Stolen catalytic converter in london uk

Can't people do a setup. Get 20 Prius chat members and do a sting? Set up an open spot put a car on each side with cameras. Wait for them to start working on the car to steal the cat. Then jump them with more cameras and the news media. No guns. Maybe some bats or batons.

Tired of this stuff happening. Some hooligans stole my deceased dads little fishing boat motor a few years ago. We had a gps tile in it and found it at a garage sale. Police did nothing even though we had a report with the Serial number.

Stealing from the dead. Like grave robbing.

Good people need to confront the bad. My blood boils every time I read about good people who have things damaged or stolen by thugs.

I love my Prius and I bet most of you do love yours.

Stealing the cats off cars is the worst. The people affected can't afford the replacement some of the time or the insurance goes up.

This was just a rant. In Michigan they now have a law that if you turn in any scrap you have to submit your drivers license.

Blue

 

Good idea . God knows I’ve spent countless sleepless nights plotting how to lay similar stings for these criminals and having trapped and captured them, gleefully handed them on to the grateful Police......except (insert irritating sound of a record player’s pickup needle being scratched over the top of a live record playing here);

This is the UK. Setup group action like that, to catch these thieves in a sting operation, and both the Police and the judiciary will be falling over each other to stitch YOU THE VICTIM up.

The Police will class you as a vigilante....and suddenly the full weight of the law that didn’t give a rudimentary rats behind about hundreds of Prii being targeted by organised crime will gleefully come down on you like a ton of proverbial bricks.

Suddenly, you and your group who setup the sting that entrapped the GTC Gang will be the main focus of prosecution, while the Grand Theft CAT gang get to play “unlawfully entrapped victims”.
It’s easier to prosecute the law abiding in the UK than target the genuine career criminals.

Next thing you know, you’re banged up in “The Clink” for catching criminals the law enforcement you’re annually taxed to fund, can’t be bothered to apprehend - ironically because there are allegedly no funds (even though you haven’t had a tax cut in aeons).

Yes I’d certainly like to mount an operation to catch these vaguely human vermin, these unwanted parasitic life forms who believe they have a right to plunder the law abiding and honest citizens with impunity, safe in the knowledge that law enforcement are always at least two steps of more, behind them and will never catch-up literally because their bosses (read semi-political commissars) consider such crimes as victimless.

Insurance gets involved and ultimately the economy of the few gains immensely from the misfortunes of the many victims who are metaphorically bent over a barrel and financial molested (raised insurance premiums from which the government gains via extra VAT) or ruined as a result of this unchecked crime .

Many in the UK drive a Prius to keep their fuel and maintenance costs very low......not because they have a predilection for hugging trees, wearing open toed sandals and eating muesli (not that there’s anything wrong with the latter life style.

However, it seems the thieves have been virtually green lighted to plunder Prius owners with impunity - with an unspoken guarantee that the law will willingly turn a blind eye by default - because they can’t afford to track the thieves down or catch them red handed.

Yes, t’is very depressing indeed





iPhone 6s +

 

Even in the unlikely event that the police actually arrive and arrest the thieves and then the even more unlikely event that they get taken to trial and are found guilty what sort of punishment will they get? At worst 6 months in a cell with a TV, 3 meals a day, heating , air con, lessons (maybe learn another language). Compared to the home countrys of some of these thieves that would almost be like a stay in a hotel.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

We had our cat. converter stolen today in Isleworth - 2007 Prius. Stopped for 10 minutes in a busy public car park to pop into a shop. Trying to find a rough ballpark figure of the cost to replace through a Toyota centre. Can anyone give me a rough idea please?

 

I did get the theives of my nighbors house on the external video cameras on my house. Make,model plate of car. Number of people involved. Cops got them and thanked me.

Is that concidered vigilantism in the UK?

Good people doing nothing is as bad as the bad people doing bad things.

 

Thats quite surprising as Lidl and Aldi car parks tend to be VERY busy someone must surely of seen the thieves but not bothered to intervene.

I guess its also a testament as to how quickly they can steal it.


Right now im thinking about what car im going to get next when my cheap after-market cat inevitably gets stolen by some dumb fucks.

 

Would you be disappointed if they were home grown?

