I had someone try to steal the cat off my truck in the dollar general parking lot. I came out with a pack of long zip ties because I was going to work on my tractor. I saw the guys legs sticking out from under my truck, so I opened the pack, got out a tie and zip tied his ankles together. With him squirming, I called the cops, they came and arrested him, not even cutting off the zip tie. The guy that was dragged out from under my truck was one of the most ragged looking people I’ve ever seen.
Reminds of an episode of " Cops " I saw back in the day. Big lady hogtied her boyfriend with the phone cord she ripped out of the wall. He started to hit her, she called 911 and said he had hit her and she would be waiting on the police in the front yard. Sure enough, when the cops showed up, there she was, boyfriend under her foot. Hogtied tighter than a pro-rodeo calf roper could!! Ankles tied & pulled up behind his back, cord wrapped around his neck with his hands tied behind his back. One of the funniest things I've ever seen. Cops just shook their heads, looked at the bruises on her face and handcuffed the guy, cut him loose and took him to jail. That lady was awesome!! Boyfriend picked the wrong lady to put his hands!!
Not such a big worry here in Central Texas thankfully. The state requires recyclers to at least be able to verify the ownership chain of the catalytic converters. It was easy enough for me since I took them in the vehicle I pulled the old ones off of... If you stole it, gotta leave the state
Yes, you can do that, and you might even be "right". But I guarantee without even a miniscule of doubt that "right" action will cost you far more than the loss of a hundred catalytic converters. That is a fact.
@@smirkinatu5512 it depends on where you live for instance, in Texas, you are legally justified in using deadly force against someone that’s stealing property. Look up the story of Joe Horn 62, from Dallas. He called 911 and said he saw two guys climb out of his neighbors window. He told the dispatcher that he had a shotgun and that he was going to kill them. The dispatcher pleaded with him to not go outside, but he didn’t listen. He set down the phone and you can hear him confront them and you hear the shotgun blasts. He shot them both in the back and killed both of them. A grand jury cleared old Joe of any wrongdoing. Let’s re-cap. Joe saw two men climbing out of his neighbors window. He called 911, informed them of the situation, and made the statement that his intention was to kill them with his shotty. They weren’t a threat to Joe, and they weren’t even stealing his property, yet he was cleared of wrongdoing and the DA stated that it was a case of the justice system working. So don’t be so sure of yourself until you know what you’re actually talking about. Do your due diligence and educate yourself.
Absolutely YES! Recently our local graveyard was robbed of all brass/bronze fittings from gravestones. the thieves were caught due to a local Recycler Business getting suspicious about the load and customer. the police arrived while the transaction was being negotiated. rare justice. you can imagine the heartache and nuisance these crimes cause
Special place in hell for robbing from the dead. That's like spitting on everything sacred no matter your religion. Step up your hustle fuckwads... draw a line.
That happened to my wife's funeral home she worked at. The thieves didn't get paid what was agreed on by their fence so they turned him in and he turned them in happy ending thieves are stupid.
I had a dude try to take the cat converter from my van. I interrupted him in the process. He jumped into his pickup truck that his wife was driving. BUT I GOT HIS LICENSE PLATE #. I had the pleasure or seeing him sentenced in court a few months later. My insurance company paid for the repair. It's been perfect for years now.
I had two guys break into my work van when I bought groceries one day. I could see their feet under the van as walked back to it. They got back in their pickup hoping I wouldn't catch what happened but I did. I played dumb and got in my van. They tried to leave so I wouldn't see their license plate but I swung around and got it before I called the police. A lot of car broken into in my area in parking lots. I gave the cops a good lead but never heard anything after that.
@@markinwa5884 It's a free for all. Working security I was able to scare off a guy trying to open the mailboxes at an apartment complex. But mail, cars and stuff are not taken as serious crime. I'm in L.A. by the way, lots of real crime around.
This reminds me of the days when thieves were snatching tools out of toolboxes at a shop I worked at. The local PD told us to engrave our drivers license number onto our tools because pawn shops won’t take it if the number doesn’t match the persons license. We all engraved our tools, then caught the guy red handed. He was going through a guys box during our lunch break. He got a 2 1/4” wrench through the back glass of his car and we boxed him in. His trunk was full of marked tools. The cops had to mace him, then cuff him and hauled him off.
Today in cities like Seattle and the surrounding county, LEO may not be allowed to pursue something like this, and if they can, the prosecutors often won't follow through with charges. If it doesn't turn around, people like this will get more than a wrench through their back window
I know this will probably get lost in the comments however, as a mechanic in my area the amount of vehicles we’ve had come in from either friends telling people their converters are clogged anytime their car is messing up to even local shops telling people the cats are clogged and need cut off is astounding. It’s become an epidemic in my area. Within the last week alone we’ve had 3 from other shops getting second opinions at my shop and not a single one has been cat related two were multiple cylinder misfires that were cured with a basic tune up, and one was a busted heater hose on a 4.6 which cause the spark plugs to get flooded with coolant. I would advise everyone at the moment to get a second opinion unless you know and trust your mechanic.
@@teamidris Definitely more evil. They are getting charged for a new cat at a higher price than normal AND the shop is selling their old one at a higher price than normal.
@@matts.8342 agreed they’re just preying on the uninformed. It really puts a damper on a customers attitude towards independent shops and where I am it’s hard to not feel repercussions even when it isn’t at your shop. People get scared and start using chain shops, which is a whole other can of worms.
@@richardgordon1335 It's why I do all my own car repairs because 1) nobody, I mean nobody, will treat your car with the same amount of attention to detail as you will (time is money), 2) it is far cheaper even when you factor in the cost of tools (a typical $1000 repair at a shop can usually be done for as little as $100), and 3) the education is priceless for those rare times when you decide to pay a mechanic because now you have the knowledge to sniff out dishonest techs trying to scam you. And like most things in life, when you turn enough wrenches, eventually you get to the point mentally where there isn't hardly any repair/maintenance you are unable to do. But ironically at that point the fun is gone because you are no longer learning new things and now you have to muster the motivation to overcome your laziness. LOL
I actually had a mechanic shop steal mine when I took my truck in. Kept hearing rattling after I took it in thinking my exhaust was loose. When I finally checked it was an empty case. Tony's Auto Las Vegas...
Last June, Texas House Bill 4110 made buying or selling stolen catalytic converters a felony. The law also requires proof of where the metal came from when selling a catalytic converter to a recycler. This crime will still happen, but now a paper trail is required, and penalties are harsher in Texas.
Being a retired electrician and an experienced home remodeler if had some experience with selling scrap metal, my impression is that the business on both the seller and buyer ends are populated with a high percentage of shady characters. Copper used to be a hot item and Michigan started requiring photo ID that got copied to the invoice of each sale and there were limits on how much you could sell without documentation to show where the material came from. This should be a fairly easy thing to get a handle on if politicians would quit playing politics for a few days to actually do something constructive for a change.
In alberta canada, any metal recycler is now required to give you a cheque to create a paper trail and take a picture of your id so its easier to catch theives
That is required here in Michigan as well, however most scrap dealers seem to ignore the requirements. They are well aware that the converters they are buying are stolen.
@@tyree9055 kinda like meth in WV eh...sorry uncalled for. They need to pass laws that will put these bootleggers in jail, say one cat'll get you one year. But marshmallow laws in this country seem to want to perpetuate crime😤
They do that in Utah too. Once took a horse trailer full of old cable scraps into the recyclers for the boss. Even with signs on the truck, name on our shirts, id's, and three phone calls to the office, they still had an officer stop by and check us out before cutting the check. The officer asked us if anyone in the back approached us about coming back on Saturday for a better deal. Apparently the Saturday crew was making deals with people that had larger amounts of cable to put concrete chunks and old iron in for weight and splitting the extra money. There's always a crook somewhere playing the system.
My thoughts: New converters sold with cars should have the VIN already etched and when sold they have to be run thru a database that is used country wide to check for stolen converters before paid. All payment are held for a period of time. That would stop legit places who look the other way from buying stolen goods.
@@Littrell1966 It would just end up creating a bloated government office with a lot of lifelong jobs for low-ambition Democrats, and not end up achieving anything due to some combination of incompetence and corruption
You’ve done a hell of a lot more work and research than the lazy deputy who took my statement for stolen cats. He was asking me questions like “ so why would someone steal a cat?” Way to go buddy- you’ll be a detective in no time.
I have an automotive repair shop here in Parkersburg West Virginia and we had an issue for many months with catalytic converter‘s being stolen. They ultimately got the thieves, the junkyards that were buying them and paying cash. The thieves before they would take them to the junkyards to sell they were cutting more of the pipe off so that it would never match up to the car it was stolen from. All has been quiet now since they were caught. Thank you for posting. God bless America🇺🇸
I took some of my own junk metal to a recycle buyer and sat behind a pickup with the guy unloading roll after roll after roll of brand new copper tubing. Obviously stolen. Got his money and left. These middleman-buyers are complicit in this kind of theft.
A lot of contractors, expecially in commercial construction, over order on the copper pipe, tubing, and ground wire then need for a job then haul it off for recycling after completion. Not necessarily corrupt because it's SOP to add about 10% to materials orders, but.some do seem to take it the extra mile.
We sold a lot of this problem in my area by requiring a VIN number when you try to scrap catalytic converters. And then we saw a dramatic drop theft of them like 90% within the first month of requiring that.
In Florida, if you bring a heat exchanger from an AC unit into a scrapyard, the scrapyard can not pay out on the spot. By state law they are required to obtain information from the person turning in the AC part, then send the person a check in the mail. It should be that way with catalytic converters nationwide.
Also beware of auto mechanics who claim that your catalytic converter is shot and needs to be replaced. Make sure you tell them you want the old converter from your vehicle.
Yu can knock a hole in any of converters to just drive it home if it is. Bad but your not sure it's plugged up car won't run right knock a beer can sized hole. In it it will let car run with it on car let's air pass thru
Even better, tell them your car passed the emissions test just fine during last inspection, so he's a fraud. Replacing a cat is flippin expensive, so dont replace it if you dont have to.
I removed mine preemptively and cashed it in. Why give a low life idiot the money. Catalytic converters do nothing, if your vehicle is running the way it is supposed to be running. They are there in case your car is running sick and is making lots of smoke. The exhaust gas numbers were nearly the same with and without the catalytic converter. Now, I make more miles to the gallon, have better acceleration, and the fake catalytic converter I put in its place makes a nice mellow tone. If you maintain your vehicle correctly get rid of the fuel sucking, power tapping, junk and keep the money for yourself instead of letting a crackhead steal it. Mine has been gone since June 2021.
Stealing is a very shitty thing to do. That does not mean one can not come back from that though. Take for example the rapper Akon. When he was young, he made a living off of stealing cars. He stole multiple cars a week (at gun point early on), along with other petty crime. He's now a changed man. He played a huge role in providing electricity to thousands of homes in Africa. He takes care of his people and is a very humble dude. Sometimes people act a certain way because of their environment.
Considering that the US, for the last four years had a low life anti-American, pro-Russian mobster as president with his mobster family on the US payroll underminingng the mentality and morals of the US for political power to turn the US into a fascist country by his fascist mobster family and his anti-American fascist party!!
@@KrazyKrzysztof Not necessarily. There are plenty of people who do bad things simply because they had the misfortune of being born in the wrong neighborhood. My cousin, as a kid, was given a bag of dope and a gun and told to sell it. Now he makes an honest living as a truck driver. I know many more examples as well.
There was a guy in my local area who owned a towing company who got arrested for organizing a converter ring. He would steal them off vehicles he was towing and had multiple people working for him stealing them from other surrounding towns. He was thought to have profited hundreds of thousands and had like ten known dirt bags stealing them for him
I had a fake catalytic converter on my mazda " just a housing with a straight pipe through it". One day i went to get in my car and saw it laying next to my car. They had removed it and realized it was worthless and left it. Kinda annoying but im glad it wasted their time
So years ago when I lived in Tennessee they had a program to "stop" copper wire thieves. You purchased a license from the state....but after you provided your license to the scrap company they looked at it, and bought your copper no notes names numbers, no real tracking.... so now we had licensed thieves
This happened in various places here in North Texas back then, @@scotfirehamer4247. Heck, this *still* happens to this very day, but nowhere remotely as often as it used to.
