Stolen catalytic converter in london uk

This should have been a bad assumption from the start, as the crooks are displaying invalid registrations.

In the absence of victims / citizens accosting or trapping thieves and ordering them to stop, backed up with sufficient means (doesn't need to be American's private guns) to counter whatever threats the crooks respond with ... I'm not so sure it can be stopped.

Either that, or some high government official becomes a victim and forces law enforcement to make it a priority. Or a celebrity gets hurt and starts a concerted campaign to shame some elected politicians.

 

Late September, a young perp in a black golf 3 door diesel hatchback ran into the back of The Spaceship as I quite legally stopped at a junction.
Rather than face the music, he immediately reversed out of my Prius damaged rear end, and, overtook me with his pedal to the metal, “2 fast 2 furious” style, in a bid to get away.
You could see and hear the front tyres spinning, generating a smoke screen of thick grey smoke as he violently tore away.

As he flashed through the junction, he narrowly missed wiping out a young couple crossing the road, then went to warp. Up ahead, I witnessed him slide on to the wrong side of the road and subsequently through a roundabout also on the wrong side, narrowly smashing into oncoming vehicles.

He disappeared up a side road, still going like a demented Baboon on crack cocaine. That was the last I saw of him.
But.....I had footage of his terrifying escape and equally shocking driving. I got his registration number clearly, a shot of his face, and trade plates he had in the window. His car was uninsured, untaxed, and had no MOT certificate. Highly illegal.

I reported the incident to the police, sending them the footage on a USB; nothing was done. To add insult to injury, the case was closed, due to lack of evidence. I was told if I found out anything else regarding the case, I was to contact the police.

They didn’t even send me my USB back! .


iPad ? Pro

 

I had a guy rear end my RX7 once. I chased this nice person down and made him return to the scene of the crime, then called the CHP. When the officer arrived I told him I had to chase him down he asked how fast I had to go. I said 70 (was closer to 80). He said “good for you”. Guy said his accelerator cable stuck the the cop didn’t buy it. No license, no registration, no insurance. The CHP guy kept asking if I was hurt and I said no. I didn’t figure out unti later he was trying to get a felony hit and run instead of a misdemeanor hit and run.

 

Talking about being rear ended and then scarpering. A lady in a Citroen XM ploughed into the back of my old jalopy of a Renault back in the early 90s. I was just sitting there minding my own business on the dreadful awful Hammersmith gyratory system when BANG!

I attempted to pull over but her ladyship in the XM just drove off. I took off in hot pursuit and finally caught up with her in Shepherd's Bush. I jotted her number plate down and then let her go. She had no intention of stopping.

Of course back then the Police were interested. In so much as they were gracious enough to give me her details for my insurance anyway. Doubt they'd do that these days with all the data protection malarkey.

Turns out she was a Doctor. I can't remember the details now, but I think I was lucky enough to claim from her insurance.

I have disliked Citroen XM's ever since.

 

Amazing that we have gone from the Police providing a great service and protection like this in the early 90s......to them now washing their hands of us completely in 2018....

Welcome to dystopia.


iPhone 6s +

 

The spiralling environmental cost of our lithium battery addiction | WIRED UK

Anyone think the next target will be the battery banks like a few cases already in USA?

 

can't cut them out from the outside. Not saying they won't target the cars for the batteries, but if they want the batteries that bad they'll take the whole car and strip it elsewhere.

Also, only a few of the newest versions of the Prius use that lithium chemistry. The vast majority on the street use the nickel metal hydride type.

 

Hi!
My precious one was targeted on Saturday. 30 miles from the London area. Broad daylight. Between two security cameras....Police useless of course.
It's just bad that this has to be my first post on the chat.
I ended up replacing the whole thing. Aftermarket parts obviously.
Back box got noisy after the cat replacement which is a bit weird as it was fine before that. I guess it would have been just a matter of time anyway.
Cat from cats2u, Bosch sensor, klarius back box. It's fine now just have the feeling it never will be like before. Slightly different how it sounds. I might just have too good hearing...
Consumption should be fine as well but too soon to tell. Let's hope the best.

 

Amazingly they did not write it off and I got my GEN 1 Prius back today. I have no idea what they attached underneath but it doesn't sound the same as it did before it was mercilessly mugged two and a half wees weeks ago. I assume it's an aftermarket job. It's all shiny anyway. I did ask the manager of the accident repair shop what exactly they did replace it with, but he looked at me blankly. I never received an answer. Another employee said they get at least 5 Prius cars per week with their catalytic converters stolen. On the plus side he said none that were repaired have re-appeared.

My GEN 1 (Otherwise known as 'THE SITTING DUCK') has gone straight into storage until I can decide what I want to do with it. I shall SORN it. A heavily fortified alarmed garage where the scum of the earth no-marks can not pilfer it any longer. I shall seek guidance on having the garage electrified too.

I am at present driving my wife's car with an internal combustion engine and I am not a happy motorist.

Even with a different sound my old Prius (18 years old now) was better to drive than the brand new top of the range Polo I had for all of two days. You don't appreciate a Prius until you have to drive a car with an ICE.

Having to pay the excess to get my car back was like being mugged all over again! Victimless crime my backside.

 

I'm surprised that why didn't they write off your car but anyway you are lucky to have your car back even with aftermarket catalytic converter your Prius will always be reliable and comfortable to drive.
By the way how much excess did you pay?

 

Excess was £250.

 

Congratulations on getting “The Sitting Duck” back. That’s a future classic on your hands, indeed, it’s already known as the “Classic Prius”....the Gen 2 (mine) is known as the iconic Prius.

