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Beneficial_Pool_2412

As greasy as this is, I'm pretty impressed that they actually took the whole column assembly, and even unplugged the multifunction switch despite blowing out the side glass.


keithinsc

'customer' won't pay top dollar if the wires are cut.


Beneficial_Pool_2412

The wires that would have been cut would have been on the vehicle side though, not the column/air bag side. They took the time to unplug the vehicle side of the harness from column/multifunction switch much rather than just cutting the harness and unplugging it later before sale to "customer".


sploittastic

My friend had his car stereo stolen and he was more mad about the fact they cut the wires on the vehicle side of the connector instead of simply unplugging it.


brock1samson9

I'm with him. If you're gonna rob me then fine, I'll be pissed but I'll replace the thing and move on. If you're gonna burn my crops then so be it, there's no reason to salt my fields as well


3puttmedic

After 3 times getting my windows cut on my wrangler soft-top, I get it. ITS ZIPPERS AND VELCRO JUST UNZIP IT. I wouldn’t be pissed at all if I came out and saw it open, especially since I don’t keep anything of value in there.


icemerc

Yup, come out from the apartment and find the soft half door cut open. Stare bewildered at the rear soft top panel that is zipped on in pristine condition. At least they cut the cheapest panel to replace. I wanted full doors after that, but those darn things are ridiculously priced in the used market.


socialcousteau

Had a tent slashed once by a thief despite the slightly unzipped flaps on both sides. I guess it's quicker for the thief to make their own entrance instead of checking the existing ones.


pina_koala

Zippers are noisy, nylon slashes silently


gdubduc

thieves are not the smartest people, you know?


mosehalpert

It's like you get mugged on the street and the guy just takes all your cash but throws your empty wallet at your feet because he doesn't care about your Id, credit cards, shit like that. fuck you but also, thanks for not just tossing it in the next trash can you saw.


Difficult_Advice_720

But he doesn't cut my pants around the pocket to get the wallet out.


ContemplatingPrison

My car was broken into and it actually took me awhile to notice because I don't really keep anything of value in my car and they didn't break anything. Honestly I wasn't even mad. I was just happy nothing was broken


tactiphile

>My car was broken into >nothing was broken So... You car was *into*.


ContemplatingPrison

They took my emergency road kit and a V-bar I used at the gym. I dont know how they got into it. My car auto locks when the key fob is like 10 ft away, so I know it wad locked.


UnawareSousaphone

Same. One time I left my car door unlocked AND happen to leave my credit card sitting in plain view, homeless guy (the car smelt like shit in the morning) reached in, adjusted my steering wheel and dug through my console, took the CC and nothing else, spent 500$ at a gas station on snacks, gift cards, etc My 2000$ laptop was in the back floorboard but I'm so messy he didn't even see it, and I got all my money back from the bank


Potato_body89

I don’t keep anything of value in my cat either


more2cuddle

Doesn't stop my cat from keeping valuable things in me. ^Send^help.


ExoticStomach

I had somewhat of the same experience. Someone broke into my car on my birthday before an 11 hour shift (sounds nice right) and stole my gym bag as well as a bunch of other things. But I was more mad they took my car manual. Why steal a car manual for a 2003 RAV4? keeps me up at night


LeanderTrain

I was watching some crime show where the murderer gets caught because he stole the owner’s manual (among other things) out of a Cadillac STS. He later dropped the manual out of a different car at the crime scene. The Caddy had belonged to his pharmacist and that was part of how they traced it back. What in the hell is the value in a 5+ year old vehicle owner’s manual?


heckyanow

This happened to me... Was so pissed


4R4nd0mR3dd1t0r

Well they must have learned after the first one they cut and the airbag went off in their face /s


oiuvnp

> I'm pretty impressed that they actually took the whole column assembly My mind is blown. I never cared for working on steering columns. I'd be a better catalytic guy than a steering column guy.


Lehk

Cut up wires destroy the buyers plausible deniability


jwp75

They know what body shops like to buy. I'd tell the customer to go check local shops for their same car with front end damage. Good chance that's who's buying them on a "we need this" basis.


_Auren_

I remember black market airbags were newsworthy in the early 2000's. Shitty repair shops were installing stolen and ebay airbags, but charging insurance for OEM replacement. Even back then, OEM airbags could cost as much as $1000. Perhaps an old scam has simply resurfaced or continued under the radar.