Back in the day when I lived near Philadelphiaour shop was right next to a scrap metal dealer who dealt in all kinds of fancy alloys,not to mention older electronic circuit boards that contain gold, x-ray film that contain silver, all kinds of wild stuff. He had one of the first kevex machines around to identify the metals. All the time, gypsies would pull in with suburbans pulling cargo trailers all out-of-state plates. We were friendly with the guy, and if one of the gypsies had a problem with his suburban or the trailer, he'd send them our way. I'll tell you what they weren't cheapscates and they paid their bills in cash
I have had two of them replaced and never got the old ones back. I asked if there was a trade-in value and they just laughed at me. They said 'Of course not, yours are plugged!'
Money is the root of all evil. Just make the laws so there is a paper trail, and the punishment is worse than stealing them for the scrappers. Only way to slow it down. I do like the vin number on the cat, but just like the fast crush of cars with questionable titles, lots of ways around that.
@@couchrider6228 eh I'm not sure he did a lot of shops have no idea what cats are worth several I've worked at just the old cats in the recycling bin with the rest of the metal
@@mauricelackey5324 Laws are meaningless without enforcement. So. How are we going to enforce this? Also, the value will plummet as mining operations return. The high price is extra pressure to get mining and processing started again. So by the time all the hand-wringing and political BS is over... the problem will probably peter out.
I had mine stolen a while back, probably around the time this video was released. I took it in to a trusted repair shop to get it replaced and the guy said that thieves in my area mostly shipped them down to Mexico for recycling from what he knew.
A lot of them are actually being shipped to east asia, surprisingly. The massive ring they caught a while back in the Houston area were all asian, caught hundreds of thousands of dollars worth all bundled up on pallets ready to be shipped out to east asia.
So great to know there are good guys, and great mechanics like you out there! Thanks for looking out for people and all your great information on so many topics for everyone!
A group of catalytic converter thieves were busted in Harris County, Texas a few weeks ago. It was a semi-organized group of thieves who were getting their requests via social media. The stolen converters were brought to a house in a suburban area, where they were paid about $35 to $50 for the used converters. These were then shipped out of state for processing. About 20 people were busted in this mess.
$35-$50. It cost me over $2000 to replace my son's- and had to buy it in NC because there were none available in CT; nationwide back-order for his car. Without my being able to randomly find one, he would have had to wait over two months to get one and had real issues getting to school and work. All for $50!?
engraving your vin would just be ground/sanded off with an angle grinder in 5 sec before they took it in. The only solution I see is for oem cats to have vin number tags from the factory and for recyclers to be heavily fined if accepting cats with the vin tags removed.
sorta easy to fix, just demand paper for each converter, and only ONE per customer....after all legit recyclers wouldn't ever have more than one. . and it wouldn't be sawed off either, not if they want a replacement and not just quick cash. and lastly, if someone dumps 5 of them cut off on your counter call 911, don't reach for your wallet to pay the meth head anything.
This is the solution. Vin marked on each converter with a national stolen database. Make it a felony to accept converter with no vin. Recyclers would need to check against database before payment and id required from seller. This is such an easy solution. It wouldn't even be expensive (well, I'm sure anything ran by govt is needlessly expensive but this one literally doesn't have to be). The money saved by reducing theft reports and the officers' time/work would more than offset any costs for setting up the program.
I just watched a compression testing video of yours in which you said, " hey we just hit 500 subscribers! That's awesome" or something close to. Anyways been watching you for a long while but was cool to see the before and after like that ! Hahah anyways, congratulations on the channel and Thanx for the videos. Much respect
We used to suffer from car stereo theft in this city, from the mid 80s all the way to the 2010s, and I mean endemic like everyone who owned a car had their stereo stolen at some point. It wasn't until the politicians decided to go after the sellers that the problem was solved. Once the bussinesses doing that shit were forever closed, voila no more stereo theft.
The robo calls could be stopped like that as well if there was political will for it. The phone companies know exactly which companies are making millions of calls every day, but they make money coming and going on that deal.
Most stereo thefts and sales are just a crime ring . Most stereo equipment is not pawned off to a store but sold privately , usually through drug dealers . Its just my opinion , I think the main reason stereo thefts are down is simply because most modern cars have decent sounding stock stereos . After market stereos is a dying trend . Yes I was in my teens and early 20's in the 1990's so I'm well aware of how many custom stereos people used to have. Their used to be car stereo shops everywhere .
In the UK some years ago when metal theft was common the government put a ban in place on the sale of scrap for cash. The situation improved instantly however it still happens from time to time.
In America scrap theft is common and governments do nothing about it in general. People routinely get killed pulling copper from electrical substations or trying to get it out of closed mines. But America won’t do anything about it because of the anti-regulation right-wing yells “BUT MAH FREEDUM!” and kills any attempt to prosecute businesses for their criminality.
@@ethand3577 May I point out that Trump and the republicans have been in charge for the last 4 year term? And before that, McConnell blocked anything the Democrats tried to pass. So, Thanks Trump...
Several years back in South Florida we had a big problem with brass backflow preventers on the plumbing systems of a lot of businesses and they had to require the people at the scrap yards that buy them to get IDs on everybody that brought them in and that cut that down to nothing
your research is spot on. This just happened to us, you spoke clearly and calmly on a subject that just angered me to the maximum and left me bewildered as in other situations where I've been had things stolen. The best informative video I've run across.
I work for a major telecommunications company. I came to work one day to find all the tower trucks cats had been stolen. A few days later, a couple of sister garages in the area had the same thing happen to them. A few months later after all the trucks had been repaired, a second attempt happened but this time something scared the thieves off. Point here is, not only is this costly for the vehicle owner, i.e. the telecomm company, but I couldn't work without a truck. People relying on me couldn't get their internet service up on a timely manner therefore they were dead in the water costing them money and so on. There is a real ripple effect that reaches beyond just the vehicle owner.
I’m a technician at a veterinary hospital and one of our veterinarians Catalytic converter was stolen in broad daylight in a very busy shopping center. Nobody noticed
@@juniordude8341 no dude people are just oblivious and don’t bother noticing shit majority are too afraid to approach and check on people and things they’re just good at wearing masks and being sheeps thats it
As a fabricator, i've made cages around them from 1/2" bar with Stoody hard facing weld beads welded all over including the mounting tabs, and then round off the heads of the mounting bolts. The hard facing chrome carb material will instantly dull any blade. furthermore the bolts cannot be turned and is therefore only removed with oxy-acetylene torches. I charge $300 per cage at my shop.
recently i saw a video about'why do mechanics drive junky cars' you made from 2015..good video.i drive a 95 civic for 11 years now with332000 miles on it.it looks roug but works well...your videos have helped me repair that car in the past and may again in the future..im hoping for 400,000 miles..thanks for the help
@Faggot Rotten True. People is doing that over here as well, out of the need to fix old catalytic converters or just as more power/less fuel consumption mod. So much for the clean air...
@@DoitbreakitlearNmoveon It's the site that are advertising it are the one to be questioned. Only way to get that reported is to file a complaint toward FBI or whatever since police isn't always online to do this duty vs other duty they are required to do by their elected officials.
I’ve had two amounts stolen and I had a question being from the south do you think it will be a good idea? To put some motion sensor headlights so whenever they get underneath it, they get blinded and then people around them and see. And maybe scare them off I just wonder if it would be a good idea
Yes, yes, yes! Glad to here a professional say it. I too had always thought that what's contributing to the problem is the buyers. There's no possibility that they aren't aware it's stolen when it clearly looks cut off and so many being sold by a shady guy all at once.
@@horacegandy I agree, the most legit cat scrap metal sale will also be cut from the exhaust. Legit cat sale for example being when someone scraps their own vehicles.
Just had mine stolen...thank you so much for the education. I'm a 69 year old single woman working part-time and can't really afford this!! This happened in a public place at night in a well lite parking lot...what's happening in this world??? Well, "what comes around goes around" I hope someday these people have to pay dearly. Thank you again, I have a better understanding...I'm going to become an activist - calling my Congressman - got to stop those middle-men!
No, what goes around does not come around. If they get caught and arrested or beaten up that's what they deserve I guess, but there's no guarantee it will happen.
@@tailgatecarpenter26 If you watch the video you will see that it’s not the criminals on the street that are really the problem it’s the businesses buying the stolen goods that are driving all of this. Jesus!
Politicians are part of another more netharious problem! Arm yourself and prepare for much worse! I'm only 50 and can't believe how far this great nation has fallen. Stay safe and God bless 🙌 🙏...from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 🤠
I know this is an old video, but you definitely left part of the story out: This started BEFORE the pandemic, with Priuses, way back into ~2015. The Prius uses a special form-factor converter that is built into a large-diameter housing. Because of the special type, NO aftermarket parts were available, so the ONLY option was to buy a dealership part for ~$1800. Thus, the price of used converters was SUPER high, and it was the perfect fence: no serialization, huge, distributed demand, and the money gets rolled up into other bills and transactions. The going price on the used market was ~$1K and Priuses were still popular (before the HORRIBLE redesign that killed the brand), so this was a lucrative target. Afaik, that's how converter got on people's radar as a theft target. From there, CA CARB EO's made it worse, causing some mfg'ers to leave the CA-specific market. Beyond that ... well, it would be fascinating to see someone do a deep dive into the Prius Repair/Salvage scam that was running strong from 6-7 years ... but that will likely just go into the memoryhole. (insurance repair costs were 4x other cars, whole cars were "totaled" from minor fender-benders by using the mystique of "hybrid parts", and a massive dismantling & resale market, specifically for the Prius)
Dude, people were stealing catalytic converters back in the 90s. I knew a shade-tree mechanic who talked about breaking up the honeycomb inside with a broomstick so he could shake it out and sell the coated ceramic for extra cash.
A bowling Buddy of mine lost 2 converters on his newly purchased 2008 Prius over a 4 month period (April 2022 - August 2022). Insurance replaced the first one. After the 2nd one was stolen the Ins Co totaled out the vehicle.
I worked at a scrap yard, and some cars they dropped into the crusher right away, and some they let sit around, I asked them why they crushed some cars the moment they came in and some cars they let sit around. I was told that cars with titles they were not worried about, but the cars that had no title might be stolen, and they did not want them sitting around to get them into trouble. the scrap yards have no more morals than the scrappers.
I beg the differ I think it's just that particular scrap yard you work for or the area you going to find sleaze bags no matter where you go but that's not how I work There's too many people cutting corners and looking for handouts but there are a lot of us that work hard and abide by the book even in the scrap yard I wish people didn't group all of us together
i work at a scrap yard and we pay less if theres no title, and also require id. the cars usually sit a few weeks before we scrap them regardless of title. we also dont buy cats, since most are probably stolen. we do get a lot of 6am phone calls asking if we buy them lol
UK viewer here. My catalytic converter has literally just been stolen. I got outside too late (by 30 seconds) and they had gone. Absolutely gutted. Reported it to the police but the damage has been done. Anyway, thanks for the helpful information, hopefully it will prevent someone else from becoming the victim!
Excellent and informative, saving me all the research that ETCG1 obviously did, which, by the way, I felt was quite thorough. After the catalytic converter on our church van was stolen, I had the same question he searched for answers to. Particularly the precious metals inside, and the nefarious likely operations of the thieves. Besides all that, I was further impressed with this man's prowess with communication (speaking) skills. Intelligent and on point with useful info. I'll have to check out more of this channel's videos. Good job bro. Two thumbs up.
This was a problem in the UK a few years back, but largely stopped when scrap metal yards were forced to make all payments either by cheque, or bank transfer. Of course neither thieves nor dealers fencing their goods, want such actions to be traceable.