I can totally appreciate how paranoid and ANGRY you must be feeling right now. So much inconvenience, that disgusting feeling of being violated.....NO, it’s not just a car! It’s literally a part of you and your everyday life. You bond with it - especially with such loyal reliability that it gives to you.

It deserves to be protected of course, but not necessarily locked away behind closed garage doors and never driven.
Break “The Sitting Duck” out regularly, and drive that vehicle! (Vehicle, because Prius hybrids are much more than just a car IMHO). Even more so if you have the Tspirit version.

Protection? CatStrap it. Or install a tilt sensor to the alarm. Or both. There’s more than an even chance they will never return to your Mark 1 Prius again. The fact that they touched it at all shows they must be really desperate - looks like they’ve virtually stolen the OEM CATs from under just about every Gen 2 Prius in London.

There have been very few reports of anyone having their replacement CAT nicked, NOT that it wouldn’t happen.....you can expect copycat thefts from our home grown illiterates anytime soon, as they’re too thick to research the subject and realise that only the OEM CATs contain a Platinum Mine inside them worth quite a lot.

The replacements all have ceramic matrix cores plated with a thin layer of those precious metals.....and as a result there’s so little of the precious metals in them, they’re not worth nicking.....but you can bet on modern illiteracy to ensure sooner or later, some glorified chimp will go and vandalise a few Prii in a doomed to fail get rich quick scheme. Eventually, they’ll realise these new CATs are worthless......but then comes along the next “genius” with the same idea.
Rinse and repeat.

Stick some protection on it.....they’ll walk away. I’m unaware of any Prius owner who installed physical protection on their replacement CAT and still had it nicked again.

Having said that, one could argue that they’ll be beating up Prii owners and snatching their rides next, just because they’ve got great scrap value.....especially the NiMH HV Battery bounty payment.
Nah!
That’s much, much harder than it sounds.
Or....is it?

Okay, jokes aside, stick some protection on the CAT and you’re good to go. Keep a baseball bat behind the front door just in case. If they return, you don’t have to hit them - just look very angry and swing that bat as you charge towards them Game of Thrones style.
They’ll sh!t themselves on the spot before scarpering. I think.

It’ll be a while before you’ll feel safe again, but don’t give up on your trusty hybrid steed just because of the criminal actions of some mindless drooling human rodentus rodentus.
The fortunate reality is, they’ll more than likely take a peek at your replacement CAT, see it’s a cheap replacement, swear violently at whatever devil they’ve long ago sold their souls to, and move on.

Protect The Sitting Duck, and drive it.

If it’s not your vehicle today, they’ll soon be after your kidneys tomorrow or something else.

After all, who is going to stop them?


iPhone 6s +

 

Don’t feel bad; your excess was cheaper than my £350.....though I do have Business Insurance with a few extras I’m now pleased I had added to the premium.

It’s nice to know there are still a few Mark 1 Prii on the road, many used as daily drivers. That model deserves Classic Car status right now!

You might want to investigate the possibility of registering it as a Classic Car and insuring it accordingly. Methinks that vehicle still has a lot of life left in it.

How many miles on the clock?

p.s. The Gen 1 Prius design was good enough - so much so that Mitsubishi virtually lifted the design for one of their Evos. I was following one on my commute home and noticed the rather disturbing resemblance when viewed from behind


iPhone 6s +

 

Love that picture, and your post!

I know you are right, and I shall have to get the Gen 1 out again in the future. Everything points to the scrotes not being interested in the cheap replacements, but I know what I am like. The slightest noise outside and I'll be at the window faster than Usain Bolt. My nerves wouldn't take it. Time will ease that and I am off to warmer climes for work soon so a few months away will settle things.

Any other car and I would have sold it, but I absolutely love this Prius. It's so comfortable, and it drives like the day it came off the production line in Japan circa 2001. I have recently had the hybrid battery replaced as well. The air con is ice cold (I am very fussy with air conditioning) and the tyres are all new. Bodywork is near to flawless. The satnav is a little dated, but still gets me about. It just glides along the road without a single squeak or noise and I have to admit I see others giving it a glance - probably wondering what the hell it is!

 

96,000 miles on 'The Sitting Duck' so far. I do (or did) about 200 (effortless) miles a week in it.

I'll look into the classic car insurance. thanks for that.

 

Once again thanks for a beautiful and interesting writing just a quick question you mentioned tilt sensor, does it really work and if it does do you know if it is easy to install on GEN2 Prius. Reason for the question is that now a days I drive my mrs car and and feel hesitant when parking in supermarkets or big car parks. Don't want to loose catalytic converter.

 

Would an alarm scare them off? They've made menacing gestures when alert bystanders video them.

 

Do we have any information about how serious their threats are? What sort of weapons they may have beyond tire irons, and how likely are they to inflict injuries on victims who resist? It seems that Eastern European criminal gangs are somewhat likely with be well armed with smuggled firearms, which would affect how victims may respond.

In the US, the nature of these criminal's threats is quite relevant. Victims cannot legally hurt the criminals who abandon the crime and/or leave the scene without threatening violent retaliation. But the perps who do threaten force or injury open the door to equivalent or slightly escalated responses from victims, which is how some of them get beaten, stabbed, or shot. Legally. While police nearly always discourage any victim response, courts usually stand up for those who do, within reason. Such pressures do contribute to thieves typically being much less brazen here.

 

You should use the picture as your avatar on this forum - after all, you DO drive an immaculate Prius Mark 1 called.....

The Sitting Duck

p.s. I had to trawl through over 10,000 pictures on my iPhone to find it - I downloaded it almost 10 years ago !


iPad ? Pro