Clive Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 Got a call for the lady wife earlier. She said her recently acquired MX5 had a very noisy exhaust. Ane she ran the car, yes, noisy. Odd I thought, no warning. So got her to check nothing falling off etc, and she could drive it home. Got the car home and I saw the reason. Some ba5t4*d scroat has sawn the car out the exhaust. Seems they fetch about £2-300 on ebay!!! I will measure up and order a bit of stainless tube to de-cat it for now. But it can't be easy to get under an MX5 to saw it off. Thought it was big 4x4 that were prone to cat theft.. Meanwhile I am fuming. Bah. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 Surely they must have lifted it up - any signs of other damage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted November 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 Nope, no other damage visible. Which is a blessing. Been in the garage. I have not got a long enough bit of stainless pipe spare to make a decat, so just ordered some off ebay, here friday. Saturday I will be welding it up I suppose. Gill is not happy, she really likes the car and is now worried about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 I wonder who is fencing them. The Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 made it illegal to sell scrap for cash. Payment must be via a traceable route, bank account etc. I found this when I wanted to buy some scrap alloy recently. Morecambe Metals though very obliging - If I brought some scrap in as a part deal, then they will give me what I want and make a "cash adjustment"! So maybe if you buy a bit of old iron for pennies and offer ten catalyst in exchnage the deal goes the other way, and the scrotes make their profit. BBC reeported a couple of months ago that catalyst theft had "rocketed": https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49767195 John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted November 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 If you have a bunch of cats,then somebody will buy them off you and "launder" them. Just like anything that has any value, small or large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 Suppose so. A dealer scrapping cars will hav regular supply, thse days. Adding one or two to the through put of the yard may not be difficult. Why do I think like a criminal? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 That act is absolutely useless, scrapyards are still full of nicked scrap metal, Police and others will do nothing about it. At least at work we get the odd member of the local itinerant population every now and then, turning the power back on whilst they are nicking it usually does the trick.. 🙂 Cordless angle grinders have been a boon for metal thieves, perhaps tithe sale of them should be made illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyman Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 4 hours ago, clive said: Got a call for the lady wife earlier. She said her recently acquired MX5 had a very noisy exhaust. Ane she ran the car, yes, noisy. Odd I thought, no warning. So got her to check nothing falling off etc, and she could drive it home. Got the car home and I saw the reason. Some ba5t4*d scroat has sawn the car out the exhaust. Seems they fetch about £2-300 on ebay!!! I will measure up and order a bit of stainless tube to de-cat it for now. But it can't be easy to get under an MX5 to saw it off. Thought it was big 4x4 that were prone to cat theft.. Meanwhile I am fuming. Bah. More common than you might think Clive, they have been nicking cat's of anything for years. A pal of mine in Manchester had four stolen off his forecourt in one night.... Cctv as well, total waste of time, they are that brazen. You can buy a metal tube cutter that is silent to cut exhausts, so an angle grinder is'nt needed. Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted November 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 I have been informed they use "chain cutters" which as you say are silent, and about £15. I may have found a genuine used cat very local to me. I just hope it isn't a perfect fit in the space where mine was! The sawed it both ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted November 14, 2019 Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 Might be best to leave replacementnfor a few months or not bother, MOT guy may not notice, as they will know where to find what they think will be a brand new one in a couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted November 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 Making a de-cat pipe, and then will only fit another cat for the MoT I expect. I reckon many cars have the cats built into manifolds so hard to access on the street, but of course the scrote wiki will have a list of accessible cats and no doubt their values. Gill is still fuming..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted November 14, 2019 Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 14 hours ago, clive said: Thought it was big 4x4 that were prone to cat theft.. Meanwhile I am fuming. Bah. So is the car... Actually from the thread title I thought you were going to tell us you'd bought an MG... Over here they just steal the entire car - we've lost around 16 high-powered cars and 4 x 4s through keyless entry thefts in the last week alone. Straight across the frictionless border and off to sunnier climes, where no questions are asked... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted November 14, 2019 Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 Gotta love the frictionless border eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve P Posted November 16, 2019 Report Share Posted November 16, 2019 I install CCTV and was recently asked to provide downloaded footage from a shopping centre in London,it was a Lexus 4x4 hybrid.Guy pulled alongside,slid underneath and nicked the cat,done in 2 mins.£1800 to replace apparently. He was driving a Vauxhall Zafira but the plates came back as a Mini. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted November 17, 2019 Report Share Posted November 17, 2019 On 14/11/2019 at 21:09, thescrapman said: Gotta love the frictionless border eh? ...not to mention cordless angle grinders. Actually they're both pretty much the same, mooted about by many as a good idea when in reality all they do is assist criminals and make thieving much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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