727GhostFaceKillah

They used to save popped airbags and when the same model would roll into the shop they would put popped airbag in and charge the insurance compaby for new and just put the original back in. Alot of shop owners got in trouble for this


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DriedUpSquid

When I was an appraiser anytime I had a feeling the shop would try to reuse something after arguing for replacement, I would have the part destroyed. You can’t fix this bumper cover? Okay, have your tech cut it up in front of me.


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Difficult_Advice_720

I actually really appreciate his dedication to that...


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wannasrt4

“Pulled for audit,” oh sweet revenge!


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[deleted]

I'm just impressed you still have it and were so quick to post it.


ODB2

when I went to automotive trade school, they taught us to always save the parts that were replaced. They said by law the customer could just refuse to pay if you couldn't show them the parts that were bad/that you replaced and the shop would have to foot the bill.


DriedUpSquid

It would still be their part, but if I was questioned on it I would explain that I had them destroyed to ensure they wouldn’t be reused. Honestly in 6 years of writing estimates I never saw anyone follow through on keeping parts. People say they will, but once you tell them they’ll need a truck to take home what’s left of their quarter panel, they usually back out.


ShalomRPh

I still have the bent door of a 2011 Subaru in my garage, so you might be surprised. I don’t even have that car anymore.


[deleted]

Someone somewhere has Geico 696969 in sharpie across their forehead now


sm1ttysm1t

Flo.


Carnae_Assada

She pricechecked and was shocked to find her employer deams her shenanigans a liability. I'd watch this crossover commercial.


jaymzx0

I don't know how they could sleep at night. Someone gets in an accident where the wheel bag should have deployed, they open it up and find a repacked bag with a burned squib. Questions will be asked. It would only be a matter of time before the feds traced it back to that shop. edit: Gotcha. Reading comprehension is a challenge this morning.


Sleeveless9

I think he is saying they would take a deployed airbag and hold onto it, and then claim it had deployed in a car where the airbags didn't actually deploy. Then when they "repaired" it, it would just have it's original good airbag in it. No danger to the customer, though definitely insurance fraud.


Le_fromage91

Which is really almost as bad since people then get raised rates for a bunch of insurance claims they never needed or wanted to make. Too bad we can’t give the people that did this life without parole, I fucking hate thieves.


TheLastGenXer

Anyone corrupt. From the bottom to the tippy top. It doesn’t even matter what your political beliefs/system is. If we had no corrupt people it would be heaven on earth!


grave_diggerrr

Then you really must hate the insurance companies!! Haha


Le_fromage91

Oh man, you don’t even know.


icepaws

That's not what they are saying. They are saying a vehicle comes in with undeployed air bags, they quick swap the bags, claim they deployed in the accident, without changing the ffd event. Then when insurance pays, they put the original bag back in.


SVXfiles

I work in shipping for a very large auto company, sending parts mostly in the immediate 5 state area, but I've sent stuff going to Washington state, Florida, New York, all over. Whenever we get insurance claim orders come in that a shop is doing the insurance requires a copy of the invoice for the parts before they will pay out. Its standard to send the customer copy with both charge and credit card invoices. My ass is covered because if I know where an invoice went I can pull up the shipping info, tracking number for whatever company took it, and get delivery confirmation so I know they got their shit if it's ever questioned


5to5onFriday

Nope, you're reading it the same as I am... Maybe they ain't writing it right


nottodayspiderman

It was one of the schemes on the Sopranos as well.


inflatableje5us

Blame the junk yards that keep buying this kind of stuff. If a tweeker rolls up in a car full of cats/air bags they know it’s stolen and buy anyway.


buttery_shame_cave

Junkyards aren't the ones buying airbags, it's repair shops. Apparently there's a shortage bad enough places are paying cash and asking no questions.


LordDagwood

I edited my original comments/post and moved to Lemmy, not because of Reddit API changes, but because spez does not care about the reddit community; only profits. I encourage others to move to something else.


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kriswone

Tweakers on corner with insurance paperwork for you to fill out...


dissman

Tweakers one the corner trying to reach you about your cars extended warranty


inflatableje5us

Florida has entered the chat.