 

Sounds like what happened to me today. Was in shops for 10, maybe 12 minutes. Car park was packed. Unfortunately, although it says CCTV is used when I checked they said it isn't! AA said I might have been followed, but I think it was more opportunistic - there would have been a gap at passenger side as the car that side pulled out as I reversed in. I sympathise with everyone this has happened to - we've had the car for 6 years and no problem at all until this afternoon.

 

The ones who will get caught will ultimately be home grown dullards. I personally believe most of the foreign ones have made their fortune and left the UK.

They’re probably building cheap blocks of flats with their ill gotten gains and when it’s all completed, they’ll live as landlords in their domain....till the next idea (stealing kidneys to sell on the internet) comes along.

Yes, the last paragraph above is largely tongue in cheek - well, the last bit for sure!


iPhone 6s +

 

Apparently the crime was witnessed by two workers who were outside having a break. They dismissed it as a breakdown or recovery. This seems to be a common problem.

Hope they have the whole thing on CCTV.

 

Really sorry to hear about this.
Does make me wonder if they are following Prius owners to a destination to carry out their pilfering. Either that or they are laying in wait.

I eventually had to sell my Prius as I could not stop worrying about where I left it. Even for 10 minutes as happened to you.

I've had nothing but strife with my replacement car and am now onto a second car within 3 months - but that's another story that I shall not bore you with.

You can get your lovely Prius repaired and back to it's former glory, but it's extremely difficult to stop worrying about a repeat occurrence.

 

Absolutely spot on in every sense.
These criminals have carte blanche to do exactly as they please.

God forbid anybody retaliates. Oh no. Retaliate and expect the full force of the law to come around your house at 5AM to haul you off. Most likely lock you up without bail, and also arrest every family member within a 1000 mile radius just to be sure.

I fear for the family dog, I really do!

 

Sorry to hear that your car got targeted. You’re looking at £1,000 for an OEM catalytic converter through Toyota, plus cost of fitting. You’ll also need a new lambda sensor, but I’m unsure of the cost of that. The dealer can also fit a Catloc to the exhaust as well to hopefully stop it getting stolen again, add £200. Can you go through your insurance at all?

On a different note, I’ve seen fingerprints on the side of my Prius yesterday, I believe someone has had a look underneath the car to see what is under there. As it’s not like Fort Knox under there I’m hoping that’s what our them off.

 

Meant to say it’s now like Fort Knox under there!

 

oh dear sounds like a new wave of thefts has started, this forum went quiet for awhile.

it sounds like the gangs are targeting car parks rather than following people to car parks. why waste effort and petrol driving around looking for a prius when you can wait at a popular place and people will bring their cars to you!

I can see why people seeing the thieves might dismiss it as a breakdown recovery service, before I knew about this I wouldnt of blinked an eye if I had seen this in action, especially if the thieves wear his-vis jackets.

 

People could put a sign in the window saying that if there is anyone working around the car, to call the police. Doubt it’ll scare anyone off though, but worth a go.

I’ve had permission from SWMBO to get rid of the car in a few months, just had enough of it all. The constant worry of where I’m going to park it, will the car be in one piece when I get back etc. Not even going to bother with another Hybrid, even the service from Toyota regarding the constant rattle under the car from the lock has annoyed me. Not sure what I’m going to get but aiming for a SUV, just something big enough for the kids and all their crap they bring along!

 

Exactly! Think that's what happened - I was parked pretty much opposite Halfords, so I expect passers by thought someone from there was having a quick look underneath. The AA man said the price of scrap metal has gone up massively in the last few months, so I guess that's driving the upsurge in thefts again.

 

Hi Nozzavtr, thanks for the heads-up on the costs and the Catloc. Did you have the Catloc fitted by Toyota? I think I read somewhere that they can be a bit noisy - is that what you find? Yes, we're hoping the insurance will cover us.

I don't know why Toyota don't write to/e-mail all their registered owners to offer the Catloc, they must be aware of the increase in theft.

 

At least in part, that dismissal is fear-motivated. Here's two heavy-set guys: if they are thugs, they're likely ready and willing to quell discussion. The inner talk: "Do I want to get knifed of bludgeoned, just in case they they're doing something bad. Maybe they're legitimate".

Or, the onlooker phones the police, and the by the time anything gets set in motion (and if), they're long gone.

 

Unfortunately I don’t think anyone will intervene for example someone jacked up the car you assume it’s their own and fixing it unless you have been a victim of the theft then you may do something