Word of warning

[Soggyrolo]

Hi all 

not sure if this belongs in the forum but thought I would share all the same .

I parked my car in one of Manchester airport groups car parks whilst I went on holiday .Upon returning a week later ,ti find my cat had been stolen .

Just a heads up if any of you guys and girls are leaving your car in one of these car parks .

regards 

 

 

[tavy]

Very sad to hear this, I thought the cats stealing era has finished...

[furtula]

Seems like unbolting your cat and putting a straight pipe, right after MOT is still worth considering.

[Cyker]

Let me guess - The airport car park have pulled the At Your Own Risk card and won't give any compensation or assistance. I really think they should bear some responsibility, otherwise why even use an airport carpark if they care so little about the security?! Makes me wonder what are you even paying for at that point!

Hope you get it sorted; I think the wait time for a new exhaust isn't as bad as it was as they've been stocking plenty due to the continued thefts. Down here, Barnet is apparently a hotspot for it for some reason.

Try and get your insurance company to pay for a catlock to be installed as part of the repair!

I've also heard of some owners fitting high-flow sports cats in older cars (Mainly non-Toyotas) as apparently the thieves aren't interested in those.

[Mojo1010]

6 hours ago, furtula said:

Seems like unbolting your cat and putting a straight pipe, right after MOT is still worth considering.

Someone I know had the cat stolen from an old lexus hybrid SUV. So mechanic recommended to put a straight pipe and on it went. Though fuel consumption increased, didn't have to worry about it be stolen again. 

Didn't have to deal with MOT as he got hit into by another car which wrote it off soon after.

Sorry to about your cat soggy, gotta have a catloc fitted if you intend on keeping the car. Or downsize to a Yaris, cat is at the manifold, these thieves don't touch it. 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Yes, airport car parks and car parks in general.

Funny how they can use CCTV technology to illegally try and speculatively invoice drivers for parking, not 'fine them" as in the. media,as a private company cannot "fine"anyone.

But cannot manage to provide footage of criminal acts committed on thier patch, while charging top dollar for that dubious honour.

 

 

[Bper]

It seems this is a very lucrative market, these cats can be stolen in minutes. The prius is a particular target due to its precious metals platinum , rhodium, and palladium .

Nothing seems sacred anymore, if you can't park your car in an airport car park with cctv where can you park it.

[Cyker]

For better or for worse it's not just Toyota hybrids now - Seems Hondas are on the chopping block now too; A colleague's neighbour had one nicked off his Civic and there was the previously mentioned CR-V!

I'm glad Toyota bolted it to the engine on the newer ones so it's physically impossible to remove without somehow cutting through the firewall, plus the plastic panels that make the floor flat for aero reasons are also in the way to inconvenience any would-be thieves that much more.

[Bper]

5 minutes ago, Cyker said:

For better or for worse it's not just Toyota hybrids now - Seems Hondas are on the chopping block now too; A colleague's neighbour had one nicked off his Civic and there was the previously mentioned CR-V!

I'm glad Toyota bolted it to the engine on the newer ones so it's physically impossible to remove without somehow cutting through the firewall, plus the plastic panels that make the floor flat for aero reasons are also in the way to inconvenience any would-be thieves that much more.

Is it possible for manufacturers  to make a narrower or smaller sized cat mounted vertically on the manifold down side so it cant be cut .

[Cyker]

Not without compromising performance and efficiency further; The cat is already a massive obstruction in the exhaust and probably costs us abut 5-6mpg (To be fair an actual cat obstructing the exhaust would drop mpgs a lot more so on balance this isn't too bad...); It's such a big bulge to give more surface area and reduce the obstruction as much as possible, but it still causes a lot of back pressure. It's even worse for Euro5+ diesels as they have that *and* the DPF, which is an even bigger obstruction!

Having it where it is is good in the sense it gets maximum heat from the engine, and they need to be hot to work properly, but it also puts the obstruction right at the exhaust outlet so the cylinders have to work against it with no buffer.

It's one thing that makes me surprised my Mk4 can get such high mpgs, as apparently it also has a particulate filter (Confusingly called a GPF and not a PPF... or just a PF!), but maybe it is less obstructive in petrols because petrols produce almost no particulates compared to diesels...?