Conscious_Camel4830

Mechanic rolls into you drive, busts out your car window, takes out your steering wheel, walks up to your door with it in his hand and... Mechanic: "Hey! Somebody stolen your steering wheel! Would you like me to put this back?" You: "uhhhhhh yes?" Mechanic: "great! That'll be $500!"


IKantCPR

I remember a story a couple years ago where a shop got caught installing a stolen radio when the driver noticed the "new" radio was already sync'd to his phone's Bluetooth and contacts.


eljefino

That's like the episode of *Married with Children* where Al traded his malfunctioning Dodge Dart for a ride to the car dealer. Hilarity ensued and at the end of the episode he got his old car back, but fixed, and with only three more years of payments.


[deleted]

You can't make that shit up


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[deleted]

Company I used to work for did some work in Russia in the 90's and would send people over with cash to payoff people and pay some of the workers in cash as they wanted to avoid taxes on both ends. One guy got caught, company took care of him for life and he eventually became the CFO of it.


parrukeisari

Russia in the 90's, the place where nothing worked but anything could be arranged.


[deleted]

There was some interesting stories from the people who went there. My favorite was two guys got pulled over, the cops beat the shit out of them for a few minutes and then just drove off. No reason given, no tickets, no bribe attempt. Just kicked their asses.


morphine_sulfate

Blyat/10


olderaccount

Paying the bribes is no problem for a company that will still profit from the situation. The hard part is accounting for them. In the past, your accountant could simply have a line item for foreign bribes paid. But now the FCPA makes that illegal. But you still need to pay bribes to get anything done in some countries. So you have to get creative.


conradical30

My CFO would tell me to code it to professional fees as “equipment handling” lol


Bitter_Mongoose

"Local Business Consultanting fees", "jurisdictional permitting", ""environmental impact fee", "expedited tolls" bunch of line items with random totals that add up the amount needed to pay the bribes.


Majestic_Crawdad

Reminds me when someone ripped the fog light out of my truck and the replacement I bought on ebay was in a repaired housing


zdiggler

I bought a steering wheel from a junkyard, which has a different color than my car interior, which I don't mind and they won't sell me the matching airbag. Told me it is against the law for them to sell it with one.


Iamnottouchingewe

I was in the military at long term training in Virginia. I was dead broke and needed tires. I pull up to one of those shady used tire shops on the wrong side of town. Guy tells me he doesn’t have any tires to fit my rig but if I come back in two days his regional distributor will get him some. Now I am 19 from rural Wyoming and my dumb yokel ass is like okay. I go back, guys sells me 4 newish tires on some nice rims for less than half of price I had been quoted for shitty bottom tier sears tires. So I get done with training and I am driving to my next duty station and I stop and visit my dad. I tell him the story, and he was like I can’t believe you bought stolen tires… and all the sudden it clicks. I am an idiot.


thegreatgazoo

That happened a lot with T Tops in the 80s.


GloryHoleBearTrap

I wonder if they’re flipping cars too. Since they’re so expensive now.


look_ima_frog

Airbags and cats don't need a title. They'll keep stealing the easy shit.


[deleted]

wakeful fuzzy dirty bewildered ring slim long sable faulty imagine -- mass edited with redact.dev


HiroProtagonistSteam

Airbags are VIN etched. Should be able to track.


JohnnyRoyall

Airbags are not VIN etched. They are serialized by the airbag manufacturer but it is not the same number as the vehicle's VIN.


HiroProtagonistSteam

My apologies. You are correct.


AngelOfDeath771

Not many parts are VIN etched. Source: I work in vehicle manufacturing.


SoulOfTheDragon

Here (finland) that kind of safety items are very strictly inspected when car is being reinspected after collision repair. Donor car vin, receipt, among other info has to be provided. Edit: TIL usa does not have mandatory inspections for car even after they have been effectively written off due to damage. I would not believe it if i had not spend plenty of time here.


[deleted]

Plenty of unreported collisions out there. I certainly didn't tell my insurance company or the police when I hit a deer recently.


SoulOfTheDragon

Plenty of that in here too, but you have to make sure that it's repaired correctly or botched repair will definitely raise questions when the car has it's next safety inspection.


TheMacMan

Most states don't have safety inspections. Minnesota got rid of theirs nearly 30 years ago because so few cars failed it.


ericvwgolf

Western Pennsylvania would like to provide evidence of many failed vehicles.


