arthur49 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Read a report in yesterdays Herald that Perthshire Caravans had suffered a loss of £6000 of catalytic converters. They have lots of vans in their yard behind a high security fence but the culprits were clearly seen (cctv?) as the report says "Three men ...........wore hooded tops......scarves over their faces........stole six converters just after 1am on Wednesday. They made off in a white Ford Transit Connect van" Of course Perthshire suffered a huge fire recently and its not long since they opened their new building. Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 A 2008 thread about this type of crime: http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=12985&posts=5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackfingers Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Just to add, it seems the Cat thieves are also working in N. London, just discovered today a large lump of our Ducato X250 exhaust is missing... Hate to think what it's going to cost... Ian L. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryW Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Had some work done last week and the guy locked my van in the workshop overnight because it still had the cat on. He said none of his 30-40 vans on display had cats fitted after they had been targeted twice in the past despite alarms. Need to keep this in mind when parking up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 There is a piece in January 2011's MMM (Interchange, page 174) about theft of catalytic converters. A couple of preventative ploys are suggested, including using security 'shear nuts'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackfingers Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Thanks, Derek, will look at that. We must do something to try to prevent a repetition. One would think our van would be fairly safe on the drive next to house where it has been for 3 years, but not so it seems. Ian L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Derek Uzzell - 2011-02-06 6:40 PM There is a piece in January 2011's MMM (Interchange, page 174) about theft of catalytic converters. A couple of preventative ploys are suggested, including using security 'shear nuts'. Unfortunately using 'shear nuts' is not an effective measure as it appears most 'cats' are simply cut off the vehicles! Regards Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Pat - 2011-02-06 8:46 PM Unfortunately using 'shear nuts' is not an effective measure as it appears most 'cats' are simply cut off the vehicles! Regards Pat The MMM article said about using shear-nuts "Now the only way to remove the cat is to grind off the bolts. This is noisy and time-consuming and most thieves will move on." If thieves anticipate being able to unbolt a cat and then discover it's held on with shear-nuts, what are the chances they will have suitable tools with them to remove the cat by cutting/grinding methods? Of course, if thieves anticipate having to use cutting/grinding techniques to remove a cat in the first place, shear bolts won't stop them. It's a wager. (After all, you could fit every dead-lock known to Man on your motorhome's doors and a thief prepared to use a metal-cutting chainsaw could be inside in seconds.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Perthshire Caravans is well out in the sticks with the nearest residents being a good distance away and with the adjacent restaurant closed so at 1 am, the thieves would not be unduly concerned about noise. Had a look to see what a Cat would cost to replace in my Fiat and glad to see its no where near the £1000 each suggested in the report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Hello, I have just been looking at the prices for cats on the various X250's and can confirm that they are as follows; 2.2 £925-945 +VAT 2.3 £725-800 +VAT 3.0 £581-720 +VAT In our experience the 2.3 and 3.0 are very unlikely to be removed because of their location high up behind the engine and above the steering rack. I have not looked at a 2.2 so cannot say. One interesting thing I did find though was that for Euro5 (some 3.0 minibusses and 4T vans have already been built in Euro5 spec) there is the necessary particulate trap fitted and I would say that they are very vulnerable and are £1200 +VAT each. The parts disc also showed that there are two versions of the 3.0 at Euro5 one is called 145Cv and the other 155Cv. It seems that my predictions were correct early last year, but there is no information still regarding what will be offered in Euro5 when production starts in just over 1 month! I expect that Fiat will drop the 2.2, add a lower powered 2.3 and offer two 3.0 versions. This broadly mirrors the Iveco Daily which uses the same engines. Their top 3.0 engine exceeds Euro5 with what is called EEV and has twin turbo's and 140 or 170hp! What Peugeot/Citroen will do is a complete mystery because the 2.2 engine cannot acheive Euro5 without ad-blu being injected into the exhaust which entails a second fuel tank. Mercedes and VW are already doing this; Ford will follow soon. It seems that only Iveco/Fiat can make an engine that is clean enough without additives. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Most are being cut off by fire safety shears that are stolen from fire stations, Some VW have the converters up under the manifold and over the rack and still are being cut off. Maybe they just don't want to have anything to do with a FIAT. Yes its a major problem throughout Europe. Bigger issue here I think than the model involved, by the way Ad-Blue tanks go missing too. Regards, Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickydripin Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Just one question it was mentioned that the cat would cost upwards to £1,000 as it is theft would it not be covered by insurance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur49 Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 Mickydripin - 2011-02-09 5:37 PM Just one question it was mentioned that the cat would cost upwards to £1,000 as it is theft would it not be covered by insurance? Yes this would be covered by a standard Comprehensive motor policy............ but your excess would be deducted AND you'd lose probably two years NCD Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 onecal vw - 2011-02-07 6:09 PM Most are being cut off by fire safety shears that are stolen from fire stations, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A rachet chain cutter is the most common tool used ....many garages and exahust firms use them see this link http://www.reedmfgco.com/index.html?screen=soil_pipe_cutters another good idea gone to pot. Alf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Yes all types of tools have been used, Most are cut off quickly with the use of shears,(very little noise) quite common all over the E.U. Regards, Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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