Such a simple, logical solution. Makes me wonder why it hasn't been enacted here. There have been two attempts on my friend's car. She didn't have to replace, but had to pay to repair the damage done.
@@Ay-B I recall the law changed here, after theft of copper phone lines became a huge issue. You can imagine how relatively small thefts can kill the phone network of entire towns for hours or days at a time. Think it was the economic damage that was causing that woke up the Gov to finally act..
Here in CA I know that scrap metal yards collect photo ID, pictures of your license plate, and then if it's any high value metal, they mail you a check. Cats still get stolen. A lot.
Theft of cats is rampant in CA and the police could care less. There's a huge market for the cats so obviously the whole ID requirement isn't being followed. FYI. I had the cats stolen off my 2017 Ford F350. Cost $3k to fix.
If only we could start chopping of hands and fingers from criminal thieves. They can't steal what they can't take as they have no hands or fingers left to do so.
Sovereign Knight only effective if you start right at the top, at the root cause. economists, bankers, corporations driving the free-market. start with holding them accountable and the problem is solved.
You might want to mention that higher vehicles like some SUVs and Pickups are more apt to these thefts because of their height and they don't have to be jacked up.
normally i wouldn't want to punish the public by incarcerating non violent criminals (it costs more to house them than they are worth) but if 1million hours of comunity service is not enforceable than maybe there is no other choice.
All of the Catalytic convertor theft makes it more difficult to legitimately recycle your old catalytic convertor. I had one die on my Nissan Versa, swap it out, took the old one to a metal recycler down the road. They said they can't take them because Law Enforcement is watching them like a hawk and asks all kind of questions about old convertors. It got to the point where they just gave up and stopped taking them because it was too much trouble.
I am not into cars at all, also not extremely educated about them, and their inner workings. That being said, I greatly enjoyed this video about the topic, it was very informative, relatable in the sense that I felt as if you are someone I could run into in everyday life and spark up a conversation with about this. Thank you for a great video!
under Ohio law: Dealers must retain a book or electronic file with a record in numerical order of all articles purchased or received in the course of the Dealer's daily business. Ohio Admin Code 4501:5-3-03 requires all photographs taken as part of the record include a valid date and time stamp in a mm/dd/yyyy and 00:00 standard time format, be legible and clearly display the content being photographed, be in color, be no larger than 1 MB when transmitted for daily reports, and be transmitted as a JPEG. Records must include: • The Seller's name and residence; • A photograph of the Seller taken at the time of purchase; • The Date and Time the articles were purchased or received; • The weight of the articles as determined by a licensed commercial scale; • The license plate number and state of issue of the Seller's motor vehicle; One of the following: • A copy of the Seller's personal ID card; or • The Seller's name, address, and photograph decoded and recorded from the metallic strip in the Seller's ID card by an electronic device; A description of the articles, consisting of: • For metal articles that are not Recyclable Materials, a full and accurate description of each article purchased or received by the Dealer, including any identifying letters or marks and the name and maker of the article if known; • For Recyclable Materials that are not Special Purchase Articles, the relevant category codes listed in the Materials Covered and other Definitions provision of this summary [Section 4737.04.(C)(5) of the law]; or • For Special Purchase Articles, the relevant category from the Materials Covered provision of this summary [Section 4737.04.(A)(2) of the law]. No Dealer shall purchase or receive: • Any metal articles from a Seller who refuses to show their personal ID card or to allow the Dealer to take a photograph as required; • Any articles from a person on the Do Not Buy From Individual List; • Any items from a minor or apprentice; • Any items between 9 PM and 7 AM; • Any Special Purchase Articles or Bulk Merchandise Containers from a Seller under 18 years old; • More than 1 catalytic converter per day from the same person except from a motor vehicle dealer as defined in Section 4517.01 Dealers must retain records for at least 1 year after the transaction date, except photos need only be retained for 60 days. A motor vehicle used in the theft or illegal transportation of metal shall be impounded at a municipal corporation impound lot or another lot utilized for that purpose for: • 1st offense: 30 to 60 days; • 2nd or subsequent offense: 60 to 180 days.
Boss: "Don't forget to take this burner-phone in case I need to call you. And, wear your full-face ski mask so -people can't identify you- um, I mean, because it's really cold outside!!"
@@northatlantic2718 I can see someone saying that sounds like a lot of paperwork, hey Jim, tell crackhead mike to break into my office tonight and ruff it up a little, don't forget to move the dog to the back lot gate.
huh? It's not illegal to trade raw materials between countries. It's up to your own government to crack down on crimes that happen in your own country.
@@sihotech yes that is very well known thank you for that great information. Read it again the converters are headed to a country with lax laws. Meaning no laws on breaking down converters and selling the metal back to us. Like Eric said in most places in the states you cannot sell a trunk full of catalytics legitimately with out being questioned. Where I live they ask for your ID and make a photo copy.
Put some bait cars around with GPS trackers embedded inside. Track them as far as you can up the chain. Get the EPA to fine them for tampering with emission system. Cut each one a little slack if they take down the next level in the process.
The tracking device would need to be DEEP INSIDE the converter,since they generally are NOT stealing the car,just its CAT. Same thing used to happen with car radios.
Ah, the old pry-bar tune! Remember doing that to my Audi 100 turbo early 2000's. And the Peugeot i'm currently renovating also had this done to it. You got 10-20 hp for free, and a longer lasting engine. Better fuel economy too.
I had mine stolen about 8 years ago. I worked at a gas station at night and when I turned my husband’s 1998 Toyota Tacoma it scared me because I never had heard a car making this loud noise. I called my husband and just said to try to drive it back home. I remember driving it at about 5 or so miles per hour. Yes it made me very angry knowing that my whole part time check went to pay for that stolen part to buy and to fix it. Laws should be very tough on these matters that’s why they get out from jail and go right back to the same practice.
Thank you sir for posting this information. You are correct. There is an epidemic of thefts here in the Los Angeles area. Elimination of the middle man is the most logical route to me. A paper trail instead of cash is a brilliant idea. I didn't know that selling used ones is illegal because a local muffler shop was shut down and they are were doing just that. I think they were selling people their own converters in some cases
NO! removing them from CA requirements is the ONLY permanent solution. It is a 20th century idea stuck in 21st where it is pointless, if not entirely useless. There are literally a dozen more effective methods. NO new cars shoudl EVER have them. It was a dumb idea !!
You did a deep dive on this & obviously did some really good research. You must’ve been pissed & I can’t blame you. Shocking that some shop on FB marketplace has a video explaining the most valuable ones, if I understood you correctly.
Guys, HERE is The Savior YaH The Heavenly FATHER HIMSELF was Who they Crucified for our sins and “HERE IS THE PROOF” From the Ancient Semitic Scroll: "Yad He Vav He" is what Moses wrote, when Moses asked YaH His Name (Exodus 3) Ancient Semitic Direct Translation Yad - "Behold The Hand" He - "Behold the Breath" Vav - "Behold The NAIL"
@@hoonaticbloggs5402 still potentially liable for damages/death with a good lawyer I.E. not properly securing vehicle with safety mechanisms as in jack stands or lift, potentially charging the mechanic is reckless endangerment/manslaughter. But on the contrary if the mechanic had a good lawyer could get it thrown out if the mechanic had proper signage stating no one is allowed in the garage area other than authorized personal and is properly placed and visible. I'm no lawyer just an educated guess here based on cases I've seen where thieves sue homeowners when they get hurt while breaking and entering someone's home.
The used car dealer I know runs a salvage yard too. He pulls the catalytic converters from scrap vehicles. And matches the catalytic converters to the VIN on each vehicle. (He writes VIN on each converter) Then sells the catalytic converters to buyers whom document each as they load them up. This process then goes on up the line. Tedious work, but he says it covers his butt.
I work at a car dealership, other dealers around us have been hit but not us, we have a ton of security cams and huge lights, the dealer next door hired a security guard, he drives around all our car lots every night. Those cats are expensive to replace especially on brand new vehicles, parts are hard to get.
I saw on UA-cam where some contractor was hired to pour a raised concrete island for this company's van to park over, which supposedly made it impossible for any thief to crawl underneath it to remove the cat. I think it had happened several times to this same van.
I work for the largest recycling place in USA , the problem is scrap yards , they are making it possible , need recites and serial numbers to track them
I own a Dental Laboratory. For decades our most used metal was Palladium. Catalytic converters also use Palladium and greatly move the market along with Russia who is the largest producer minning it. When I first started 25 years ago Palladium was below $200 when I went into business for myself 15 years ago it was below $500. Today it is almost $2,700. Up until recently it was never close to Gold or Platinum..now it is Far above both which are at 1700 & 1200
That's Republicans for you. Most cases of voter fraud, Republican. Most cases of illicit sex, Republicans. Most cases of political corruption, Republicans. Should I go on? The fact that Trump fans want to blame Democrats for these things is mere projection.
@@BoB-Dobbs_leaning-left who’s emptying the prison of criminals? Republicans? Who pushes for more money for planned abortionhood? Republicans? Who wants to defund the police? Republicans?
@@keithblackwelder1751 The notion that Democrats want to defund the police is stuff of rightwing fantasy. President BIDEN is INCREASING police funding. Why are Republicans so gullible?
Cats Eye and Cats Paw I believe are two theft deterrents, one is a security system for under the car, the other a restrictive cable to prevent easy theft. Also, video's on youtube have mentioned ways of beefing up some of these deterrents, making them even harder to defeat.
Organized crime units need to be implemented by setting up sting operations at sites, that purchase these converters. Once shut down and heavy penalties in place. Others will not follow. After all, how many recycle or salvage yards do this type of intake.
As a suggestion for you, going forward I think it’s probably best that you try to keep all your vehicles parked inside the shop as much as possible as opposed to keeping them parked outside in front. Obviously it will prevent incidents like this one from happening, but it also keeps the car out of the elements as well which may be a better idea in the first place depending on the car. I’m sure you’re familiar with the Car Wizard’s channel. He parks all of his cars and his customers cars inside the shop for security reasons and much more since he also works on a lot of exotic cars. Hope that helps.
You know that is a solution. The shop I go to does that. They have limited space in the shop and jack each car with floor jacks and to roll each car sideways in order to get all the cars inside when they close. In the morning they do the same thing to get the cars out.
Thanks for your intellect and bold sharing of you're own Honda Cat theft. I recently had mine stolen off my 2004 Honda Odd van. I know there's nothing much I can do, but you sure shared and pointed out a wide picture of things to contemplate "taking care of" in that "catalytic-theft " theft industry." Thanks Eric for your time and efforts. I've consulted your vids many times and came up better off. Especially your "trouble-shooting relays with VOM on Mom's 1988 Toyota Camry cooling system worked brilliant. Thanks man!
My father had his stolen from his truck a couple weeks ago. Well lit, well trafficked areas is not a deterrent, because my father had his stolen in the dead of night on a busy road. A busy road cloaks the sound and in Southern California, neighbors don't typically get involved when they see another neighbor obviously getting screwed.
@@MattInIllinois I header wrapped my personal car’s cat, then put barbed wire over that with a spacing of 5mm between the wires, then electrified that on a second battery I put in the car’s trunk behind my sub box (which spans the whole trunk and weighs almost 200lbs with the sub in it and is also bolted down to the floor in my trunk). Needless to say. I don’t think my personal cat will get stolen. I am worried about my work truck though as our work trucks have been a target several times already.
Look up Lithium Battery pollution if you want to see some scary stuff. Talk about mining for chemicals... Many countries are experiencing riots over this...
@@VeyronBD You nailed it MrBD. Many of the chemicals mined for Lithium Batteries are only found in S America and in a very narrow strip across Central Africa. Unfortunately, these are areas ripe for victimization.