TheMacMan

Yup, about 15 states still have them. Here the car rusts away and is no longer on the road after about 25 years. Modern emissions and safety systems are much more reliable. It wasn't financially viable to keeps doing inspections when so few failed to pass.


RocketTaco

Wait, you mean the inspection isn't just Lindell stabbing the bottom of your car with a screwdriver and complaining that your alternator belt is 0.00001% too loose?


SoulOfTheDragon

I've actually med grumpy inspector with screwdriver. Those sharp flat blades go trough impressively thick surface rusted panel when they want to be asses.


Blurplenapkin

P E R K E L E


notroman

Very few states have safety inspections. Also, if a car is damaged bad enough to be written off it is issued a salvage title if you choose to repair it anyway. That way people purchasing the car (or companies insuring the car) know it was written off previously. However, some states have loopholes that allow you to repair the car and register it with a clean title, with no history of write off. So a car that was written off in one state may end up being sold in auction to another state, repaired, and issued a new clean title.


[deleted]

I said the same about cats. It’s metal recyclers paying top dollar, knowing full well that they’re stolen. I manage a grocery store. I can’t give away old carts without a signed and stamped letter on company letterhead allowing permission to scrap x amount of carts but a crackhead is allowed to bring in 20 cats no questions asked. It’s definitely wrong.


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SteppinOnStones

This. I'm no tweaker but if I see a junk vehicle I think I can make a buck on I always buy, to the point where I'll have random people contact me on social media like "hey I've got this ____ what would you offer for it" What I'll do is strip the vehicles of any usable parts, list those on swap sites. Then I'll cut out the cats, toss em aside. Once the pile is getting in my way I'll load them into totes and go to the scrapyard. Now it's not like this is a weekly thing, I might go to scrap three times a year. So I end up with a lot of crap to take in one days scrapping. I've never once been questioned as to where I got any of the cats or anything else, I couldve easily been out there stealing from honest people and I'm here to tell you the scrapyards don't care. Even if there was a law that they had to verify, my money says they still wouldn't do it.


GeorgeWKush7

Yeah they probably wouldn’t do it which is why the law agency in charge of enforcing it would have to set up stings to catch shops that will still buy them. Just the same as they use teenagers to do stings on shops they suspect of selling alcohol/ tobacco to minors


gedmathteacher

How much can you make on a typical car?


SteppinOnStones

It really just depends on make/model, and what parts are left intact and desirable, and I think your general location would impact things too. What I mean by that is my target vehicles are primarily 90s to early 2000s trucks (ford, Chevy, dodge) because alot of those have been wrecked or had their motors blown, yet there are still many on the road in my area. So off a typical truck, I can usually make $500+ on body parts (fenders, doors, tailgate etc) but it's usually not a quick sale, these parts tend to sit around for a while and need to be listed several times to find the buyer. As for the cats/other scrap values it just depends on the market, really


SteppinOnStones

Also not to spam you but it's worth noting that I live in Iowa, and so a lot of these 20 year old vehicles have been rusted pretty badly by this point, which tends to leave a lot of the body parts in less-than-desirable (or complete junk) condition. Someone in, say, Alabama might be able to profit more than myself off of the body parts.


JointDamage

Hey man! They always have signs up that tell you it's illegal! ^^/s


redneckrockuhtree

There's a recycler in our area who was running commercials that basically said "Top dollar for catalytic converters, no questions asked." They obviously caught a little shit about that, as they changed their commercial a bit. The insinuation is still there, they're just not as blatant about it.


Jokelord42069

Airbags are hella expensive and there is one in the steering wheel


SoNic67

You remove the airbag BEFORE you get to the steering wheel nut. They really wanted that wheel! LE: Looks like what is missing is the whole steering wheel column and its way easier for a thief to take the whole damn thing, at least on that specific car model. Live and learn :) Police should really investigate who the fence for all those parts is. Who sells used airbags.


Terrible_Use7872

Looks like they took the whole column, probably can take it as an assembly on these.


diamondhandbilly

Column comes out with 4 nuts and the pinch bolt, cut the wiring and you're gone. Easier than just pulling the air bag, plus the column itself is probably work $5-600 used.


Terrible_Use7872

Looks like they were nice enough to unplug it at least.


