4 ms·
Possible solution. Don't allow wrecking yards to buy them unless they are attached to a car. At that point they are worthless because the thieves will have no w
by hourislate 5y ago
Possible solution. Don't allow wrecking yards to buy them unless they are attached to a car. At that point they are worthless because the thieves will have no where to sell them. Now if the thieves decide to cut them open and take out the platinum, palladium or rhodium, don't allow the wrecker to buy it without taking the persons identification and contact information which will be sent to law enforcement.
- nielsbot 5y agoI thought scrappers were already required to keep records of who sells to them for just this reason. I found this: https://iscrapapp.com/scrap-laws/ https://iscrapapp.com/scrap-laws/
- rtkwe 5y agoThey're supposed to but there's unscrupulous people in every industry and these could even get sold to middle men who take them out of the country for processing.
- kasey_junk 5y agoEvery yard near me (Southside Chicago) requires provenance in the form of a title or proof of purchase of a new converter. Further they won’t (ostensibly) buy more than 1 converter at a time. Hasn’t made a dent in thefts. Like most things, I’m sure globalization has come to this “industry” and you’ll find they are great products to ship back in all those empty containers our trade surplus provides.
- polotics 5y agoYou meant trade deficit, not surplus.
- bmarquez 5y agoI suspect that if wrecking yards banned them, thieves will just ship the catalytic converters overseas, just like they do with stolen locked iPhones.
- mulmen 5y agoCatalytic converters are a wear part. I shouldn’t have to scrap my car to do maintenance.
- mc32 5y agoCould be like lead acid batteries. You buy a new one and return the old one. You just can’t sell it used or buy it used from individuals.
- mulmen 5y agoDoesn’t pass the sniff test. Lead acid batteries can be sold second hand. What if I can’t afford a new catalytic converter? Why should the least advantaged suffer disproportionately for a societal problem? What other secondary markets should we ban for the same reasons? Why would this prohibition even prevent catalytic converter theft?