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 Lithium is also found about 100 miles south of where Tesla built it's battery factory - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Peak,_Nevada
@@VeyronBD green industries? all the automotive and manufacturing are done in China so that other countries can say "we cut emissions, look how bad china is"
Dude thank you for breaking this down, and thinking about systemic issues (the purchasers the thieves go to, Facebook marketplace of course), and some solutions (required bank account for the selling, etched VIN).
Great video I know people who have had their converters stolen even in a dealership recently and it cost him over 600 bucks even working in the dealership to replace the converter so he could get through an inspection. You are right about everything and it is becoming a bigger problem and law enforcement just shows up later and says there is nothing they can do.
You want to know what's more chickenSh*t than f**ing with a man's automobile?? Your ex girlfriend not giving you back the keys you your house and sneaking over when you're not home and eating your food and doing her laundry and you figuring out what's going on and you changed your locks!!!!
@@metsys3603 sucks, and I don't want to victim blame, but someone not giving back your keys (or losing them) is already a major red flag to change your locks.
Ya leave the ride alone. So many key a car as revenge or damage a persons property. This cat theft is nothing new but shit steal another persons property is bs. Especially when most stolen for drugs or none essential items. Its all good insurance will force law enforcement to make strickter rules. The innocent may be inconvienced but im sure they will understand. They still get paid just a 30 day hold or set up a account for shops that scrap yards know are legal. Name of person that brings them in with id. Plate numbers and discription of car or truck. When i did scrap i needed to give id and they wrote down my plate number. I was a regular but still had to show id on any amount over 100 bucks. Ive had friends on farms buy scrap cars dirt cheap. The first parts removed were rads and cats. They needed id and plate numbers as well. Even though known they bought scrap cars to strip and resell parts or scrap they still needed id. Some tried riding bikes pulling a wagon but turned away because needed a license plate number to enter.
well traffic and well lit area doesn’t help either,…mine got taken around Monday afternoon (1:pm) on a very bright day also during school day 😡…unfortunately we can only put one car in the garage were my older brother’s car parked since he owns the house.,…but thanks so much for your video, very informative and helpful.
So you see a thief under you car. How tempting would it be to lower the jack? Despite the fact that you will / might / probably go to prison for doing that.
Yep, I recycled a few old car batteries a couple weeks ago, the recycling center had signs up that they will not buy catalytic converters from anyone other than an automotive shop (a business). Plus in my state you have to show ID sell anything for scrap.
They do the same in my region and tell people to call around to see which ones buy them. When they do, they'll discover that all pay a set price by size, the cat to show extensive use inside and out or if newer/low mileage needs to be damaged. A buddy of mine has a sideline of towing free unwanted vehicles to his place to part out then scrap. He had a collection of cats that could've fetched $800 at a salvage yard but only got $200 from an auto repair shop.
Three teams have been caught here in Ca. Two here in LA, one in SF. All three were caught with storehouses of hundreds. I think it's a combo of organized crime and foreign desire. Why keep them? Unless you're trying to fill a container to ship overseas. These teams will be replaced. We must protect ourselves!
yes, but no cash bail, they are out same day.. literally just read in our local paper they caught guys stealing them red handed and were released a few hours later. good grief. im going to put a wasp hive under there.
they *are* trying to fill a container to ship overseas. Only specialist megarefineries in places like India have the capability to separate rhodium from a cat, which is the key stage in making profit scrapping a cat out.
A big reason I stopped doing iphone and laptop repair is that the pricing is super competitive and I didnt have the access to parts that shops did and also that people would ask me to unlock devices. I refused to do so unless they could show an invoice/receipt/some kind of online retailer order email. When I instituted that policy, I lost all of my unlocking/password recovery business. They are ALL stolen.
I street park my 2008 Prius in DC, so I spent about $300 to buy and have a catalytic converter shield installed. Mostly what ya gotta do is not be the easiest mark.
You nailed it! I have been saying this for years...the middle man needs to be dealt with by law enforcement... Unless they are in on it as well sometimes I wonder but I hope not.... thanks for this...
You're absolutely right, the people buying them need to be held accountable. My parents' got theirs off their Element stolen in a VIP parking lot at a damn casino. It cost them $3,000 to get it replaced. Luckily the fool got caught. 10 of our company vehicles were hit too. It's not if it will happen, it's when. Buy some security devices for yours
Brought my veh. in for muffler work years ago. When I got it back, I noticed a weld (square shaped) on the converter. They said they had to clean it out. They cleaned it out alright. It wouldn't bother me so much but to pay to get screwed over like that stung. I never turned wrenches back then but have changed engines, transmissions, etc. since then as my anger turned to determination.
Thanks Eric for the video with a lot of good information. My car 2007 Honda Accord was victim of 'catalytic converter' theft, In the state of California very few meet the smog system requirement and the dealers price is over 1000 no to mention after the installation you must go to a referee to certify it as compliance with the law. As added aggravation you need to install new O2 sensor and remember Honda do not work well with aftermarket O2 sensor without check engine light turn on. Those OEM O2 sensor that are expensive too.
I had someone try to steal the cat off my truck in the dollar general parking lot. I came out with a pack of long zip ties because I was going to work on my tractor. I saw the guys legs sticking out from under my truck, so I opened the pack, got out a tie and zip tied his ankles together. With him squirming, I called the cops, they came and arrested him, not even cutting off the zip tie. The guy that was dragged out from under my truck was one of the most ragged looking people I’ve ever seen.
Savage!!
Reminds of an episode of " Cops " I saw back in the day. Big lady hogtied her boyfriend with the phone cord she ripped out of the wall. He started to hit her, she called 911 and said he had hit her and she would be waiting on the police in the front yard. Sure enough, when the cops showed up, there she was, boyfriend under her foot. Hogtied tighter than a pro-rodeo calf roper could!! Ankles tied & pulled up behind his back, cord wrapped around his neck with his hands tied behind his back. One of the funniest things I've ever seen. Cops just shook their heads, looked at the bruises on her face and handcuffed the guy, cut him loose and took him to jail. That lady was awesome!! Boyfriend picked the wrong lady to put his hands!!
Hell yeah, good shit
Very good tactics !
Probably a worthless tweaker
Just last month one guy in southern california was stealing a catalytic converter and the jack failed, causing the car to fall on him and he died
"LONE JUSTICE"
Thanks Jack!
@@carsonmuscheck4373 stealing from anotherr is wrong period.
Instant karma.
Not such a big worry here in Central Texas thankfully. The state requires recyclers to at least be able to verify the ownership chain of the catalytic converters. It was easy enough for me since I took them in the vehicle I pulled the old ones off of... If you stole it, gotta leave the state
Lead is always the proper metal exchange value when you find someone under you car with a grinder.
Facts
I prefer copper in the hollow variety but to each their own lol
Yes sir!
Yes, you can do that, and you might even be "right". But I guarantee without even a miniscule of doubt that "right" action will cost you far more than the loss of a hundred catalytic converters. That is a fact.
@@smirkinatu5512 it depends on where you live for instance, in Texas, you are legally justified in using deadly force against someone that’s stealing property. Look up the story of Joe Horn 62, from Dallas. He called 911 and said he saw two guys climb out of his neighbors window. He told the dispatcher that he had a shotgun and that he was going to kill them. The dispatcher pleaded with him to not go outside, but he didn’t listen. He set down the phone and you can hear him confront them and you hear the shotgun blasts. He shot them both in the back and killed both of them. A grand jury cleared old Joe of any wrongdoing. Let’s re-cap. Joe saw two men climbing out of his neighbors window. He called 911, informed them of the situation, and made the statement that his intention was to kill them with his shotty. They weren’t a threat to Joe, and they weren’t even stealing his property, yet he was cleared of wrongdoing and the DA stated that it was a case of the justice system working.
So don’t be so sure of yourself until you know what you’re actually talking about. Do your due diligence and educate yourself.
Absolutely YES!
Recently our local graveyard was robbed of all brass/bronze fittings from gravestones.
the thieves were caught due to a local Recycler Business getting suspicious about the load and customer.
the police arrived while the transaction was being negotiated. rare justice.
you can imagine the heartache and nuisance these crimes cause
Special place in hell for robbing from the dead. That's like spitting on everything sacred no matter your religion. Step up your hustle fuckwads... draw a line.
That happened to my wife's funeral home she worked at. The thieves didn't get paid what was agreed on by their fence so they turned him in and he turned them in happy ending thieves are stupid.
Up in canada to
I had a dude try to take the cat converter from my van. I interrupted him in the process. He jumped into his pickup truck that his wife was driving. BUT I GOT HIS LICENSE PLATE #. I had the pleasure or seeing him sentenced in court a few months later. My insurance company paid for the repair. It's been perfect for years now.
it's bad when you only have liability insurance.
You are one of the lucky ones. Law enforcement in your town must be better than most.
My local law enforcement doesn't care about license numbers and photos for US Mail theft. Used to be a crime.
I had two guys break into my work van when I bought groceries one day. I could see their feet under the van as walked back to it. They got back in their pickup hoping I wouldn't catch what happened but I did. I played dumb and got in my van. They tried to leave so I wouldn't see their license plate but I swung around and got it before I called the police. A lot of car broken into in my area in parking lots. I gave the cops a good lead but never heard anything after that.
@@markinwa5884 It's a free for all. Working security I was able to scare off a guy trying to open the mailboxes at an apartment complex. But mail, cars and stuff are not taken as serious crime. I'm in L.A. by the way, lots of real crime around.
This reminds me of the days when thieves were snatching tools out of toolboxes at a shop I worked at. The local PD told us to engrave our drivers license number onto our tools because pawn shops won’t take it if the number doesn’t match the persons license. We all engraved our tools, then caught the guy red handed. He was going through a guys box during our lunch break. He got a 2 1/4” wrench through the back glass of his car and we boxed him in. His trunk was full of marked tools. The cops had to mace him, then cuff him and hauled him off.
Here thief, you forgot the impact wrench..smash..😁
Bastards stealing for quick cash not giving a shit about the common working man feeding his family. Thieves are degenerate
Junkie tried to walk off with my tool belt off a job site once.
Cops were never called.
Junkie never returned..
You do the math..
👌 awesome
Today in cities like Seattle and the surrounding county, LEO may not be allowed to pursue something like this, and if they can, the prosecutors often won't follow through with charges. If it doesn't turn around, people like this will get more than a wrench through their back window
I know this will probably get lost in the comments however, as a mechanic in my area the amount of vehicles we’ve had come in from either friends telling people their converters are clogged anytime their car is messing up to even local shops telling people the cats are clogged and need cut off is astounding. It’s become an epidemic in my area. Within the last week alone we’ve had 3 from other shops getting second opinions at my shop and not a single one has been cat related two were multiple cylinder misfires that were cured with a basic tune up, and one was a busted heater hose on a 4.6 which cause the spark plugs to get flooded with coolant. I would advise everyone at the moment to get a second opinion unless you know and trust your mechanic.
That is sort of more evil than just nicking them :o(
@@teamidris Definitely more evil. They are getting charged for a new cat at a higher price than normal AND the shop is selling their old one at a higher price than normal.
@@matts.8342 agreed they’re just preying on the uninformed. It really puts a damper on a customers attitude towards independent shops and where I am it’s hard to not feel repercussions even when it isn’t at your shop. People get scared and start using chain shops, which is a whole other can of worms.
@@richardgordon1335 It's why I do all my own car repairs because 1) nobody, I mean nobody, will treat your car with the same amount of attention to detail as you will (time is money), 2) it is far cheaper even when you factor in the cost of tools (a typical $1000 repair at a shop can usually be done for as little as $100), and 3) the education is priceless for those rare times when you decide to pay a mechanic because now you have the knowledge to sniff out dishonest techs trying to scam you. And like most things in life, when you turn enough wrenches, eventually you get to the point mentally where there isn't hardly any repair/maintenance you are unable to do. But ironically at that point the fun is gone because you are no longer learning new things and now you have to muster the motivation to overcome your laziness. LOL
What can I say? It’s ez money!
