Catalytic converter thieves

[P7M13]

"Anybody have ideas on how to stop them"

Run straight cherry bombs.

Or make them work for it:

View attachment 851114

Reminds me of a time I drove a field in Idaho to work on a center pivot. We park and do our work, get back to the truck and it's buried up to its axles.
My co-worker is panicked, the farmer is laughing, thinking he'll have to winch me out. Me? I stuck it into 4 Lo Lock, saw I had enough grip to rock it, and bolted right outta there.
That Tundra kicked arse later that week on Chink Peak in Pokey.

 

[jbett98]

Here's a Portland company that buys catalytic converters.
Just scrolled down their webpage and found their hours of operations.
How convenient for those hard working Joe's.

Business Hours

Mon:	Open 24 hours
Tue:	Open 24 hours
Wed:	Open 24 hours
Thu:	Open 24 hours
Fri:	4:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Sat:	Closed
Sun:	Open 24 hours

DD CORE SOLUTIONS

contact Us for a quote

ddcoresolutions.com

 

[BBQ Guy]

Here's a Portland company that buys catalytic converters.
Just scrolled down their webpage and found their hours of operations.
How convenient for those hard working Joe's.

Business Hours

Mon:	Open 24 hours
Tue:	Open 24 hours
Wed:	Open 24 hours
Thu:	Open 24 hours
Fri:	4:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Sat:	Closed
Sun:	Open 24 hours

DD CORE SOLUTIONS

contact Us for a quote

ddcoresolutions.com

I bet their clientele look a bit sketchy...

 

[Siglvr]

Be a shame if an angry victim showed up in full Antifa costume (unidentifiable) some late Saturday when they are closed and after dumping 5 or so gallons of gas here and there, burnt the place to the ground. Sad that we have a DA, Mike Schmidt, who feels these kinds of jackalopes can buy stolen property without repercussions from the legal community and is acceptable to him.

 

[BrentN]

DA, Mike Schmidt

Probably getting his cut.

 

[Boboclown]

My cars are a huge pain to work on, you need to do a bit of work to get the catalytic converters out.

This deters people from stealing them. This also deters me from doing random unnecessary work on my cars.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Years ago, there was major rash of metal thefts, especially aluminum and copper! The crime rings were high tech and hard core, stealing tons of both and never getting caught! They broke into a truck leasing yard and swiped every alloy wheel and lift gate platform they could, several hundred thousand dollars worth of alloy wheels and tires! The local LEO tried to set up a sting for a long time, but never caught the perps!

 

[EHJ]

Shot him through the floor then tied him to the hitch and dragged the body to a field for disposal...

Not my play... but hey - not that long ago folks got hung by the neck within a day for stealing someone's horse.

 

[jbett98]

Metro Metals on Columbia Blvd in Portland changed their payment policy for non ferrous metals a few years ago and it made a world of difference.
They mail you a check that arrives a week after you bring in your non ferrous material. Before it was a paper cash voucher you redeemed at an atm machine they have on site, which brought the meth head tweakers lining up around building with a couple of pounds worth of stolen goods.
Now you just walk right up to the weigh scales. They also record your drivers license.
If you regulate how the converter buyers do business like Metro Metals did, then I believe you would put an end to this problem.

 

[Alexx1401]

Metro Metals on Columbia Blvd in Portland changed their payment policy for non ferrous metals a few years ago and it made a world of difference.
They mail you a check that arrives a week after you bring in your non ferrous material. Before it was a paper cash voucher you redeemed at an atm machine they have on site, which brought the meth head tweakers lining up around building with a couple of pounds worth of stolen goods.
Now you just walk right up to the weigh scales. They also record your drivers license.
If you regulate how the converter buyers do business like Metro Metals did, then I believe you would put an end to this problem.

YES!! The ONLY reason the scum steal these is they can easily sell them for cash. There is no way in hell the people buying them do not know what they are buying. It would be simple to stop this like the suggestion above. Then the legit sales would have no problem and the scum would give up.

 

[BBQ Guy]

The buyers/recyclers should be put of business. They arent prosecuting the turds stealing them so it is time to put the other side of the equation out of business.
I bet it would only take 1 maybe 2 businesses being shut down before this became a thing of the past.

 

[BrentN]

Shot him through the floor then tied him to the hitch and dragged the body to a field for disposal...

Not my play... but hey - not that long ago folks got hung by the neck within a day for stealing someone's horse.

Took it easy on him. I might have done something dumb like sawzall'd his hands off. No more stealing for you.

 

[BBQ Guy]

Took it easy on him. I might have done something dumb like sawzall'd his hands off. No more stealing for you.

I hate thieves.

Sometimes i wish we used this type of punishment as a deterrent.
It is also an excellent social tool to let the rest of us know that you are a turd and should not be trusted.

 

[BrentN]

I hate thieves.

Yes. And liars. "Go ahead and tell me you were just trying to feed your family..."

 

[jbett98]

I know a guy who had a bunch of engine parts stolen off his Toyota Rav4 and after having the car towed to have the Toyota dealer replace everything that was stolen, he went out to his car the next day to go to work and discovered that the thief had come back and helped himself to all the new factory parts.
To say that the guy was super ticked off is an understatement and if he would have found the thief under his car, he probably would have backed it right over him and claimed he didn't know he was under it at the time.

 

[Siglvr]

I know a guy who had a bunch of engine parts stolen off his Toyota Rav4 and after having the car towed to have the Toyota dealer replace everything that was stolen, he went out to his car the next day to go to work and discovered that the thief had come back and helped himself to all the new factory parts.
To say that the guy was super ticked off is an understatement and if he would have found the thief under his car, he probably would have backed it right over him and claimed he didn't know he was under it at the time.

That's when you start having sympathy with the folks who think that Saudi Arabia might be onto something with the head chopping stuff.

 

[SpudBob]

I had this happen to me some 15 years ago. When I called my Ins. company they wanted to replace it with an aftermarket unit that cost $200 at the time. It was on a Toyota 4unner which was very popular cat theft vehicle because its very easy to get to the cat on a taller vehicle. I demanded they replace it with a factory Toyota unit which at the time was $1800. They finally gave in and cut me a check for $1700, which was the $1800 minus my $100 deductable. I promptly drove over to the muffler shop and had em slap on a $200 replacement-which is STILL working fine to this day! Ching, Ching Ching!!! The Ins companies NEED to pressure the powers that be to remedy this IMO.

 

[jbett98]

There's a guy on Portland Facebook Marketplace who wants to buy your used catalytic converter with no questions asked for $200 cash.

Sounds legit to me.

 

[The Heretic]

#50

Customer Was Wondering Why When He Started His Car This Morning, It Sounded Different. He Didn't Understand It When I Told Him He Had Been Robbed

 

[The Heretic]

I had this happen to me some 15 years ago. When I called my Ins. company they wanted to replace it with an aftermarket unit that cost $200 at the time. It was on a Toyota 4unner which was very popular cat theft vehicle because its very easy to get to the cat on a taller vehicle. I demanded they replace it with a factory Toyota unit which at the time was $1800. They finally gave in and cut me a check for $1700, which was the $1800 minus my $100 deductable. I promptly drove over to the muffler shop and had em slap on a $200 replacement-which is STILL working fine to this day! Ching, Ching Ching!!! The Ins companies NEED to pressure the powers that be to remedy this IMO.

Many insurance companies will now only pay for repairs/etc. directly or require you to send them the bill.