Assessing blame -- Prius catalytic converter theft

Um. theft is theft. Cable TV, bubble gum, cash, flowers, gas, drugs. It is morally wrong. Anything of value that can be stolen is. The trouble is people want to do whatever they want to and have an excuse for it. Kids grew up without being taught morals. knowing the difference from right and wrong and now they parent with a modern, self identify concept of "do what cha want" it's ok. and if it ain't we will all pass new laws to MAKE it OK.
Then we can remove last shred of guilt or second thoughts from our self absorbed psyche. In 2023..it's ok to steal in the USA but it is not ok to abuse your spouse or kids....for now...

 

It takes more prep to steal a cat than something off a car seat, and catalytic converter thefts aren't limited to the Prius. The F150 and Accord are still the most targeted.
Catalytic Converter Theft: 10 Most Targeted Vehicles - CARFAX

 

Precisely.

Cat theft is a long way from smash and grab. The only people to blame are the ones jacking up the car, crawling under it and cutting out the system with a battery powered reciprocating saw that they brought (with the floor jack) expressly for that purpose.

This legislator might be confused about the location of the converter. Maybe she thinks it's on the back seat.

 

does 'banning the unlawful possession of cats' mean it would no longer be unlawful?

 

Why Shoplifting Is Now De Facto Legal In California | Hoover Institution Why Shoplifting Is Now De Facto Legal In California

Walgreens closes five more stores in San Francisco due to thefts - CBS News

New DA Gascon to decline prosecution on range of low-level crimes - ABC7 Los Angeles

Why California Wants to Recall Its Most Progressive Prosecutors - The Atlantic

 

The problem with this politician's understanding is that the most valuable of the cats in the Gen2 Prius were built at a time when there wasn't any significant value for the cat's other than polluting less... Had the value of Palladium & Rhodium not gone through the roof in recent years their would be no reason to steal a cat. Toyota is NOT required to prevent theft just because a specific car part will be stolen from often 10-20 years after the date of manufacture.

 

I guess that's how she's going to fund her re-election campaign. Her side-hustle is selling stolen CATs.

It's cheaper and easier to victim blame, than to actually do something about the problem at hand.

Vote her out on the next election cycle....

 

It is more important to be diverse and inclusive even if the entire whole or sum suffers as a result....That is the new norm.

Chose your minority group.....and politicians will pander to them.

 

Meh.
I have a brother that's doing 30-to-life behind the tinsel curtain.
No.
He's not in the system...it's much worse than that.
He married a native and now has a spouse, three children, and two in-laws who cannot imagine that intelligent life exists more than 50 miles from the left coast.
The truly sad part is that he knows what it is like to live in flyover country.

I tend to let California, California.
If they want to make tens of thousands of ex-pat Priuses available to the folks in flyover country because they are not economical to repair with a $5 test pipe and an O2 sensor spoof?
That's OK by me!

AS LONG AS THEY DON'T EXPORT THEIR POLITICAL LEADERS!

 

One interesting thing is that rhodium was the main driver of the value increase when it skyrocketed to near $30k per ounce. More recently, it's dropped back down to the 6-8k range. People are still trying to sell Prius cat assemblies on ebay for $1000+.

 

how much are they worth these days?

 

I think the worst of the thefts is over for that specific reason... There also been lots of huge busts with the biggest players, like the dude's in New Jersey that did a $1/4 billion worth of thefts. And people are still getting their cats stolen, but not like it was in 2021-22...

Beyond all the loss of people's cats and while waiting on a replacement, their hybrid pack, there also was a huge loss of small local metal scrapers who couldn't say no to all that money coming in and got caught... Our local metal recycler never reopened for business after all their employees' mug shots were posted on all the local news websites.

 

You know, anybody with a rock and a little nerve could let themself into my house. Does she want to order me to buy some of that fancy hurricane resistant glass?

 

Back when Toyota --- and other makers -- designed that cat, it was just a small sparkly crystal, not a big diamond. It grew into a big diamond after the car was parked on the street.

 

Let California create rules that prohibit the sale of vehicles because criminals like to steal parts from them. Then California won't have cars. I'm going to get some popcorn and watch this one

 

Pretty sure a catalytic converter is required federally for a car with an engine to be driven on public roads.

 

No clue really, but suspect legislation would just mandate a certain degree of cleanness, and how the auto manufacturers arrive at that is up to them.

 

Doesn't matter how. What matters is that there cars need to meet emission regulations, and it is illegal to drive such on public roads. There is probably even a minimum requirement for off road use. A state taking the step to disallow a car without a working emission system isn't much different than them banning the sale of any illegal good.

 

Mattresses are required federally to have tags on them too....
34 states require emissions testing, and Priuses are clean enough to meet federal emissions standards without a cat...er.....(*)....I'm told....
All but 2-3 states allow for a generic cat, which is only slightly more expensive than a test pipe and a spoofer.

IYKYK......