I actually had a mechanic shop steal mine when I took my truck in. Kept hearing rattling after I took it in thinking my exhaust was loose. When I finally checked it was an empty case. Tony's Auto Las Vegas...
Last June, Texas House Bill 4110 made buying or selling stolen catalytic converters a felony. The law also requires proof of where the metal came from when selling a catalytic converter to a recycler. This crime will still happen, but now a paper trail is required, and penalties are harsher in Texas.
Mine was stolen the day before yesterday . The cops in Texas do nothing
The recyclers are the problem, they just look the other way because there's money to be made. Laws are for honest people.
From what I've seen or read every law is harsher in texas
THANK YOU TEXAS! NOW IF THE OTHER STATES CAN FOLLOW SUIT!!!!!
in Europe where we have the same "epidemic" they mostly go to Poland and before that, Ukraine too. 😑
Being a retired electrician and an experienced home remodeler if had some experience with selling scrap metal, my impression is that the business on both the seller and buyer ends are populated with a high percentage of shady characters. Copper used to be a hot item and Michigan started requiring photo ID that got copied to the invoice of each sale and there were limits on how much you could sell without documentation to show where the material came from. This should be a fairly easy thing to get a handle on if politicians would quit playing politics for a few days to actually do something constructive for a change.
I was a scrapper. You'd be surprised how much metal people throw out. Curb side shopping is profitable. Didn't have to steel it.
Good luck with that one. LOL
Hi there. Amen to the last sentence in your comment. Stay safe out there. Take care and God bless.
I had 900of them all different kinds.just got ahold of a real honest buyer. He priced each one. Yes i did by him dinner. T
Sadly all politicians are owned and controlled by the worst and most wealthy criminals on the planet.
In alberta canada, any metal recycler is now required to give you a cheque to create a paper trail and take a picture of your id so its easier to catch theives
That is required here in Michigan as well, however most scrap dealers seem to ignore the requirements. They are well aware that the converters they are buying are stolen.
WV too, but stolen stuff is still in-demand it seems.
@@tyree9055 kinda like meth in WV eh...sorry uncalled for. They need to pass laws that will put these bootleggers in jail, say one cat'll get you one year. But marshmallow laws in this country seem to want to perpetuate crime😤
@@GrizzlySteve Easier to profit off of a turntable prison system that way...
☝🤣
They do that in Utah too. Once took a horse trailer full of old cable scraps into the recyclers for the boss. Even with signs on the truck, name on our shirts, id's, and three phone calls to the office, they still had an officer stop by and check us out before cutting the check. The officer asked us if anyone in the back approached us about coming back on Saturday for a better deal. Apparently the Saturday crew was making deals with people that had larger amounts of cable to put concrete chunks and old iron in for weight and splitting the extra money. There's always a crook somewhere playing the system.
My thoughts: New converters sold with cars should have the VIN already etched and when sold they have to be run thru a database that is used country wide to check for stolen converters before paid. All payment are held for a period of time. That would stop legit places who look the other way from buying stolen goods.
Just imagine what that would cost to implement??
The people buying them don't care
So a hoax that triggered massive thefts. And these people want the best for us.
@@Littrell1966 It would just end up creating a bloated government office with a lot of lifelong jobs for low-ambition Democrats, and not end up achieving anything due to some combination of incompetence and corruption
No way that would happen. Can you imagine the factories having to make sure that all gets matched up from their bulk parts in the assembly?
You’ve done a hell of a lot more work and research than the lazy deputy who took my statement for stolen cats. He was asking me questions like “ so why would someone steal a cat?” Way to go buddy- you’ll be a detective in no time.
Geeze Barney, get the bullet out of your pocket and ask him. LOL
My whole truck was stolen and the extent of their investigation was “do you know who took it?” No lie.
Cops have always been pretty fucking worthless
To be honest, I don't know why anyone would steal a cat, but I do worry about someone stealing my dog.
My car was stolen, the cop told me these people (thieves) have to making living too, the insurance going to pay for your car so what is the problem
I have an automotive repair shop here in Parkersburg West Virginia and we had an issue for many months with catalytic converter‘s being stolen. They ultimately got the thieves, the junkyards that were buying them and paying cash. The thieves before they would take them to the junkyards to sell they were cutting more of the pipe off so that it would never match up to the car it was stolen from. All has been quiet now since they were caught. Thank you for posting. God bless America🇺🇸
My brother has a carlotta they hit him 8-10 units sev times cops here in indiana do NOT CARE😡
1
Gotta be honest, they were clever in the fact that they tried to make the cats not match up with another chop.
Yea they selling them for the kevlar inthose used cats
There's no apostrophe in the plural of convertors. Getting a G.E.D. would make you more relevant.
I took some of my own junk metal to a recycle buyer and sat behind a pickup with the guy unloading roll after roll after roll of brand new copper tubing. Obviously stolen. Got his money and left. These middleman-buyers are complicit in this kind of theft.
And you took down his plate number and reported it to the police? If you aren't part of the solution...
You'd have to prove it was stolen.
A lot of contractors, expecially in commercial construction, over order on the copper pipe, tubing, and ground wire then need for a job then haul it off for recycling after completion. Not necessarily corrupt because it's SOP to add about 10% to materials orders, but.some do seem to take it the extra mile.
That middle man buyer sounds like what the law calls a "FENCE"
Greed is a worldwide curse.
We sold a lot of this problem in my area by requiring a VIN number when you try to scrap catalytic converters. And then we saw a dramatic drop theft of them like 90% within the first month of requiring that.
In Florida, if you bring a heat exchanger from an AC unit into a scrapyard, the scrapyard can not pay out on the spot. By state law they are required to obtain information from the person turning in the AC part, then send the person a check in the mail.
It should be that way with catalytic converters nationwide.
Also beware of auto mechanics who claim that your catalytic converter is shot and needs to be replaced. Make sure you tell them you want the old converter from your vehicle.
Absolutely, by law in CA you are entitled to your old parts, but you must ask for them before work starts,
Yu can knock a hole in any of converters to just drive it home if it is. Bad but your not sure it's plugged up car won't run right knock a beer can sized hole. In it it will let car run with it on car let's air pass thru
I went through that 2 times and know I don't have any problems wonder if they were doing it on purpose or something 🤔
Even better, tell them your car passed the emissions test just fine during last inspection, so he's a fraud.
Replacing a cat is flippin expensive, so dont replace it if you dont have to.
I removed mine preemptively and cashed it in. Why give a low life idiot the money. Catalytic converters do nothing, if your vehicle is running the way it is supposed to be running. They are there in case your car is running sick and is making lots of smoke. The exhaust gas numbers were nearly the same with and without the catalytic converter. Now, I make more miles to the gallon, have better acceleration, and the fake catalytic converter I put in its place makes a nice mellow tone. If you maintain your vehicle correctly get rid of the fuel sucking, power tapping, junk and keep the money for yourself instead of letting a crackhead steal it. Mine has been gone since June 2021.
Honest people have no idea how rotten, rotten people are.
There is no low that can't be reached.
Stealing is a very shitty thing to do. That does not mean one can not come back from that though. Take for example the rapper Akon. When he was young, he made a living off of stealing cars. He stole multiple cars a week (at gun point early on), along with other petty crime. He's now a changed man. He played a huge role in providing electricity to thousands of homes in Africa. He takes care of his people and is a very humble dude. Sometimes people act a certain way because of their environment.
no kiddin', just consider how this last Presidential " election" was performed.
Considering that the US, for the last four years had a low life anti-American, pro-Russian mobster as president with his mobster family on the US payroll underminingng the mentality and morals of the US for political power to turn the US into a fascist country by his fascist mobster family and his anti-American fascist party!!
@@chrishernandez2490 that is a one in a million
@@KrazyKrzysztof Not necessarily. There are plenty of people who do bad things simply because they had the misfortune of being born in the wrong neighborhood. My cousin, as a kid, was given a bag of dope and a gun and told to sell it. Now he makes an honest living as a truck driver. I know many more examples as well.
There was a guy in my local area who owned a towing company who got arrested for organizing a converter ring. He would steal them off vehicles he was towing and had multiple people working for him stealing them from other surrounding towns. He was thought to have profited hundreds of thousands and had like ten known dirt bags stealing them for him
More like millions
Sounds about right for the people involved.
I had a fake catalytic converter on my mazda " just a housing with a straight pipe through it". One day i went to get in my car and saw it laying next to my car. They had removed it and realized it was worthless and left it. Kinda annoying but im glad it wasted their time
Hehehe what kind of mazda?
@@bluemobster0023 mazda mx6. I miss that car to this day
That's even MORE illegal than stealing the cats bro, no joke. $10,000 fine.
@@eugenes9751 He did it 10 years ago, its past statue of limitations ;)
@@eugenes9751 jokes on you it was a repair after already getting it stolen and they werent about to keep buying the thief more cattys
So years ago when I lived in Tennessee they had a program to "stop" copper wire thieves. You purchased a license from the state....but after you provided your license to the scrap company they looked at it, and bought your copper no notes names numbers, no real tracking.... so now we had licensed thieves
When I was living in Florida during the copper Theft era, thieves stole all the copper tubing from a local churches HVAC unit
This happened in various places here in North Texas back then, @@scotfirehamer4247. Heck, this *still* happens to this very day, but nowhere remotely as often as it used to.
Back in the day when I lived near Philadelphiaour shop was right next to a scrap metal dealer who dealt in all kinds of fancy alloys,not to mention older electronic circuit boards that contain gold, x-ray film that contain silver, all kinds of wild stuff. He had one of the first kevex machines around to identify the metals.
All the time, gypsies would pull in with suburbans pulling cargo trailers all out-of-state plates. We were friendly with the guy, and if one of the gypsies had a problem with his suburban or the trailer, he'd send them our way. I'll tell you what they weren't cheapscates and they paid their bills in cash
@@joecummings1260 l
Well, the state got their cut! ALL politicians are crooks! That's what I liked best about Trump - he wasn't a damn politician!!
When I got my cats replaced for high flow cats the shop tried to keep my old cats lol. I told them I would need them back and they got all salty.
I have had two of them replaced and never got the old ones back. I asked if there was a trade-in value and they just laughed at me. They said 'Of course not, yours are plugged!'
Money is the root of all evil. Just make the laws so there is a paper trail, and the punishment is worse than stealing them for the scrappers. Only way to slow it down. I do like the vin number on the cat, but just like the fast crush of cars with questionable titles, lots of ways around that.
@@MrTruckerf you got screwed
@@couchrider6228 eh I'm not sure he did a lot of shops have no idea what cats are worth several I've worked at just the old cats in the recycling bin with the rest of the metal
@@mauricelackey5324 Laws are meaningless without enforcement. So. How are we going to enforce this? Also, the value will plummet as mining operations return. The high price is extra pressure to get mining and processing started again. So by the time all the hand-wringing and political BS is over... the problem will probably peter out.
I had mine stolen a while back, probably around the time this video was released. I took it in to a trusted repair shop to get it replaced and the guy said that thieves in my area mostly shipped them down to Mexico for recycling from what he knew.
Just had ours stolen at an engine installation shop in Austin, TX.
A lot of them are actually being shipped to east asia, surprisingly. The massive ring they caught a while back in the Houston area were all asian, caught hundreds of thousands of dollars worth all bundled up on pallets ready to be shipped out to east asia.
So great to know there are good guys, and great mechanics like you out there! Thanks for looking out for people and all your great information on so many topics for everyone!
A group of catalytic converter thieves were busted in Harris County, Texas a few weeks ago. It was a semi-organized group of thieves who were getting their requests via social media. The stolen converters were brought to a house in a suburban area, where they were paid about $35 to $50 for the used converters. These were then shipped out of state for processing. About 20 people were busted in this mess.
They should catch RICO charges
@@ronjohnson5070 It may just come to that.
$35-$50. It cost me over $2000 to replace my son's- and had to buy it in NC because there were none available in CT; nationwide back-order for his car. Without my being able to randomly find one, he would have had to wait over two months to get one and had real issues getting to school and work. All for $50!?
