Watch out if you have a Prius.

Mottie · 14 Nov 2018

Just had a bloke come in and ask me to check out the exhaust on his Prius - it started making a noise when he came out of the supermarket. Apparently it was okay when he went in. I told him he'd probably hit a speed bump but he assured me he hadn't. When I looked underneath, someone had sawn it off and nicked his cat for scrap value. Just chopped the wiring going to the lambda too. Gonna cost him 1,500 plus to get it replaced. He was only in there less than 10 minutes. When I phoned up to get prices, I was told its a common thing to happen on those cars.

Mursal · 23 Nov 2018

Yes, they prefer the jeeps here as they are easier to crawl under ..........

ReganAndCarter · 28 Nov 2018

How much is an old cat (not my tabby) worth if they're going to those lengths?

SammyInnit · 29 Nov 2018

ReganAndCarter said:
How much is an old cat (not my tabby) worth if they're going to those lengths?

I think to varies from car to car but upward of £50.

foxhole · 29 Nov 2018

Son-in-law had his nicked from brand new pick up truck.

JohnD · 29 Nov 2018

Very annoying.

Not only has the amount of noble metal per cat reduced as technology improves, but the price per ounce has dropped.

There was a time when platinum was more costly than gold. Not now.

I suppose refining of old cats has also got more efficient.

nauseous · 29 Nov 2018

There's some horrible people about.

Ian H · 29 Nov 2018

I got £104 scrap for a pair of cats off a Golf R32.

I’m sure they all have a serial number that’s checked and recorded against the weigh in.

StephenOak · 2 Dec 2018

A couple of years ago a friend asked if she could leave her 'spare' vehicle at my place (a few miles away) as there had been a spate of these in her area. Hers had been stolen once (which cost her over £1,000 to replace) and there had been several others stolen just in her road.

She said the police had told her that the actual thieves would only get c. £20, with the most money being made by the people the thieves sold to.

norseman · 18 Feb 2019

StephenOak said:
She said the police had told her that the actual thieves would only get c. £20, with the most money being made by the people the thieves sold to.

So much for the much vaunted laws about 'scrappies paying cash for scrap

SammyInnit · 18 Feb 2019

I think really scrap yards shouldn't be allowed to take cats from anyone other than limited breakers or unless it comes attached to a scrapped car/V5 shows scrapped.

Mottie · 18 Feb 2019

norseman said:
So much for the much vaunted laws about 'scrappies paying cash for scrap

A few years ago when I scrapped an old car I had, I had to use my mates account. He only had one as he had a garage business and occasionally scrapped the odd car that was beyond repair. I drove it there and they took the log book off of me and paid the money into his bank account and he paid me.

I think there’s a way round it though - I was talking to a bloke only a few weeks ago and I mentioned that I saw people using supermarket trolleys to wheel scrap metal to a yard I pass on my way home. He said he runs the occasional bit of scrap in and they use what he calls a 'bread card'. Basically it’s a plastic cash card linked to an account that the scrap yard load the scrap payment onto. Once it’s loaded on, you can go to any cash point and draw your money out. I asked him where you get them from and he said the scrap yard issue them. I suppose as it’s not a credit card and only a pre-paid cash card that you load money onto, you can give any old name and address to open the account. So that’s how those foreign/homeless people that go round begging for scrap must get round it.

norseman · 18 Feb 2019

Motman said:
So that’s how those foreign/homeless people that go round begging for scrap must get round it.

That's interesting, makes a mockery of the laws then & with all the ploice budget cut-backs as well ...

fixitflav · 28 Feb 2019

Mursal said:
Yes, they prefer the jeeps here as they are easier to crawl under ..........

I don't suppose Prius's are more vulnerable than average, are they?

Mottie · 28 Feb 2019

fixitflav said:
I don't suppose Prius's are more vulnerable than average, are they?

I have a theory on why Prius's are more prone to this: Catalytic converters get hot. Very hot. And they stay hot for a long time after switching the engine off so not easy to handle. Unless, of course, you’ve driven to your local supermarket under electric power where the engine hasn’t fired up and the cat is as cool as a cucumber......

Watch out if you have a Prius.

SammyInnit

nauseous

SammyInnit

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