white BMW) who comitted the crime in b
The Insurance company say it'll probably be a write off. So I'll lose my £495 excess. They are going to send someone round value the car in a week or 2. Then offer me something...
I might try to buy it back from them and fix it I guess.
I need to replace the exhaust.
But the police told me that they might come back and do it again!

I might have to get a different sort of car! Not because I don't like the Prius but because I can't afford the newer model.

 

sorry, got distracted.
the criminals who stole my cat are likely part of the same gang/drug/knife crime problem so the police should follow up on the 5 reluctant witnesses I have provided them with.
...bet they don't bother tho.
They may solve crimes like this if someone provides CCTV evidence it seems..

 

you chaps need razor wire around the lower perimeter

 

Is insurance against this sort of thing cost prohibitive?

 

I truly have no idea at this point.
Obviously, before I get “The Spaceship” back, I’m going to have to pay for additional measures to ensure the damn f(bleeep)ers don’t come back again for a second try - chances are they will - it’s highly lucrative and they have the complete blessings of the Metropolitan Police (judging by their lackadaisical attitude towards the whole matter) to carry on stealing these £2,000 replacement parts from particularly 2003 - 2009 Prii without the slightest threat of being apprehended and prosecuted.

Look at it this way; until this wave of wanton thefts began, the humble iconic Prius was a largely ignored vehicle your average thief / mugger / burglar wouldn’t want to be seen dead in. It was allegedly a lousy car with a battery that was supposed to die after 2 years of use and cost more than the car to replace. Malicious myths made up of the most puerile nonsense coupled with grinding ignorance and unbridled stupidity hung around your average Prius like a toxic brown fog.
On the flip side, true owners knew they were on to a winner, what with a £10 road tax charge for the whole year, when conventional cars were handing over about £245 or whereabouts. It sipped fuel like a miser and made its owners richer via reduced fuel bills....but, I digress.

Here is a vehicle, now an older model that simply refuses to die (duh! It WAS over engineered), and there’s hundreds of them in London alone, quietly sneaking around like ninjas with that silver smile on their grilles. Apart from it being relentlessly trolled on the interwebs and the odd millennial believing these are built exclusively as TAXIS........nobody really gave a Rat’s rear end about these futuristic aerodynamic shapes lurking on every street and gliding past on every highway.
They were for all intents and purposes, invisible to the naked eye! Cheap to insure, a safe bet for anyone looking for a relatively anonymous cruiser that wouldn’t draw attention to itself. You knew NOBODY was ever going to try and snatch your Prius off you; nobody was ever going to steal your Prius at night. Or day.
As I underlined, no self respecting crook would be seen trying to molest a Prius 2nd generation.

And suddenly......with the last of the 2nd gens approaching their 10th birthday....they’ve achieved the same status as elephants and rhinos being poached for their tusks and horns.
Overnight, 2nd Gen Prii have become an endangered species, being hunted and crippled by low life Prius Poachers seeking to steal a valuable £2,000 replacement part - the Catalytic Converter.

This has never happened to Prii before in the UK.

So, I strongly suspect there are no mass produced ways of easily protecting the catalytic converter of a Prius from theft.

If anyone knows how this can be done - please enlighten us. At this rate, 2nd Gen Prii in the UK will end up extinct, due to the unchecked thefts of their Catalytic Converters.

Imagine how painful it must be to someone who had an old reliable 2003 Prius at over 200k miles still cruising about effortlessly, to suddenly have it attacked like this, and rendered unusable. The replacement CAT will probably cost more than the vehicle is worth. It’ll be written off, and that’s someone’s oh so reliable vehicular investment down the drain .

If a way isn’t found to stop these thefts, the 2nd Gen Prius will literally become extinct in the UK.




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