Meanwhile Tesla owners be like _What's a catalytic converter?_
@@whitneymacdonald4396 Why would they scrap a working catalytic converter if worth more as a second hand catalytic converter.
engraving your vin would just be ground/sanded off with an angle grinder in 5 sec before they took it in.
The only solution I see is for oem cats to have vin number tags from the factory and for recyclers to be heavily fined if accepting cats with the vin tags removed.
@Andrew_koala Pearls to swine. You did notice his name right?
sorta easy to fix, just demand paper for each converter, and only ONE per customer....after all legit recyclers wouldn't ever have more than one. . and it wouldn't be sawed off either, not if they want a replacement and not just quick cash. and lastly, if someone dumps 5 of them cut off on your counter call 911, don't reach for your wallet to pay the meth head anything.
@Andrew_koala ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ Grammar Police 🚔
This is the solution. Vin marked on each converter with a national stolen database. Make it a felony to accept converter with no vin. Recyclers would need to check against database before payment and id required from seller. This is such an easy solution. It wouldn't even be expensive (well, I'm sure anything ran by govt is needlessly expensive but this one literally doesn't have to be). The money saved by reducing theft reports and the officers' time/work would more than offset any costs for setting up the program.
@@cdawson615
YES or he is a THEFT making money off stealing them.
I just watched a compression testing video of yours in which you said, " hey we just hit 500 subscribers! That's awesome" or something close to. Anyways been watching you for a long while but was cool to see the before and after like that ! Hahah anyways, congratulations on the channel and Thanx for the videos. Much respect
Thank you!
We used to suffer from car stereo theft in this city, from the mid 80s all the way to the 2010s, and I mean endemic like everyone who owned a car had their stereo stolen at some point. It wasn't until the politicians decided to go after the sellers that the problem was solved. Once the bussinesses doing that shit were forever closed, voila no more stereo theft.
The robo calls could be stopped like that as well if there was political will for it. The phone companies know exactly which companies are making millions of calls every day, but they make money coming and going on that deal.
Plus whoever invented the battery powerered elecrric tools are part of the problem because it makes the thieves jobs way more easier.
@@junecricri3782 That is so stupid it makes my head hurt.
@@junecricri3782 yes but they sell them with the intention that you will use them for building or repairs not to steal people's crap
Most stereo thefts and sales are just a crime ring . Most stereo equipment is not pawned off to a store but sold privately , usually through drug dealers .
Its just my opinion , I think the main reason stereo thefts are down is simply because most modern cars have decent sounding stock stereos . After market stereos is a dying trend .
Yes I was in my teens and early 20's in the 1990's so I'm well aware of how many custom stereos people used to have. Their used to be car stereo shops everywhere .
In the UK some years ago when metal theft was common the government put a ban in place on the sale of scrap for cash.
The situation improved instantly however it still happens from time to time.
In our area its back to how it was before.
In America scrap theft is common and governments do nothing about it in general. People routinely get killed pulling copper from electrical substations or trying to get it out of closed mines. But America won’t do anything about it because of the anti-regulation right-wing yells “BUT MAH FREEDUM!” and kills any attempt to prosecute businesses for their criminality.
WTF...now I need to get security system for my cataletic converter. Every time I think we've hit rock bottom we go a little more down.
Now as of this month one of the metals is worth more than Gold
make it tied to a vibration sensor and have that turn the truck on so after they put a hole in that fucker it gets loud
It's only going to get worst, let's all be ready, mine got stolen and now, I'm ready for the next f roach to try.
The pandemic's board with screwing all other holes so its making new ones
@@ethand3577 May I point out that Trump and the republicans have been in charge for the last 4 year term? And before that, McConnell blocked anything the Democrats tried to pass.
So, Thanks Trump...
Several years back in South Florida we had a big problem with brass backflow preventers on the plumbing systems of a lot of businesses and they had to require the people at the scrap yards that buy them to get IDs on everybody that brought them in and that cut that down to nothing
your research is spot on. This just happened to us, you spoke clearly and calmly on a subject that just angered me to the maximum and left me bewildered as in other situations where I've been had things stolen. The best informative video I've run across.
Stole my gma's and my brother-in-law
Broad daylight now I know why
carry a low comp deductible on your vehicle, $250, or even $0. Its not much more expensive and your insurance will cover the replacement cost.
Repairing the damage they make is as expensive as replacing that CC part.
I work for a major telecommunications company. I came to work one day to find all the tower trucks cats had been stolen. A few days later, a couple of sister garages in the area had the same thing happen to them. A few months later after all the trucks had been repaired, a second attempt happened but this time something scared the thieves off. Point here is, not only is this costly for the vehicle owner, i.e. the telecomm company, but I couldn't work without a truck. People relying on me couldn't get their internet service up on a timely manner therefore they were dead in the water costing them money and so on. There is a real ripple effect that reaches beyond just the vehicle owner.
I’m a technician at a veterinary hospital and one of our veterinarians Catalytic converter was stolen in broad daylight in a very busy shopping center. Nobody noticed
"Vet has cat stolen, news at eleven."
@@dudeonbike800 😂😂was going to post something similar 😂😂
maybe bystanders got paid 20 bucks to keep quiet!!
My old boss went to lunch at Pizza Hut and his was gone when he came out.
@@juniordude8341 no dude people are just oblivious and don’t bother noticing shit majority are too afraid to approach and check on people and things they’re just good at wearing masks and being sheeps thats it
As a fabricator, i've made cages around them from 1/2" bar with Stoody hard facing weld beads welded all over including the mounting tabs, and then round off the heads of the mounting bolts. The hard facing chrome carb material will instantly dull any blade. furthermore the bolts cannot be turned and is therefore only removed with oxy-acetylene torches. I charge $300 per cage at my shop.
Great, yet another expense for the car owner, what do you do for them when the need repair work, charge them another $300?🤦🏻♂️
@@stratcaptain66 labor & materials is not free. Smdh.
recently i saw a video about'why do mechanics drive junky cars' you made from 2015..good video.i drive a 95 civic for 11 years now with332000 miles on it.it looks roug but works well...your videos have helped me repair that car in the past and may again in the future..im hoping for 400,000 miles..thanks for the help
We went from Clean Air Act...to Straight Pipe daily commuter.
Buaaahahahahaha. Genius.
@Faggot Rotten True. People is doing that over here as well, out of the need to fix old catalytic converters or just as more power/less fuel consumption mod. So much for the clean air...
Hell yea full catless downpipe catless midpipe to a hks exhaust system for me
@@jmbpinto73 a cat is worth like 5hp... morons.
700hp 4.6l through 4 cats. Because i care and cats make a difference in the air quality
@Faggot Rotten Bseries righthand drive teg boosted
I've seen Facebook posts saying they pay up to $1000 for some of the most valuable cats, I'm like wtf no wonder so many scumbags are stealing em
And police does nothing to stop them from advertising
@@DoitbreakitlearNmoveon It's the site that are advertising it are the one to be questioned. Only way to get that reported is to file a complaint toward FBI or whatever since police isn't always online to do this duty vs other duty they are required to do by their elected officials.
@@chamberlyvandora9594 feds try to make Facebook liable fir these issues and they use free speech yet they censor everyone .
I've had ppl travel hours to get my cats. I offer them on fb for bidding on. Only chumps sell for flat fee which most these losers are
A grand? Wtf like seriously i am sitting here broke but 1 cat i could have coffee change for 2 months off 1 cat. Ya ok i need a saw.
I’ve had two amounts stolen and I had a question being from the south do you think it will be a good idea? To put some motion sensor headlights so whenever they get underneath it, they get blinded and then people around them and see. And maybe scare them off I just wonder if it would be a good idea
Finally a practical reason to lower your vehicle so low that you cant even get a floor jack under it.
STANCE BRO!
That's my solution. I have to drive my car onto low ramps to get anything other than a low entry jack under it.
Just get an airbag kit, best of both worlds.
Frame it out
and also a valid reason to install a test pipe! Now I have to justify a turbo and wheels to my wife.
Yes, yes, yes! Glad to here a professional say it. I too had always thought that what's contributing to the problem is the buyers. There's no possibility that they aren't aware it's stolen when it clearly looks cut off and so many being sold by a shady guy all at once.
You explain to me how you get the cat off the exhaust without cutting it?
@@horacegandy I agree, the most legit cat scrap metal sale will also be cut from the exhaust. Legit cat sale for example being when someone scraps their own vehicles.
Just got mine cut off in front of the house.on 2 cars...
@@daviddiaz7600 Ugh, hate that. Sorry to hear man!
My mechanic said the thieves cut the cat up themselves and pull the metal. Painting it is useless.
Just had mine stolen...thank you so much for the education. I'm a 69 year old single woman working part-time and can't really afford this!! This happened in a public place at night in a well lite parking lot...what's happening in this world??? Well, "what comes around goes around" I hope someday these people have to pay dearly. Thank you again, I have a better understanding...I'm going to become an activist - calling my Congressman - got to stop those middle-men!
No, what goes around does not come around. If they get caught and arrested or beaten up that's what they deserve I guess, but there's no guarantee it will happen.
@@tailgatecarpenter26 pretty sure drugs and poverty are the problem.
@@tailgatecarpenter26 If you watch the video you will see that it’s not the criminals on the street that are really the problem it’s the businesses buying the stolen goods that are driving all of this. Jesus!
Politicians are part of another more netharious problem! Arm yourself and prepare for much worse! I'm only 50 and can't believe how far this great nation has fallen. Stay safe and God bless 🙌 🙏...from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 🤠
the messed up part is they get off easily even if caught in the act. they just do it again
I know this is an old video, but you definitely left part of the story out:
This started BEFORE the pandemic, with Priuses, way back into ~2015.
The Prius uses a special form-factor converter that is built into a large-diameter housing. Because of the special type, NO aftermarket parts were available, so the ONLY option was to buy a dealership part for ~$1800.
Thus, the price of used converters was SUPER high, and it was the perfect fence: no serialization, huge, distributed demand, and the money gets rolled up into other bills and transactions.
The going price on the used market was ~$1K and Priuses were still popular (before the HORRIBLE redesign that killed the brand), so this was a lucrative target.
Afaik, that's how converter got on people's radar as a theft target. From there, CA CARB EO's made it worse, causing some mfg'ers to leave the CA-specific market.
Beyond that ... well, it would be fascinating to see someone do a deep dive into the Prius Repair/Salvage scam that was running strong from 6-7 years ... but that will likely just go into the memoryhole.
(insurance repair costs were 4x other cars, whole cars were "totaled" from minor fender-benders by using the mystique of "hybrid parts", and a massive dismantling & resale market, specifically for the Prius)
Dude, people were stealing catalytic converters back in the 90s. I knew a shade-tree mechanic who talked about breaking up the honeycomb inside with a broomstick so he could shake it out and sell the coated ceramic for extra cash.
P😅
A bowling Buddy of mine lost 2 converters on his newly purchased 2008 Prius over a 4 month period (April 2022 - August 2022). Insurance replaced the first one. After the 2nd one was stolen the Ins Co totaled out the vehicle.
It’s been happening WAY before 2015 buddy.
Just happened to my 2015 Prius
A lesson in integrity, it’s no what you do when people are watching, but what you do when no one is
I worked at a scrap yard, and some cars they dropped into the crusher right away, and some they let sit around, I asked them why they crushed some cars the moment they came in and some cars they let sit around. I was told that cars with titles they were not worried about, but the cars that had no title might be stolen, and they did not want them sitting around to get them into trouble. the scrap yards have no more morals than the scrappers.