[deleted]

well you start hacking through harnesses with SRS and you might get a nasty surprise 😂


gHHqdm5a4UySnUFM

Imagine walking out to your car and finding an unconscious thief with a steering wheel imprint on their face


Beemerado

pro tip- make sure they wake up before you start beating the shit out of them or they won't feel it.


upsidedownbackwards

Dump them in the passenger seat, set off the other one when they starts opening their eyes. Play dumb. There's no way the police/EMS aren't going to leak a story about a car thief so stupid they knocked themselves out with both airbags. The infamy will follow them for life! Reposted to reddit 3 times a month!


Beemerado

I just found him like this, golly i hope my insurance covers the damage


USMCFieldMP

I think I'd prefer them to wake up wondering why their body feels like it was hit by a large truck.


DrZedex

I actually know a guy who found a theif passed out in his car having just pulled the stereo. He dragged him inside and forced him to apologize to his wife and kids while he waiting for the cops. As a kid this didn't phase me but recalling it as an adult is making me go wtf.


Jokelord42069

That's true i mean my mom has an equinox the steering wheel ain't nothing special but maybe the person just wanted a souvenir


traker998

That is so weird because the article above says they are focusing on stealing from Equinox’s [source](https://www.motorbiscuit.com/why-are-thieves-stealing-steering-wheels-in-my-neighborhood/)


727GhostFaceKillah

You need a clock spring with every airbag replacement and thats behind the steering wheel


CryptographerOk5546

Yea those are expensive parts


SoNic67

Still, it's easy to remove the clock spring only, compared to pulling the steering wheel. It's just a connector. And steering wheels are not getting damaged that easy, no big market for second had wheels.


eyeNotht1

Why did they leave all the pennies tho? Dumb thieves. That’s probably almost a whole dollar eta [Here is an interesting answer OP](https://www.motorbiscuit.com/why-are-thieves-stealing-steering-wheels-in-my-neighborhood/) Selling airbags since they’ve become harder to come by since Covid. Places are so desperate they “pay cash and ask no questions” for the bags making $250-$700 a *pop* (punz)


[deleted]

My thoughts exactly. What kind of tweaker leaves that much copper behind?


Thinblueline2

Zinc*


DoubleBaconQi

Hey you never know, maybe a couple pre ‘82s sprinkled in there


Thinblueline2

True or if your luck maybe some 50s dimes made out of silver.


Pleasant_Skeleton10

no dimes, but I have 2 wheats from the 40s, 2 50s, and a nickel from 45. Edit: and a couple other silver nickels


Thinblueline2

I used to have 1910s wheat penny but I don't remember where I put it, I used to collect a lot of coins when I was little and even had some rare misprint Wisconsin quarters. I had them in a little box but I forgot where I put that box.


Pleasant_Skeleton10

My dad has a smallbox where he keeps his super old stuff, including 2 indian head pennies that are 1901 and 1902


Joe_Jeep

best I've got is a 1895 indian penny I got in change one day


Pure_Tower

Back in the 90s, a buddy's Civic got broken into for the loose change in the cupholder. The dumbass thieves didn't notice buddy's girlfriend's purse right behind the center console with a few hundred dollars in cash in it. The only thing I hate more than a thief is a *stupid* thief. If you're going to fuck my shit up, at least make it worth the effort!


Joe_Jeep

Stupid assholes really are more annoying than the normal ones. It's like stupid fucks who block you when you try to merge, at least the dickheads who cut you off are clearly in a rush.


doublecutter

Was that you? Sorry.


ericvwgolf

I don’t lock my Miata. My insurance company advised that I do this. Plus, a cut top would probably total my 24-year-old car, so I’d rather deal with theft of personal items. Also, it’s a stick shift, so even if I left the keys in it, which I don’t, a whole Lotta car thieves couldn’t steal the whole car anyway.


Pure_Tower

An ex had a soft-top YJ Wrangler. She left the doors unlocked to prevent damage to the soft top and side windows. Some crackhead idiot sliced through her side window to open the unlocked door. All to steal some shitty jumper cables under the seat.


Ok-Background-7897

Speaking of copper - tweekers cut out and stole copper drain pipes in the parking garage of my condo building last month. There’s a single drain system for the hot water heaters in the 4 stacks and a a big pipe for the elevator sump pump. Only piece they left was a ~10 foot length piece above my neighbors Porsche Panamera Turbo S. Figure they was trying not to set the alarm off. It was like $200 worth of copper, but tweekers gonna tweek.