 

[Fostel]

On 11/28/2022 at 1:41 PM, furtula said:

Seems like unbolting your cat and putting a straight pipe, right after MOT is still worth considering.

Love the idea. Where is the garage that would help? 🤩

[Bper]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:30 PM, Cyker said:

Not without compromising performance and efficiency further; The cat is already a massive obstruction in the exhaust and probably costs us abut 5-6mpg (To be fair an actual cat obstructing the exhaust would drop mpgs a lot more so on balance this isn't too bad...); It's such a big bulge to give more surface area and reduce the obstruction as much as possible, but it still causes a lot of back pressure. It's even worse for Euro5+ diesels as they have that *and* the DPF, which is an even bigger obstruction!

Having it where it is is good in the sense it gets maximum heat from the engine, and they need to be hot to work properly, but it also puts the obstruction right at the exhaust outlet so the cylinders have to work against it with no buffer.

It's one thing that makes me surprised my Mk4 can get such high mpgs, as apparently it also has a particulate filter (Confusingly called a GPF and not a PPF... or just a PF!), but maybe it is less obstructive in petrols because petrols produce almost no particulates compared to diesels...?

 

I suppose the only time this theft will stop is when EVs become the only vehicle produced. They are working on using less precious materials in cats in the future namely rhodium which is more expensive then platinum which surprised me.

Apparently the global catalytic converter market size was $14,233.0 million in 2021 and is expected to reach $28,342.9 million by 2030. That's a lot of dosh so someone is making a fortune out of this.

I think I will invest a few million in shares in this market if you want to contribute the same amount let me know and I will buy for both of us.😅

[FROSTYBALLS]

13 minutes ago, Bper said:

I suppose the only time this theft will stop is when EVs become the only vehicle produced. 

Other theft will take it's place. Already charging cables are being targeted for the metals. Police expect that EV Battery theft will become a big thing as owners of used EVs will be unable to afford the cost of new batteries when theirs need replacing - leaving a market for stolen batteries to evolve.

[TonyHSD]

Cat thefts and most car crimes  may be reduced if governments of each country change laws and start to regulate vehicles parts trade. No man should have rights to handle any car part new or used unless belonged to his own car. So those low life’s when go to trade the stolen cats they can get arrested and charged. Along with that metal traders are actually to blame, they encourage and give orders to thieves what to steal and from which cars, best paid cats are from Prius and Auris hybrids. Mercedes sprinters too. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

12 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Cat thefts and most car crimes  may be reduced if governments of each country change laws and start to regulate vehicles parts trade.

In the UK there is already legislation in place where traders are supposed to record the source of metals they receive. However, inspection is down to Local Authorities and, due to budget restrictions and other priorities, checks aren't being done. In an ideal world regulation of the parts trade would work, but we're not in an ideal world ......

[Cyker]

5 hours ago, Bper said:

I suppose the only time this theft will stop is when EVs become the only vehicle produced. They are working on using less precious materials in cats in the future namely rhodium which is more expensive then platinum which surprised me.

Yeah the price is Rhodium is insane; That's partly why the thieves don't steal diesel cats, as they only have platinum and palladium, and those are worthless by comparison! (And when you can say platinum is worthless that shows how insanely expensive rhodium is!)

The newer Toyotas already have a lot less of the precious metals in them, and the cat is part of the exhaust manifold, which makes them a lot less attractive to thieves thankfully. (The smart ones anyway... there's been at least one case I know of where the resonator got stolen off a car because some idiot copycat thief mistook it for a cat!    )

 

[Bper]

45 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Yeah the price is Rhodium is insane; That's partly why the thieves don't steal diesel cats, as they only have platinum and palladium, and those are worthless by comparison! (And when you can say platinum is worthless that shows how insanely expensive rhodium is!)

The newer Toyotas already have a lot less of the precious metals in them, and the cat is part of the exhaust manifold, which makes them a lot less attractive to thieves thankfully. (The smart ones anyway... there's been at least one case I know of where the resonator got stolen off a car because some idiot copycat thief mistook it for a cat!    )

 

Correct the me if I am wrong but does that not buy in to what I asked earlier about if cats could be narrower and close to the manifold to avoid theft. Sorry if I have misunderstood.