I believe almost all scrapyards probably do that
WOW
I beg the differ
I think it's just that particular scrap yard you work for or the area you going to find sleaze bags no matter where you go but that's not how I work
There's too many people cutting corners and looking for handouts but there are a lot of us that work hard and abide by the book even in the scrap yard I wish people didn't group all of us together
So your saying if a Korean guy who goes by the name Odd Job shows up with a limousine it gets crushed right away then right?
i work at a scrap yard and we pay less if theres no title, and also require id. the cars usually sit a few weeks before we scrap them regardless of title. we also dont buy cats, since most are probably stolen. we do get a lot of 6am phone calls asking if we buy them lol
UK viewer here. My catalytic converter has literally just been stolen. I got outside too late (by 30 seconds) and they had gone. Absolutely gutted. Reported it to the police but the damage has been done. Anyway, thanks for the helpful information, hopefully it will prevent someone else from becoming the victim!
Police won’t do much. Issue a crime reference and off you go
Excellent and informative, saving me all the research that ETCG1 obviously did, which, by the way, I felt was quite thorough. After the catalytic converter on our church van was stolen, I had the same question he searched for answers to. Particularly the precious metals inside, and the nefarious likely operations of the thieves. Besides all that, I was further impressed with this man's prowess with communication (speaking) skills. Intelligent and on point with useful info. I'll have to check out more of this channel's videos. Good job bro. Two thumbs up.
lol church van that's awesome, where was your cowardly god, you need better security *
I had mine stolen about 6 years ago. I engraved the new one with "STOLEN FROM 5Z34***" (license plate #) when I replaced it.
And they can grind all that off.
I don't think the crooked smelters give a flying f**k.
Pffft theyll just grind it down.
@@tim4u2uTube It will be melted before it's grinded down. Why even bother?
This was a problem in the UK a few years back, but largely stopped when scrap metal yards were forced to make all payments either by cheque, or bank transfer.
Of course neither thieves nor dealers fencing their goods, want such actions to be traceable.
Such a simple, logical solution. Makes me wonder why it hasn't been enacted here. There have been two attempts on my friend's car. She didn't have to replace, but had to pay to repair the damage done.
@@Ay-B I recall the law changed here, after theft of copper phone lines became a huge issue. You can imagine how relatively small thefts can kill the phone network of entire towns for hours or days at a time. Think it was the economic damage that was causing that woke up the Gov to finally act..
I work next door to a car wrecking yard. The owner told me that he'd pay up to $1500 Australian for a cat converter
I know two people that had them stolen (in the UK) last year.
Yep, heard a few mentions in the last few months about cats being stolen. Precious metals on the rise? Brrrr...
Here in CA I know that scrap metal yards collect photo ID, pictures of your license plate, and then if it's any high value metal, they mail you a check. Cats still get stolen. A lot.
so CA needs ID to sell scrap metal but not to vote
Theft of cats is rampant in CA and the police could care less. There's a huge market for the cats so obviously the whole ID requirement isn't being followed. FYI. I had the cats stolen off my 2017 Ford F350. Cost $3k to fix.
@@1932cheytruck how dare you point out that obvious flaw, you must be racist.
Happened to my son recently. It's about $1200 to repair as the oxygen sensor is usually taken in the process.
If only we could start chopping of hands and fingers from criminal thieves. They can't steal what they can't take as they have no hands or fingers left to do so.
Oh shit
Used to be someone on your land, affecting your livelyhood was fair game for Mr. Smith&Wesson
It would be effective
Sovereign Knight
only effective if you start right at the top, at the root cause. economists, bankers, corporations driving the free-market. start with holding them accountable and the problem is solved.
Only trouble then the Liberals would feel sorry for them and give them free housing food stamps and put there kids through college on our dime
You might want to mention that higher vehicles like some SUVs and Pickups are more apt to these thefts because of their height and they don't have to be jacked up.
Trucks and RVs are by far the most common targets. They just hit 5 RVs in a storage yard near me.
also, i 've heard that highlanders have 2 cats. true?
A stolen BMW was stopped in San Francisco (after a chase) recently. After it crashed, it was found to have 85 catalytic reactors in the trunk.
Those guys should never get out of jail.
@Lornes Baloney Sandwich yup. 85 cats is like what. Over 10 grand worth of stolen items.
normally i wouldn't want to punish the public by incarcerating non violent criminals (it costs more to house them than they are worth) but if 1million hours of comunity service is not enforceable than maybe there is no other choice.
@@naotamf1588 I would classify running from the cops as a violent act. They could have easily killed someone.
The driver was never arrested, he was booked and released with no bail due to progressive lunacy in political policies.
All of the Catalytic convertor theft makes it more difficult to legitimately recycle your old catalytic convertor. I had one die on my Nissan Versa, swap it out, took the old one to a metal recycler down the road. They said they can't take them because Law Enforcement is watching them like a hawk and asks all kind of questions about old convertors. It got to the point where they just gave up and stopped taking them because it was too much trouble.
Look for attached pipes, duh.
Sounds to me like they thought you were undercover
I am not into cars at all, also not extremely educated about them, and their inner workings. That being said, I greatly enjoyed this video about the topic, it was very informative, relatable in the sense that I felt as if you are someone I could run into in everyday life and spark up a conversation with about this.
Thank you for a great video!
Thank you!
"Take this unregistered junkyard car and go get some converters!"
"Okay, boss. Back in 5 minutes!"
Lol
under Ohio law:
Dealers must retain a book or electronic file with a record in numerical order of all articles purchased or received in the course of the Dealer's daily business. Ohio Admin Code 4501:5-3-03 requires all photographs taken as part of the record include a valid date and time stamp in a mm/dd/yyyy and 00:00 standard time format, be legible and clearly display the content being photographed, be in color, be no larger than 1 MB when transmitted for daily reports, and be transmitted as a JPEG. Records must include:
• The Seller's name and residence;
• A photograph of the Seller taken at the time of purchase;
• The Date and Time the articles were purchased or received;
• The weight of the articles as determined by a licensed commercial scale;
• The license plate number and state of issue of the Seller's motor vehicle;
One of the following:
• A copy of the Seller's personal ID card; or
• The Seller's name, address, and photograph decoded and recorded from the metallic strip in the Seller's ID card by an electronic device;
A description of the articles, consisting of:
• For metal articles that are not Recyclable Materials, a full and accurate description of each article purchased or received by the Dealer, including any identifying letters or marks and the name and maker of the article if known;
• For Recyclable Materials that are not Special Purchase Articles, the relevant category codes listed in the Materials Covered and other Definitions provision of this summary [Section 4737.04.(C)(5) of the law]; or
• For Special Purchase Articles, the relevant category from the Materials Covered provision of this summary [Section 4737.04.(A)(2) of the law].
No Dealer shall purchase or receive:
• Any metal articles from a Seller who refuses to show their personal ID card or to allow the Dealer to take a photograph as required;
• Any articles from a person on the Do Not Buy From Individual List;
• Any items from a minor or apprentice;
• Any items between 9 PM and 7 AM;
• Any Special Purchase Articles or Bulk Merchandise Containers from a Seller under 18 years old;
• More than 1 catalytic converter per day from the same person except from a motor vehicle dealer as defined in Section 4517.01
Dealers must retain records for at least 1 year after the transaction date, except photos need only be retained for 60 days.
A motor vehicle used in the theft or illegal transportation of metal shall be impounded at a municipal corporation impound lot or another lot utilized for that purpose for:
• 1st offense: 30 to 60 days;
• 2nd or subsequent offense: 60 to 180 days.
Boss: "Don't forget to take this burner-phone in case I need to call you. And, wear your full-face ski mask so -people can't identify you- um, I mean, because it's really cold outside!!"
@@northatlantic2718 I can see someone saying that sounds like a lot of paperwork, hey Jim, tell crackhead mike to break into my office tonight and ruff it up a little, don't forget to move the dog to the back lot gate.
While out stealing the converters be care full there is a bounty on the cat thieves you might get shot......
I feel like there’s a shipping container full of these converters headed to some other country that have lax laws.
huh? It's not illegal to trade raw materials between countries. It's up to your own government to crack down on crimes that happen in your own country.
@@sihotech yes that is very well known thank you for that great information. Read it again the converters are headed to a country with lax laws. Meaning no laws on breaking down converters and selling the metal back to us. Like Eric said in most places in the states you cannot sell a trunk full of catalytics legitimately with out being questioned. Where I live they ask for your ID and make a photo copy.
Let's say it all together now... Chy-na
@@mntmantimes China or Mexico.
Put some bait cars around with GPS trackers embedded inside. Track them as far as you can up the chain. Get the EPA to fine them for tampering with emission system. Cut each one a little slack if they take down the next level in the process.
The tracking device would need to be DEEP INSIDE the converter,since they generally are NOT stealing the car,just its CAT.
Same thing used to happen with car radios.
When I was a young man, we sometimes punched out the converter then reinstalled the shell to get more power. The precious metals were then discarded.
Yup, I remember that. Better mpg to.
Broken out with a tire tool
Yeah I remember. I guess we were pretty stupid eh?
Ah, the old pry-bar tune!
Remember doing that to my Audi 100 turbo early 2000's. And the Peugeot i'm currently renovating also had this done to it. You got 10-20 hp for free, and a longer lasting engine. Better fuel economy too.
The CC is nearly useless
I had mine stolen about 8 years ago. I worked at a gas station at night and when I turned my husband’s 1998 Toyota Tacoma it scared me because I never had heard a car making this loud noise. I called my husband and just said to try to drive it back home. I remember driving it at about 5 or so miles per hour. Yes it made me very angry knowing that my whole part time check went to pay for that stolen part to buy and to fix it. Laws should be very tough on these matters that’s why they get out from jail and go right back to the same practice.
your husband dependend on you for suppemental income and let you HUG your much-younger-male-co-workers while not even talking to other women himself
Thank you sir for posting this information. You are correct. There is an epidemic of thefts here in the Los Angeles area. Elimination of the middle man is the most logical route to me. A paper trail instead of cash is a brilliant idea. I didn't know that selling used ones is illegal because a local muffler shop was shut down and they are were doing just that. I think they were selling people their own converters in some cases
NO! removing them from CA requirements is the ONLY permanent solution. It is a 20th century idea stuck in 21st where it is pointless, if not entirely useless. There are literally a dozen more effective methods. NO new cars shoudl EVER have them. It was a dumb idea !!
You did a deep dive on this & obviously did some really good research. You must’ve been pissed & I can’t blame you.
Shocking that some shop on FB marketplace has a video explaining the most valuable ones, if I understood you correctly.
Very well said! Two of my cars recently had catalytic converters stolen in the middle of the night. Your video was very informative. Thank you, sir!
Sorry to hear your converters got stolen.
Guys, HERE is The Savior
YaH The Heavenly FATHER HIMSELF was Who they Crucified for our sins and “HERE IS THE PROOF”
From the Ancient Semitic Scroll:
"Yad He Vav He" is what Moses wrote, when Moses asked YaH His Name (Exodus 3)
Ancient Semitic Direct Translation
Yad - "Behold The Hand"
He - "Behold the Breath"
Vav - "Behold The NAIL"
Someone here in the U.K. got fed up, and rigged a Honda jazz to fall on the thief. It crushed his rib cage.
In the US the thief could turnaround, sue, and most likely win a settlement. Sad but truthful.
That is actually a premeditated attempt to murder somebody, fed up or not.
@@AlDim000
Well , no. It was at a garage, and the mechanic hadn’t finished tightening the wheel nuts.
@@hoonaticbloggs5402 still potentially liable for damages/death with a good lawyer I.E. not properly securing vehicle with safety mechanisms as in jack stands or lift, potentially charging the mechanic is reckless endangerment/manslaughter. But on the contrary if the mechanic had a good lawyer could get it thrown out if the mechanic had proper signage stating no one is allowed in the garage area other than authorized personal and is properly placed and visible. I'm no lawyer just an educated guess here based on cases I've seen where thieves sue homeowners when they get hurt while breaking and entering someone's home.
@@SubWaySpiderman Yes, rigging something like that is clearly illegal in the US. People that rig a trap always lose in court.
The used car dealer I know runs a salvage yard too. He pulls the catalytic converters from scrap vehicles. And matches the catalytic converters to the VIN on each vehicle. (He writes VIN on each converter) Then sells the catalytic converters to buyers whom document each as they load them up. This process then goes on up the line. Tedious work, but he says it covers his butt.