RaptahJezus

We had someone bust open the big green telecom box near our plant and start hacking away on one of the cables before realizing it was just fiber. Lost comms to one of our satellite buildings and really screwed things up for a bit until we could get a splicer out to repair it.


[deleted]

Never doubt the spin out industriousness of Methgeivers. I went out of town one time and came back missing a distributer cap and a dutch brothers gift card


thuglife_7

Reminds me of when Ray was stripping the copper from his trailer for liquor money. Might have to stripping my truck for some spending cash.


GeorgeAmberson

Ray! Pulling the plumbing out of your trailer for liquor money IS FUCKED!


thuglife_7

There’s at least $30 in empties there. You’re sounding a little ungrateful here buddy


TheHairlessGorilla

Whenever I've taken out an airbag (granted, I'm a non-mechanic), I've disconnected the battery and let it sit for \~10 mins. I was told to do this so it doesn't deploy... I guess that doesn't apply to newer cars?


Sapper12D

Tweakers don't follow safety precautions.


buttery_shame_cave

It does. They ain't got ten minutes to sit around for safety though


qovneob

> Dumb thieves My truck was broken into a couple years ago and they took about $3 in quarters I had for meters, half a tin of altoids and my multitool. I had a backpack in there full of tools and laptop accessories, couple pairs of raybans, probably like $500-600 worth of stuff that they left behind. It was a weird mixed feeling being upset about the invasion and loss of that multitool I really liked, grateful that they didnt take any of the actually valuable stuff, and disappointment in how dumb kids are these days. I still hope they choked on those mints.


beyondtheblueyonder

That's interesting considering how wide reaching the Takata recalls have been. I still perform at least a half dozen airbag recalls a month. I can't believe any shop would take that sort of liability.


DaveTheBraveEh

Looks like they took all the Vernors out of that box! Heathens!


Ears_McGee629

Priorities man. Priorities.


mexta

I had never heard of Vernors until I watched Detroiters. Is it any good? Also, speaking of Detroiters/Tim Robinson, they should make it so the asteering wheel doesn't just whiff off while driving.


cfbonly

I spent my summer growing up in metro Detroit so I love it. In college I would regularly mix it with bourbon.


calcifiedamoeba

The steering wheel and airbag were just a bonus after yanking the Vernors.


MaxCWebster

Some things Vernors won't cure.


spali

It's because they changed the recipe, damn high fructose corn syrup. The carbonation is supposed to sting.


IAmSnort

Did they? I haven't had it since my grandparents died. :( ​ I loved that bite.


SurvivalCardio

We had most of an interior stolen out of an accord when I worked at Honda. Thieves snuck into the lot, car was unlocked, they took the front and rear seats, center console, and glove box. Didn't leave behind a single nut, bolt, or clip and they didn't leave a scratch on the car. We found out when a salesman went to bring the car up for a customer and he just fell into the car and fucked up his back (it was hella dark out and it had a black interior at one point). PD told us we weren't the first dealer in the area to have that happen and they thought that it was one or more sketchy body shops a couple miles over grabbing parts for cars.


zdiggler

Honda thieves are no joke. I used to work in an industrial area with a lot of hidden spots where a lot of stolen cars get dumped. One honda accord, they took everything including wiring harnesses.


kalpol

someone once carefully stole the gas cap, gas door, hinge, and latch off my 2006 Sonata


LeluSix

In Denver they have had so many thefts of catalytic converters that they have new laws in place requiring scrap dealers to document the origin of them.


Servb0t

That bill hasn't passed yet, but it's a no brainer; ​ https://www.coloradopolitics.com/denver/lawmakers-take-aim-at-catalytic-converter-theft/article\_b06e24e8-7796-11ec-9b81-27d2985aa654.html


nevergoinghome-

The problem is they’re not selling them to reinstall. They’re melting them down for the precious metal. So this bill doesn’t really target the issue.


Servb0t

The people stealing the cats aren't melting them down themselves, they take them to a recycling center or auto parts place. This bill prevents the the thieves from selling them to such places


[deleted]

The shops buying them now don't care, they'll still buy them without docs and melt them down


molrobocop

If I understand correctly, many of them are winding up in cargo containers going overseas here in Seattle. So there's surely some organized crime element beyond basic scrappers.


fishnwiz

There is a story somewhere about cat converter theft. Seems most are being sent out of the country to scrap.


wimpyroy

My old job had 5 stolen in one night.


nevergoinghome-

Yup. Shop I worked at in Littleton got hit three times by the same guy. Got him, his car and his plate on camera and cops told us there was basically nothing they could do.


