Submitted by mellymellcaramel t3_113yors in WorcesterMA
Catalytic converter theft is on the rise here in Worcester. After some googling, I found that one of the recommended prevention tips is to get your catalytic converter spray painted with a high heat spray paint. Is anyone aware of a shop that will do this?
It doesn’t fully. Just a deterrent. Figured its better than nothing.
The interwebs state that a spray painted catalytic converter will be harder to sell because the spray paint indicates that stolen.
I’m confused on the logic of spray paint = stolen. In what circumstances are catalytic converters usually turned in to be recycled? When a car is totaled? Why can’t those have painted Cats?
I'm willing to bet that the assholes at the scrap yard paying out cash for piles of cats wouldn't give a shit if they're painted. They already know they're stolen. They don't care.
The idea is that if the yard can't unload them fast enough and the police do a surprise inspection, the orange paint (and etching the VIN on the cat is another common strategy) on some cats on the shelves makes it look suspicious, and if they can't explain where it came from, it can get legally rough for the yard. So, ostensibly, some of the dirty scrap yards will refuse to buy cats that have been marked like this. Edit: Or, at least, without more detail and proof about the origin of it.
Idk man google it.
Roger that
That's cute but thieves aren't selling stolen cats at Farmers Markets & Swap Meets on the weekends. They're selling 'em to shady-ass scrap yards and custom auto shops who are more than happy to take a stolen cat off the books and split the profits.
They don't give a fuck if it's got "I AM STOLEN" with your address, phone number, and self-portrait etched into the side.
An additional thought is that painting it black with stove paint may make it more difficult to find, especially in the dark when they are in a hurry.
These thieves are prepared to remove your cat quickly. They target the same few models of cars and know exactly where it is / how to access it. They will not struggle to find it because it’s painted.
What models are targeted?
All sorts, but often trucks and hybrids.
My point was that each thief will specialize in a car for a little while. You’ll see a string of thefts all targeting the same model over the course of weeks or months.
Hmm. Pay me $750 and I’ll gladly do it in my driveway I’m not sure what a CC looks like so I’ll just spray entire underbelly of your car. Three or four cans of paint from Walmart should be enough.
Sounds excellent. I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you the $750 and you can even keep the car.
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It’s on the rise in general, not just Worcester.
On the rise in the south shore too. Someone attempted to steal mine (failed at it and damaged it beyond repair instead) a couple weeks back in weymouth. Guy at the shop said catalytic converter thefts are up 350%. Also the cop who took our statement went in the back after and we heard him say “we got another one!”
Cameras are 100% the way to go
Dealers will weld a plate over the CC making it essentially impossible to cut off with sawzall. Costs a couple hundred bucks.
Is this in an article? Which neighborhoods?
Yes, it’s tripled since 2020. There’s been a lot of personal reports lately on the ring app and the next door app.
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Scrap yards are gonna buy it regardless of paint
It's on the rise across the US. Car theft and break ins were the main reason my husband and I wouldn't even look at houses without two car garages years back. We keep both vehicles in the garage.
I know not everyone has a garage, but it is odd to me that more people in New England use their garages for storing crap vs holding their cars than back in the Midwest. Maybe it's due to warmer temperatures out here in the winter and/or cooler temperatures in the summer, but it's odd to me.
This is a very difficult problem to solve. It takes the thieves literally a couple minutes to cut off the cat using a portable saw, so a lot of deterrent methods like cameras, or parking where people might walk or drive by and see them, aren't worth much. The goal is really just to make your car the least attractive target of all the ones near it and hope that they haven't hit your car yet by the time they decide to leave.
When I looked into it, here were the methods I saw. Painting the cat orange and etching your VIN into it discourages dirty scrap yards from buying it, so some thieves will pass yours over in favor of another. There are products like a CatStrap that fasten a very long strip to the length of the exhaust pipe, which contains a loose metal wire so if they hit it with a circular or reciprocating saw the wire moves and they can't get a grip to cut it. Similarly, some people fashion a "cage" of loose wire around the cat--however, you need to make sure the cage is long/integrated enough that it isn't as simple as just cutting the exhaust pipe further down and taking the whole assembly to extract the cat later. Fastening a plate to the car to cover the cat as someone mentioned might work, but you lose the benefit of the loose wire interfering with the movement of the saw so I'm not so optimistic about that. However, every discussion I've seen from informed people and cops about these methods has emphasized that none of these will stop a determined thief with the right tools and experience.
Unfortunately, the best method is more about what you drive and where you drive it. If you apply some of these, also park in a busy area and around a bunch of cars so yours probably doesn't get hit first due to the deterrents. Hybrid cars are targeted either because their cats have more of the valuable materials or because they often have multiple cats. SUVs and other vehicles raised above the ground are targeted above lower cars because they're easier to get under. When mine got stolen, I was super lucky: My mechanic pointed out that my car had just turned 15 years old and no longer has to pass emissions, so they simply welded a pipe in place of the old cat. Can't steal it if it ain't there!
I just read bolting it down helps. They are looking for specific cars.
Horknut1 t1_j8t26ap wrote
How does this stop theft?