I work at a car dealership, other dealers around us have been hit but not us, we have a ton of security cams and huge lights, the dealer next door hired a security guard, he drives around all our car lots every night. Those cats are expensive to replace especially on brand new vehicles, parts are hard to get.
Actually, the easiest target is rental places then manufactures lots, both leave keys on the dash.
Very well explained with a subject that has been growing by the hour. Thank you for taking time to enlighten many.
I saw on UA-cam where some contractor was hired to pour a raised concrete island for this company's van to park over, which supposedly made it impossible for any thief to crawl underneath it to remove the cat. I think it had happened several times to this same van.
My van lacks a security alarm, will a standard car/ theft alarm work? Thought I would ask? Thanks rusty cowl
amazing they didn't slash the tires. I'm sure it'd be an absolute PITA to get towed out of a concrete bowl
This was a fantastic video, friend.
Thank you.
I work for the largest recycling place in USA , the problem is scrap yards , they are making it possible , need recites and serial numbers to track them
I own a Dental Laboratory. For decades our most used metal was Palladium. Catalytic converters also use Palladium and greatly move the market along with Russia who is the largest producer minning it. When I first started 25 years ago Palladium was below $200 when I went into business for myself 15 years ago it was below $500. Today it is almost $2,700. Up until recently it was never close to Gold or Platinum..now it is Far above both which are at 1700 & 1200
So that’s why my tooth fillings are so expensive...
oh oh i better watch out there is some in my teeth
Somewhere in Washington DC a politician(s) is filling his pocket with this dirty money.
That's Republicans for you.
Most cases of voter fraud, Republican.
Most cases of illicit sex, Republicans.
Most cases of political corruption, Republicans.
Should I go on?
The fact that Trump fans want to blame Democrats for these things is mere projection.
@@BoB-Dobbs_leaning-left who’s emptying the prison of criminals? Republicans? Who pushes for more money for planned abortionhood? Republicans? Who wants to defund the police? Republicans?
Both wings get fed the same amount of energy.How else do you fly in one direction?
THEY DO EVERY DAY & CALL IT CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SPECIAL INTERESTS..PAY TO PLAY
@@keithblackwelder1751 The notion that Democrats want to defund the police is stuff of rightwing fantasy. President BIDEN is INCREASING police funding. Why are Republicans so gullible?
Your an absolute Kick As individual that I will follow because your engaging and honest and good! Much Love & Respect. :)
Cats Eye and Cats Paw I believe are two theft deterrents, one is a security system for under the car, the other a restrictive cable to prevent easy theft. Also, video's on youtube have mentioned ways of beefing up some of these deterrents, making them even harder to defeat.
Organized crime units need to be implemented by setting up sting operations at sites, that purchase these converters. Once shut down and heavy penalties in place. Others will not follow. After all, how many recycle or salvage yards do this type of intake.
As a suggestion for you, going forward I think it’s probably best that you try to keep all your vehicles parked inside the shop as much as possible as opposed to keeping them parked outside in front. Obviously it will prevent incidents like this one from happening, but it also keeps the car out of the elements as well which may be a better idea in the first place depending on the car. I’m sure you’re familiar with the Car Wizard’s channel. He parks all of his cars and his customers cars inside the shop for security reasons and much more since he also works on a lot of exotic cars. Hope that helps.
You know that is a solution. The shop I go to does that. They have limited space in the shop and jack each car with floor jacks and to roll each car sideways in order to get all the cars inside when they close. In the morning they do the same thing to get the cars out.
Thanks for your intellect and bold sharing of you're own Honda Cat theft. I recently had mine stolen off my 2004 Honda Odd van.
I know there's nothing much I can do, but you sure shared and pointed out a wide picture of things to contemplate "taking care of" in that "catalytic-theft " theft industry." Thanks Eric for your time and efforts. I've consulted your vids many times and came up better off. Especially your "trouble-shooting relays with VOM on Mom's 1988 Toyota Camry cooling system worked brilliant. Thanks man!
My father had his stolen from his truck a couple weeks ago. Well lit, well trafficked areas is not a deterrent, because my father had his stolen in the dead of night on a busy road. A busy road cloaks the sound and in Southern California, neighbors don't typically get involved when they see another neighbor obviously getting screwed.
My shop has lost 5 cats this year. Getting sick of these scumbags.
Meow.....
Is it a pet shop?
@@MattInIllinois I header wrapped my personal car’s cat, then put barbed wire over that with a spacing of 5mm between the wires, then electrified that on a second battery I put in the car’s trunk behind my sub box (which spans the whole trunk and weighs almost 200lbs with the sub in it and is also bolted down to the floor in my trunk). Needless to say. I don’t think my personal cat will get stolen. I am worried about my work truck though as our work trucks have been a target several times already.
Maybe wire in an electric shock or better yet a loud blast like noise.
Amen Eric. Thank you for pointing this out. There's the thieves and then there's the folks buying them knowing they're stolen.
Facebook Marketplace. Thieves and criminals paradise.
I wonder if mining for these rare metals is more harmful for the environment than putting them on the exhaust...
Look up Lithium Battery pollution if you want to see some scary stuff. Talk about mining for chemicals...
Many countries are experiencing riots over this...
As per usual with most "green" industries, the mess is still there, you just don't see it because its in some 3rd world country
@@VeyronBD You nailed it MrBD. Many of the chemicals mined for Lithium Batteries are only found in S America and in a very narrow strip across Central Africa. Unfortunately, these are areas ripe for victimization.
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 Lithium is also found about 100 miles south of where Tesla built it's battery factory - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Peak,_Nevada
@@VeyronBD green industries? all the automotive and manufacturing are done in China so that other countries can say "we cut emissions, look how bad china is"
Dude thank you for breaking this down, and thinking about systemic issues (the purchasers the thieves go to, Facebook marketplace of course), and some solutions (required bank account for the selling, etched VIN).
Great video I know people who have had their converters stolen even in a dealership recently and it cost him over 600 bucks even working in the dealership to replace the converter so he could get through an inspection. You are right about everything and it is becoming a bigger problem and law enforcement just shows up later and says there is nothing they can do.
Saw a video where someone had a car fall and crush them while trying to cut one off. I almost cried, almost.
I saw that and laughed lol
I would have cried laughing.
I didn't , l said Bad Luck Chum.😒
Karma
"What's more chickensh*t than f***ing with a man's automobile? I mean, don't f*** with another man's vehicle." -- Vincent
You want to know what's more chickenSh*t than f**ing with a man's automobile?? Your ex girlfriend not giving you back the keys you your house and sneaking over when you're not home and eating your food and doing her laundry and you figuring out what's going on and you changed your locks!!!!
@@metsys3603 sucks, and I don't want to victim blame, but someone not giving back your keys (or losing them) is already a major red flag to change your locks.
SAME THING HAPPENED TO MY EK MAN SMH THESE ROACHES F****D MY BEAUTIFUL DAILY UP🤬
Ya leave the ride alone. So many key a car as revenge or damage a persons property. This cat theft is nothing new but shit steal another persons property is bs. Especially when most stolen for drugs or none essential items. Its all good insurance will force law enforcement to make strickter rules. The innocent may be inconvienced but im sure they will understand. They still get paid just a 30 day hold or set up a account for shops that scrap yards know are legal. Name of person that brings them in with id. Plate numbers and discription of car or truck. When i did scrap i needed to give id and they wrote down my plate number. I was a regular but still had to show id on any amount over 100 bucks. Ive had friends on farms buy scrap cars dirt cheap. The first parts removed were rads and cats. They needed id and plate numbers as well. Even though known they bought scrap cars to strip and resell parts or scrap they still needed id. Some tried riding bikes pulling a wagon but turned away because needed a license plate number to enter.
@@metsys3603 Ha-ha
well traffic and well lit area doesn’t help either,…mine got taken around Monday afternoon (1:pm) on a very bright day also during school day 😡…unfortunately we can only put one car in the garage were my older brother’s car parked since he owns the house.,…but thanks so much for your video, very informative and helpful.
I laughed my ass off when that Prius took it upon itself and crushed a converter thief to death.
“Imma show you how hard Prius’s really are 😤😤😤😤😤😤”
Where? Did I miss that somewhere in the video?
So you see a thief under you car. How tempting would it be to lower the jack? Despite the fact that you will / might / probably go to prison for doing that.
The only time I've seen a good return for purchasing a Pius.
They should have a jail for these guys, along with copper thieves.
Yep, I recycled a few old car batteries a couple weeks ago, the recycling center had signs up that they will not buy catalytic converters from anyone other than an automotive shop (a business). Plus in my state you have to show ID sell anything for scrap.
They do the same in my region and tell people to call around to see which ones buy them. When they do, they'll discover that all pay a set price by size, the cat to show extensive use inside and out or if newer/low mileage needs to be damaged. A buddy of mine has a sideline of towing free unwanted vehicles to his place to part out then scrap. He had a collection of cats that could've fetched $800 at a salvage yard but only got $200 from an auto repair shop.
Three teams have been caught here in Ca. Two here in LA, one in SF. All three were caught with storehouses of hundreds. I think it's a combo of organized crime and foreign desire. Why keep them? Unless you're trying to fill a container to ship overseas. These teams will be replaced. We must protect ourselves!
yes, but no cash bail, they are out same day.. literally just read in our local paper they caught guys stealing them red handed and were released a few hours later. good grief. im going to put a wasp hive under there.
My neighbors been hit hard
they *are* trying to fill a container to ship overseas. Only specialist megarefineries in places like India have the capability to separate rhodium from a cat, which is the key stage in making profit scrapping a cat out.
A big reason I stopped doing iphone and laptop repair is that the pricing is super competitive and I didnt have the access to parts that shops did and also that people would ask me to unlock devices. I refused to do so unless they could show an invoice/receipt/some kind of online retailer order email. When I instituted that policy, I lost all of my unlocking/password recovery business. They are ALL stolen.
Catalytic converter security system: Motion sensor and a Smith and Wesson.
big mean dog resting up under the car!
I street park my 2008 Prius in DC, so I spent about $300 to buy and have a catalytic converter shield installed. Mostly what ya gotta do is not be the easiest mark.
In the new demon world order you are the one who goes to jail
@@jthunders In the new demon world thieves will be dealt with discretely.
Wow you really know how to get a bang for y,our buck!
You nailed it! I have been saying this for years...the middle man needs to be dealt with by law enforcement... Unless they are in on it as well sometimes I wonder but I hope not.... thanks for this...
Thank you for a great video. My husband and I are definitely going to protect both of our catalytic converters.
how, exactly please tell me cos mine needs security too
Good to see Eric the Car Guy again. His vids were always on the top see of my lists.
You're absolutely right, the people buying them need to be held accountable. My parents' got theirs off their Element stolen in a VIP parking lot at a damn casino. It cost them $3,000 to get it replaced. Luckily the fool got caught. 10 of our company vehicles were hit too. It's not if it will happen, it's when. Buy some security devices for yours
Brought my veh. in for muffler work years ago. When I got it back, I noticed a weld (square shaped) on the converter. They said they had to clean it out. They cleaned it out alright. It wouldn't bother me so much but to pay to get screwed over like that stung. I never turned wrenches back then but have changed engines, transmissions, etc. since then as my anger turned to determination.
i never turned wrenches back???????????? HUH!?!
Thanks Eric for the video with a lot of good information. My car 2007 Honda Accord was victim of 'catalytic converter' theft, In the state of California very few meet the smog system requirement and the dealers price is over 1000 no to mention after the installation you must go to a referee to certify it as compliance with the law. As added aggravation you need to install new O2 sensor and remember Honda do not work well with aftermarket O2 sensor without check engine light turn on. Those OEM O2 sensor that are expensive too.
I have the same car and the same theft occur as well
Great video. I liked and subscrubed. Hello from Lubbock Texas.