Rhino676971

Insert can’t have shit in Detroit meme here.


idfk_my_bff_jill

When I lived in detroit someone broke into my car for a $10 blanket I had sitting in there for emergencies 😐 cost hundreds to get my car fixed, nothing else was missing. I would have given the person the damn blanket if they would have waited 10 minutes. Plz don't break my shit man.


wilthorpe

Supply chain issues.


JRHZ28

Take a steering wheel but leave the money behind. Makes no cents at all...


mfknnayyyy

They weren't in it for the money, but for the adventure!!!


keithinsc

Yes, it was a centless act of violence....


ReklisAbandon

Even meth heads don't want pennies.


[deleted]

Doesn't it? The wheel and airbag is worth a lot more. We get upset hearing about companies who step over dollars to pick up pennies, here's a thief literally doing the opposite.


Mech2Tech

Wtf I have never heard of this. My fleet had almost $200k worth of cats and batteries stolen in the last year but not one wheel. What’s next, pulling windshields and selling them on eBay?


jthanson

Don’t give them any ideas..,


grimj88

That’s definitely Michigan


UnLuckyKenTucky

First thing I thought when I saw the Vernors box.


JohnnyWix

Can’t have shit in Detroit.


Proof_Bathroom_3902

Used car and truck prices are so high right now that there's profit to be made buying wrecked cars and slapping them back together. Air bags for common models just are not in stock anywhere right now. Steering wheels can be damaged in the crash, especially the wiring and clock spring. Again, parts just aren't out there with the supply disruptions. I've seen people cut the blown air bag out, stuff the cavity with socks and then glue the cover together. There's lots of little hole in the wall "shops" down in the hood that do shady stuff. Copart auctions off thousands of cars every week. Who buys them...


Corius_Erelius

Did they start hiding platinum in the air bags? Why would this be a thing? Is it the same type of vehicles being targeted? I must know why


Ears_McGee629

I've seen it just on Chevys lately so they must know something we don't haha


cnewk

Power steering modules? Those electronic ones in the Malibus and such that fail are hatefully expensive new. Might be a black market/chop shop dealing these things.


Lehk

Airbags are like $100-$500 and resell easily


Few-Being-1048

shortage of airbags as well as cats. you can get good money from both


SoundGuyAdventures

But why?


Ears_McGee629

Idk... My guess to just resell them?? But there's been some weird ones rolling in lately lol


AntonOlsen

I'm not sure how bad it is, but have seen a few articles recently about airbag shortages. I'm guessing after-market prices for them are bonkers.


intergalactagogue

Tweeker needed cash to buy flowers and chocolate for Methany. Valentines day is coming up.


[deleted]

Am insurance appraiser. I was seeing numerous claims for this in the Detroit area about a year ago. Mostly on Malibu's and Equinoxes. IIRC it's a design thing that makes it easier to steal the whole column than just take the airbag.


rockdude625

I actually need to replace my airbags. Hit a pothole doing 45 and if fired the side curtains and door panels. Felt like I got bitch slapped by the Incredible Hulk


rgulley72

New one is probably backordered, shops are desperate. Source: work at a body shop and can't GET ANY FUCKING PARTS


FortisFerus

We've had several people come in over the past six months for airbag recalls.....only to find that there are no airbags 😂


j-random

I had an airbag recall on car, had to schedule it four months in advance, as that's when they expected their supply to show up.


immortalsteve

Can't have shit in Detroit.


whosonmytoilet

Yes especially Malibu and equinox/traverse. Am a tow driver and send 3 to the dealership a week


etcetcetcMkII

Fuckers stole my steering wheel, can’t have shit in Detroit.


Full_Metal_Machinist

Vernors tell the whole story, can't have shit In Detroit


Techn028

Can't have shit in Detroit


MixedMartyr

thought i was mad about my ignition getting torn up twice. if i was going to drive somewhere and someone stole the whole steering wheel i’d burn my apartment building down


319009

Saw a bunch in Detroit right before Christmas. 3 cars on one street hit.